I've got a little pinging under hard accel with my 312 in the 57 Wagon. I broke out the timing light today to take a peak at where I was at.... lo and behold, no external dampner on the front, and not timing marks... any help? its my first Y-Block and I got no books, no clue.
Should have a pointer on the timing cover, it is a bolt on, and the crank pully will have a "nub" or "diviet" that will be top dead center. No other marks or anything, you kinnda gotta guess it and tune by ear. My flathead Ford tune up chart says to "adjust timing until pinning dissapears" for the earlier stuff, and Y blocks aren't too much better.
hes right on about the tab on the timing cover.ive had several yblocks over the years and the bolt on tab has only been on one of them..guess got lost somewhere over the line.some have very faint lines on the harmonic balancer.but maybe that was on later models.im not sure to be honest.
The Y blocks were natorious for the ring on the damper to move. Send it out to get rebuilt at overhaul time, then check TDC before bolting on the heads. Meanwhile, time it with a vacuum gauge. PM me for instructions if you have never done it.
Will look again. Like I said, no dampner, just a pully. Will search for the bolt on pointer, but I didnt see one first time out. Might have to go with the vacuum gauge route. Will PM ya Ole don.
Retard the timing just a little at a time till the pinging goes away. Worry about marks later, you probably need the balancer rebuilt so find another and send it off and order a timing pointer. A friend in high school had a 312 wagon, same problem, tried timing with a va***n gauge and still had to fine tune by the seat of pants method, which is what we mostly use anyway, then we put a light on it to see where that particular combination likes it in order to return it to that spot at tune-up time.
All Y Blocks that I have seen except the 54 have a harmonic balancer. Maybe you have a 54 pulley on a later YBlock? I ***ume they fit. Since YBlocks are internally balanced it wouldn't make a balance problem. Still, there should be pointer and marks on the pulley. You can time it by the va***n method that was noted above. Or just set the distributor back a little at a time and do a rest run each time.
The dampener rubber must have broken off after all those years. va*** time it like someone on person said, Good luck...
The balancer on my Y-block is pressure fit to the pulley. It fell off the back of the pully once and I had to pry it back on with screwdriver. Fine precision machinery indeed. No timing marks either, I advance or retard it according to my mood...
Here's a tip: From my local parts store I bought a special tape that has degree increments on it that you place on the edge of the balancer. Of course Mr Gasket doesn't make one for a y-block, but luckily the OD of my 292 balancer is the same size as a 283 Chevy.
You might have a 54 front pulley. They were the only YBlocks, as far as I know, that didn't have a damper. Since they are internally balanced it doesn't hurt anything as far a balance goes. However, if I was you, I would get one with a damper - they put them on for a reason.
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