In 1957 my folks bought a new Ford Country Sedan with a 292 V8. In a short while it began making a loud popping sound. I asked why is the car making that funny noise? Dad said, "it has a cracked manifold". Soon it was driven to the dealer and the manifold was replaced. Within a month it cracked again. Dad said "To Hell with it and the car was driven that way until it was sold 10 years later. Was this a common problem with Y blocks or 292s in particular?
We had five Y-blocks on the ranch , growing up, and I cannot ever remember an exhaust manifold cracking. We had one come loose and several blow a gasket where the exhaust pipe bolts on. Also we ran ours with no gaskets between the manifold and the head, with no sealer. Today I would add silicone sealer. We also never had any problems with the overhead oiling! I guess we were just lucky! We did maintain our engines and all had 195 degree thermostats. Bones
If running with no gaskets make sure both the head and manifold surfaces are perfectly flat as original. Take care with gaskets. Good luck.
Dad bought a new 1960 Wagon with a 292 and had one of the manifolds crack. It was replaced by the dealer N/C. Nice of them as the car was out of warranty. Maybe this was an early version of “silent recall”?
The Jalopy Journal
