Thread: Greetings from Salt Flat, Texas

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I just lost a post about the 292 y block and that you should keep both vehicles ----don't take one apart for the other-------damn it--was a nice long piece about the y-block oiling and the LTD pieces------maybe I'll rewrite it tonight-----

Originally Posted by Niri Tawä

I put a photo of the 59 truck which IS at my place as my Avatar, I'll try to load some more up in an album tonight.

What Jerry's been asking is what's the power train in the '59 as it sits now?

For pictures, I find it much better to post pictures in the thread where they're referenced vs saying "...look in my album." Here's a link that talks about two different ways to post in threads - http://www.clubhotrod.com/shop-talk/...tml?highlight=

Welcome, Brie, looks like you're getting some great info on your Fomoco stuff. I think you'll find that these members are about the best that there is for our kind of hobby, along with being a great bunch to swap questions and ideas with. SALT FLAT - - - WOW, that's about as far as you can go in West Texas without being in a large town or out of state LOL and it's got the beautiful Guadalupe Mtns and El. Capitan to look at when you're out and about. When you get the project started, please snap some pics and share with us as you can. Good Luck Em

021.jpg019.jpgOK, let's see if I can load a photo for you guys. One is the stock 292, the other should be the front of the truck. Please let me know if these are visible.

Here are the drivers side, and the little round radio on the Dash
023.jpg020.jpg

I think I'm figuring this out. Here are the full dash, and the rear view 022.jpg017.jpg

Kool stuff,Brie.. Before you ditch the legendary Y block,,listen to Jerry,,and/or talk to Tim McMaster about it.. He has a lot of tips,also,,in the small issues with Y blocks..
Love your 59,too.. My daily driver is a 1960 F100,which is repowered with a stock 302W/C4..But,,I still have the 292 that came out of it.. Welcome aboard..

Neat old truck. I always liked those radios.

Well, I woke up at 6AM and couldn't get back to sleep, so I made a pot of coffee, and I'm at the computer. Guys I would LOVE to turn the 292 into a 312, and make it look like someone took a 312 special out of a Thunderbird, and put it in the truck, like they used to like to do to the Fords back then, the local Auto parts store can get me a 312 crank and rods for it, I just need to talk to someone about what the oiling problem was, and how you fixed it. HOW much would I love to put a 312 in that truck? I went out and found someone that has an old oblong chrome T-bird air cleaner for the truck. I think that I heard that it was as simple as the original center cam bearing only had an oil supply hole drilled into it, and not the circumferential groove cut into the bearing, so that if the bearing spun a little bit, you lost the oil pressure to the upper engine. That's an easy fix, put newer grooved bearings in. But then something tells me that it was a more serious problem than that, and anyone who KNOWS is older than me, and I am 63. This engine is supposed to be REAL strong, I bought it from a guy in Dell City (Population 212), a small farming hamlet where I go for coffee and the mail. He owned the towing company, and there was a couple traveling from Wyoming, that had a problem with the truck in the early eighties, and he gave them several hundred dollars for the truck, and took them to the local Greyhound Station, and then fixed the truck, and parked it in his garage. In the late nineties, all kinds of teenagers wanted to buy the truck to turn it into a drag racer, so he wouldn't sell it to them. Finally, as he was getting older, a mid twenties guy wanted to buy it, so he put gas in it, and got in the right seat to let the guy test drive it. When they got to the end of the guy's dirt driveway, and turned on the road to Dell City, the guy put the truck into granny first, wound the engine up to about three grand, and dumped the clutch, picking the heavy front end of the truck several inches off the ground, and bending one pushrod. John, the Korean War, 82nd Airborne veteran tow service owner punched the guy in the side of the head, and told him to walk the ten miles to town, the test drive was over. John drove it back to his house, and swore he would never sell the truck to anyone who would mistreat it, which meant he wasn't going to sell it. I move out here and bought 80 acres in 2003, and in 2010 found out about the truck, and John knew I wanted an old Ford so bad, I could taste it, and I wouldn't race it, so he sold it to me in 2010. It sat by my house till now, when I can afford to restore it into what the High School Seniors were driving in 1964 when I was 14, and drooling over Pickup Trucks. So here the truck and I sit wondering what I should do with the drive train in the truck which will eventually an early sixties style flame job, an Oak and Chrome floor in it's bed, and a diamond Tuck interior. Some guidance here from you older hands would be a good thing, THANKS.

If my trailer wasn't full already I'd be leaving after coffee to come and save that truck----------------


The Y-blocks-----replaced the flatheads in 1954--------239,256,272,292,312-----right rear distributors at an angle driving external oil pump at lower left rear block with oil filter from side of casting and road vent further forward, intake ports paired with one on top of another( sideways compared to every thing else since)
The 272,292,312 all used the same ch pistons so 312 pistons could be used in bored out 272 (.175) or 292 (.050) and/or a 312 crank could be put into the 272/292 if you used 312 rods also-I think the best combo was the 272 bored .175 with the 312 piston as it made it around 302? with the shorter crank, heads milled .060 and with dual Packard 1 3/16 venture wcfb? quads on a Fenton manifold and Isky cam could kick the butt of anything else I ran across up til the nite the flywheel went thru the floor,dash, and windshield----------however the good thing was that it didn't dent/hole any of the painted exterior surface!!!!


A common mod done after the 57s came out with the supercharger was to put that cam (Isky)B7A-6250D but in the earlier cars you had to change one of the cam bearings (or groove the cam )


The coming of the overhead valve v8s brought a few issues that haddened been issues with either the flathead v8 or the overhead valve motors and both ford and chev were in new fields of weeds at that period of time----------chev did hyd tappets and hollow pushrods (one of the engineering items high up on an all time list) to oil the top end and Ford did a oi path upwards around a head bolt with a sideways sashway around an inch or so from the #2 and 4 cam bearing to the passage to the rocker stand which tended to fill up with sludge over time period of NON detergent oil use and poor oil/filter changes-Back then detergent oil and the use of oil filters was a new thing and most people if they changed the filter at all only did it every second or third time or maybe only when they did spark plugs----------With this sludge blocking the oil flow upwards the rockers/pushrods/shafts would wear and also without the drian back the tappets (cute little top hats) would wear and sometimes stop spinning which would then wipe the cam lobe----------Yep, even back then-------


A old guy (who ended up working with me ay UAL) invented lots of stuff which he sold the rights to people like Lysle?---He did a system where you took oil from the oil pressure guage fitting and routed two 3/16 brake lines up and under the edge(flattened a little) of the valve cover and tapped into the core of the rocker shaft--good answer to fix something that had not already been damaged too much------


Other remenies were to remove shaft assemblies and using a piece of speedometer cable rootoroot the oil passage from the top down but that wouldn't go sideways thru the head altho sometimes that would be enough. I also sometimes put a zerk fitting into the hole and pumped high pressure grease down which would force the sludge all the way back but was always questionabul about where did it go---hopefully not down an into the mains-------

I posted the above so I wouldn't lose it as it was getting long--------


However enough ? about the rocker shaft oiling---


You don't need to put a 312 crank/rods into the motor because it really won't do nothing for you---especially if the 292 crank/rods are good---but find a set of the aluminum T-Bird valve covers and a set of 3x2 or 2 x4 s and a pair of Allis Chalmer D17 diesel mufflers (2 in straight thru) -----you already got alum wheels on it and you are close to Mexico for taking it to get it upholstered


Another thought about swaps in Fords from back in that era----------Ford went to that front dist/oil pump AND REVERSE sump oil pan starting with the engines that came out 1958 and later and they won't go into some vehicles because of that----------THAT is probably why there was the big movement to CHEV engines for swaps into hotrods back then------the oil pan!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brie,
Google/Bing 'ford y block' and you'll get a ton of links. This one FORD Y is on top for a reason. Sounds like maybe if you just pull the 292 and take it to a good engine shop to be cleaned out good and then built back right you'll have what you want. Personally I like Scot - Sehr Performance Machine Engine Rebuilding Specialists You might give them a call and chat a bit about what you've got and what you want, but I'll warn you that you might end up shipping your engine north if you do.....

Been checking the numbers in an old bearing book and as I thought ---you can't put 312 crank in the 272/292 blocks as the main bearing size is 2.6235-2.6243 with a main bore size 2.8160- 2.8168 where as the 272/292 main bearing 2.4980-2.4988 and main bore 2.6912- 2.6920


And----------I might be wrong on what I wrote about the #2&4 cam bearings feeding the top---It might be just #3 on those engines but was #2&4 on the later design FE engines

Originally Posted by rspears

Brie,
Google/Bing 'ford y block' and you'll get a ton of links. This one FORD Y is on top for a reason. Sounds like maybe if you just pull the 292 and take it to a good engine shop to be cleaned out good and then built back right you'll have what you want. Personally I like Scot - Sehr Performance Machine Engine Rebuilding Specialists You might give them a call and chat a bit about what you've got and what you want, but I'll warn you that you might end up shipping your engine north if you do.....

I saved the Ford Y link in my favorites, the Sehr firm, as of this time does Chevy's only, when it comes to block prep.

Originally Posted by Niri Tawä

I saved the Ford Y link in my favorites, the Sehr firm, as of this time does Chevy's only, when it comes to block prep.

Scotty did my SBF 347 stroker from bare block. He'll do Chevy, Ford & Mopar, and he had a killer nailhead Buick in there last time I was in his shop. He's developed a special "Ultimate Block Prep" package for Chevy's. His note about "Ford & Mopar Coming Soon..." may be more of a website thing than a service thing. If you've got an interest give them a call. Great guys - Scot's the main guy, Kermit is his right hand man, and Tim (Scot's dad, I think) mans the phones most of the time and handles e-mails & computer stuff.