Y block questions

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willowbilly3

Well-known member
I bought several engines out of an old shop this week, 2 of them are Y blocks and since it was an old ranch with all old trucks setting around, my first assumption is they are truck/pickup engines. The one is pretty obviously truck. It has Holley 4 bbl and the big pressed on double groove water pump pulley with windows. A couple questions on that, is the intake pretty much the same as the 57 car square bore? And how do I tell if it has the forged crank?
I'm still digging around on the engine I think is pickup. It is a 2 bbl. Holley with the same red paper element air cleaner that my 59 pickup has. I haven't found the numbers yet, it was getting dark when I was scraping around but the block is kind of a light green and I can't find anything on the internet an green Y blocks, other than it might have been a reaman. Comments? It has a spin on oil filter. Also, do you have to cut away the exhaust gasket to find the head number?
Both engines have the exhaust cross over.
Thanks
 
Here's a couple links for ID'ing casting numbers on basic y-block parts.

This one includes engine colors.
http://www.y-block.info/main.html

This one has photos and a bunch of 'How To' info.
http://www.ford-y-block.com/technical.htm

If the engines have their original oil pans that helps tell some of them apart easily.
Trucks and Tbirds have a rear sump pan and the oil dipstick between cyls 2 & 3
1st photo...
top pan = HD truck
middle = light truck
bottom = Tbird
Full sized cars have a front sump oil pan (photo 2) and the oil dipstick is below the generator

4 bbl Intake manifolds.
This link has a chart for them, http://www.y-block.info/casting/intake.html
scroll down for the Truck chart.
During '57 / '58 with the ECZ-B intake manif for cars there were some minor(?) improvements related to choke heat, but the basic manifold is the same.
I've never seen a 4bbl HD Truck intake manifold and have no clue about them. Some large truck engines had 'governor' hardware on them. A tach drive distributor for a dash mounted tachometer is also possible.
.
 

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The 2nd link dmsfrr sent you above also has info on identifying the 292 steel crankshaft. I believe the 4 barrel intakes on heavy trucks were the same as passenger cars. They made two. One for the small flange early four barrels (teapots with governor) and one for the modern larger flange four barrels (Holley 4150's with governor).
It's even possible one or all of the engines you have are Lincoln Y-Blocks which were used in heavy trucks too.

Sal
 
Thanks for the info. Right now both are laying on the oil filter side and I need to roll them over to see the block number. The truck engine does have the large flange Holley with the governor and truck style distributor. I also haven't found head numbers where they say I should, under the exhaust because the connecting part of the gasket needs cut away to reveal that area. I'm hoping the pickup engine is 59 or earlier since most of the info shows 60 and later pickups and trucks as having the smaller intake valves. 58-59 pickups should have the posted 113 heads which were later the replacements for the ECZ-G 312 heads, albeit larger chambers according to some info.
 
willowbilly3 said:
Right now both are laying on the oil filter side and I need to roll them over to see the block number.
.....
I also haven't found head numbers where they say I should, under the exhaust.....
Click to expand...
Depending on which foundry cast the block it's number can be:
above the oil filter, at the base of the distributor or, passenger side front behind the generator.
photos at the bottom of this linked / page...
http://www.ford-y-block.com/Block%20identification.htm

If you happen to have one of the Lincoln y-block engines here's a link to a list of block casting numbers. http://www.ford-y-block.com/lincoln.htm

Heads from different years can have their casting numbers in different places.
The early heads have core plugs front & rear and their casting number can be on top under the rocker arm shaft. (photos 1 & 2)
After that, the number is near the exhaust ports. (photo 3)
The newer ones have their numbers underneath, often near the front & rear water passages.
If you're looking for 113 heads look for their numbers where the yellow circles are in the 4th photo, they're what's on that engine.
FYI: B9AE was a factory replacement for the 5752-113
.
 

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Thanks. I looked at so many sites last night, some info kinda got muddled. Some of what I found was inconsistent, especially on 59 pickup heads. I guess I was assuming (hoping?) these to be engines newer than 57 when the only foundry marks were above the oil filter. I'm going out now and look for some numbers. I'll post what I find.
 
I just went out in the rain and looked. On the engine that isn't truck, I found the 6090 under the front left intake runner (the only one you can get to with the intake on) and under the rocker shaft. That just means it's a head. The other markings under the rocker were a thing that's the impression of a tag with screw heads and it had something like 3-2(3,6,8 couldn't read the last digit) and in the center under the rocker shaft a kind of divided circle with 5 digits that don't correlate with any head identification numbers listed. That engine has EDB by the distributor making it a 55-57 292. But I also noticed the rear cam plug missing and the end of the cam out flush with the block and rather cocked looking, probably a broken cam making it junk.
I didn't have the valve cover off the truck engine and found no number under the intake runner or under the exhaust manifold. I did roll it up and find the C2AE so it is a 62-64 truck 292. I also got intake manifold numbers ECZ 9425 B
The truck engine crank flange has no crescent or other cutouts, completely round, which according to the info is a steel truck crank, the "pickup" engine has the single crescent and no dot so 272, 292.
Also the truck engine has a rebuilders tag, so who knows what's inside. I guess I got a couple good bits, the intake and hopefully a usable truck crank and block.
 
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Having had a lot of practical experience with Ford Y blocks, I have found that the later model engines, 63-64 do not have an opening in the lower left portion of the block for the truck style of crankcase vent. The vent was omitted when Ford went to the PCV's in '63-64 Y blocks.. I have two of the engines, one of which came out of a '64 F250 that I owned for over 25 years.
 
scicala said:
The 2nd link dmsfrr sent you above also has info on identifying the 292 steel crankshaft. I believe the 4 barrel intakes on heavy trucks were the same as passenger cars. They made two. One for the small flange early four barrels (teapots with governor) and one for the modern larger flange four barrels (Holley 4150's with governor).
It's even possible one or all of the engines you have are Lincoln Y-Blocks which were used in heavy trucks too.

Sal
Click to expand...

It's surprising how many of the "B" intakes are on ebay touted as 57 312 Thunderbird, and obviously without the heat stove. Some of them have sold for over $300
 
The ECZ-B intake is the same one you have on the truck. Pretty sure the holes for the choke heat tube aren't there because all of the heavy trucks with governors had manual chokes, and don't need the heat tube in the intake. The ECZ-B intake is a little gold mine for you though. Remember, ECZ-B is a casting number, and not a part number.

Sal

Sal
 
What I was trying to say (but didn't come out right), is that the intake you have is the same casting used on '57 Ford, T-Bird and Mercury 312's. Also '58 Mercury 312's.

Sal
 
scicala said:
What I was trying to say (but didn't come out right), is that the intake you have is the same casting used on '57 Ford, T-Bird and Mercury 312's. Also '58 Mercury 312's.

Sal
Click to expand...


Yes and that is consistent with what I've learned. I looked at a lot of "B" intakes on ebay and none had the hear tube provision. thanks
 
Just like.... almost any y-block engine for sale being a "312"... the 4bbl intakes and dual exhaust manifolds are automatically all from a "Thunderbird". It's​ a miracle of sales technology. :rolleyes:
 
dmsfrr said:
Just like.... almost any y-block engine for sale being a "312"... the 4bbl intakes and dual exhaust manifolds are automatically all from a "Thunderbird". It's​ a miracle of sales technology. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


I'm sure there is in depth discussions on dual exhaust manifolds too. I parted out a 54 Merc that had them, original I think but not the flat top ones like the 312s had. Also found a 60 car in a local junkyard with 2 bbl. and dual exhausts. Stock? not sure.
 
The '54 Merc was likely stock that way.
It was a top-of-the-line car and came with a teapot 4bbl on a 256, with factory dual exhaust.
(in the bottom chart at this link)
http://y-block.info/casting/exhaust.html

The dusty '55 I'm very slowly working on had most of one of those engines in it. But with a '57 ECZ-B intake and a 4bbl carb from a '63 390, neither of which worked right at all.
After a few years previous owners can do almost anything.

At that same link in the top chart you can see the casting numbers changed in '57, when they upsized to the flat-top exhaust for the bigger engines.

.
 
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Pulled a valve cover on the truck engine and it is C0TZ. Can't find that one on any of the head charts. Other engine is C0TE, which is 1960 pickup with 1.64 intakes
 
"The '54 Merc was likely stock that way.
It was a top-of-the-line car and came with a teapot 4bbl on a 256, with factory dual exhaust."


Dmsfrr,

Believe it or not, '54 Mercury's came stock with single exhaust and the exhaust crossover pipe in front of the engine. In '55 all Mercury's had 292's with dual exhaust

Sal
 
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