56 or later?

R

Ricks56

Member
Starting to really look at the engine in my '56 Fairlane. I have not yet pulled the oil pan to look for the bearing cap stampings, but the engine is supposed to be a 312. What is odd is this: the top of the coil faces rearward; all the books I have show the coil top facing the passenger side on a '56. The pictures of the 57s I have seen face rearward. Years ago I had a 57 Fairlane (never did restore it) and it's coil faced rearward also.

Is this an indicator that it is not a '56 engine? It also has the road draft tube on the side of the engine. My shop manual shows the 312 draft tube coming out of the top of the valley cover. I believe my '57 Fairlane was that way too. Man, am I confused :confused:

So it may be a 292 or a 312, but is it a '56 or later???

It does have a '57 or later distributer as it does not have the Holley teapot on it anymore (I'm thinking it may have the original 4 bbl manifold for the teapot. I have the teapot, but there is a Holley 7448 2 bbl carb on it right now via an adapter plate. The carb is 350 cfm and seems to work well.

Thanks for any insights!
 
Left front road draft tube is early passenger car, later were out rear valley pan. Some TBirds and trucks are out the valley cover. What part number is on the block? Original 4 bbl intake should be P/N ECZ-9424-A.
 
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All early Birds (55-57) had the draft tube in the back of the valley pan. 56 and 57 Birds had the top of the coil facing to the rear.

As far as I know, all 55-57 Y Blocks in sedans had the draft tube at the side. Not sure about the coils in a sedan, but at least the early Yblocks in a sedan were different.

Anything could have been changed over the years, especially an item like a coil mount.
 
Ricks56,
A '56 engine block would probably have an ECZ-6015-A or B casting number. If it's an early '56 it might be ECK. If the block was cast in Dearborn it would be EDB-A.

Here's a link to a site where you can find out block & head casting ID numbers, how to ID a 312, things to watch out for, etc.
http://ford-y-block.com/technical.htm

.
 
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