Ford Y-Block Oil Pumps

When the Ford and Mercury Y-Block (FYB) engines were introduced in 1953 for the 1954 model year, the oil pumps being used on those first models incorporated the same pump that was already being used on the Lincoln Y-Block (LYB) engines.  The Lincoln engines using that oil pump were introduced in 1951 for the 1952 model year offerings.  That pump incorporated a cast iron housing with a pair of side-by-side gears and is known as a spur gear design oil pump. 

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Y-Block Ford – 3X2 Intake Testing

What started out as a simple dyno test to evaluate the performance differences between the small and large port Edelbrock three deuce intake manifolds ended up turning into a full blown test where seven different 3X2 intakes were compared on an engine in a back to back dyno test.  The other intake manifolds being added to this test included three different intakes wearing the Edmunds brand, a Weiand intake and an Offenhauser intake. 

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Milling Heads for a Horsepower Gain

Over the years I have heard a variety of numbers from 2% to 10% for what a point in compression ratio is worth in regards to horsepower output.  The ten percent value obviously sounded a bit exaggerated while the two percent value sounded a bit on the small side. Continue reading “Milling Heads for a Horsepower Gain”

Rear Camshaft Plug Installation

Rear cam plug installation on the Ford Y-Block engines dictates that it not be installed so deeply that it actually interferes or contacts the rear of the camshaft. Besides the obvious wear issue that can occur at the face of the cam plug, detrimental wear at the rear side of the cam thrust plate can become evident or in a worst case situation, the thrust plate itself can break. Continue reading “Rear Camshaft Plug Installation”

Ford Y-Block Aluminum Head Testing Part II

With the aluminum versus iron cylinder head baseline dyno testing completed, there were some other variables that were begging to be evaluated before removing the Mummert aluminum heads from the Ford 312 Y-Block test engine. These included increased ratio rocker arms and a variety of intake manifolds and/or carburetion setups. Continue reading “Ford Y-Block Aluminum Head Testing Part II”

Modifying the Holley 94 two barrel for late model distributors

The Holley 94 and 2100 two barrel carbs came as the standard equipment 2 barrel carbs on the 1938 thru 1956 Fords.  When converting the distributors on the Y-Block Ford engines from the original Load-O-Matic (LOM) design to the later model Ford (1957 and up) distributors, the Holley 94’s original distributor vacuum port for the distributor will supply an excess of negative pressure or vacumm signal to the late model distributors. Continue reading “Modifying the Holley 94 two barrel for late model distributors”

The Ford Y-Block engine

This is a first in a series of articles about engine families and their history/ idiosyncrasies. Eaton Balancing offers services for all types of engines. Continue reading “The Ford Y-Block engine”

Warped Rear Seal Retainer on a Y

It’s simply amazing how many times the rear crankshaft seal gets blamed for an oil leak when there are so many other places at the back of the block that can either be the root cause or at least a contributor. The rear oil seal retainer on the Y-Block is just one of these items that more often than not gets overlooked when it comes time to address an oil leak at the rear of the engine. Continue reading “Warped Rear Seal Retainer on a Y”