The aluminum heads continue to impress and even more so on the engines built to be daily drivers. A case in point here is an alumi Continue reading “Not A Race Engine But Maybe It Should Be – 318″ Ford Y-Block”
Tag: Y-Block
Four Barrel Carburetor Testing on The Y
I recently had the opportunity to dyno test a variety of carbs on a stock ECZ-B intake. The engine itself is a sixty over 9.2:1 cr 312 that has stock (unported) G heads. The camshaft being used is a Crower Monarch grind with 238° duration at 0.050” and 0.400” lift at the valve. Advertised duration is 280°. While the camshaft is ground on 110° lobe centers, it’s installed in the engine at 2° advance or at 108° intake lobe centerline. Aftermarket 1.4:1 rockers are being used. The exhaust used for this particular test is a set of Reds (might be old Hedmans) headers running into 2” lead pipes ~4 foot long with no mufflers. The test range was 2500-5500 rpms.
The original ½” four hole spacer was used under the carbs in those instances where the carb bores were not too large for the spacer. Where the carburetor bores were too large, the spacer was changed out to either a 1” Moroso or Wilson four hole spacer with matching larger bores. The Moroso spacer had slightly larger bores than the Wilson spacer but both created a lip or shoulder within the bore where the spacer met the intake. Just another variable that must be considered.
The performance of the carbs were looked at from several different perspectives which included peak HP and torque, average HP and torque, and a calculated score. The score is derived by adding the mean (average) HP and torque together, dividing by the cubic inch of the engine, and multiplying by 1000. A score gives a better indication of the overall performance of the carb versus just looking at the individual peak values or averages.
The carburetors tested are listed in descending order from best to worst as based on their dyno test scores. Continue reading “Four Barrel Carburetor Testing on The Y”
Head Gasket Volume Calculation
Because an engine may be borderline in regards to the compression ratio when it comes to ignition timing or fuel octane requirements, it’s important that all values used in the compression ratio calculation be as accurate as possible. This includes the head gasket volume which many times isn’t stated on the package or in any reference material. For a conventional or mainstream engine where the fire ring in the head gasket is perfectly round, the hole size in the gasket can be measured and the volume calculated appropriately. But the Ford Y-Block has an irregular shape to the fire ring seal which throws special nuances into the measuring of this volume. But there’s no need for guess work when it comes to obtaining this volume value as it can be derived by doing some simple measurements on an existing head gasket and then performing a little bit of math. Continue reading “Head Gasket Volume Calculation”
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”
The 2010 EMC Y-Block Entry Breaks The 500HP Mark (on pump gas)!!
After submitting the EMC entry form for 2010 and then the list of competitors was published, I found that I was again on the alternate list. Continue reading “The 2010 EMC Y-Block Entry Breaks The 500HP Mark (on pump gas)!!”
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”
Preparing a 375 inch Y-Block Ford for the 2009 EMC Competition.
By the time this is published, the 2009 Engine Masters Challenge (EMC) will be history and the final results very likely posted all over the internet. Because this is being written as the engine is still being tested and before the competition takes place, I’ll do a followup article on the actual competition and what took place there. But in the meantime, here’s the short version of what was involved to get a Ford Y-Block engine readied for the EMC competition. Continue reading “Preparing a 375 inch Y-Block Ford for the 2009 EMC Competition.”
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”