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By Bill Childs - 10 Years Ago
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I have a bit of a 292 paint mystery. During tear-down I came across green paint on my block which appears to be the original color under several other completely wrong colors. I recall seeing this green on a Merc Y-block somewhere in the past. Seems to be a fair amount of opinion and controversy surrounding some of the Y colors. Was green only used by Mercury in '56, and if so, any detectable pattern to the vehicles the greens went in? ECK-6015B.
I bought a pretty wasted '54 Ford for $200 to get this engine. The owner said the engine was "just a 239". A quick peek at the casting #s told me it was a '56 292 with later G heads (turns out posted). castings are all Cleveland. The valve covers were standard overtightened Ford tin.
A couple examples of the green at the block # and behind the bell housing:
 
Any idea what the dial numbers indicate next to the distributor hole?
I happen to have a set of these merc valve covers I found at a swap years ago. Might be time to use 'em.
... and speaking of Mercury flavored candy, ran across this recently in a neglected box in my attic:
Cheers and thanks,
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By joey - 10 Years Ago
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I know Mercury used green paint on some engine blocks, but if it's a 292 it's not a 1956 Mercury. I think for '56 Merc put only the 312 in their cars, albeit with some slightly different compression ratios for automatic vs. standard.
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By Bill Childs - 10 Years Ago
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My understanding is that ECK blocks are 1956 292. But the green paint tight against the metal is the confusing part. This block is .040 over so I suppose an early rebuild may have included a thorough strip-down/cleaning and then a decent green paint job. Any insight or answers welcome. Either way, since my best set of valve covers are the Merc covers I'll probably try to roughly simulate a Merc engine as best as possible... so if anyone has a good idea on what colors the rest of the metal might be on a green '56 Merc Y block I'm all ears (Mummert intake so no paint there). This might be a nice color combo with my goldenrod yellow effie.
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By Y block Billy - 10 Years Ago
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That green looks like the green on the generator my brother picked up with a Y block, could be that engine came from a piece of equipment instead of a car!
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By Bill Childs - 10 Years Ago
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Good thought YBilly. Interceptor marine did come to mind. They used 292s. I'm in the wooden boat business and had one of those around for awhile. It was a B9AE block though. I'll check my cam out real close for clues toward that type of service even though a new cam will likely be used.
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By chiggerfarmer - 10 Years Ago
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I don't know what color the industrial engines were, but all the rebuilt engine assemblies that the dealers got from AER, Ford (Authorized Engine Rebuilders) were painted green. At least the ones that came from Dallas, TX were. When we installed one at the dealer it was usually repainted the correct color for the vehicle.
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By NoShortcuts - 10 Years Ago
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ECK is a '55 and '56 engine block casting I.D., Bill.
That said, I believe joey's info is correct. All '56 Mercs were 312s. All '55 Mercs were 292s. The first '56 Merc engine I tore down 100 years ago for rebuilding had gold paint on the long block. I hate to admit it, but a '55 Merc that I tore down some years later for rebuilding, I can't remember what color the block was. 
John Mummert's web site is a treasure trove of y-block information. Toggle the web address below for a pretty comprehensive listing of y-block casting I.D.s.
http://www.ford-y-block.com/Block%20identification.htm
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By Bill Childs - 10 Years Ago
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Good ponderings guys - thanks. As suspected, plenty of green block possibilities. So with this casting number (ECK-6015B) it could be a '55 Merc, a Ford AER, or another Y paint history mystery? It won't be judged for originality, was just shootin' to simplify the history of this block if possible. Still digging to figure out what color combos came with a green Merc Y block of any year 1955+. Merc valve covers and valve cover lettering colors are the question for this build. Any examples, rememberings, or hunches on this will be mighty welcome. Blatant Y-Merc semi-clone thanks,
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By lowrider - 10 Years Ago
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Being a 60 yr old car w/an engine that didn't come in the original car my thought is its an engine from a rebuilder. As mentioned earlier, the rebuilt engines we received at the Detroit area dealers were painted green. Even the independent rebuilder down the street painted theirs green. Another giveaway to me is the bell housing area at the rear of the engine is painted. I dont recall anything but a rebuilt engine painted in that area.
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By Ted - 10 Years Ago
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I’m currently working on a 1955 Ford P code 292 which has the ECK block casting number. This particular engine is the 198 HP version and is a restoration project for an original ’55 Ford 4 door Police car. In reverse engineering the actual static compression ratio, it’s coming up quite a bit short from the factory 8.5:1 advertised rating. The plan is to mill the heads and deck the block in which to restore the compression ratio back to the advertised values. Using current technology composition head gaskets and replacement pistons that have a reduced compression height simply adds to the amount of milling that must be performed in which to achieve that. The factory pistons had a compression height of 1.783” while the replacement pistons have a compression height of 1.760”. The original head gaskets were 0.025” compressed while the replacement head gaskets are 0.046” compressed.
As far as green for the engine color goes, I’m familiar with the 1957 Mercury 312 engines being gold but not sure what the colors were for for the preceding 3 years of Y production in the Mercury cars.
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By YBLOCKMERC - 10 Years Ago
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I have a Feb. '57 issue of "Auto Craftsman" magazine which has a picture of a '55 Merc that is being fitted with an E'brock tri-power. The engine has cream color valve colors with red letters and the engine is a greenish gold color. I'm assuming the engine is original to the car.
Bill, if you stop by my place on Monday I'll show it to you. I'll also check with a friend of mine who has done concours restorations on '55 & '56 Mercs.
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By Bill Childs - 10 Years Ago
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Interesting project Ted - the '55 police car. Head specs sure do get busy when considering all those variables - great info. I'll work on coming up with a definitive plan for the heads once they've been given a thorough inspection. Probably be pestering yunz again.
Yanked my block and heads from the local shop who was going to clean and magnaflux. After a month of "I'll get to it next week", and "just like a scruby" when I discussed details, I decided this was the wrong shop for any simple task on my hardware. Have to make a trip to Seatle monday so the goods will be going down to Gary at Pacific Auto Machine in Renton. I'm confident that with a good plan and good parts he can supply a worthy short block.
Great help guys... and great forum. Seldom is heard a discouraging word (rare on forums).
Thanks for your insight MercMark. I'll see you and your beautiful Merc Monday.
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