Date Code on "B" Manifold? Home » Keeping The Dream Alive! » Technical http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic129402.aspx

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By oldcarmark - 7 Years Ago There's an Ad on Kijiji from someone looking for a B Manifold but He wants One that is correct  for 1957. Is there a casting # or any way to identify what Year these Manifolds were made for? I don't remember seeing anything like that on the One I have. By DryLakesRacer - 7 Years Ago We're not all "B" manifolds 57 only? I don't remember a 58 or newer Y having one. The FE style engines came out and the Y moved back. Same for the 312? I could be wrong and often am. By NoShortcuts - 7 Years Ago Merc continued to offer 312 engines for '58, '59, and 1960.  I can't remember if they still came with single 4 barrel carbs after '57. Ford used the 'B' manifolds on some of the heavy duty truck applications with 292 engines up into the '60s, I think.  None of the pick-up trucks with 292s had the 'B' manifolds that I'm aware of.  I've got one later truck application 'B' manifold that does not have the heat tube running through it for an automatic choke.  I suspect that the truck had a manual choke or a heat tube that ran to the passenger side exhaust manifold. I'm not up on date code reading.  'B' manifolds that I've seen with the date code had the code adjacent to where the ignition coil was mounted. Trying to help on this, but my information is flimsy.  By NoShortcuts - 7 Years Ago Mark.  Click the link below to see a 'B' manifold that recently was sold on eBay.  When the eBay page opens scroll down on the page to see the complete advertisement from the seller.  Put your mouse over the 1st picture to enlarge it to get a close-up of the rear on the manifold surface behind the carburetor mount.  Notice the casting date code 67 followed by an upside down E below the 'B' casting number. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Y-Block-312-292-272-Thunderbird-Holley-4-Barrel-Intake-4v-Fairlane-/302231813424?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=UqmL9e5n7yEU2Inu8iWpLk3%252FfE4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc By oldcarmark - 7 Years Ago I see that stamping. Anyone know how to decode it. Sold for a good $ too. Little Sandblasting and its worth $300.00. I picked One up for $150.00  CDN last Fall. I already have One on my Car but for $150.00 I bought it anyway. Neads a good cleanup as its been sitting for Decades. By charliemccraney - 7 Years Ago I think it is 1956 (6) July (7) 31st (Backwards E, 26+5), so July 31st, 1956. That makes sense for a 1957 model year casting. By NoShortcuts - 7 Years Ago OldcarMark.  This my understanding of date code deciphering from something Forum member Randy Holmes pointed me to from the Squarebird.org web site.  An entry in a thread dealing with casting dating from an Alan Tast, author of the book 'Thunderbird 1955-66', references a Management Service Letter M-167a.  The section I felt applies to the intake manifold you're looking at goes like this...     Casting codes begin with the use a number to indicate the year it was produced (Example: 7 is 1957)... - the second figure may be either a number or letter to indicate the month as follows: 1 (representing January)-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0-A-B (being December).  [...that's because there are 12 months, but only 10 numbers] - the third symbol is either a screw head for Cleveland built units (flat for the day shift or round for the night shift) or a letter for Dearborn produced units... - next, to denote the day of the month that the casting was produced an A (1st day) through Z (the 25th day of the month because they don't use the letter 'I' ... - then the use of an upside-down letter A (for the 26th day of the month), and the upside-down letters B-C-D-or-E for the subsequent days (27th, 28, 29, 30th) and finally an upside-down letter F to represent the 31st day of the month, depending upon how many days there are in the month. IF anyone reading the above explanation has any corrections to offer about this, please share them.  This is the only thing I've come across on deciphering casting dates.  Frankly, I haven't owned or worked on any '50s FoMoCo vehicles where casting date correct components were a consideration.    Hope this helps!   By Ted - 7 Years Ago ECZ-B 4V intake manifolds were cast at least through the 1964 model year.  They were possibly cast after that as the engine blocks themselves were cast through 1967.  Mercury still used the 4V manifold in 1959 but went to a 2V carb on the 312 for the 1960 models.  After 1959, the ECZ-B manifolds were a truck item only.   Here’s the casting date location on a 1963 dated manifold.  This particular manifold has been modified to take the Teapot carburetor in conjuction with a Paxton blower.   On decoding the date, the first digit is the year, second digit is the month, and third/fourth digits is the day of the month. By Oldmics1 - 7 Years Ago This is from Mercury / Service Bulletin #114- Similar to Charlies description but with some additions probably specific to Mercury. Oldmics By NoShortcuts - 7 Years Ago Kudos, Oldmics!  Your posting of that Mercury Service Bulletin had a whole lot more brevity to it than what I wrote out based upon what I struggled to read and interpret on the Squarebird.org webpage. Thanks for posting that succinct photocopy! Regards, By pegleg - 7 Years Ago Charlie,          The date coding was close but often erratic. The tag that controlled this was changed at the beginning of the shift by the setup person. Often that did not happen right at shift change as that person may have had several patterns to change. Occasionally  the tags were stamped wrong, misplaced, or just plain forgotten. UAW remember! By NoShortcuts - 7 Years Ago Frank.  Interesting info.  I thought of you when I saw the picture Ted shared of the 'B' manifold modified for mounting a teapot for a SC set-up.  Seems like you had done something similar for your '57.  Felix is in the throws of installing a complete '57 set-up on his 'Bird.  He's had everything to do it for years.  I never realized how much there was to doing that.  Don Antilla is into a complete restoration of an 'F' 'Bird he's owned for quite awhile.  Felix and Don are in regular communication about their shared undertakings. GooD to hear from you!   Regards, Charlie By DryLakesRacer - 7 Years Ago Great info here as always... By Shaggy - 7 Years Ago Ted (3/24/2017)   Mercury still used the 4V manifold in 1959 but went to a 2V carb on the 312 for the 1960 models.  After 1959, the ECZ-B manifolds were a truck item only.    I have one that looks like a marine style blue so i'm wondering about boat usage. As land lubbers we forget about marine use. Thoughts? i'm assuming y's were in boats for a long time since the boat world is fine with solid lifters