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By Florida_Phil - 4 Years Ago
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Ford Y-Block "A Performance History" Charles R. Morris
I recently found this book on Amazon and it's a must read for anyone interested in Y-Block Fords. I got my driver's license in 1964. By then, our heroes were driving 406s and 427s. My first car was my Dad's 1957 Ford Custom 300 with a 272 and an automatic transmission. My buddy down the street had a hot rod 1954 Ford with a 292 and a three speed transmission on the floor. Y-Blocks were on the way out by then, but they were cheap and readily available. We didn't appreciate Y-Blocks as race engines. We knew they would lay down 100 feet of rubber. I bought a 1956 Ford Victoria off a car lot. It had a tired 292 with a three speed on the floor. After I blew that engine, I bought a 292 out of a friend's 57 Ford after he wrapped it around a tree. The improvement in performance was immediate. I eventually installed a 3/4 race cam, a Holley carburetor and a 3.89 gear set. My Ford was fast, but it couldn't keep up with my buddy who had moved up to a 401 HP 390 Galaxie with a 4 speed. I moved to FEs after that, but I always remembered the old Y-Blocks I started with.
This book changed my outlook on Y-Blocks. I never thought they were anything but has been engines. Nostalgia was my motivation for owning one. This book is full of interesting stories and photos of the times Y-Blocks ruled the raceways. Every Lemans winning 427 can trace it's heritage to the Y-Block. Shaft mounted rockers, bushed rods, side oiler blocks, it all there.
If you like photos of 1957 Fords, you will love this book. Reading through it is like taking a tour of my neighborhood in 1965. There are names in this book who are still on this forum. We owe them a lot. Younger members, who weren't around back then will learn Y-Blocks are much more than antique engines. They are a piece of history. If you love Y-Blocks like I do and don't own this book, buy it and tell us what you think.
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By FORD DEARBORN - 4 Years Ago
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Florida Phil, that's a good find,. Two copies will do, one going to my son who was bit hard by the Y bug since growing up around me. Thanks for sharing......
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By Florida_Phil - 4 Years Ago
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https://www.amazon.com/Ford-Y-Block-Performance-Charles-Morris/dp/0989114929/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=ford+y+block+performance&qid=1588266100&sr=8-12
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By PF Arcand - 4 Years Ago
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I haven't read that book, but I'll make a general comment on Y-Block performances issues. 1st, generally speaking the Ford Motor company did an inferrior job of taking advantage of their peformances in the mid 50's, compared with G.M.'s advertising efforts. In 1957, a classic case was when part way into the year, the big three, at a meeting, apparently agreed to not promote racing or high performance, a recommendation that came from a rep from G.M.. Rob't MacNamara, then head of Ford, bought it "hook line & sinker," while G.M promply sent their perfomance stuff out the back door, to a company headed up by a fellow by the name of Vince Piggot, who promoted their perfomances & made sure that all the good performance news they had, got out one way or the other.. In the mean time, all high performance references, part numbers & so on were deleated from all subsequent Ford literature! MacNamara thought he was dealing with straight up people.. A classic case of "dumb" ! I have quite a lot of other material about this subject, some of which I got from the late Richard Gaston, a regular contributor to Y-Block Magazine & for a short while, a crew member for Holman Moody. But the info is not readily at hand, so I'll leave at that for now...
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By Lord Gaga - 4 Years Ago
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After his great work at Ford, MacNamara went on to do another 'swell' job in our government. LOL
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