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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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I'm certainly not looking for a battle if you are a die-in-the-wool Y block guy ....I'm trying to learn here . If you were looking at a mid 50's Ford or Merc to modify for street use , what would be the advantages of a Y block vs. an FE ? I'm wondering if the small block Y is lighter , cheaper , more bang for the buck over the big block FE .......or is it just a matter of personal choice ? I'm asking this because all my Ford experience over the years consisted of 289's , 302's and later modular motors 4.6 and 5.4 . Thanks , Terry
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By Glen Henderson - 12 Years Ago
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Well this is the y block, but you will find a lot of FE fans here also. The only advantage that I see is the additional cubes available with the FE. I think it just comes down to what you want and how deep your pockets are. Both are know for producing alot of torque and either would be period correct for a mid 50's ride. I love both, so I hesitate to say that one is better than the other.
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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Sorry I guess I should have narrowed my previous post . If I'm considering a 292 / 312 vs a 332 / 352 , and want to build 375 to 400 hp for the street ....AND be somewhat period correct given a mid 50's body , auto trans , is one way to go better than the other . Years ago I made a mistake sinking money into a 265 Chevy when I could have simply bought a used 327 and got the same result ....don't want to make the same mistake again . Older and wiser etc. T
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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Too be truly period correct for mid fifties, you need a Y. FE is late fifties. Neither engine is cheap for power but you can probably do it more cost effectively with an FE. I advise you to evaluate the situation as completely as possible to find out if a Y which bolts in vs FE + swap cost is actually cheaper. Yes other engines are cheaper but that savings is often offset by the cost to get the non stock engine and drive line installed and functioning. If you cannot pull off the swap in it's entirety yourself, in other words, you have to pay someone to do it, the Y is probably cheaper.
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By slumlord444 - 12 Years Ago
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Kind of a personal thing in my opinion. There is overlap from a time frame standpoint on the Y and the FE. Have had both over the years. To me it sort of depends on the car you decide on. If I went with an FE I would go with a minimum of a 390 block. If it came orginaly with a Y I would stay with a Y. If it came with an FE I would stay with an FE. That being said, a lot of '54 to '57 Fords had FE's installed back in the day. Had a '57 Ford Custom 300 with a 300 horse 390 in it back in '67-68 myself.
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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When talking 332- 352 vs 312 then in my opinion without a doubt I'd reach fo the mighty 312. The 312 when tuned properly seemed to be a little stronger than the 332 or 352 and I've owned them all. I'm not knocking these early FEs, they just seemed to be down on power for what I thought they should have. The 390s and and up are a different story because they were putting down some serious power. But the 312s were already doing that in 1957 with the supercharged versions in STOCK form putting out 370 to 380 HP and 420 FT lbs torque. The Nascar versions closer to 450 to 500 HP. 400 + HP 312s are becoming a common occurance naturaly aspirated now with all this technology.
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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Thanks for the comments ....lots to chew on . As to what body , I'm giving serious consideration to a '55-'56 F series pickup . There is a cruise up here every year ( like so many other towns ) and about 8 or 10 early to mid 50's Ford pickups make the show . Some are Chevy powered which makes no sense to me ( that's another story ) and some have 289-302's in them . Seems to me that would be perfect for a Y block done up right . The other one I'm looking at is a '54 Merc that is bone stock and could use an engine upgrade . T
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By lowrider - 12 Years Ago
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I'm a fan of both engines. Built & raced both back in day. I guess it depends how deep your pockets are for what you want. More speed stuff available for the FE & it might be a bit cheaper to build but you'll have more people scratching their heads with a y block when you pop the hood. Nothing looks or sounds better than a well built Yblock.
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By Ted - 12 Years Ago
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If building a 332/352 FE to 1958 specs and a 292/312 Y to 1957 specs, then look for the Y to run circles around the FE with all else being equal. But if going FE, by all means go for the cubic inches and get that apparent advantage. I’ve run both and each have their own specific strong points but either would be period correct for what you are planning so go the route that suits you best.
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By slumlord444 - 12 Years Ago
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One of the things that I have always loved about the Y is that if you put on a pair of T-Bird valve covers, they look more impressive than most any other engine out there. Had a set on my '58 Ford Custom 300 back in '63 and whenever I opened the hood, everyone was impressed. Same effect today.
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By PF Arcand - 12 Years Ago
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Y-blocks were stock bolt in for 55-56...
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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It would be fairly simple to build a 450+ inch FE that looks like a 352. Torque monster time. If I had a '54 Merc, it would definitly get a y block. Might be 340" with Mummert heads a mild cam etc, but a Y-Block for sure.
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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Here's the other question ...what about an automatic behind , say , a modified 292 ? My left leg isn't " clutch friendly " anymore I'm afraid . Is a C4 the way to go ? ..and can you get a converter with higher stall speed to launch the car better ? T
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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If you want to do some serious racing a C-4 or even a race modified power glide is an option. For occasional racing and street fun I really like my AOD. I'm currently running 3.80 gears and cruise at around 2000 RPM at 60. I plan to put in a 4.10 soon. You get great gears out of the hole but good cruising with the overdrive. Chuck
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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Chuck , any racing I would do would be serious for that moment  , but the car has to be streetable . A 4:10 would be my limit ....ran a 409 Chevy with 4:88 gears on the street when gas was cheap back in the day but , really , it was too much .....top end was only about 100mph but it got there in a hurry ! Ate plugs like no tomorrow .I saw that somebody had a "C2" in a 57 Ford ...never heard of it , maybe a typo ? , or is that what they called their old 2 spd auto ? T
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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TJ, Remember the AOD is an overdive unit. The effective top gear is going to be multiplied by the OD ratio in the transmision. In the case of the AOD it's .7. So the 4.10 gets multiplied by the .7 and you wind up with a 2.87 ratio. You get the advantage of the 4.10 in the lower gears with a reasonable highway gear in Overdrive.
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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Your top end will be well over 100 with an od assuming the engine has the power and if you are going to swap to a transmission that doesn't "bolt up" there is no sense in doing anything other than an od transmission.
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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I take it the AOD is a 3 speed ? I think the Merc/Monarch is out of the picture . More realistic ( price for what you get ) would be a 55-56 F1 or F100 ...whatever they called them at that time ...even a Merc pickup if they were still being made . I really like the 57 Ford hardtop but think it will be too pricey in good condition ...just the way the market is . I'm too old for a project car ....been there and done that in my yoot T
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By speedpro56 - 12 Years Ago
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I would call the AOD a four speed, it has 4 forward gears.
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By Y block Billy - 12 Years Ago
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From an economical standpoint I would go with the Y and over drive, the FE you will get around 10 MPG, the Y you can get upwards of 20 +, figure that savings into the cost of the build and the Y will come out ahead after a couple years of paying gasoline prices.
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By PF Arcand - 12 Years Ago
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TJ: Finding a solid 56 F-100 cheap may be a tall order. As for a 57 Ford, a solid one may seem expensive now, but the collector car market is unlikely to get any cheaper than it is now. Prices have dropped considerably, since the economy went south in 2008..
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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Thanks for cluing me on the AOD . I would definitely lean toward the Y , for many reasons after doing a lot of reading up on them thanks to you guys and the sites you provided . By reasonable price ...a 55-56 pickup in turnkey condition is 25-30 k range ( and up for a show truck ) from what I can see . I haven't seen a 57 hardtop near that unless I want to do a bunch of work . Honestly ....I'm really liking the 49-50-51 shoeboxes much more than I used to from what I've seen done up ....I'm just thinking out loud here I agree , the car would bring more $$ than the truck down the road but I'm looking at it as more fun for me rather than an investment .,,,,much to think about , atleast I've made SOME progress T
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By teejay99 - 12 Years Ago
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Jeez , the old mind is really working tonight .......I could look for a 57 Meteor Rideau 500 ........you guys are going .." a what ??? " In Canada we used to have Meteor ...looked like a Ford but different trim ( uglier ) ....we also had Mercury and Monarch ( different trim ) ....and to really confuse everyone there was a Pontiac version of the Chevelle called a Beaumont . It was great fun going across the river to Detroit and laying some story how we " customized" our Ford/Merc/Chevy etc ...the B.S. usually worked . Anyhow ...a 57 Meteor would go for a lot cheaper than a Ford .....I could get Ford grille , sidetrim etc ...you get the idea . It may be a plan ...trouble is , it will probably be a rust bucket being from up here . T
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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Tj, As Gary said, it's a four speed. First three gears are the same ratios as the C6's 2.40/1.40/1.0 and a overdrive fourth gear of .7. They can be very strong, I had one behind a 351 Windsor in a ford Ranger that would go 11's. Yet was perfectly streetable with the OD. Used it for trips as well as Every day transportation.
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