Try to not get hung up on carb cfm ratings.  The Y with any improvement in the heads and camshaft will like a larger sized carburetor.  I have installed a number of 750 cfm Summit carbs on mild Y engines and they are good street drivers while providing adequate air flow when required.  The Summit carb is also offered in a 600 cfm model but for whatever reason, the 750 size tends to be a more suitable carb for most modified Y engines.  If never planning on exceeding 4000 rpms, then either a two barrel or smaller sized four barrel carb will provide adequate air flow.
 
The main thing to remember about a properly tuned vacuum secondary carburetor is that it will only open the secondaries the amount that the engine demands.  For this reason, it’s always prudent to go larger than deemed necessary when picking out a vacuum secondary carburetor.  Whereas a carburetor with mechanical secondaries is only perfectly sized in the rarest of instances, it’s difficult to be too big with a vacuum secondary carb assuming the base tune up is good.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

What’s the saying? All good things come to those who wait?

After a “hiccup” with the engine builder, Jerry Christenson took control of the build. Maybe he will write about this journey for the Y-Block magazine.

The engine is running and ready to go in the Parklane. I ended up going with smaller pistons than I wrote about (+40) and a slightly less aggressive cam.

Here’s my son with the engine



Here’s Jerry behind the welding mask



I will try and post a video of it running

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

let's see if this video link works



and this one




MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

Sweet music!

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

I started this thread a couple of years ago!

This past weekend, the engine went in the car. We picked the rebuilt one up from Jerry Christenson’s place on Thursday night. He was kind enough to lend us his engine hoist for the weekend.

On Saturday, my son and I disassembled as much from the old engine as novice mechanics can in prep for the transplant on Sunday. We put in a pretty long day. We did all of this work, by the way, on the street in front of my Minneapolis home. Lots of people walking or driving by all weekend wanted to find out what was going on.

My brother in law, who is a mechanic, arrived at 9 Sunday morning and we had the old engine out before 11. It was another long day, but we returned Jerry’s hoist around 7 pm. And he now has another old y-block to add to his collection.

There are lots of odds and ends to finish up - throttle linkage, some wiring clean up (went with an alternator), etc. but the car moved into the garage under its own power. So much could have gone wrong but generally didn’t. The new engine sounds wicked - my wife asked “did you pay to make it sound like that”? I may need to look into adding resonators.

Really tiring but fun and rewarding experience.



MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

LOL!!

Awesome and very cool story. Nothing more rewarding than giving a Ford Y-block a new lease on life.  When able, will you share some of the final specs? Cam, carb etc..  Thanks, JEFF.........


64F100 57FAIRLANE500

Congratulations. I love father and son projects. 

Here are some of the specs. A 292 block bored to 40 over a 312. We stroked a 312 crankshaft. Mummert intake, G heads ported by Jerry Christenson. We used the bigger stock exhaust manifolds - had them coated black. A quick fuel 600 cfm 4 barrel carb. With regards to the cam - I think I bought a “268” grind from Comp Cams that Jerry thought might be too much; ended up with a 270 grind. Tranny is a C4 with a 2200 stall converter. Converted to a Powermaster 1 wire alternator that looks like the old generator. They must have sent one for a T-Bird as Jerry had to fab the bracket a bit to move it forward. We will convert to a petronix with an MSD box and a flamethrower coil.

I’m not super conversant in all of this, but I think I got the facts right!

I will try to post the cam specs.

MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

Cam card. I had to take a picture of it on my computer screen as a means to post it.



MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN