Id look into eastwood as their engine and detail paints are quite good.  I will be ordering another can of their bare steel paint to paint my new choke coil shield before I bolt it onto my Holley 4000.  Thing is rusting on me just sitting in the house awaiting installation.


1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

Don't know if its bird specific but I bought a bob drake water pump for my 292, it has the OEM casting markings as original but it uses a ball bearing shaft support I think is what I read over the standard brass bushing for long life.

1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

BBQ black worked for years. After completely dry for a few weeks I'd wipe over it with a clean cotton tee-shirt rag and take some of the dull out it. not quite semi-gloss but better looking to me. I've used Eastwood radiator spray also with good results.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

I have One in my 56. I want to try painting it Black so it does not look Obvious as it does now. I understand Black Barbeque paint will work and stand up to the heat. Any thoughts?

  

My '55 TBird overheated in traffic.  A couple of traffic lights and my temp gauge would march over to hot.  It never boiled over, but it made me so nervous I quit driving it in town.  It had a stock water pump with an old stock radiator that looked original.   After some research, I removed the old radiator and installed a new Champion aluminum radiator and electric fan.   I also removed the stock belt driven fan.  The whole cost of doing this was around $200.  

Since this swap, I can not make my TBird overheat.  I still have a stock iron water pump on my engine. I am running a 170 degree wide gap thermostat I bought from NPD.  Once it opens, you can remove the radiator cap and see the water rushing though the radiator.  It's a torrent.  I believe most TBird overheating problems are with the radiator, not the water pump.  My solution will never win a Concours d'Elegance, but it works great.

Regarding water flow, I found this post enlightening: 

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic135031.aspx

https://pti-az.com/

.150 Stroked Y-Block:327.25 ci @ >1hp per ci
 

CASCO has the better water pump for TBirds.





54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

I am not a T-Bird Expert but I seem to recall there is a better Water Pump available than the Original Design specifically for T-Birds?.  

  

That piece of tubing looks to be the drain back tube from the side/block mounted road draft tube.
 
General consensus is that those water pump baffles do not help the water flow on the early ‘Birds.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

The tube is 1/2 of a rocker shaft oil tube.  Here's a photo of one in position.  They drain oil from the the rocker down a hole in the head. There is one on each side.  I believe their purpose is to provide extra oil to the timing chain and the distributor gear.  Mine are blocked to pressurize the rockers.  Do you have an after market external oil line?   Make sure you are getting enough oil to your rockers.  That's a potential problem with Y Blocks.