I have just finished tearing down a "ready to run" 312 that I bought from an estate in Bellingham to put in my Dad's 55 T-Bird.  I am sure glad that I didn't try to just throw it in and run it.  I found #7 piston had siezed at some point.  The piston is scuffed and rings are all siezed in the grooves.  I also found some "loose" main cap bolts.  But the big surprise was the camshaft and bearings.  I expected to find a groove in the center cam journal or maybe a grooved center bearing but I found neither.  The only provision for top end oiling is the center journal of the cam is cross drilled twice.  I prelubed the engine before I tore it down and oil was getting to the rocker shafts. (although one side was getting more oil than the other probaly due to the position of the cam)   I'm not reusing this cam so it won't matter in the long run but I guess you just never know what you'll find. 
I'm just curious if any of you experienced y-block guys have seen this before?
Thanks!

'55 T-Bird
Battle Ground, WA

Welcome to the world of rebuilt engines. I drove a rebuilt 312 that ran fine. Tore it down to modify it, and the crank didn’t pass mag check. Cracked, but not broken yet. IIRC, that was the stock set up on the early cams.

I’ve got some parts from that engine still laying around I think, and I’m just down in Kent. Let me know if I might help.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Miker,
I'd love to know what you have.  You could send me a PM if you want.  
I live in Battle Ground but I get up to your area now and then.
I guess I should learn how to make a signature on here.
Thanks.

'55 T-Bird
Battle Ground, WA

Interesting that you found a cross-drilled camshaft in your 312.  The cross-drilled camshafts are typically found in the 1954-1955 engines and the 1963-1964 engines.  The 1956-1962 engines had the grooved center journal camshaft.  I have torn down 312’s with the C2AE blocks that also had the cross-drilled camshafts and those blocks were date coded late 1962 and newer.

So that begs the question, what is the casting number and code date on your particular block?  Are there indications that this block has been previously rebuilt such as over bored cylinders and/or a turned or reground crankshaft?  You can also look at the engine bearings and see if they are original Ford or something else.  Many engine bearings are also dated and can give a clue as to if and when the engine has been freshened up since it was new.  If the engine had composite head gaskets and not the steel shim gaskets, then the heads have at least been off sometime in the past.  If a rebuild, it’s always possible that a cross-drilled camshaft replaced the original grooved camshaft.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I sent a pm.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

i got a cross drilled cam in a B9AE block which was rebuilt.they used the newer cam bearing and no problem as the rockers were like new.the engine i would guess had about 20,000 on it.nothing wrong with a cross drilled cam.

Thanks all for the replies!  Yes the engine has been gone through.  Cylinders are .040" over and the crank is .020/.020 under.  It is an ECZ-A block which means its a 1956 engine, correct?  I tried to add a photo of a rod bearing.  Would 10  78 be a date of mfg?  The main bearings are not Ford and the numbers are very hard to read.

Question - Do all of the aftermarket cams come grooved?  I was thinking of grooving the block like Eaton shows but if all cams are grooved then I guess there is no reason to do that.  

'55 T-Bird
Battle Ground, WA

Your ECZ block could have been cast anytime from 1956 thru 1958.  The date code would help to verify exactly what year and month your block was cast.  The date code for that block is typically found on the passenger side of the block just under the deck.  The actual assembly date is stamped on some blocks on the valley cover block gasket surface the front of the block.

‘10 78’ on the bearing is very likely October 1978 which at least gives a date for when the bearing was manufactured.  It was used sometime after that in your engine.

That’s a ‘Yes’ on all the aftermarket Y camshafts having the grooved center journal.  Two problems arise in that the 1^st is that the journal groove is marginal at best for the oil supply and the 2^nd is the current crop of cam bearings having a softer babbit than was originally used in the engines.  A combination of shallow cam journal groove and soft babbit ends up with the cam bearing wearing quickly into the journal groove and thus shutting off the oil supply to the top end.  Common fixes are grooving the cam hole in the block behind the cam bearing, purchasing bearings that have the groove on the outer O.D. of the bearing, or machining the groove in the cam journal deeper.  Having too much oil to the top end is easily rectified by using restrictors at the corresponding rocker arm pedestal on each bank.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

There are numbers on the front valley gasket surface.  The first digit is not completely stamped.  I think it is stampted 30T61.  It also could be 50T61.
On the passenger side of the block is cast 50 then a "dot" and a 1 so 50-1  There is also a pointer cast in pointing at a 1.
Do these mean anything to you?
Thanks.

'55 T-Bird
Battle Ground, WA

Assuming the date and assembly codes are correct, the block was cast for a 1956 model vehicle.

On the stamped number ‘50T61’, I get Oct 19, 1955 (Wednesday) for the assembly date.  The 6 does not make any sense as that should be 1, 2, or 3 denoting the shift that the engine was assembled.  The ‘1’ could possibly be the inspector for that shift but that could also denote the shift whereas the 6 indicates something else.  The ‘6’ likely indicates the engine line or the assembler.  The tail end of the assembly date on the block does not follow the normal hierarchy sequence as stated in the service bulletin I am using.

For the block casting date ’50.1’, the period in the date is unusual.  But eliminating the period, the date would be October 1, 1955 (Saturday?) which does fall in line with the assembly date.  Block castings did not usually occur on weekends so that Oct 1^st date is questionable.  If the period is an incomplete casting of another ‘1’ thus making the date October 11, 1955, then that makes the casting day a Tuesday which makes more sense.    A picture of that casting date on the block might prove to be helpful.

The arrow pointing to the ‘1’ denotes 1^st shift.  Likely a dayshift casting.

Other interpretations of those numbers always welcome.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)