CHARLIE, THE 56 MERC. WAS NICK NAMED THUMPER AND IT HAD A 368 LINCOLN Y BLOCK , I BELIEVE ROYCE WAS BUILDING A CLONE TO MATCH THIS 368 POWERED 57 MERC. THE MERMAID. I HAVE THE ARTICLE AND IF ROYCE DOESN'T JUMP IN I WILL POST MORE ABOUT IT. TOM

  JUST A MIDNIGHT CRUISE DOWN THUNDER ROAD!!! TOM DRUMMOND MIDWEST DIRECTOR 57 FORD INTERNATIONAL

I don't think the dragster setup will be best for the salt. I imagine it wouldn't handle right, and all of the dust kicked up by the front tires will shorten the life of the engine dramatically.


Lawrenceville, GA

Good point Billy.  The only thing is you have to keep it at WOT a lot longer and hopefully all that power stays inside the engine.  Then do it again for a backup!

I was visiting the Hilborn Fuel Injection office Friday and in the lobby were some great examples of older FI manifolds.  No Y-Block units, but there was a framed picture on the wall of a 56 Merc from the October 1956 Hot Rod Magazine.  It claimed 152 mph with a famed Hilborn FI setup.  If anyone has the issue, perhaps you can shed some light on the car.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Frank,

They were limited to 1/4 mile, let them loose on a mile or more and I am sure some new milestones will be made by the Y.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

Couple of recent drag race numbers also. Randy Gummelt and Bob's world record.  

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

i believe that other bird had a 368 not 430.

Seppo and Greg,

I am slowly, but steadily working on the Comet, I just haven't reached a point that is worthy of pictures to post, hopefully I will have something for you soon (keep an eye on the BonnevilleComet thread).

As for a fund raiser, nothing promotional wise is planned, but I have been selling quite a bit of the Y-Block stash (thanks to a lot of you.....and Tim) and that has helped me purchase new Goodyear landspeed tires, custom wheels, Moon wheel disks and a 14 point roll cage kit (yep....14 point) from Alston's Chassisworks.  I am currently finishing the front and rear suspension which includes front and rear anti-roll (sway) bars, and a rear watts link.

Thanks for asking..............Charlie

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

Slightly off topic Charlie, but speaking of your Comet, are you going to be undertaking any kind of fund raising activities for your Comet's run?

My name is Greg and I am addicted to Y's.

Charlie, I just started the clock and I'm waiting to hear some news... .

BTW, how is your Comet progressing?

 Seppo from Järvenpää, Finland
www.hollowheads.net (just click the hole in the head to proceed)

Gary,

I have to tell you, even with Jyrki's links, I had a hard time believing that a Y in a T-Bird could go 200 mph+ in 1957.  So, a little research was in order.

As a general rule of thumb, it takes about 700 to 800 hp to make 200 mph with a door slammer.  Aerodynamics of course makes a big difference.  With the small frontal plane of the BattleBird, I still felt like it would take at least 600 hp to generate that kind of speed.  Oh, me of little faith.

After a little google help, I found out that there were four T-Birds prepped for the 1957 Daytona SpeedWeek.  Two were in pretty much stock trim and factory power with no mention of "E or "F" code engines.  One went 135 and the other went 138.  Pretty good I'd say.

The third was a BattleBird and had 430 Lincoln power with no mention of induction.  It was driven by Danny Eames and set a record in B Modified Sports at 160.356.

The fourth bird was BattleBird #98 driven by Church Daigh.  The Y was stroked to 348 cu. in. and fed by Hilborn fuel injection.  There were no speed numbers given with an attempt to run naturally aspirated, but it is said that they added a supercharger and did just what you said.

According to the book "Thunderbird Milestones", by Mike Mueller and a report from the "Classic Thunderbird Club of Chicagoland", the #98 BattleBird did 205 mph on a down leg and broke on the return run and therefore no record was set.  As it is at Bonneville, the average of two passes were required within a period of time at Daytona to set a record.  And so the speed just became a footnote.

The report said that the addition of the supercharger while staying with the high compression just destroyed the engine.  No mention of changing the Hilborn unit or whether it was a blow thru or draw thru system.  There was no mention of the brand or type of supercharger either.

Well, that got my thinking up.  Let's keep looking (and trying), who knows, perhaps there is or will be even faster Ys.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)



BurnsRacing981@gmail.com