Picture of the valve springs.

Robin, you don't say where you are, just you found the car on Vashon Island. If that's Vashon in WA state one of your best sources of information will be Frank Stubbs in Newcastle WA. I think Frank' s pretty much retired from restoring birds (after at least 40 years), but I've seen him and Cathy (with 2 F code birds, an F code sedan, and her E code 57) 5 or 6 times this summer at various shows. I don't know how many 57 F codes and E codes he has or has restored, but it's a bunch. Might look him up in any case.

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

Robin.  Miker's suggestion that you connect with Frank Stubbs is an excellent one.  Know that we in no way question the mechanical ability or engine rebuilding technical expertise of your acquaintance.  Every manufacturers' series of engines has unique features that speak to its particular period and specific time of production.  This is information that many times does not appear in manufacturers' service manuals.  In the case of the Ford y-blocks, Ford Service Letters are sometimes THE ONLY indication of parts changes, superseded parts, or modifications.

As an example, and my understanding is that this is an example that is NOT in the service letters, BUT is known by those that have worked or viewed numerous different 'Bird E code set-ups, . . . later 'Bird E code air cleaner housings had brass screening secured around the carburetor air horns to serve as flame arrestors.  Unless you had worked on a number of E code set-ups, you would never realize that that is a significant change from how most were produced.

This is one seemingly insignificant piece of information, but your car, IF it is unmolested, IF it is as supplied originally by Ford, is quite possibly a treasure trove of information that only someone who knows y-blocks like the back of their hand will even recognize.

PLEASE, seriously consider involving Frank Stubbs in overseeing the disassembly of your engine.  IF you involve Frank, he will involve other extremely knowledgeable individuals when appropriate or as needed like Gil Baumgartner, CA;  Jim Weatherly, CA;  Don Hyde, Tx;  Amos Minter, TX;  Scott McGilvray, TX;  Marvin Hill, OH;  Don Antilla, CT; or Felix Natoli, NY in deducing exactly what you have, AND the information it may yield that is one-of-a-kind.  IF your car IS what is suspected and suggested, you have no idea of what that will do for the assistance, guidance, expertise, and coverage your 'find' will garner.  HOW you proceed in this project, and WHO you involve in what is done, will determine what of value is gleaned and how it may benefit you personally. This is one of those situation of not just WHAT you do, but HOW you do it.  It's potentially a clean slate.  I hope you gather the information to make your 'find' work for you and work for those of us in the peanut gallery.

NOTE:  'E' code air cleaner housings were painted argent.  None were chrome plated.  Carburetor fires often melted the zinc diecast venturi boosters used above the carburetor primary throttle bores of the Holley 4000 causing the brass donut-like washers to fall into the intake manifold.

Frank Stubbs can be called at 425-228-1012.  His email address is cfstubbsmsn.com

Best Wishes!  
Charlie Brown
        


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Robin
It is generally held in belief that the 285 engines used heads that were "broached".

Simply said  - cut by .060 , if you could get to the 1" pad on the head and clean it off really good and see what the measurment is, that may be an elementary way to tell if your engine is a 285 H.P. build.

Oldmics

Thanks for the second, Charlie. But you sure hit the "who's who" list for early birds.

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

Frank Stubbs lives just an hour South of me. I am in Arlington, WA.
Does Miker live in Kent WA or Arizona? If he is a snowbird, then maybe he is still up here in the PAcific Northwest. Kent is only an hour and a half away.
I would like to get both of them up to Arlington at their convenience to get their first look at this Bird. I think this is going to be fun.We will all learn a lot.
I did hear from the daughter or niece of the original owner today. Here is what she had to say. It looks like she thinks I sold the car. I did set her straight on that. 

Here is what my uncle Milt's brother said:When Milt bought the T-bird it had a I believe less than 1000 miles. I'm not sure if it was owned by someone other than dealer.  The engine was never worked on.   It had a motor mount problem that when revved  allowed the engine torque to the right and the clutch pivot rod would pull out of socket that  made clutch peddle to drop to floor board .I believe he replaced the motor mount .  All other parts should be original.  The hard top without the porthole is rare also.  I always knew it was a (super Bird)  sorry to hear it was sold, had hoped someone would have restored it.

Anyone have a picture of the brass screen used in the aircleaner? Sounds like something I need to add to mine incase of a fire which can happen.

Robin, I don't know enough about E codes to be of any use. There's a chance I'll see Frank tonight at the local show and shine. If so, I'll see if he's available. I'm going to PM you my contact info also.

I'm up in Kent, the deserts a bit hot this time of year.

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

New to forum guy here who does recognize the pictured distributor. When I hopped up my 55 T Bird in the mid 60's I replaced the stock vacuum distributor with a '57 blower distributor from Ford. The distributor was hard to find at the time as it needed the tach drive in order for me to keep the stock tach useable. I can also attest to the clutch pivot keepers popping out due to the engine torquing over and serious wheel hop. I also installed a different distributor cam that gave me a quicker throttle response, but it made the engine hard to start.

Some added thoughts and comments two days later. ~ I still  have my T-Bird. My modifications were: '57 312 heads out of an old police interceptor automatic trans. High ratio rocker arms, higher compression ratio and larger valves. Runners were polished and opened up around the valve guides. Valves were tulip ground and Oldsmobile valve springs installed. Melling super full camshaft and Jahns 5/8 " dome pistons installed with a full race balance. 0.030 over bore for the new pistons, 57 T-Bird blower distributor, Edlebrock dual 4 intake with a pair of Cadillac large venturi WCFB carbs. Straight linkage adjusted so the secondary did not open until 70 mph in straight high gear. ~ The problems I encountered were: clutch linkage coming apart when hammering the throttle, Crankshaft pulley damper shifting on the pulley, serious wheel hop and axel wrap, adequate breathing for the crankcase and generators coming apart. The latter was due to the higher than I thought engine RPM. The stock tach uses a wind driven (squirrel cage inside a squirrel cage) connection to the needle from the input cable and in my case was no where correct at higher RPM's. I routinely turned the engine to 5K on the tach which was probably closer to 7K. I finally changed the generator pulley size so I could keep the generator from slinging apart (and keep the fan belt from slinging off). I don't really know what the top speed is on the car. It has seen 128 and would cruise at 118 doing about 20 miles to the gallon on the highest test gas I could get. My wife and I managed to whip all but the fuel injected corvettes we could find willing to do some green light go. ~~~ About dual valve springs. The second or inner spring is actually a damper to try to stop valve chatter. The stock valve spring is 70 pounds open. They tend to float at higher RPM's and are the cause of most Y block failures. Oldsmobile valve springs are 108 pounds closed. The heads are frankly thin over the combustion chamber and back in the 60's were not milled unless that area was reinforced. Usually accomplished by drilling a hole through the head deck and installing a bolt through the water jacket and then welding the bolt to the deck before milling. Dome pistons were a much safer way to raise the compression ratio. 

I sure hope you and Frank are up to coming up to Arlington to see what it is we have. I will attach the original invoice that just came in. It doesn't help much though.
Let me know what Frank has to say.