I think the geatest engine of all time is the good old ford flathead. loved them as a kid,and they 're still powering a lot of cars,trucks and lord knows how many other pieces of equipment. they were[and are] tough,reliable,and easy to work on. I'm a y guy but still love the flattie!

I've been a Y block guy since the mid fifties, but at the same time

I had a little bit of a thing for Buick nailheads, what with their pent

roof combustion chamber, and ever notice their deep skirt crankcase,

making them technically a Y block.

55f100

West Monroe,La.

Probably why I've always liked them too.  There is a reason I made my FED engine a 322.   (4" x 3.2")

   God Bless.   Tim                           http://yblockguy.com/

350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor

tim@yblockguy.com  Visalia, California    Just west of the Sequoias

This was my Dad with his Hudson Hornet, brand new, changed cam to a hotter factory grind, taped up the headlights and went racing, Won more money the first three races than the car cost! 

Gary Ryan San Antonio.TX.

Wow, I wish I'd seen this thread before now--it's a subject near and dear to my heart! I grew up on a farm and we had all kinds of motorized vehicles. I developed an interest in engines (motors?) early on. Even when I was a little kid, I could generally distinguish different engines and even the sounds of starters (Fords & Chevies both had very distinctive sounding starters and were a cinch to tell apart, for instance).

OK, so here are some of my favorites (though like other people on this thread, I generally like all old vehicles and engines). In no particular order:

I love inline sixes. The Hudson Hornet's monster 308 CID flathead w/ Twin-H Power was extremely impressive. But my favorite was the very rugged Rambler/AMC 7-main bearing six that started out as a 232 in 1964. There were 199 and 258 CID versions in the U.S. market as well. In other markets, there was apparently a 282 CID version as well. And of course there's the more modern 4.0L version that was used in Jeeps starting in 1987.

The Mopar "poly" V8 engines were always fascinating to me. Those "scalloped" valve covers were real eye-catchers. I still contend that the older "poly" 318 had more power than the later "wedge" 318 that replaced it. This comes from lots of experience with both engines over the decades.

Wish I could add some more here but I'm in kind of a hurry--lots & lots to do. I'll try to post more later.

On edit: I have to admit that Olds V8s have a wonderful sounding exhaust note. They make a very distinctive sound. I used to have a '72 98 and I put duals & glass packs on it. What a great sound!

I've always been a fan of the '"385" series FoMoCo V8s too. Drove a '71 Marquis Brougham with a 429 2V for a number of years. That was a sweet ride, and it had lots of punch in spite of breathing through the 2V carb.

Freezing in WI

As far as automobile engines go it has to be the Y-Block. My first 3 cars had Y-Blocks. I remember family get togethers when ever car there was either a 55 or 56 Ford. Grand parents, aunts, uncles. My brother's first 4 cars had Y-Blocks. My parents ordered 2 Fords from the factory, both with Y-Blocks, 59 Galaxie and 62 F-100 Unibody. The first time I saw a 265 scrubrolet disassembled it looked like a tinker toy to me. They still do.

I guess my first love in engines were motorcycles. From British thumpers to the great sound of the twins. 650 Bonnevilles and 750 Nortons. How different a British twin with a 360 degree crankshaft sounds than the banshee wail of a 305 Honda Hawk with a 180 degree crank. Honda was always trying new ideas on production bikes, torsion bar valve springs, double row straight cut gears that in theory were as quiet as helical with less power loss.

The first money I ever made was maintaining a couple of Honda 90's at age 14.

Owned many 2 stroke dirt bikes, Spanish and Japanese, even a Greeves and a couple of Huskys. I love to see the way different countries do things. Desmo valve trains in the Ducati's and all the different 2 strokes with piston port, reed valves, rotary valves.

I like to look at old transmissions to see how they synchonized the gears. Many follow the same method but once in a while I see one that is totally different. Recently found a old La Salle trans disassembled and pick it up just because of the way it was made.

Old machinery is a trip to look at, some of it looks like it would take genius just to operate.

I'm facinated by any kind of machinery, that doesn't have a bowtie on it.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

John, i,d have to echo similar thoughts, if its mechanical and can run, doesnt matter what it is. i,m fascinated by it. Prior to closing down my car restoration business and moving to the coast i had collection of vintage farm tractors, fordsons, 6 internatiol mccormacks, case, oliver 70, field marshall single cyl cartridge start tractor and collection of stationary engines and some small marine put put boat engines, single chapman, twin chapman and unusual one pictured; i still have 2 vintage seagull outboard motors. As i started back into cars , time became the issue and i,ve sold off everything in dribs and drabs except the outboards, the 7 cars and y block collection take up my time now.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

When I was a pre-teen, I rode in my uncle's boat, a small boat with a single cylinder inboard engine.  I don't know what make it was.  You started it by hand spinning the flywheel, much like an early John Deere tractor.  If you wanted to back the boat, you shut off the engine and cranked it backwards.  Fascinating!

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I found this one this weekend.  Not quite sure what it is, Studebaker I think.  Can anyone confirm?

I found this also, John M. might like.

   God Bless.   Tim                           http://yblockguy.com/

350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor

tim@yblockguy.com  Visalia, California    Just west of the Sequoias

Bill, "low tech" comes to mind looking at that engine. The chain driven magneto and the rocker arm are too cool.

Tim, I don't know what the twin is, AJS or Ariel???

John, 2 strokes will run forward or back, just reset the timing. Golf carts have 2 sets of points and in reverse the engine runs backwards off the 2nd set of points. If the timing is set close to TDC they will run either way. That has made for some embarassing moments on the starting line when the clutch is let out.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico