Reading this thread has been fun. The GM inline six was used in boats for years and was always my favorite, it was soooo smooth, hated it when they replaced it with the 3.8 V6. Tim the old flatheads appeal to me more and more especially the inline 6 and 8s, guess I just love the simplicity of them and the smoothness of their operation.

1956 Fairlane Victoria (ORREO)

 

Overlooking Beautiful Rimrock AZ

Chuck, you did it, part of the pathway we left growing up and as you said" rightly miss it". would be good to go back a bit and do some more of the things we loved a little bit longer. We can all still enjoy our past daydreaming. its good for us! plus thats all i can still remember. ha,ha.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Even then Y-Blocks were my passion. The car we ran was a tube chassis with a model A 2 dr sedan body that was cut off at the back of the doors. Then the rear half was split and narrowed so there was just enough room for the cage and driver. Along with a highly modified Hudson flathead it ran an in/out box and quick change rear. Quite an advanced car for the late 50's. We ran in modified until the overhead V8's came in and they created the sportsman class for the flatheads and 6 or 8 cylinder inlines. Those were real race cars and real racing. No cookie cutter engines and bodies. Everything was homemade designs and modified by the seat of our pants. We raced the same tracks with the Weld family (later became Weld wheels) and were friends with them. They were among the fastest modified drivers in USAC when it was first formed. I remember the debate as to whether the local tracks would be independant or go with USAC or another new outfit called NASCAR. We didn't think those asphalt boys would give us a fair shake and besides they were all from the southeast. We ran at Olympic stadium in Kansas City, Mo. Riverside in Riverside, Kansas, Marshall, Mo. and other small tracks in the area. Back then you could race 5 nights in a week if you wanted to. Lots of little 1/8th mile tracks scattered around and a few 1/2 mile.

Riverside was the same track that had a TV series a couple years ago about late model dirt racing. In the 60's they paved the track and went asphalt racing. A few years ago someone saw the light, dug up the pavement and went back to dirt. They are going strong again. Olympic was turned into a junk yard and most of the other small tracks just faded away.

Those were the days of first drink, first drunk, first girl, first race and first just about everything else! What a great time I dearly miss it. The closest track that runs modifieds and sprints on dirt up here is two hours away. I just dont feel like driving that far spending the evening at the track and driving back late at night. Too much hassle at my age. I'd love to get back on a pit crew but would have to be on a local track. Problem is we don't have one! Oh well my wife hated being a race track widow anyway. That kind of thing will take up all of your time if you let it. Chuck in NH

Found this UTube shot. At the begining the second car, number 36 is our Hudson in its early 1960 trim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKlvdWwV88Y&feature=player_embedded

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

Moonshadow,you sure struck a note with me.My first stock car was a 52 Hornet with Twin H-power.It was a 17,000 mile perfect car that I bought at an estate sale for $6.25 and butchered it up into a stock car.Over the following 35 or so years,I drove all kinds of dirt cars,but I had more fun and more success with that Hudson than anything else I ever drove.I still love flathead sixes and straight eights,but not quite as much as Y-blocks.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

My first race involvement was with a Hudson powered dirt track stock car in the late 50's. I love the sound of a well tuned modified Hudson 6 at RPM on the straight stretch. You could hear them above everything else. Of course having over 300 cubes in an inline 6 didn't hurt. Chuck in NH

Stock twin carb 308 type H                   NASCAR modified, blown 308

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

I have a love affair with 2 distinctly different engines.. The Y block and GMC 6 cylinders. I drove a 1950 GMC pickup and a 1956 Ford 50 years ago and I guess I've never grown up. Which do I like better? It depends on which one I happen to be tinkering with.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Tim, VERY nice looking engine in the Corvair.  I had all the parts and duplicates to go into my 266, including ground 300 crank.  Finally decided it was not wise to get into it further with limited means.  I sold the crankshaft to a man in Crescent City, CA who was building a Bonneville Streamliner and needed the light weight V-8.

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Most of you would be aware of american musuem of speed that has some great engine designs etc but this is one of my favourites, flathead ford v8 with A/M conversion. the mind boggles.

Argentinian Bucci DOHC Y BLOCK , there were quite a few variations of y blocks for the argy formula race car s including our most desired Weslake design.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

I guess its the mechanical wonder of it all thats grabs us, i can allways remember where it started for me when at 14 yrs old, i worked on w/ends at neighbors scrap yard and was given a bunch of tools and told to pull that engine apart and put all the aluminum parts in a pile, it was a rolls royce merlin aircraft engine.

This pic is a mates 29 dodge roadster and he firmly believes in dodge and chrysler flathead 6,s, he also has 50 chev sedan delivery or panel van with similar engine as his everyday driver.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Look at and listen to this one, not bad for a scrub!  (Stovebolt)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPT1j1OLfk

   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