Those '57 272s had the "better" '57 cam along with the G heads.  No wonder they ran surprisingly well for only 272 cubes.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I'll add to what Gary just said. I had a 56 Ford 4dr 272 A/t that ran the same way. I've never had another yblock that ran as good as that one. When the car body finally gave up the ghost, I pulled the engine out and put it in another 56 Ford I had at the time. Great engine.

Dan      Kingman Az.      86409

I mint to add that I drove that GREAT little Ford into the early 70s and have always regretted ever selling it and people today still talk about the 57 4dr ford with a small yblock that outran anything that dared take it on at a traffic light if no other cars were around, as dumb as kids were we did practice some safety every now and then.

-Gary Burnette-

Wayyyyyyyyyyy back in 1966 and 67 I had a 1957 ford 4dr custom that had a 272 2V that was demon possed. It ran like a Scared Haint ( southern colloquialism def.Ghost etc.) It would take down 390 fords,and especially 283,327s, 350 chebbies didn't have a prayer. This indeed was a rare find that run as strong as it did BUT it does go to show that a well tuned 272 can be made to run really well. 

-Gary Burnette-

I drove a Y-Block for about 10 years before I was married with various Y-Block engines and the LOM was always the first thing to go because I was interested in power. About the time I got married, I installed a .030 over 272 with a brand new Holley 94 and a Fred Jones rebuilt LOM distributor. The power was acceptable and the fuel mileage was fantastic. My wife and I drove the car another 8 years. The T86 transmission even outlived the Hurst Mystery shifter. There was nothing really wrong with the LOM if everything was kept in shape, but the 57 and up carbs and distributors leanded themselves better to smoking the tires.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

‘Better’ is a subjective term depending upon what the intended use is.

 

The Load-O-Matic system is a good system providing both the carb and distributor are functioning properly or as originally designed.  The key here is that the carb and the distributor are a matching pair from the factory.  When the vacuum advance chamber fails on the LOM system, then the engine sees no advance curve at all and essentially runs only at whatever the intial timing setting is.  The engine ends up being very sluggish and the fuel mileage takes a dump.

 

When the vacuum pot fails on the later model distributor that incorporates both the mechanical and vacuum advance systems, there is still a good measure of ignition advance curve being supplied by the mechanical advance portion of the system.  In this case, overall performance may feel the same but the fuel mileage ends up dropping off a bit.   On the flip side of this, it’s entirely possible to re-curve just the mechanical portion of a later model distributor and use it with both the late and early model carburetors without any vacuum assist and get acceptable performance and economy out of it.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I just replied to your post about the alt conv.  I am currently building a 292 for my truck.  The original 272 runs great just its the next step in the plan.  I am planning to stick with 2 barrel for the looks.  BUT going 292 +0.040, 9:1 comp, ECZ-C heads, torque grind cam, custom headers (chev block huggers with y-block flanges).  There is tonnes of stuff that can be done.  I also have the 57 and newer dist and mods to carb as per Ted Eaton's instructions.  Keep checkin this site the advice and knowledge here is awesome.  Props to the guys like McTIM, TED, JOHN, CHARLIE off the top of my head the knowledge base and heplfullness on this site is amazing.

Even if he can't use the vacuum advance of the newer distributor, won't the mechanical advance be better?


Lawrenceville, GA

The ’57 and later distributors are more suited for use with the ’57 and up carbs.  The ’56 and earlier carbs did not have a true ported vacuum outlet signal at the carb thus making them not very well suited to use without modifications with the later model distributors.  The ’56 and earlier distributors incorporated a vacuum only advance system which is incompatible with the later model carbs.  Likewise, the later distributors are incompatible with the early model carburetors.

 

Here’s the link to the article on how to modify the ’56 and earlier two barrel carb so it will work with the later model distributors.

http://www.eatonbalancing.com/blog/2010/02/07/modifying-the-holley-94-two-barrel-for-late-model-distributors/

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Well thanks so far for the infor. Its 1956 272 in a ford truck. It is all stock and the engine is fair condition. I have not checked compression yet. I am going to be getting a rebuild kit soon due to it shooting out some bluish white smoke at idle. So I figure I might as well build it up since I'm gona tear it open anyway. I do not have the better heads on this engine just the base factory ones. Hope this info helps so I can get some more detailed answers. Thanks again. P.s. I have heard that 57 and later distributors are no good on 56 and older y blocks...any truth???