I received a call from the Engine Masters Competition representative and was informed that mushroom lifters would not be allowed in this years competition regardless if it was an OEM option or not.  The mushroom tappet rule basically keeps the 312 Y-Block combination I proposed from being a contender in this years competition.

 

The rules for this year are very specific in not allowing mushroom tappets and regardless of what some of you may be prompted to say, were not written specifically to keep the Y’s from competing.  I had already pleaded my case regarding the mushroom lifters being factory installed in this family of engines but the rules are very clear in what’s allowed and I’ll accept that.  After a lengthy discussion with the EMC representative, this was simply a case where the rules banned all mushroom tappets regardless if they were OEM supplied or not.  Because the Y is not a mainstream engine, the mushroom lifter rule was originally written without consideration to those engines that had them factory installed.  Once the rules were written and released for this years competition, there was no going back with an exception in this instance as there were legal ramifications to consider.

 

Because I am still eligible for the competition regardless of the engine entry, I took a quick inventory and find that there are enough spare pieces stored around the shop to make an aluminum (or tunnel port) headed Fe that will be suitable for the competition.  Of course I’ve still got to move far enough up on the alternate list to actually be called up for the competition.  If not called up, at least a bunch of spare parts will be put to use.

 

The 312 combination I’m currently assembling will continue to be worked on as I’ve already made a substantial investment in it but I’m no longer forced to work within the original time constraints to get it finished.

 

The C2AE 312 block has been cryogenically treated, torque plate bored and rough honed,  and has had the main bores align honed.  The cylinder honing will be completed upon getting the pistons and insuring that all the clearances are spot on and then mill the decks appropriately.  The block decks have been redrilled and tapped for ARP ½" head bolts.  The C2 steel rods are rebuilt with new ARP rod bolts and match weight balanced.  Pistons utilizing a special high turbulence dome for low rpm flame propagation and a special set of low drag rings have been ordered for awhile now and are expected to be showing up at any time.  The 312 crankshaft is laid out and ready to have the journals ground to the appropriate dimensions for the desired clearances.  I have been culling through the 113 heads and have ultimately found two that were not cracked and have started port work on these before installing new seats and eventually new valves.  The beehive springs and retainers are here along with the Iskenderian camshaft that’s special ground for this engine.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Well...bad news for all the time and effort you went to.

But great news to anyone out there looking for the perfect yblock for their ride!

I would get it in a second if I had not of just got mine completed last Oct.

This would be a special crate engine built by Ted Eaton, ready to go, not found in your everyday run of the mill Summit catalog! WOW.

Come on yblockers, step up.

And thanks Ted for all your time and energy to the project. Maybe next year after all this EMC will consider a change of rules.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

Bummer Ted, I hope that you will dino this engine when you complete it and we can still see how it stacks up with the official crop of EMC engines. An article in YBM on the build would be nice if you have time. Thanks for your hard work.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

Ted:  Interesting, the Ford Y-Block has "mushroom lifters" from the factory. So, what is so special about mushroom lifters that E.M.C. bans them? 

Paul

Mushroom tappets are being used as a retrofit on the GM and Mopar engines to allow for a increased pad area on the bottom of the lifter which in turn permits for a more aggressive camshaft profile.  It’s a performance advantage for those engines that came equipped with a smaller diameter lifter and a correspondingly smaller pad diameter.  This is seen frequently where the rules require a flat tappet camshaft and roller camshafts are not allowed.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted:

Too bad there aren't more of those blocks around that had enough meat cast in around the lifters to supposedly tolerate hydraulic lifters.  Straight solid lifters could probably be used in one of those to bypass the mushroom lifter rule.  It would still be interesting to see how the engine would stack up against the winner of their series.  Wouldn't it be neat if you could send them a dyno sheet that showed it could run with the rest of them?

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

John,  You're absolutely right about the large lifter bore blocks.  That would have been an easy out around the mushroom lifter rule.  Unfortunately, those particular blocks are as tough as hens teeth to find today.  I've got feelers out in those wrecking yards that specialize in military hardware but unfortunately, I'm a little late as it would appear that most of those blocks went to the salvage yards back in the eighties or thereabouts and have long since been remelted into something else.

Having some of those blocks available would open up the possibilities for the roller camshaft scenario as readily available roller lifters could likely be used with little modification.  Or even higher lift solid lifter cams could be used with a larger bore lifter as the lift at this point is limited by fact that the current lifter design drops too far down when reducing the cams base circle to increase the lobe lift.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted,

Joe Panek from A & B Fords Roto-Faze Ignitions on (310) 325 8844 makes billet cam blanks with the circle the same diameter as the journals.

Hope this helps,

Cheers

Trevor 

Trevor.  Thanks for the contact info on Joe Panek.  I had a very good conversation with him and although He’s never made a cam blank specifically for the Y, He’s confident that it shouldn’t pose any more of a problem than the other engines for which he builds them for.  There are some nuances with his billet blanks in regards to journal sizes but I don’t see that being a show stopper.  The billet blanks can possibly alleviate some of the maximum lift at valve issues when using the mushroom lifters if journal sizes are increased but with stock journal sizes, the base circle is still an issue with the maximum lift that’s available without having stock lifter breakage issues.  But knowing that the blanks are potentially available opens up all sorts of possibilities ranging from using a military block with the larger lifter bores in tandem with readily available roller lifters or using stock blocks with specially made composite or ceramic lifters.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

By definition, the Y-Block utilizes a mushroom lifter.  A mushroom lifter is simply defined as a flat tappet lifter in which the wear face or lifter pad is a different diameter than the lifter body itself.  In the performance world, mushroom lifters are synonymous with being able to run more aggressive camshaft profiles and hence the belief that a mushroom lifter is a performance lifter by design.  Many diesel engines still utilize mushroom tappets but for no particular performance advantage.

 

The wear pad on the Y-Block lifter is is actually larger than most of the other lifters out there in that it measures out at 1.00” so there could potentially be a performance advantage if the camshaft lobes were ground to take particular advantage of this.  But after having a healthy discussion with the EMC representative on the phone, be assured that the Y was not disallowed because of any perceived performance advantage.  The Y-Block engine itself was not disallowed, just the mushroom tappet lifters and this was made clear from the beginning in the rules.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)