My son never knew Y-blocks, in fact he's a Chevy kid but he loves my old Y-block Ford & someday it will be his & I'll assure you it will never have anything but a Y-block in it. He has a pro street '56 Chevy & we park side by side at Turkey Run every year & at the local Sonic every month. The kids come to check his out & the old folks saunter up to my old fifty six & relate how they or some family member had one just like it, then I laugh as they commence to tell me all the differences in theirs & mine. Yep, it is unique to have a Y-block, mines a 272 & I wish it was a 292 or 312 but it's not but I still love it. I have a 351 but it's not going in there, now or ever.

Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

Fun quote:

I Drove my '55 t-bird to the doctors office with my Dad. 292 with milled 113 heads, mild Mummert cam, '57 intake, stock exhaust manifolds, 2" pipes & chambered mufflers. I have to admit that it sounds glorious!



I get out of the car, and a guy comes up to me... "what you got in there, a 428?"



What a riot! Sadly, I didn't have time to give the guy a history lesson.

I was born durring Reagan's second term so i got the way before my time on the y blocks but as mentioned before if you know how to work on an engine and read you can work on a y block.

Dont judge me, you dont know my situation.

(2) Oil Leaks (in Y-block). Y-blocks are prone to oil leaks, particularly the rear main seals, whereas the 302 is usually oil-tight.

My 57 custom with a 272 Y sat for 20 years. When I first fired it up the rear main dumped 2 qts of oil on the ground. Shut it off, added oil and Ive been driving it for 13 years without leaking a drop!!!!

If your going to do that put in a Ch-----et. A buddy a my found a 2-Door 56 Ranch Wagon like that, drove it for 2 years, put on a set of American 5 spokes and sold it for $17K .

With indiffence to putting a Y-Block in anything....My personal preferance is a 302 GMC 6 preferably with a 12 port on it. If it won't fit-we won't quite.....................JD. 

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

My take on that is the 60s y-blocks were somewhat down on power compared with the mid to late 50s. Give alittle more time as the hp parts become more widespread and available, that should change as gearheads start enjoying the extra power these engines produce. Not just 312s but 272s and 292s as well. Hot Rod magzines are talking about the sb chevy and LS series not being as exciting as they once were because there's so many transplants with them that things are slowly changing back to original and other makes now.

-Gary Burnette-

Why to worry about car value if you'll never gonna sell it?


Hyvinkää, FI

Just to ad a bit, offered all of the regulars on this web page are prejudiced, but if your Victoria is relatively stock bodied (?) and not some insane personalized, it will be value more with a stock web page avoid than in some personalized kind... our mid Sixties Fords c/w Y-Blks, are suffering from a recovery of interest lately..

Car Mats 

(1) True, a 302 is cheaper to rebuild. However, you're forgetting the cost to swap and get it all working. Whether that cost is your time or cash dollars, it can get expensive quickly. How expensive depends on your skills and capability. I do suppose that the right person could get it done for less, but most people could not. To keep it apples to apples, when a running Y could be found and installed, the 302 is not cheaper even if the Y still needs rings, bearings, and a timing chain.

(2) Y blocks prone to oil leaks?? Many Y blocks are now 48+ years old. Yes, worn out engines leak. 302s suffer the same fate. When they have been rebuilt and sealed correctly, they don't leak.

(3) Overheating?? I guess this could have the same cause as above, 48+ years old. Renew the cooling system and everything is good. A 302 will not magically unclog a radiator, repair rusted vanes on the pump impeller, or fix a generally poor design of the car in regard to cooling.

(4) This seems to be true in the trucks if and only if it is an 80s or newer roller cammed, fuel injected 302. Anything less and it is down on power and economy. Can't speak for the cars, but I think it's safe to assume that they would follow the same trend. So if you choose your 302 wisely, yes it can be better in the economy department, but most are just a waste of time and money. There is a guy on one of the Ford truck sites who is putting one of the later injected 302s into his truck but converted to a carb. It's not done yet, so I have no economy results.



A good, fresh Y just has torque that you can't get from a small block, at least not without a lot of modification. The only way to understand is to drive one. Sadly, most don't have that option, only the aforementioned worn out 48+ year old engines that, understandably, will be dogs, as any worn out (pic your favorite engine, enter here) will be. Plus, they sound a whole lot better.


Lawrenceville, GA

Adding fuel to the fire...

First of all, if I had a nice original car with a Y-block, I would not change it. I own a 1957 Fairlane, a '56 Mercury convertible, and a Model A roadster, all with Y-block engines.

So, why would you replace a Y-block with a 302?

If you have no engine (or a bad Y-block) in your car, here are the reasons why you should consider a 302:

(1) Cost. To do a proper rebuild on a stock Y-block, you can spend between $2,000 and $3500. But you can buy a running 302 from mid-80's to 1992 from a Crown Victoria, Thunderbird, Town Car, etc. and have the bonus of an overdrive transmission to go with it. Generally speaking, if needed, you can put rings, bearings, and a timing chain in one of these engines and not spend a lot of money; because most of the engines have very little taper in the cylinder walls.

(2) Oil Leaks (in Y-block). Y-blocks are prone to oil leaks, particularly the rear main seals, whereas the 302 is usually oil-tight.

(3) Overheating. Less of a problem in a 302 than in a Y-block.

(4) Fuel Economy. If you use fuel injection on a 302, fuel economy and driveability are much improved. I drove my 1956 Mercury Monterey hardtop with a 302 HO (from an '87 Mark VII) to the 100th Anniversary of Ford Motor Company in 2003. With the cruise set at 80 and the a/c running full-blast, the car got 24 MPG on a used engine which had 140,000 miles (with EFI).

On the other hand...

I would NOT put a 302 in an original Crown Victoria, Sunliner, etc., because it would devalue the car. But, if you have a sedan or wagon, it doesn't seem to make much difference. However, I WILL put a Y-block in my '56 Chevy!