I'm certainly not looking for a battle if you are a die-in-the-wool Y block guy ....I'm trying to learn here .

If you were looking at a mid 50's Ford or Merc to modify for street use , what would be the advantages of a Y block vs. an FE ?  I'm wondering if the small block Y is lighter , cheaper , more bang for the buck over the big block FE .......or is it just a matter of personal choice ?

I'm asking this because all my Ford experience over the years consisted of 289's , 302's and later modular motors 4.6 and 5.4 .

Thanks , Terry

Well this is the y block, but you will find a lot of FE fans here also. The only advantage that I see is the additional cubes available with the FE. I think it just comes down to what you want and how deep your pockets are. Both are know for producing alot of torque and either would be period correct for a mid 50's ride. I love both, so I hesitate to say that one is better than the other.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

Sorry I guess I should have narrowed my previous post .

If I'm considering a 292 / 312  vs a 332 / 352 , and want to build 375 to 400 hp for the street  ....AND be somewhat period correct given a mid 50's body , auto trans , is one way to go better than the other .

Years ago I made a mistake sinking money into a 265 Chevy when I could have simply bought a used 327 and got the same result ....don't want to make the same mistake again . Older and wiser etc.

T

Too be truly period correct for mid fifties, you need a Y. FE is late fifties. Neither engine is cheap for power but you can probably do it more cost effectively with an FE. I advise you to evaluate the situation as completely as possible to find out if a Y which bolts in vs FE + swap cost is actually cheaper. Yes other engines are cheaper but that savings is often offset by the cost to get the non stock engine and drive line installed and functioning. If you cannot pull off the swap in it's entirety yourself, in other words, you have to pay someone to do it, the Y is probably cheaper.


Lawrenceville, GA

Kind of a personal thing in my opinion. There is overlap from a time frame standpoint on the Y and the FE. Have had both over the years. To me it sort of depends on the car you decide on. If I went with an FE I would go with a minimum of a 390 block. If it came orginaly with a Y I would stay with a Y. If it came with an FE I would stay with an FE. That being said, a lot of '54 to '57 Fords had FE's installed back in the day. Had a '57 Ford Custom 300 with a 300 horse 390 in it back in '67-68 myself.

When talking 332- 352 vs 312 then in my opinion without a doubt I'd reach fo the mighty 312. The 312 when tuned properly seemed to be a little stronger than the 332 or 352 and I've owned them all. I'm not knocking these early FEs, they just seemed to be down on power for what I thought they should have. The 390s and and up are a different story because they were putting down some serious power. But the 312s were already doing that in 1957 with the supercharged versions in STOCK form putting out 370 to 380 HP and 420 FT lbs torque. The Nascar versions closer to 450 to 500 HP. 400 + HP 312s are becoming a common occurance naturaly aspirated now with all this technology.

-Gary Burnette-

Thanks for the comments ....lots to chew on .

As to what body , I'm giving serious consideration to a '55-'56  F series pickup . There is a cruise up here every year ( like so many other towns ) and about 8 or 10 early to mid 50's Ford pickups make the show . Some are Chevy powered which makes no sense to me ( that's another story ) and some have 289-302's in them . Seems to me that would be perfect for a Y block done up right .

The other one I'm looking at is a '54 Merc that is bone stock and could use an engine upgrade .

T

I'm a fan of both engines. Built & raced both back in day. I guess it depends how deep your pockets are for what you want. More speed stuff available for the FE & it might be a bit cheaper to build but you'll have more people scratching their heads with a y block when you pop the hood. Nothing looks or sounds better than a well built Yblock.

Dan      Kingman Az.      86409

If building a 332/352 FE to 1958 specs and a 292/312 Y to 1957 specs, then look for the Y to run circles around the FE with all else being equal.  But if going FE, by all means go for the cubic inches and get that apparent advantage.   I’ve run both and each have their own specific strong points but either would be period correct for what you are planning so go the route that suits you best.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

One  of the things that I have always loved about the Y is that if you put on a pair of T-Bird valve covers, they look more impressive than most any other engine out there. Had a set on my '58 Ford Custom 300 back in '63 and whenever I opened the hood, everyone was impressed. Same effect today.