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By idaho211 - 16 Years Ago
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I bought a 292. The owner said he rebuilt it but only put on 20 hrs on it but jerked it out and went with a 351 W. What would you recommend I check before I fire it up? It has been sitting in his garage for 10 years. Appreciate any help.
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By unibodyboy - 16 Years Ago
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Where about in Idaho are you?
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By Glen Henderson - 16 Years Ago
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Pulll plugs and rocker covers and try to turn it by hand. If everthing moves ok then I would pull the dist and prime the oil pump. Take a cheap 1/4 socket and extension that will fit the hex drive ( it would be safer to tack the socket to the extension) and turn it counter clockwise with a drill. If you get oil to the rockers then replace the dist and fire it up.
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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While the plugs are out it may help to squirt a little oil in each hole and manually turn before fireing.
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By Flying Jester - 16 Years Ago
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If its got any holes that are open to the inside of the engine, like if it didn't have an air cleaner or a water pump on it, then you probably should take off the manifolds and the oil pan and check for furry or long legged hitchhikers. Also, you might wanna replace the gaskets, depending on what the quality of the gaskets was at the rebuilding and how hard you plan on pushing the engine. Also, a little magical mystery oil down the spark plug holes is not a bad idea for any engine that hasn't been run in a while.
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By PF Arcand - 16 Years Ago
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Just a comment, but you have to ask yourself Y would the owner go to the trouble and expense of rebuilding the engine & then with 20 hours on it, pull it out & replace it?? I'd be suspicious one way or the other...
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By rustyford - 16 Years Ago
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Probably not a helpful reply, but people do funny things... (Me included).
The last owner of my '56 Town Sedan went to all the trouble and expense to make a 4 door low rider out of it... an "old style cruiser". He installed a 351, put on mag wheels , lowered it almost to the ground, louvered the hood, etc. and now I'm going to all the trouble and expense to put it all back factory. Though I'm not going to go to all the effort to remove the 351 and C4... Of course if he'd put in a Chevy that would be a different story! =-)
Geo. - Ore.
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By Duck - 16 Years Ago
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PF Arcand (12/9/2009)
Just a comment, but you have to ask yourself Y would the owner go to the trouble and expense of rebuilding the engine & then with 20 hours on it, pull it out & replace it?? I'd be suspicious one way or the other... +1...
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By Flying Jester - 16 Years Ago
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I find the allure of the dark side (and by that I mean the windsor engines) is too strong to keep many of us on the righteous path (and by that I mean the Y-Block).
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By idaho211 - 16 Years Ago
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Thanks for all of the replies. Sorry it has taken so long to reply. I am on the border of Lewiston/Clarkston ID/WA. I know the guy and I don't think he would intentionally sell me a bad engine. He totally re-did his 56 truck and I think the builder recommended the 351W. A couple of things right away I am going to change is it has a loadamatic distr, which I will change, and it had a 4 barrel carb with it had an adaptor so it would fit a 2 barrel intake. I will change it back to a 2 barrel. He said it had good oil pressure but he heard y blocks had oil problems in general to rockers and he put in a side oiler which I plan on taking off. Should I be worried about the bottom end with the side oiler with just 20 hours on it or chould I check the bearings out for problems? Another thing. I believe it does have composite head gaskets. Should I check for deck/head clearance? I have heard with increased thickness it can screw up your compression ratio. Appreciate all of your help!!
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By 56 big window - 16 Years Ago
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for the cost of a gasket set , i would strip it down , check it the correct way and reassemble . at least you will have piece of mind for less than a hundred dollars .
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By charliemccraney - 16 Years Ago
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idaho211 (12/13/2009)
Should I check for deck/head clearance? I have heard with increased thickness it can screw up your compression ratio. Appreciate all of your help!!
You can. I wouldn't at this point. It sounds like you trust the guy and according to him, clearance good or bad, it was running once. If you pull the heads, the clearance either will or will not be "right". If it's not, it means the whole engine has to come apart to "correct" it. If it was a basic rebuild, the clearance probably is not ideal. Fire it up and use it. At this point, worry about the clearance only if you have to take it apart to correct some other issue.
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By idaho211 - 16 Years Ago
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Thanks for all of the advice. I will keep you all informed about what is going on.
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By slumlord444 - 16 Years Ago
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Thicker head gasket may lower the compression ratio slightly. With todays gas that may actualy be better. If it were mine I would look for a '57 4 barrel intake and carb to go with the late model distributor. If you have ECG heads this combo will run pretty good with a stock cam and a decent dual exaust system. Headers are better.
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By charliemccraney - 16 Years Ago
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slumlord444 (12/13/2009)
Thicker head gasket may lower the compression ratio slightly. With todays gas that may actualy be better.
The Y is a quench head engine. Getting the clearance right optimizes compression and makes it more knock resistant.
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By unibodyboy - 16 Years Ago
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I'm in Pullman, would be happy to come give you a hand some weekend. Can't drive my Y block powered pickup down the hill at this point, roads aren't great here right now.
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By idaho211 - 16 Years Ago
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I will give you a holler. You aren't too far away.
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By Y block Billy - 16 Years Ago
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As far as side oiling goes, I think that is original and not something he put on, I think you will have to stick with that as all Y blocks were side oilers.
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By idaho211 - 16 Years Ago
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It has a oiler kit that has a line that dumps in to the rocker cover. I am going to take it off but don't know if I should check bearings for any damage. It does have composite head gaskets. One question, to avoid stripping down to shave the block and heads what do youo think about putting on stock steel gaskets? It would cure the gap difference.
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By charliemccraney - 16 Years Ago
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As long as the steel gaskets do not end up making the clearance too small. Steel gaskets also are not as forgiving as composite gaskets. If your head and/or block deck surfaces are not true, you might find it difficult to seal the steel gasket and the engine may still have to come apart.
I wonder, does anyone know if there is a wax or plastic one can insert through a spark plug hole to check the clearance without disassembly? Of course, with carbon build up it won't be 100% accurate.
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By mr4speedford - 16 Years Ago
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Only 20 hours on it and it has overhead oilers? A good rebuild should not need overhead oilers(they used those kits after the engine has blocked off the oiling passages with sludge) Now maybe if the gentleman had heard problems with oiling and decided to play it safe? I would take charlie's advice of leaving the heads as is. The affect on compression is not enough to worry about on a stock motor IMO.
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By idaho211 - 16 Years Ago
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Yeah my friend said he had read something about oiling problems to the rockers so he put that on just in case. I am going to take the oiler kit off. I won't worry about deck,head, gasket space at this time. I think I will put it in and get it running. It will probably take me a couple of weeks being spare time is little before the holidays. I will keep you all up to date. Thanks again.
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By 46yblock - 16 Years Ago
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idaho211 (12/15/2009)
Yeah my friend said he had read something about oiling problems to the rockers so he put that on just in case. I am going to take the oiler kit off. I won't worry about deck,head, gasket space at this time. I think I will put it in and get it running. It will probably take me a couple of weeks being spare time is little before the holidays. I will keep you all up to date. Thanks again.Good luck with the project. I've recently had some same issues with a 64. Since one head gasket was on backwards went ahead and pulled the heads. While they were off will replace the comp gasket with steel. Keep it in mind for the future, because CR isnt the only issue with the often large spaces but detonation too. While the top end is off the heads are getting a good cutting.
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