My first car was a 1955 Ford with a 272 Y block...and I drove it every day. No, I am not among the oldest on the site, but I among the youngest. In the early 1990's this was an every day car for me, school, work, church, etc. It may sound like sacrilege, but I even drove it when there was snow on the roads...

If you keep your fuel and electrical system well-maintained, there is no reason why this car could not be a daily driver. A few tech parts on the engine - make sure you put hardened valve seats in the heads, or use some type of lead substitute for today's gasoline. From time, buy an extra hard part or two for a backup. Most of the items on the Y are not readily available at any autoparts stores (especially across the pond), but are technically easy to repair if you keep a few extras on hand. Keep an extra starter solenoid and starter drive around. Depending on the distributor you go with, you may want to keep an extra set of points/cap/rotor on hand as well. I personally prefer the ACCEL 2020 points eliminator kit and not use points at all. Make sure your engine block has a spin-on oil filter installed (if your 292 was original to the Edsel you have, you should already have one on there).

Switch to an alternator (that's my opinion) - there are several ways to get that done. Some companies make kits/brackets to help you mount an alternator with your current wiring. I personally prefer LD Becker in Ohio. They advertise in Y block magazine and are very good with their customer service.

that's just a few notes that are personal to me. some of the other fellas will probably chime in for you as well.

Very, and yes.

As an Edsel owner myself (58  Roundup),this Forum is absolutly the best for "Y" block knowledge.

If you would like to futher your Edsel education,give these guys a shot

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/edselrestorationandpreservation/

Its a group that you will have to register and join (no fees involved) but these guys are the best Edsel folks anywhere.

Very helpfull,knowledgeable,through folks that have helped me greatly in my Edsel education.

Perhaps I"ll see you over their.

Oldmics

56 T Bird/57 T Bird/58 Edsel Roundup (tow car)

My heritage is from there also on my mothers side, Moore and Sullivan were her parents names'

The Y is a great daily driver and very reliable, I think the Y block cars are probably the biggest number still with their original engines, unlike the other brands that have been swapped out five times in their life, if that tells you how reliable they are. As far as installing hardened seats I don't think it is a neccesary in your neck of the woods if your gas is as high an octane as UK. We get crap for gas compared to you guy's and Austrailia.  we get 87 octane for regular and 91 for high test, I think you guy's are up near 100 aren't you?

Don't be scared, put the Y in, a set of glass packs and drive it like you stole it.

       like the others have already posted, I see no reason why the Edsel couldn't be a routine daily driver. I drove a 56 F600 rollback that I had about 2-3 times a week loaded with a car on it and once I got all the little things done to it was extremly reliable. I was working on the side hauling cars back and forth to a auto auction. I did that for just about 3 years in all kinds of weather. You should really like it here, a great group of people from all walks of life with great knowledge.