Hi Bobby,

When you first posted you mentioned that this was your first Ford y-block.

Recently, you’ve mentioned information from John Mummert's web site at www.ford-y-block.com

IF you haven’t already seen it, look at John Mummert’s listing of common y-block assembly errors found at www.ford-y-block.com/assemblyerrors.htm

Other treasure troves of Ford y-block information from our Forum members are:

• Ted Eaton’s web site at www.eatonbalancing.com

• Tim McMaster’s web site at yblockguy.com

Hope you find these of help going forward.

NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Thanks Charlie. I've been studying all three of those websites, as well as this one. Plus, Tim has been helping me directly via PM. Right now the only decision that I have left is whether to pull the engine with the transmission or without.

Now that I've done a search, it looks like it is best to pull the engine separately.

With a Bird,if you have an engine hoist with enough height or some sort of crane where you can get the engine and tranny combo up high enough,you will save yourself some time doing the engine and tranny removal in one fell swoop.

Otherwise picking each piece out individually would be best.

Don't ask how I know !!!!!!!!!

Oldmics

I will more than likely be pulling it myself, so separating the two should make it more manageable for me.

Will a tailshaft plug for a modern car (~1.5") work on the Fordomatic when I go to pull it?

The outside diameter of a '55-'56 Fordomatic drive shaft yoke is 1 1/2 by my tape measure, Bobby.

NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Thanks.

OK, the engine is out and everything but the rotating assembly has been taken apart. Here's my initial observations while tearing it down.

• Relatively clean inside, piston tops have a bit of carbon, more than I would have expected.
• Flat top .060" over pistons, no ridge at the top of the cylinders, just a layer of carbon.
• The cylinder walls have a nice glaze, no crosshatching is visible.
• The cam is out, and it's labeled CRANE F-294-2. A search of Crane's website and a Google search don't come up with anything. I did find some stuff about an F-294 cam for an FE, but no telling if it has the same profile.
• Once I get the garage back in order, I will pull the bottom end apart, starting with #4 (the one with 75% leakdown). I'm guessing the ring lands are full of carbon, but we'll see.

#4 piston is out, but the rings weren't stuck like I was suspecting. However, the compression ring gap overlapped about 50%, so that should explain the leakdown for that cylinder.

I did a quick check on the bore and came up with 3.860", which can't be right. I don't have a bore gauge, so I have to do it with dividers and caliper, but that should be close enough for a rough measurement. I triple check, even changing calipers, but get the same reading. How could it be .110" over and be running .060 pistons? Could this be a 312? So I check and see the stock bore for a 312 is 3.800". Looking at McMaster's & Mummert's sites confirms that it's a 312. Casting number is ECZ-6015-C and it has ECZ main caps. The heads are the ECZ-G.

Well… some things DO work out better than expected!

NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

I believe that's the old school Crane I have in my race car. Not very streetable. I have an old Crane catalog. What specs do you need? You have already checked it with a degree wheel.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"