My first hot rod engine was a Y-Block. We would buy a whole 57 Ford motor for $50, hose it off and go street racing. I swapped so many old Fords from an automatic to a stick that I could do it in my sleep. Back then, most of our engines were stock. I envied the guys with race cams because of the sound they made. Swapping cams and lifters in a YBlock is challenging because of the mushroom lifters, so we would leave the old lifters with predictable results. By the time I had the money to do things right, the FE engine was the big dog.
I wish I had my current TBird back then. My first decent job paid $80 a week with a wife and a child to support, so that was not going to happen. Since then, I've built every car I ever wanted to own. Y-Blocks make me smile. You still see one every now and then. I hate it when someone swaps in a newer engine. There's something about a 50s Ford with a 302 that just doesn't look right to me.
