Guys,

In the article it states you will need to machine the 312 "automatic" crank shaft in the area of the pilot bushing.

It states the crank is not deep enough to accept the stick shift transmission input shaft.



Is this correct? I find it hard to believe that Ford would have a stick shift crank and an automatic crank. I would think they would all be machined the same for economic reasons.



I plan on changing from the Ford-O-Matic to a stick using s stock Ford T-85 trans and would like to know up front before I begin. I don't want to remove the crank for machining.



Thanks for the information.

jim

  Jim Rowe Elkhorn, NE

I can't say that it is incorrect in every case but my engine came out of an automatic 1959 Fairlane. I use a manual transmission and did not have to do any machining in the pilot bushing area. I've also had 3 different engines with 3 different crankshafts and had to do no special machining. I think it is a case being misinformed.



I've had the owner of a local junkyard tell me that a car Y-block will not fit in a truck. After arguing for about 5 minutes I just had to agree with him and get on with business.


Lawrenceville, GA

Jim:

No need to macine the crank for a stick shift.  Maybe they were going to put a T5 behind it, and that input will bottom out.  Most guys just cut the tip of the shaft off.  You're right, it made no sense to have two different cranks.

Charlie, your parts guy was somewhat right, as we all know, front mount and rear sump pans are truck items not found on passenger engines.  So he's partly right, but we know you can change the externals to suit the application.  You have a salvage yard in your area that still has Y blocks??

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

The T5 thought makes sense. I think it would be best to modify the crank, in that case, so that any T5 will be a direct bolt on. It just makes things easier.



Yeah, I tried to explain that oil pans and mounting brackets had to be swapped but he was adamant that it cannot be done so I just gave up. This was a while ago. There were 3 junkyards that I knew of with at least 3 Y-blocks each. They show up now and then at the local you-pull-it type yards. I want to get them every time but I just don't have the space.



The owner of one died and all of the cars were sold. I'm not sure where they went. This one was cool. All of the cars were in the woods in his back yard. Most of them were rusted beyond saving but a lot of the stuff under the bodywork was still decent. There were quite a few flatheads, a '30 something tow truck. I don't think there were any cars newer than 1970. I'm trying to remember the guys name. I think he was a well known racer. Oh, Weatherly, I think. This is the one I got my engine from. And it was a difficult chore pulling an engine out of a car in the middle of the woods. I wanted to go back to show him the engine but then I heard that he had passed on. He thought it was cool that I was planning to use a Y-block.

Another crushed everything in the last few years and became a late model yard. This is sad because it had an industrial section with buses, huge trucks, cranes, generators, boats. It was neat.

The other, with the Stubborn owner, may still have his. I don't know.


Lawrenceville, GA

It would be hard to describe some of the y-block stuff I have heard at various venues as "old wives tales" (due to the gender of the teller) - but some of it was pretty far out there ............

Most of what you read on our site comes from guys with a little grit under their fingernails - that's why it gets a bit of respect.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I just got back home. left work a little early today. managed to save anouther one from the crusher. A friend called this morning and told me that he had spotted a early 60's school bus being towed to a scrap yard about 20 miles from me. We went down this afternoon and asked the guy if he had bought  a bus today and if it still had the engine in it. He told us that he had, but did not know if the engine was still in it or not. Lucky for me the bus want fit in the crusher until they cut it up some. He said that it had been parked on the back side of the yard and that we could walk back and check it out. Bottom line the engine is still in the old bus and turns by hand, worked a deal with the guy if I get it ready to pull, he'll set it out with his loader. Price, $0.20 a pound, by my math that will still figures out too around $130 bucks. Who would have ever thought that scrap metal would bring that much.

Glen Henderson



Freedom is not Free

Letohatchee, AL

Would that have been Joe Weatherly?f so, he was one of the really great stock car drivers of the 50's and 60's.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

Paul:

Joe Weatherly was killed in a stock car race many years ago, even before Curtis Turner was killed in an airplane crash.  I don't remember the year.  The yard owner could have been a member of the same family though.

John in Selma, IN

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

If I recall correctly, he was in his eightys. This was back around 2002 so that puts him being born somewhere around 1920. Maybe this was Joe's brother? I'm sure his last name is Weatherly. I can't remember where I put his business card. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info about Joe and family on the internet. But it looks like he drove Ford in the 50s, including '57 which may be why this Weatherly was interested in my building a Y. He switched to Pontiac in the 60s


Lawrenceville, GA

You're right ,John about Joe.There's that old memory slippage again.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO