The engine in that MC sure reminds me of what my '56 Flathead Sportster looked like!

Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

Not exactly true! The hard core, made in America, Harley set up manufacturing with the Japenese prior to WWII. BUT they were not alone many of the car/truck makers in the US were also being made overseas including FORD! The vehicles were being made for foreign sales with manufacturing plants around the world. Not a big surprize considering the US had the biggest vehicle manufacturing base in the world. Not hard to believe when you know that American "flagged" (nation of registry) tankers refueled German ships and U-Boats at sea during the same war. As I recall the oil belonged to Standard Oil! Chuck in NH

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

To put it in simple terms the japs swiped the Harley flathead.

I really can't stand rice crap anyway.

1964 F 100 LWB Roller 5.0 & T-5

2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ

2009 Harley FXSTB Night Train



"I still have a Y block - it's just not in anything yet."

What Harley Davidson doesn't like to talk about:



Rikuo: Hemmings did a write-up recently on these.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikuo_Motorcycle

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Yep. I think we have one at the store. The engine and drivetrain is very close in appearance. The rest of the motorcycle is clearly not BMW. There are copies of many BMW Boxer twins. Some of them are so good that people, who do not do there research, have spent $30k+ to get something that is only worth a few thousand.



Lawrenceville, GA

As I understand it, when the British pulled out of Hong Kong they left behind their car making equipment. Datsun bought the British Leyland (probably Austin in those days) tooling so the early Datsun engines were the same as an MG engine. The heads would interchange, the only difference was the MG valve cover is held on like a Y-Block and the Datsun has screws around the edge 289 style. Early 1200cc Datsun 4 cylinders used a lifter that will interchange with a Y-Block. The head diameter is .875" like other Fords.

I saw a very early Datsun sedan at a local gas station years ago. Looked exactly like an Austin. The old Toyota Landcruisers used a copy of a 235 scrub 6. Anyone remember the BMW copy Marusho motorcycles? Appearently very unreliable. Never saw one, just a road test in Cycleworld.

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

It brings to mind many years ago, I tried to hook up a mechanical oil gauge to an early Honda Civic. No one could tell me what the thread was for the block fitting. Finally found a parts/machine shop that had a book on engine threads etc. The block threads were "British pipe" thread. One thread/ inch different than U.S. pipe thread...

Paul

Getting a little OT here but don't forget the Turbo version of the Olds 215" (Jet Fire?) which ran pretty decent.

BOB

I am a solid Ford guy but I had a 63 Olds F 85 back in '71 with that aluminum 215 4bbl. I really liked that engine and performed pretty well for its size. Always thought it stupid of GM to give it up.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Land Rover = British. Land Cruiser = Japanese (Toyota).



The Victor intake for Toyota looks Ford, but then so do the Chevrolet Nascar engines.



I think some other British brands use that Buick V8, too.


Lawrenceville, GA