Hope I've got this right about starting a new 'thread'? First note, I bought my 1rst 57 Ford in 1967 when I was a 14 y/o farm kid, $25 summer hay bale money for the 2 door post that just needed brakes, owned many 57s and well over a hundred other beaters since, 95% Fords. These are the first engines I've internally modified. I've not seen guidance on compression nor of how Ford came up with their power estimates of 245,270,285,300hp. Some opinions were that power was calc'd on engines without any peripherals at all, no exhaust manifolds, water pump etc, maybe no oil pump, who knows for sure?



When it came time to build my engines I based my work on the opinion that the compression ratios given by Ford were with zero deck and no head gaskets. Soooooo, what to do?



I started with two 292 blocks, one for my F100 and one for my EBird. Had the builder deck to .01 over Verns 312 hypereutectic (individually fitted) pistons, lapped the valve seats and shaved the G heads -.02 and complete balancing. Stock heat plugs, base time 8 deg, recurved both distributors and MSD sparking. I had a shop, (best in town they said!), road tune both engines with knock sensors etc. All seemed just great until both started losing power after several thousand miles, then one started smoking under power. Disassembled and see scored cylinders, pulled the other apart, same thing. Pint of good whiskey to clear my head and took pistons to builders, one look and said I detonated both engines to death. I swear I never ever heard them knock, stupid cause with my exhausts you wouldn't hear a stick of giant go off in the passenger seat.



Once again, good 292 with 312 crank and one real 312, both completely rebuilt same as before. When I put parts together I gasket match and do some work to help air around the corners. I'm a retired aerospace machinist so am meticulous and exact, and I change the oil after cam break in. This time I listened to the engine builder, not the tune shop. Carefully ran those engines with best brand 92 oct. and no load for 500 miles and off to the chassis dyno for some real fun. All 3 of my YBlocks have identical cams except the blower motors 113C/L. Chris Nielson called them 276Ms and I really love this cam grind. I remove all choke parts from all my carbs and block the intake heats. All 3 of my 57s have T85ODs with 4:11 posi gears. Soooo, about real power, (as opposed to chrome air cleaners that puts a Chev 350 to 650Hp).



Tire dyno tuning. Ebird, carefully rebuilt/redrilled E carb s/u, stock bird exhaust, 191.3hp, 238.6tq. Change to cheap headers +4hp, 1#tq. Change to Stans FPT headers and Ed. 257 with carefully rebuilt 500cfm carbs, forget the type but think they came off mid 50s Buicks, 221hp, 279.2tq. After many dyno pulls I ended up with the coldest plugs that will fit these engines, 165 deg thermos, no vac advances, gained 4hp at 4'btdc. Made dozens of changes to the fuel/air to achieve tuners requirements. I made the biggest air cleaner I could fit to only 3/8 hood clearance, good thing I have that Bird engine very firmly mounted. I added another 16" element after K/N told me the element wouldn't choke this engine until 5000 and I still lose 12hp and 6tq with air cleaner on. I don't give the Ed 257 much credit for added Hp, certainly not more than it's air cleaner cost. I ran the E carbs for 8 years with zero trouble and I ran many other old Fords with teapots so a hot torch in the eyes to all who spew on those carbs. The best parts money I spent was on Stans headers.



F100 4bbl with long tube headers, 205.72hp, 259.28tq. The F100 scales 3650 with me and 1/4 tank, the Bird scales at 3500 same way. I won't speed shift these T85s so using computer calc 1/4 mile Bird time is 14.62 sec. For comp my friends 2005 stock Mustang GT dynod 20 more hp and same tq but 1,000 rpm higher, (and 10 mpg better), but peakier power curve. Are these as scary as that 427 Cobra I had for a year, nope but I didn't keep that monster cause I'm too old to die. These are the best machines I've ever owned, they're practical and fun and both scare the hell out of the passengers on hard launches. I designed these machines for best driving torque, not greatest HP. You Bird guys put a stick and posi unit behind this power and you'll quickly break those side mounts and that rear end aint' staying back there unless you add some goodies.



Got Teds instruction how to add pics but your eyes are probably bleeding by now.


Dan in Seattle

Well thats an interesting read.. Not good to hear you melted two motors though..



"Came too close to dying to stop living now!"

Dan,

Were your pistons flat topped or domed?  I have  312 that I am rebuilding and am going .060 over.  I have pistons with a 10 cc dome, and I think I need to have the domes cut down.  I'm using G heads with 69 cc chambers.  I thought a mild port and thick gaskets might reduce the CR, but now I'm thinking that those two things alone will not be enough.

Any opinions appreciated.

Paul J. - '57 E Code

If you don't cut them, you will be around 10.5:1, assuming 0 deck, composite gaskets, and minimal milling on the heads. A 1cc dome will put you just under 9.5, and no dome will put you just over 9.3. If you calculate your dynamic compression, you may find that you can get away with 10.5:1. Here are some links about dynamic compression.



http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic46641-3-1.aspx?

http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic44558-3-1.aspx?


Lawrenceville, GA