I am putting a '61 292 Y Block in my '54 Mercury which I thought was supposed to be a direct swap. Everything was going fine until I tried to install the radiator. I discovered that there is only about 1 1/4" clearance between the end of the water pump shaft and the radiator core. I am using and 1 1/4" fan spacer but with this small amount of clearance I can't see how there would be enough room for even the thinnest spacer and the fan. Anyone else had this problem? What am I doing wrong? I am not sure how to attach pics through the website but I can send pics by email to anyone who thinks they can help me. Thanks, Alan S. Freeman

Alan,

I'm running a seven blade flex fan on my 56 and the fan instructions say a minimum of 1" clearance. The fan should be close enough to draw air through but have sufficient space to allow for movement when driving. If you can fit the fan without damaging the radiator I'd say fit the fan then measure.

You can swap out spacers to get the right clearance they are common ford bolt spacing and pin size so easy to get.

With your installation did all the mounts fit?  

cheers

Warren

Grizzly (Aussie Mainline)

Did you fit the engine mounts the right way around?

Should look like this.



Regards

Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!

Six cylinder engine mounts look like the V-8, but the mounting studs are in a different location, thereby moving the engine forward.  Could you somehow have the 6 cylinder mounts?

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Did the engine come from a car or a truck?


Lawrenceville, GA

The rear mount on the transmission lined up perfectly with the crossmember so it appears that the engine is in the correct position in the frame. I would think that if the front mounts were wrong or installed backwards the rear trans mount would not have lined up...right? Alan

Truck water pumps have longer shaft. You might have a truck engine.


Lawrenceville, GA

If you are using the '54 transmission, then your theory is correct.  If the trans is of a different year, the mount pad could be in a different location.  Also, T-Birds used a 1" spacer between the water pump and the timing cover.  Could you have such a spacer on your engine?

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

A fellow I bought a bell housing from had this problem on a 54 convertible as I recall (it was a while ago and I wasn't being really attentive when he explained it). It was something to do with mounting the rad on the front or rear of the rad support or reversing the support or something like that. Check this out. If necessary I could call this guy and get a full description of what he found out.

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

I think that Charlie (see above post) might be right about the problem being due to a longer shaft on the truck water pump. I have a spare water pump from a 1954 239/256 engine which I know is different from the '55-'62 car water pumps. However, the distance from the pump flange (where the pump mounts to the engine) to the tip of the shaft is 4 1/4" whereas the distance on the pump on my 292 is 5 1/2". The other thing that I noticed is that the shaft on the pump on my engine is thicker diameter than the 239/256 shaft so the 1" fan spacer I am using will not go over the shaft. Before I buy another water pump on the assumption that the pump on my engine is for a truck, can someone measure the distance on their 292 car pump to see if it is the same 4 1/4". If so, this will solve my problem as I will have another 1 1/4" of clearance. Thanks, Alan