I have aquired a complete y-block.From carb to oil pan.  From fan to flywheel.  and it rotates.  Block # is ECG-6015-C, heads are ECZ-C,  Rockers are ecg 6564-A.  I am assuming it is stock 272 from a truck. It has a front motor mount.  It is yellow with silver valve covers.  Plans are to bore to 292 or maybe 30 over, a mild to medium cam for street, dual exhaust.  i am looking for a four barrell intake to replace the one I threw away 20 yrs ago when I thought I would never have use for it.  Any input as to what I should do or use to have a decent street cruiser.  It will go into a fairlane so I know I will have to change the oil pan and timing cover.  also I'm thinking of an AOD

You can use or reuse the timing cover, pan's a different story.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

The search function on this site will bring-up numerous variations of your question that have been asked in the past. I realize that you’ve been a Forum member for awhile, so some of what I’ve written may not be new to you.



You’ve answered one important question already, although your statement means different things to different people. To me, ‘decent street cruiser’ means mannerly idle characteristics, good low speed torque and throttle response, stop-and-go city driveability, and good highway response for passing.



Budget and availability of parts may come into play as you get into this. Others with more experience may have other suggestions for you as well. Here’s one guy’s opinion:



Your particular engine block was cast and machined as a 272 by FoMoCo sometime between the ’55 and ’57 model year. Your thought of overboring for 292 pistons sounds realistic. In boring the cylinders and using different pistons, I would recommend that you have the entire rotating assembly rebalanced before assembly.



IF you stay with the ‘C’ heads, you probably best use a ’56 4 barrel manifold so that the intake ports match. Speedway Motors sells an adapter so that you can use a later style carburetor like a Carter AFB, Holley 4150/4160, or an Autolite 4100. For the street, low speeds, and crisp throttle response, I’d recommend an under 500 cfm carb.



If you can do it, the later ECZ-G or 5752-113 cylinder heads provide better porting, larger intake valves, and a higher compression ratio. Personally, I like the 5752-113s because they seem to have less valve shrouding in the combustion chamber, and all of the 113s, regardless of production date, are ‘posted’ to provide additional support above the combustion chamber. My understanding is that the 113s can be safely planed more than the ‘G’s to compensate for the newer (thicker) composite head gaskets that will lower the engine’s compression ratio. Whatever you use for heads, you’ll need hardened exhaust seats installed. With the ‘G’ or 113 heads, for the street, I would use a FoMoCo ECZ 9425-B four barrel manifold which will take any of the previously mentioned carburetors. These intake manifolds came on 312 ’57 Fords, Mercurys, and T’Birds as well as a bunch of ’57 up y-block H.D. 292 truck applications.



The ’57 and up y-block passenger car exhaust manifolds are physically larger and will provide better exhaust flow than anything produced earlier that was used on a passenger car.



I would retain the rockerarm trays located under the ’56 rockerarm assemblies on the ’56 heads, the camshaft fuel pump eccentric counterweight, and the timing chain oil drip tray used on your ‘56 block. FoMoCo chose to eliminate these components in later years as an economy move… Somebody decided that these items were ‘nice to do, but we don’t have to have them’. These parts were originally included for a purpose, I’d use all of them.



The ’56 and ’57 FoMoCo ECG rockerarms are 1.54:1 ratio whereas all of the others supplied by Ford for the y-block are 1.43:1 ratio. Keep those ECG rockerarms!



Tubular pushrods are something you’ll want to consider. The original ‘knitting needles’ from ’54-’59 y-blocks, flex (distort) and become bent too easily. FoMoCo began using tubular type pushrods after the ’59 model year, I believe. The thing to be careful of is that ’54-’55 and ’60-’64 are one length and ’56 to ’59 are a different length! Aftermarket tubular units are available.



Regardless of what heads you use, change out the Load-o-Matic distributor for a later distributor unit. The Load-o-Matic style distributor uses only a vacuum advance mechanism, while the ’57 and up are a combination of centrifugal and vacuum advance. You’ll need the later distributor to work properly with any of the carburetors I previously mentioned. See the website noted below for details on distributor selection.



I can’t help you on the AOD swap. A manual four speed makes driving most any vehicle a more enjoyable experience. A manual 3 speed overdrive sure saves the rpms on the highway. I’m pursuing putting a 5 speed behind an engine I’m presently working on to get the best of both a 4 speed and the overdrive.



Well, I’ve had my say. An excellent resource, and one often referred to here is John Mummert’s web site, http://www.ford-y-block.com/ In addition to his parts offerings, John has assembled a large amount of technical information that he has put up to help y-block followers. You might want to start by looking at the ‘Y-Block Technical Information’ section. Once toggled, look for the subsection ‘Parts To Look For’.



Hope some of this helps you get started.



Regards,


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

I would go with ECZG heads , '57 4 barrel intake and 500 cfm carb, '57 distributor, repo of the blower cam, and a 5 speed. Lots of other good options that will work for you also. You could go with a 3.70 or 3.89 rear with the 5 speed and have the best of both worlds.