Thanks for the greetings Ted.



After gaining some education on the engine thanks to the forum, I'm off to the Ford nationals in Carlisle this morning.

Hopefully I can score some parts I need to put this thing back together.


From the mountains in South Central PA

 

First, welcome to the site, WoodDean! I agree with Dan J. about taking the engine apart and thoroughly checking it over. What follows is my experience with one remanufactured Ford y-block engine. I’m sure this is an isolated case, but it illustrates what can occur in the rebuilding world of authorized remanufacturers.



In the early '80s I disassembled and reassembled a remanufactured 312 before selling it. It was a 'long block' assembly: engine block, cylinder heads, oil pan, timing chain cover, valley pan, and oil pump. No intake manifold, distributor, or water pump.



The engine, purchased from the insurance company after a terminating fire at a Ford dealership, was remanufactured by a Ford Authorized Independent Rebuilder, had an official Ford Remanufactured logo in silver stenciled on the dark blue repainted engine block near where the starter would be located. The engine had not been fired since assembly.



All of the cleaning of parts was thorough and professional (cylinder heads, engine block, crankshaft, connecting rods, valley pan, timing chain cover). –Not sure, perhaps chemically tanked and then bead tumbled/blasted, but everything looked factory new!



All of the remachining of cylinder head surfaces, block deck surfaces, engine mains, cylinder bores, valves, valve seats, crankshaft bearing surfaces, connecting rod big ends and rebushed small ends, resurfaced and bushed rockerarms, looked very good. All dimensions and clearances that I checked were in spec. I was not performing a blueprinting operation, but a quality assurance check on the remanufacturer’s work.



The heads were ‘60s vintage with matching casting numbers and small intake valves. Several replacement iron valve guides had been installed.



The engine assembly included new FoMoCo oversize pistons; piston pins and rings; timing gears and chain; main, rod, and camshaft bearings; soft plugs; rockerarm shafts; camshaft; and oil pump.



I was satisfied and pleased with ALL of the above. No shoddy parts, work, or workmanship.



I did find three issues/problems that I corrected before selling the engine assembly:

- MIXED Rockerarm Ratios! Apparently someone didn't know that Ford made and used both 1.43 and 1.54 rockers between '54 and '64.

- MIXED Length Pushrods! Apparently someone didn't know that Ford used two different lengths depending on the year of the y-block cylinder heads.

- 16 USED Valve Lifters! Some of the used lifter faces were significantly concave! Assembling a remanufactured engine with these was criminal in my view! Perhaps new lifters weren't on hand and someone believed that solid lifters didn't wear! Perhaps the remanufactured engine would have lasted for the Ford 12,000 mile remanufactured warranty.



I had no Ford paperwork because of how this engine was purchased... I was to warranty the engine to the buyer. Concave lifter faces would have shortened the life of any new cam lobe they worked with.



The used and defective lifters made me glad that I had taken the time to go through this engine before selling it to anyone. My finding of mixed ratio rockerarms and mixed length pushrods underscores the importance of your rebuilder KNOWING the engine species you bring him to rebuild. Different year engines have nuances that may not be described in a repair manual.



Regards,




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

Ted:

I don't want to muddy the waters, but I have some steel casting plant experience.  Firebrick lined furnaces do not like to be run through heat and cool cycles, it badly deteriates the brick lining.  Many companies preferred to leave the furnaces running even when not in use.  The fuel cost was less than the rebuild cost.  Now, if the furnaces are running, why not cast parts 24/7, you could use staggered shifts and workdays to do this without paying overtime, which I'm sure the bean counters would have looked at.  Bottom line, maybe the block WAS cast on a Saturday.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Adding to what John said, I worked in an iron foundry at one time. The furnaces were never shutdown except for firebrick relining. More to the point, our Monday to Friday foundry operation used weekend volunteer overtime to get product out when there was increased demand or to meet production schedules if we were behind because of sand conditioning or automatic molding machine problems during the normal work week.




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

Cool story NoS and great advice.



Don't know why but I'm opposed to using the heads that are on the engine so I'm in the market for a pair of G's.



I scored a ECZ-9425-B intake for $50 today at the carlisle show.

Also bought a teapot carb.




From the mountains in South Central PA

 

John and NoS.  No argument here.  I realize that the furnaces are not shut down on a weekly basis but always assumed that the weekends were used to cast up other parts besides engine blocks.  As a general rule, I always reverse engineer the date codes on the Ford blocks to the actual day of the week when I sonic test them and have only found one instance where a block date actually code fell on a Saturday or for that part a weekend.  That particular ‘one off’ date actually falls in a time period after a Ford strike in the Sixties which I surmised was an attempt to catch up on production.  If I didn’t have such an extensive record of code dates for blocks, I would not have been able to even think of such a possibility but because there are several hundred sonic sheets here with the pertinent information, I can at least make an educated guess.  I’ll not rule out that the guy actually putting the code dates in the molds for the blocks didn’t work weekends but with quality control being what it was, it’s doubtful.

 

Maybe some of those guys over on the FE forum can give additional information on what kind of casting schedules were actually done for the various parts at the Ford foundaries?

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

I was attempting to get the heads off the block this evening.

Supposedly this engine has never been run but has been together for a long time.

All of the head bolts came out without any signs of corrosion.



Does anyone know of an easy way jar these things loose?

I'm trying not to mar any surfaces with screwdriver or pry bar marks.

From the mountains in South Central PA

 

Look on each end of head, there is a small recess where a screw driver can be inserted to lever head up.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

I saw those notches and did stick a screwdriver in there to try and pry a bit.



I'm assuming I can gently hit it with a hammer to wedge the head loose?

From the mountains in South Central PA

 

Thanks for tips, heads are off.

From the mountains in South Central PA