The Y looks like it has something in common with the Olds Rocket engines. 2 bolt valve covers, the way the intake mounts, the oil filler, the water pump inlet location, the rocker shafts. Is there any reason?


Lawrenceville, GA

Maybe Henry copied Olds?? Actually, I would assume while developing the Y Ford engineers looked at the other engines on the market. The only V8 overheads at the time were Caddy, Olds and only one or two others??? Buick was still in the development stage in 52/53

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

A while back I found a set of "fake" Olds valve covers that were being hawked for a late chebbie. They had a nifty plugwire guide bar that fit across between the two valve cover bolts.

This heavy duty truck 292 has the same sort of over the top wire guide set-up on it - but it looks like OEM Ford equipment. The wires are still a bit close to the manifolds for my taste, would be better with the type of tube header that drops low. I've seen some old flattie arrangements with the wires dropped through formed tubing guides. They would help. During all of the discussion of valve cover designs - I was thinking a clever milled aluminum wiring guide (fit across the studs) would be a good dress-up for the stock covers.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Straying a little from the Y Block, the Studebaker V8 that appeared in '51 looked almost like the early Cad engine.  So much so that the Cad intake could be bolted to the Stude engine for a cheap 4 barrel manifold that Stude didn't offer yet.

John

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Buicks V-8 came out in 1953 in the Super's and Roadmaster's, the Special still used the straight 8 untill 1954.  The Century was reintroduced in 1954, which was a Specal body with a Roadmaster engine and a fourth porthole, like the Roadmaster's. Cadillacs OHV V-8 came out in 1949.  It's interesting that the manifolds would bolt on to a Studebaker.  I think Cadillac's four barrell carb first appeared in 1952, Oldsmobile's too. The auto industry has always used each others inovations.  One great Ford inovation was the suspended clutch and brake pedals introduced in 1952.  If I remember correctly, a guy by the name of Bill Frick made Studealac's, which he converted the Stude to a Cadillac V-8.  As everyone probably knows, the Buick V-8 was quite different with vertical valve covers.  They were refered to as "nail heads"  I guess the valves were vertical too, or maybe they were small?

Paul J. - '57 E Code

That period of time right after the war years saw a lot of changeover between the workers and engineers at the various auto manufacturers.  The fact that most of the car makers were now located in the same area made this quite easy to do and as such, made it similarly easy for ideas to also be moved around.  Regardless of confidentially agreements and the such, it was difficult to keep those new and innovative ideas suppressed as the people with those ideas are moving around and sharing these with the new employer.  This still happens today but to a lesser degree as there are tighter controls and legal constraints to minimize losing the concepts and ideas as they are being developed.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Paul,

        Re the "Nailhead" exactly. The intakes in the Buick heads were very good, as they rotated the valves toward that side, however the exhaust side was not as good. The things were very compact, very light for their displacement, and made TONS of low end torque. Exactly what you'd want in a Buick. I actually raced one in the 60's in a '52 Pontiac, 3 speed stick. Used a 49 Ford column shifter to make a floor shift.  

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Please temper the false tendenancy to give the general mess crowd any claims for inovations, consider that Ole Henry was under the thumb of the Roosevelt admin., and his cronies for some percieved transgressions of Ole Henry, and had lost control of the company, Even his Grandson was under the gun.. Where did the general mess crowd get the inovations...?? My take from the federal government..

Remember...

You will fine pictures of chevrolet driving Fords, But will never fine Ole Henry driving a gen mess crap..

Brother and I own/operate 1957 Ford Fairlane 312/4x2 and two 1963 Falcons 302 rollers carburated 600cfm, FE427 sitting in shed..