Guys, I wanted to thank you for all your help and I wanted to give you an update.

An old family friend was so distraught I was going to buy a '55 Fordor he took it upon himself to find me a two door. He found a '56 Fairlane Victoria hardtop for me! That's the good news, the bad news is it's a little rougher than the '55 and it's not complete. The Y-Block is gone. It has a 351W with a C4 that is just sitting loose in the engine bay. So I am bummed, but it saves me a lot of money in the end because I have a mentor who has a 393 stroker kit and a complete Richmond 5-sp, balanced flywheel, cable clutch, and Hurst V-gate shifter for it too. He's going to build the engine up for me after we get it back from the machine shop. The car will be a mild custom, I actualy have to put door handles back on the car, as well as the hood ornament, trunk emblem and locks. It's getting a Mustang II suspension and manual rack and a 4-link 8.8 rear with beefed up Moser axles and gears. The interior will be '58-'60 T-Bird console and rear seat while the front buckets are still undecided. The car came with NuVue spot light mirrors that I'll get refinished and use on the car. Color scheme will be white w/ pearl plum purple. It will be lowered 2-3", but not bagged, sticking with coilovers.

If anyone wants a C4 for next to nothing plus shipping, LMK. I'll also be selling the '56 power steering setup from the car, including the column shifter steering column that mates with the power steering box, the power rack and P/S pump, which appears to be a '56 pump on an adapter bracket for the 351. The front and rear seats will also be sold to fund a new rear axle since the stock '56 8-1/2" won't last long with the 393's torque.

But now I also have the Y-Block bug, so my next project will have to be a Ford shop truck style p/u with an original Y-Block and a 4-sp. The truck isn't a practical vehicle for my family, so it won't be so critical to have big power out of the Y-Block, but I'd still want to do new heads and a stroker kit in it too. The other truck I'm looking for is a '37-'39 1-1/2 Ton stake bed, tow truck, or COE. Since you can't see the Flathead engine in one of those, I'd probably sell it to flip in a T-Bird Y-Block if I can find one for a reasonable price.

Thanks PF. I'm not set on an engine swap, and in the past few days I've dove into several posts in other various hot rod forums and talked to my friends who have built different cars with all kids of engines. All have said to focus on reliability and common sizes for the pistons/rods/carb as opposed to setting a specific displacement or power goal. I'll definitely keep the Y-Block engine, but it may not stay in the '55 Fairlane for it's entire life. If, IF, I eventually decide to pull the Y-Block it would be in 6-8 years from now. I'd put it a T-Bucket, HiBoy, or other roadster style simple Ford street rod and bolt a T-5 to it. TBH, the desire to build one of those cars may be what would cause me to pull it from the '55. Yeah, I'd love to do an open HiBoy with a Flathead so it's even more period correct, but I can't afford a great Flathead build. But I can afford the mods to the Y-Block (over the next 2-3 years) that will make the '55 Fairlane a greatly enjoyable cruiser. And the AOD transmission swap just makes better use of the torque and power from it too. It's not going to be drag racer or even a SCCA autocross car, I just want to beef it up a bit so it can easily keep up with traffic and get better than 8mpg doing so.

For now, I'm just going to get the 272 running since this car has been sitting since 2008. Then I'll do a 12V conversion, switch the windshield wipers over to electric motors, and add the electric aux cooling fan this winter. I'll add PS and upgrade the brakes too. The AOD/TC/Axle swap will be in line for next year if I can find the donors or parts at a reasonable cost. To me, the swap will make the car more enjoyable to drive and more affordable to drive longer distances to different shows. My family is looking forward to the different car shows and meeting other enthusiasts so that also makes the costs easier to justify. I know we'll be attending the Beatersville show in Louisville next year, but there are several others within a 4 hour ride from here.

I'll talk to John Mummert and my local engine shop to see what changes I can make to the 272 that won't be lost when I have it bored out to 292 and eventually stroked. I'll probably add a new intake for either 3 twos or a single 4bbl. I'll look for headers and see about that cam change. I realize I may not see the full benefits until it is bored and/or stroked, but I'd like to do as many mods to the engine in stages as possible before the $4K-$6K for a stoker kit and aluminum heads.

Thanks TMC for those additional tips, I haven't had a chance to dive through the forum topics to pick up all those tips. I'll prep the car for towing, but it will be a few years before I have a trailer unless I come across a killer deal. There is an old Canned Ham style trailer for sale about 30 minutes from here that my wife saw on our way to a drive-in movie. She said that when the car is done, I should buy one of those to fix up to match the car. All I said was, "definitely!"

Altho I have never had any cooling problems I have done the same as others to ensure a cool running engine i.e. installed a restrictor in the thermostat bypass hose, auxiliary electric fan with thermal switch, set timing at 10° BTDC, etc. The electric fan very rarely come on. I also run distilled water and Water Wetter. If you live in a colder climate you may want to run anti-freeze, tho.

I also have a C-4 with external cooler. No trans cooler in the radiator.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

First, you're not likely to get any encouragement here for spending time & money on a Y-Block, & then dumping it in favour of another engine later. Frankly it doesn't make sense, financially or otherwise to do that.. If you build the right Y-Blk you will likely love it. However, if you are determined to go to a later engine at some point, might as well do it now, cause there's no way to build a robust Y cheap, because it's not a main stream engine like a chebby. On the other hand, if your 272 needs a rebore, by all means take it out to 292 or more (beyond 292 a wall thickness check is recommended) Some but not all, may be bored to 312+0.40 over with out being to thin, which comes out at 306". Or go to 292 & consider a stroker kit from say John Mummert. For towing a low end torque cam would be best. Mummert can steer you on that too. An AOD is a nice idea, but is somewhat entailed & costly to do.. Just some comments & ideas.

Paul

My Dad towed big vans for many years with Mainline utes and F100's both with stock 292's
Plenty of low down torque for this job.
I can even remember our low loader with a 12 tonne road roller on the back breaking down and Dad towed it back to our workshop with the F100.
Just my opinion but you don't need to spend big dollars on 312's and blowers and what not for a good car that can tow a van on the odd occasion.

Gary - 1958 Star Customline and 1940 Ford Deluxe Hotrod

They can be, but that is not an engine that will be good for towing. There is much more to it than simply the displacement. You can have a 200 horse 318. You can have a 400 horse 318. It can redline at 5000rpm. It can redline at 7000rpm. It depends on which other components you use which are chosen based on the job the engine will do.


Lawrenceville, GA

Stay with the y block, Lot more fun, and, as master said, they do make a lot of low end torque. The blower route would work, but it's not cheap.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Thanks TMC! Did you add any additional coolers? I figured it would be ok, but wanted to check with experienced members. I think I'm still going to stroke it out, but I'll make it more budget friendly and lower the HP goal to free up funds for an AOD transmission swap.

LMF, I'd love to supercharge the engine sooner, but it's not in the plan (and may not make the budget) till the very end of the build and I'll probably do that on a 351W 4-bolt Dart or Scat block. But since the Dart blocks are capable of being bored and stroked to over 429ci I may just go that route and keep it simple. Figure I'll be saving the funds for 2-3 years before I can make that swap. But, TBH, if I'm enjoying the car as it is with a 318-330ci Y-Block, I may just leave it alone and drive it!

I'm fortunate that I have a local customer/mentor that is a Ford NHRA drag racer that can help guide my budget on the 351W build when the time finally comes around if i decide to go that route. Keeping it all Ford with column shifter is something I've decided I want to do, but I have to figure out a new plan for the drive train. I was planning to take the easy path and go with a pulled 5.2L LM7 bored and stroked to 396 with a T6 transmission in a custom console with bucket seats. Scrapped that idea. I just can't do it. Have to keep it all Ford.

Boiler, My '55 with a near stock 292 pulls my 16' Canned Ham ('56 Shasta) just fine. The 292 has plenty of down low torque for towing a relatively light travel trailer.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

You'll need a forced induction or a big, big stroker to get power and low RPM torque.


Hyvinkää, FI