Hi folks. Hopefully somebody here can help me identify this y-Block. I've always assumed it's a 312, but now I'm quite sure it's not and suspect it MAY be a mid-fifties 332 Lincoln/Truck engine.
Here's the scoop: The truck is an olive green 1963 Flareside that according to the VIN was originally a military truck, and at some point it ended up in the fleet of the University Place, WA School District. I bought it from a knucklehead who was going to scrap it if I didn't buy it, because he couldn't get it running. Needed a carburetor.

My running theory is that the crew at the school district got bored one summer and decided to swap out the drivetrain from a schoolbus and put it in this little truck. The transmission is a granny gear 5-speed (1st gear is right and back, reverse is right & forward. No synchros)

I've had the truck a few years, but never driven it much since it gets about 8mpg. I am planning a bit of a restoration on it before the rust gets too far advanced, and was thinking about putting in a more modern 351 with GT40 heads and a T-5, but the more I think about it, I think I like having the old skool drivetrain, and cleaning it up a bit. But I need to know what gasket set to buy first. And maybe even what color it should be!

After spending the last couple days trying to figure out exactly what this thing is, I'm hitting a bit of a wall. None of the internet photos seem to be a match. Many are close, but things like exhaust or intake manifolds or water necks seem to differ. The casting numbers I can find are not much help either. Above the right of the oil filter (where I thought a casting # should be) is a pretty large X. To the left of the filter and near a freeze plug is a casting that appears to be OM2974 (as seen in the last photo). But that number yields no results for me. This is a Cleveland Foundry casting, as evidenced by the CF mark near the distributor. Thanks in advance for any help!
Brian in Yakima WA

 

It looks like an old Lincoln to me too, not a 312 Y-Block.

 

Yup, Lincoln or big truck motor. There was also a 302? version I believe. Might try posting this on the 61-66 forum as well.

 

OK, will do. Thanks

 

It certainly appears to be the big Lincoln/truck Y block. They came in many sizes, so it could be most anything. Your theory about bored public workers is likely right on the mark.



Lincoln Y-block V8 engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I do love those Lincoln Valve covers. But I also like my intake that accepts a "modern" Holley 4 barrel. Wonder if I can find a pair of those valve covers without taking out a second mortgage.
So...assuming it's a big Lincoln, for the purposes of getting a full gasket kit for it, does it matter what the cubic inch size of my engine is? (Is a 317 set the same as a 332 etc?)
It seems Fel-Pro makes a FS7626PT and a PT-3, and I can't seem to tell what the difference is on a computer screen.

 

This is got to be that day yah voo cant spell that , I just went through one of
those yesterday. Yes we are getting ready for snow. What I see and what you have is, typically with rams horns, that will be a 302 or 332 from around 1956 into the first part of the 1960s. If "origional" the 1956 is ruled out cause 56's used a teapot, so its 57 up. Most likely a genuine 1963. At that time out of
high school I worked for Raytheon. Due to the stupid war most or all work was military contracts including vehicles. And it wouldnt surprise me one bit that your truck is factory. I "we" saw vehicals that defied normal, some, many being classified, stricktly enforced not to talk about it. I remember one we did up being a separate electrical circut being 36 vts. Rumer had it that it was for in the field, some top brass to use a 36vt electric shaver?? They would never tell us, but any of you ever worked in a defense plant knows weird stuff. Nobody will ever know, but it was not off line and to slip through the red tape, could be this truck that some high rank loved the big Lincoln and this was born. I did a short stunt working in the submarine signal division cable dept. and nobody would ever beleive things in the Admarals quarters, I mean like electric light your pipe or cirgar holders. These trucks with 3 motor mounts will be hard to tell if was shady tree or factory. So again no surprise if it was
factory ever see a OD 10wheel pickup? I have, what for no clue. All I do know was "dont talk about it" . If wondering about my escape, it was I did not pass the draft for asthema so with a little pull from my fathers politition freind I was to serve four yrs in a defense plant, being lucky Raytheon plant is a half mile in this town.

I forgot to say, my way of telling the difference between the early 317s to 302-332s are the 302s/332s do not have the lock nuts on the rocker arms which are a pain they just have the ball stud. If you ever remove rockers on these to clean, make damm sure you dont loose the little exhaust rotator cups !!

Whops I just picked up on another thing , the oil filler is definatly late, earlier used the draft tube there.

 

Yes its the same set, I just did one yesterday and got them from Napa. All those ribbed two bolt valve cover are the same.

 

So can we see the rest of the truck? And all the other cool stuff about it?

 

Big Job, what an amazing post! I loved every sentence of it! That would be very cool if this engine was original, and one more reason to keep it in place. I found a Fel-Pro gasket kit online for about 80 bucks, $100 cheaper than O'Reilly's down the street. So when I order that I won't be so worried about pulling the valve covers. They look like they haven't been off in a LOOOONG time, but they don't leak and the lifters don't make noise, so they're staying in place til I have the gaskets in hand. And maybe til I have some of those very cool Lincoln valve covers

Raytheon, huh? I grew up in Wayne, NJ, where Raytheon was huge. Not sure if they're still there.

Arctic, here ya go. It's got a bit of a patina to it, but not a lot of major rust. As I think I mentioned, I'm planning to pull it apart and give it a decent restoration here pretty soon. I'll have to take some more photos before that happens.



That's F10JR430085

 

I've never looked at it closely before, but here's a couple photos of the front motor mount. It doesn't look to me like Ford welding quality, but I don't know if that means anything in terms of when & where it was done.

 

Yes more pic's. I have seen this one in yer other thread. I do like yer truck a lot and hope the engine is original to it also. Let us know when you know Bud.

 

I just ran the VIN through vinwiz.com and these are the results:



<table border="" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><th>Digit</th><th>Usage</th><th>VIN</th><th>Decoded</th></tr><tr><td>1-3</td><td>Series</td><td>F10</td><td>F100 2WD pickup</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Engine</td><td>J</td><td>L6 223-1v 114hp 3600rpm</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Plant</td><td>R</td><td>San Jose CA</td></tr><tr><td>6-8</td><td>Mod Yr/Mfg Date</td><td>430</td><td>1963 (Mfg 1962 or 1963)</td></tr><tr><td>6-11</td><td>Sequential Serial #</td><td>430085</td><td>430085</td></tr></tbody></table>
Again, I don't know if the straight six designation means anything here, or if the military could get options that don't show up in the VIN.

 

Also noticed the plate on the voltage regulator for the Leece-Neville charging system.