I am still a little new with these Y Blocks. On My 292 I have what appears to be a second "oil filter". It's on the drivers side of the block up in front right by the fuel pump. A hose from the oil filler tube cap goes to this "secondary" looking filter and it also has a down tube from there pointing straight down to the ground. My question is: 1. What is this? 2. Do I need this? 3. Can I remove this? I wanted to buy a chrome filler tube cap ..... but didnt see one that a hose came off of? The other reason I want to get rid of this is it gets the lower half of the engine and the front axle area filthy with grease. Is this some sort of "blow by" that is needed or can it be removed? Any help on this matter would be so appreciated.

Thanks,
Mason

 

Thats the crank case ventilator, in todays engine it would be a pcv valve (positive crankcase ventilation) type. The Y block actually came with three versions, you have one like I have on my motor, air and vapors enter the canister and flow through a filter before exiting through the draft tube, during forward travel of your car or truck a slight vacuum in the tube is generated which assists in drawing vapors from the crankcase. The assembly is baffled and equipped with a drain-back tube to prevent oil loss. And yes you need this, unless you want the oil in your motor to turn into sludge...... Hope this helps.

 

I used to have the same side mounted crankcase draft tube. Got rid of it by putting on a later model valley cover that has a place at its rear to mount a PCV. The PCV then goes to a later model carb with PCV attachment. The hose you describe running from the crankcase vent to the oil filler cap is not stock. Somebody put it on for some reason. Cant think what good it would do except to get filled up by oil.
The cap on the oil filler tube is actually another part of the crankcase ventilation. Fresh air goes into the valley area at that point and circulates around. Gases escape out the draft tube. So it is a good idea to keep the filters at both ends clean.

 

So do you have this on your Y Block?? Can I use a regular oil filter?? and can I take off the hose going from filler cap to the crank case filter and put a chrome cap on??

 

If the question is to me, like I said I got rid of mine for a PCV. You can use a regular oil filter if you have a spin-on adaptor. I suggest removing and examining the draft tube cannister, to see what plumbing changes if any the PO did. There is a cap screw in it's top that holds it in place. Based upon what you find, try removing the hose and see what happens. There may be a connection added somewhere on the cannister to attach the hose to, and that would need to be plugged if the hose is taken off. While you have the cannister off you can clean its filter in solvent. Once the hose is gone you can get the chrome breather/cap.

 

When you say PCV to carb ..... do you mean PCV to air filter on carb? Dont really remeber the PCV hooking up directly to the carb? But hey I'm just learning (again) how to work on a vehicle, 25 years of new cars and going to the shop has not helped me in this dept.(lol). I'll get it, I'll just have to ask a LOT of questions along the way. Thats why I love this site so much ..... alot of knowledge and a LOT of nice people to share with.

Thanks so much,
Mason

P.S. Keep the replys coming!

 

Well I did have the PCV hooked up to a Holly 600 cfm, at the carb's PCV port on its base. When I changed the Holley to an Autolite 2V, the 2V required an adapter for the 4 barrel manifold. I drilled and tapped the adapter, for a fitting to attach to the PCV hose.

 

Thunderbird Y blocks had a rear mounted road draft tube that came off the valley pan rear. The vally pan had an internal baffle to force air to go into the crankcase and back out. 1961 up had a PCV valve in this location. It was connected to a spacer under the carburetor to provide manifold vacuum. I used this setup on the 312 Tbird special I had in my 58 F100.

 

I have a Holley 2300 350 CFM carb on it and it has this port on the base (plugged off for the moment) So I can get this different vally pan with the PCV valve in it and do away with the crank case breather thing? Although the directions or (manual) for the carb said it was a port for power brakes, wich I plan on installing front power disc brakes? Now I'm getting myself confused?? LOL not that hard to do.

 

I'll let someone else handle the 2300 and its port for brakes/PCV. What 85lebaron did is what I did basically. It isnt technically hard, but you have a lot of stuff to go through to get it done. Intake and heads have to come off to put on the newer pan. So it is best to line up other things you are going to do along with the PCV. The PCV I used was either #124 or 134 Deutche brand available at Auto Zone (cant remember which one). I bought 4 different grommets before striking gold. Also picked up a completely unacceptable PCV so I could take off its right angle top hose connector and put it on the 124 or 134. Finally ground down a little of the grommet face directed downward for a little more clearance between it and the top of the valley pan baffle. Once the PCV was in, just removed the side draft tube. Used a gasket as template and cut a blockoff plate from aluminum. If you are interested in doing this I have an extra valley pan, the type you would need.
The motor that the newer valley pan came from was a good example of what not to do regarding crankcase ventilation. A washer had been placed over the rear valley opening and sealed with rtv, leaving only the oil filler tube as a means of venting gas and pressure. The result was a motor that had leaked oil at every point possible.

 

Ya know ..... I think I'll be leaving the original thing alone. I will look into getting a new filter for it wich more then likely will have a new seal. Clean up all around the area and it should be good to go. But thanks for all your help, and I will be back for more questions.

Thanks,
Mason

 

Mason one of the main reasons I removed my road draft tube was I park in the garage and the smell after turning the motor off filtered through the garage, that doesn't happen now. The road draft tube can be blocked off by useing a Volks Wagen fuel pump block off plate, My in put, would also get a oil filter cap with a nipple on it and run the hose to the air filter, that would help the fumes that come out of the filler tube suck back through the intake system, I noticed that helped a lot while driving and keeping the fumes from coming into the car... "Gerry"