Good Afternoon All,

My '58 F-100 has been under going a slow return to life. Over the past year the stock brakes have been totally rebuilt, the shift linkage of the three-on-the-tree has been rebuilt and the engine got a major stock tune-up including pulling the oil pan to install new push rods, and a 4 barrel carb and intake manifold.

The truck came home from a friend's auto repair shop two weeks ago. I took a 20 mile pleasure trip and about 10 mile in the engine started to misfire. I have been working through obvious things like plugs and plug wires, distributor-stuff, carburator settings, etc. No improvements.

A buddy says, "Pull the valve cover and let's have a look!" Holy@#$%&*! The right side rockers are dry, valve adjusters for the first and third cylinders are busted and the two push rod caps are now a pile of shavings. The left side rocker is well lubricated. I'm going to be generous and suggest that the oil was flowing when the truck left the shop and that my drive loosened some crud that plugged the oil passages.

So, help me decide; rebuild the 292 Y-block or get a donor vehicle with 302/5.0 and AOD. Of course I want to hear your stories, good and bad. And don't pity me for having a several thousand dollar, one-and-a-half ton, white, yard orament. :-)

I look forward to your input.
Dave

 

Sorry about the luck Dave. I put an 89 5.0 & AOD in my 60. The truck is driveable but not roadworthy if ya know what I mean. If you've got the wallet for it I wouldn't hesitate to go for the fuel injection. Ford offers a harness and instruction booklet that makes it pretty straight forward. There are also several similiar swap articles on the net about it. HOWEVER, be prepared to change lots of things. Engine/trans mounting, fan/radiator issues, electric fuel pump, fuel return line and possibly having to use a truck oil pan if you have the straight axle. I'm sure I forgot 10 other things but that's enough to chew on for awhile. Suddenly sinking a couple grand in the y-block sounds pretty good! Unfortunately I'm not that bright! Brian.

 

In the long run you'll be a LOT happier with the 5.0 and AOD. Modern technology, parts availability, not to mention gas milege and performance/drivability. If the 5.0 is in good shape (a lot out of Mustangs are gasping their last breath) the cost is going to be similar, but IMHO rebuilding the Y block you still have a 50 year old engine with the technology of that era.
Now to hear from the Y block lovers and the Col's pitch for a I-6...

 

Amen...I can hardly wait!

Something else to consider...as nostalgic as a Y-block is, I'm finding that there aren't that many blocks out there that haven't already been punched .060 over. A fresher small block, even carburated, in the long haul may be easier to rebuild more than once.

Now...back to our regularly scheduled program.

 

well im going to rebuild my y-block but mine didn't try to self destruct. in my opion i would build the y-block, you already worked on the trannie wich i assume is origanal, and from the way it sound it like your truck would be a perfect canidate for a stock resteration. plus with a 5.0 you will have to wire in all that electracal crap that dosn't belong on an old truck. i think i would probaly be a lot esier to fix the y instead of building motor/trannie/who knows what else mounts. that and there lots of 5.0s out there, the y is just about forgotten and a piece of naustalgic cool. thats my 2 cents, ok maybe 5 .cents

 

Go w/ the 292 & add all the T-bird add-ons for it.

 

Unless you are going for a period restoration, dump the dinosaur Y-block and go with a modern engine and transmission...

Vern

 

This is just a suggestion, you could do what we did back in the day, you
could install a outside oiler kit to the dry side . Replace your damaged
rockers and pushrods and drive the truck while yoiu decide what to do
about rebuilding or swapping to a newer model engine.

Have A Good Day-------Hotwrench


PS Keep the Yblock

 

I'm interested in learning more about an outside oiler kit. Can you point me toward more information?

 

it was a quick fix in the old days.it also works but you cant buy them anymore.have to get them at a swap meet or the like.saw 2 a couple of years ago but didnt buy them.should have.sometimes on ebay.

 

If you have metal shavings in the engine, I don't think an outside oiler is going to help avoid a complete rebuild for long.

 

whatever you put in, just hold onto the Y block for future rebuild, and restoration originality.

Oh, and here's my shtick for putting in a big 6.

 

AXracer, thanks for the reality check about the metal shavings. If I want to see if the block is a rebuild candidate can I simply pull a head to measure the bore diameter? Will my dial caliper be accurate enough?

If the block hasn't been drastically overbored I will definitely save the block for restoration.

At this point I leaning toward Y-block rebuild with the new AOD adapter and an AOD.

Thanks All,
Dave

 

Try wrecking yards and want ads; there could be a nice low-mileage Y-block out there you can pick up for a couple hundred bucks. Maybe someone started a project and got burnt out, or has pulled a perfectly good Y-block to drop in a SBF or 350/350.

 

If it were mine I would seriously consider installing a 300 cubic inch 6 cylinder in it. There has been a lot of talk in the past on this forum from guys who are running them and they really like them. Also Clifford makes some aftermarket accessories for them. Good luck on whetever you decide to go with, I'm still running a 226 Flathead 6 in my 51F1