i just bought a truck with a 292 Y block...

and i dont know alot about the motors...

but what im currious about, is how did it get the name 'Y-block'??? is it because of the exauhst???

 

The block is shaped like a Y.

 

The bottom skirt for the crank is much farther down than other blocks of the time. Kinda hard to see in that pic with mount in the way.

 

most engines are shaped like a v.there were lots of other y block type engines at one time.they have now made a come back.my 4.6 crown has a y.i think the new dodge hemi is a y.whats old is new again.

 

looks more like an X to me LOL... but alright thanks for the help on that one

can some one help me with the points??? my book for old cars with a section on ford cars from the 60's says to set them to set them at .015 that would be correct for my truck 292 right?

 

According to my shop manual. 0.016 inch. dwell is 26 degrees

 

The selling point for this engine was the support of the main bearings by setting the crank deeper into the block. I can see the ad making mention of this point. Of course later Ford built the FE series of engines which continued the y idea and in the 427cid blocks cross bolted the main bearing caps for still more support. Others came along with the 4 bolt main caps on the three center journals. Which is better, who am I to judge. kotzy

 

Just like Sam_Fear said, the skirt comes way down, very unique to these motors. But it means that the bottom end can really take a beating, and the engine has a lot of structural support.

Here's a pic of mine underneath:

 

Thanks everyone...

 

So, what is it about the Y-block that makes the motor such a great producer of torque. I've seen numbers for the Y-block in the range of 170 hp and 270 ft/lbs. That seems like a big difference between hp and torque when I compare it to something like the new Volkswagen V6 the range of 250 hp and 230 ft/lbs.

 

High torque yields high horsepower if it is matched with a lot of rpms. Except for some of the high performance motors built in the '57 era, most Y's werent set up by Ford for rpms much above 4000, therefore the low HPs.

Why does it produce 270 ft lbs, good question, and maybe someone can answer it. I think one reason has to do with the long connecting rods. Also contributing may be the small diameter intake valves in the later motors combined with low volume intake runners of manifold and heads, yielding high velocity of fuel/air mixture.

Recently I did some basic research on the Dodge flathead I-6 230 cu in engine, 1942-1959. The little power plant produces a surprising 200 ft. lbs of torque. It has a huge stroke of over 4.6 inches, very long connecting rods,
and small piston. So my thinking is long stroke and rod equals large torque.

Ford MELs, FEs, Lincoln Y-blocks, and even the '61-'63 all aluminum Buick blocks had the Y design.

 

Long stroke means more torque, right on the money. If everyone wasn't in such a hurry we might still be driving with that type engine. You could pull the hills in high gear, you were just putting along. My 39 Ford delux sedan would get 25 miles per if I drove it like a human being instead of a nut, and it pulled well. Perhaps in all this energy thing we have to step back into history, and slow down.

 

are yes wouldn,t it be nices to go back in time and pick a year to stay in

 

That's a cool pic! I might snag that for my desktop!