Who the Hell thought it was a good idea to run the 292 Y block exhaust in the front

[Studdley]

I hate getting  burned, please explain to me who thought this was a good idea and why

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

You talking about a crossover pipe for single exhaust. The flathead engines before the Y-block were that way also. Easiest way to make the cross over. My two have dual exhaust so both out the back. I have 56 club sedan with 292 4-V overdrive and 57 two door HT with 312 4-V auto. Both going up for sale soon.

BTW Jon Kassae won the HP contest with a Y-Block last year. https://www.enginelabs.com/news/kaase-radical-y-block-makeover-wins-vintage-v8-at-engine-masters/

NASCAR would not let Ford run the super charged version nobody stood a chance when they did. I still rib my brother in law about out running his new 1968 Camaro SS-RS with a stock 312 57 Ford with over 120,000 miles on it. He could only do a little over 120 and I passed him and waved, lol. My dad would not buy a car if it could not peg or bury the speedometer. I use to love go try out cars with him.

 

[Don C]

David is correct about the crossover. I burned my arms a few times on them too. The first car I remember really well was a '55 Customline with a 272, that I bought from my parents and drove while in high school.

I like Y blocks. My wife and I had a '55 Willys 4x4 wagon for 35 years that I transplanted a 292 and T98 from a '64 F100 (when I put a 390 into it) into the wagon. We went places where my wife and sons would get out and walk, rather than try to ride up a mountain they thought was too steep. The later 292s in the pickups developed maximum torque around 1,800 RPM, they pulled really well.

One of my cousins had a '57 Fairlane 2-door hardtop with a 312 and 3 deuces that was one the fastest cars around for a few years. A service station/garage owner I knew had a '57 T-bird with a 312 and the Paxton blower, now that car would really move.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Seems like it would allow you to put the engine deeper into the firewall

 

[TommyK]

I hate getting  burned, please explain to me who thought this was a good idea and why

Edsel Ford?

 

[Don C]

Seems like it would allow you to put the engine deeper into the firewall

Except for the distributor being in the rear. Changing points was a PITA. Solved that in our Willy's by installing a Pertronix as soon as they came out.

 

[secluff]

Studdley, I sure remember those. I had a part time job at a  service station pumping gas and working on cars (remember those)? I was 15 and didn't even have a drivers license. But I was eager to learn and had a good old school teacher. My first encounter with a Y block was an early 60's pickup truck with a 292. First thing I remember hearing was the sound of meat cooking (My arm) on that front cross over pipe. I remember trying to replace points in a distributor that not only was sitting at an angle in the rear of the engine, but seemed like it was buried in a cave. Thank goodness Ford engines after that had the distributor in the front!

As DonC and David posted some of those 312's were capable of holding their own. The F&I Manager where I worked had a 57 Fairlane 312 4bl and had outrun a rival club member's  57 Ford that  a transplanted 390 4bl.

Just stay away from the single exhaust models with the front cross over pipe!  

 

[Don C]

And, that illustration reminded how hard it was to change out the spark plug cables. Those retainer/separators are bolted on the back of the heads or block.

 

[Don C]

I hate getting  burned, please explain to me who thought this was a good idea and why

I think these were a carry over from the flat head V8s, which the Y blocks replaced. The flat head cross overs went under the crank pulley, which would have been too far for the overhead valve heads.