Those baby birds are some of the prettiest cars ever. George Holley and Henry Ford worked together on the Ford stuff. What about the factory supercharged T birds? That fastback Cougar is gonna be cool.
My father bought a Thunderbird shortly after graduating high school in the 50s. I don't remember what year, probably around 56. It's amazing how back then a recent high school grad, maybe 19 or 20 years old could afford a brand new car.
@@Yaroslav_Tselovanskyi A) it's not. B) because it's red white and blue. Russia is the good guy. WE (Americans) are the bad guy. WE started this war. WE are responsible. We promised (our word is worthless and has been worthless since 1861) NATO will go NOT ONE INCH EAST! Now it's nuclear weapons on Russia's border.
Back in the 60’s our family had three FoMoCo Y block cars: my Dad had a 1958 Mercury with a 312 Y block, my Mom’s car was a 1956 Ford Station Wagon with a 292 Y block, and my car was a 1956 Ford 2 door with a 272 Y block. Upper end oiling was sometimes problematic, and squeaky push rods meant time to remove rockers and clean oil passages. We’ve come a long way with motors like the Ford 5.0 Coyote that can make in excess of 700 hp.
I love my Y-block. Some claim they never cooled right, but I never had trouble with it overheating. I guess mid-year they went from a three blade to a four blade fan to remedy the heating issue. Mine is from October, so it has the four blade. I've seen that spacer mod, it looks like a straight forward conversion. The distributor on the back of the engine can be a pain. Even with the right distributor wrench, it's tough to not bump it a degree when you tighten it. I bought a palm ratchet because even a stubby wrench has very little space to move at the hold down. I'd love to do a stock Ford tach, but those tach driven distributors are super expensive. I wondered why guys with T birds always put an aftermarket tach with the original still in the dash until I saw how expensive the tach equipped distributors go for. I still bought the tach in case I find the distributor for a reasonable price. They used the Y-Block until around 64 in trucks.
The coolant sender on a Y block is at the back, when FE upwards are at the front. I have a 2nd sender in the thermostat housing and it reads cooler than the rear one. Both the same value. I ditched the water pump spacer altogether on my 57 T'Bird. The impeller is over an inch away from the rear of the housing with it fitted. The pump is virtually ineffective with it.
@@alansutherland9686 There is a plate available which goes between the water pump and spacer which makes the pump more effective in moving coolant. I just got one ($30) for a 57 Thunderbird Im working on, the owner reported it had the usual overheating issues despite having an auxiliary electric fan, the original radiator showed evidence of leakage as did the water pump. The radiator is being replaced with a 4-core and the 4 blade 18 inch fan is also being replaced with a 6 blade unit Ford also issued a technical service bulletin in the early 1960s recommending that both the head and block be drilled with additional coolant holes, a modern head gasket can be used as a template for drilling these holes. Iskenderian supplied camshafts to Ford for the high performance versions of the 312, they are also still available. If replacing cam bearings, modern Sealed Power or Mahle/Clevite bearings must NOT be used as they are softer than the originals and will "mushroom" into the camshaft groove which feeds oil to the rocker arms causing rapid failure of the shafts and arms. Bearings made from original-spec material are available but are difficult to find, some are imported from Argentina where the Y-block was still produced until the early 1980s
@@donreinke5863 Yes, I'm aware of the stainless baffle, I have one, haven't used it. There is also another modified spacer with an additional ramp that works better available. However NOT having the 1 inch spacer there solves the problem altogether on the Thunderbird. I have already drilled the extra holes in the block and opened up the rear galleries. I spent around 14 hours chiseling the build up out of the galleries which was like concrete. At the rear of the block, there is very little clearance anyway, so clearing that is a plus. I have NOS heads too. I am running P/S rack and pinion which allowed me to remove that w/p spacer and put in a 1 inch pully spacer to put the w/p pulley at the correct setting. I will run a/c as well. I have a Davies Craig 16 inch thermo fan and controller. Fan pulls 2120 CFM. I have Sanderson headers and MSD ignition. Should be around 280 HP, or if I use a 600 Holley, 300 HP. I have owned 5 Baby Birds in Brisbane Australia all of which I personally imported from the US.
My dad was a Ford man who really appreciated the power of flatheads after his first car was a Model A. We had a sea island green 53 sedan with the last Flathead, and he bought a 56 wagon and then. 57 sedan both with Y blocks of course. I remember opening the 57 up on the first bit of interstate we had in our area south of Brattleboro Vermont. I took it up to 100 and backed off, but that was my benchmark for what a V8 should feel like. A modern V8, and I’d still say it makes the grade as a modern V8. The absolute best stock V8 I ever drove was a 383 in a 63 Chrysler convertible. I did own a 54 DeSoto with the early Hemi and it always felt special, a thoroughbred that just kept on keeping on. It met its end honourably blowing up in a drag race in the the streets of San Francisco according to the guy I sold it to. That first couple of generations of overhead valve V8s got a lot right as can be seen in this really original Thunderbird.
Hey Tony, I used to drive School Busses from 1979 to 1997. The gas powered ones had 2 remote frame mounted vacuum brake boosters. I like your content and I have learned so much about older cars. Keep up the great work.
Those braking systems were very common in those model year of medium duty truck chassis, ( which school buses are build on)they were called a "HydroVac" a Bendix name. Depending on the GVW rating they came in either a single or dual diaphragm and also if the chassis was equipped with a gas engine or diesel which would be fitted with an engine driven vacuum pump and single or dual drive axles. Air brakes were also available as well. I don't know what the cost different was. As far i know they're still used today. Trucks that had those brake system came with a stand alone parking brake assembly mounted usually to the rear of transmission or front of the rear diff assembly and were cable or linkage operated. With air brakes the parking brake is incorporated into the rear brakes through the rear brake actuator "cans" which are much better for holding.
I'm a scale modeler and I've seen the Mustang graft on a Cougar in styrene. I've seen photos of actual cars (photoshop?) too but this..... This is toooo cool!
I thought it was Clambake and Contusions. Beautiful work Kiwi. Having owned a 69 fastback and a 71 Cougar as well as a 55 Victoria 289 I can really appreciate the work. AND the T-Bird valve covers, classy.
Jimmy, did they offer the Lincoln Y block in 56? It seems like I remember a Slick looking 2dr ht with a 341 cube version of the Turnpike Cruiser . The Lincoln Capri was a running MF!
Been working on my Holley 1901 for a 53 Mercury Flathead . It’s a strange setup but really easy to open up. Having the fuel distribution upstairs is convenient for access and for burning the car to the ground…
That style of brake booster was common on Australian Valiants, as the slant 6 + Right hand drive presented a problem. The booster was mounted on the other side of the car. The introduction of the Hemi 6 allowed the booster to sit behind the master, in the conventional manner. Our V8s had an offset bracket with linkages from the pedal to booster. Some Leyland and early Holden models ran remote boosters too. I do my own brass radiator repairs. I guess I'm a dying breed 🤣
Thank you Mr Tony for not making the Y-Block's weirdness into negative comments like so many do that do not like them. In your quest for weird things, you forgot the different firing order that gives the engine it's distinctive exhaust sound. Thanks for a great video, cheers.
For those who might not know…the ‘55-‘57 T-Birds were THE cars to own in the mid ‘70s to mid ‘90s before mopars became a big hit for collectors. Corvettes weren’t even as sought after as these were.
Very pretty Thunderbird. The Y-Block was an interesting and odd V-8, but they were actually fairly smooth and reliable engines if you didn't push them too hard. I enjoy the one in my old Ford. As for the other car, I almost never like seeing major aftermarket body mods on cool old cars, but the Cougar fastback was such a naturally good looking style idea that it's hard to believe FoMoCo never came out with one. There's one other I've seen on youtube, and it truly does look like a factory concept car rather than your typical hack job...e.g., '55 Chevy "El Camino" etc.
im a huge Ford guy and been waiting for this video LOL didnt expect it though from such a Mopar guy. I love Cougars. I'll take a Cougar over a Mustang any day. Y blocks are cool pretty rare to see a Ford with a distributor in the rear. Gotta say I like em up front though.
Another bit of weirdness with at least some of the Y block Fords is the crossover exhaust pipe that ran across the front of the engine and connected the exhaust manifolds and ran the exhaust out one side. I never quite understood what the hell that was all about. We had a 1960 Ford 4x4 pickup and a 63 truck that both had the 292 with the crossover pipe. I remember the pipe rusted out on both of them and then there was all kinds of exhaust fumes and noise under the hood.
Had an early 50s F100 orig farm truckI restored. Rebult the original 292, good valve job, rv type cam ran pretty well. Exhaust note was pure classic car stuff. Solid lifters...no complaints never missed a beat got hot nothing
You overlooked two other unusual items about Y-block Fords: 1) they all had solid valve lifters that loaded in from underneath and 2) they all had external oil pumps.
My father had a 1977 Ford LTD, 351 Canadian import apparently it was a Y--block had a Quadrajet carby, I used to love driving it when I was 18 ,thanks for sharing, all the best to yous and your loved ones
@@kiwiclassicsandcustoms9160 Saw 1st hand a guy that had built a gen1 mustang into a Ranchero......this thing looked STOCK. Like it came from Detroit that way.
Have a '68 Cougar myself, and have always been puzzled as to why Mercury never saw fit to do a fastback version, but did have fastbacks of other models. The other custom attempts to put a fastback on a '67 or '68 tried to recreate the lines of the same vintage Mustang; this creates an inherent compromise, since the Cougar has a longer wheelbase. Using a '69 'Stang roof, at least the way Kiwi did it, seems to work better. Great job, and congratulations for thinking outside the box.
The mushroom valve lifters are different than the competition. The Mack six cylinder diesels and gas engine used mushroom lifters. The camshaft has to be removed to replace the lifters, no other way unless you bore the block for Chevy lifters. The engine is the car is most likely the 312 cu. in. and not a 292 or 272 versions.
That is an outstanding 57 Thunderbird. A beautifully styled and it’s a perfectly restored car. The problem is it’s way to perfect! There is absolutely no way that car would have come off the assembly line looking like that. But that’s perfectly fine with me. That car is more about the perception of perfection than the real far less than perfect car that rolled of the dealership lot and onto the road home with the first registered owner.
That was really interesting on that t-bird never seen it before. I sent this video over to a buddy of mine who's got a cougar and he's working on it. Not yet but he will be but just wanted to show him what you can do. Thanks guys. Great video 👍👍🙂🇨🇦
Medium duty Dodge trucks had remote brake boosters like that mounted to the frame under the floor of the cab in the 60s! They do neat stuff when they fail - like suck brake fluid in through the vacuum line and create some really exciting smoke.
GM did it on their medium duties as well. One of the farms I worked at had a C-60 Chevrolet truck. we used it maybe two months of the year to haul silage from the fields and wheat to the elevator. I had to crawl under the darn thing every day to re-fill the master cylinder. It had a 292 straight six. The daily routine was to fill the oil and brake fluid and check the gasoline level. When it started smoking you weren't sure if it was brake fluid or motor oil, when you went for the brakes you found out.
My grandpa had a dual quad T-bird with the electric overdrive. I guess he rigged the overdrive to drop out when you floored it, so you'd nail it and drop it in 2nd and have the back end get loose at 45✌️
My cousin has a '55 T-Bird. His has 292 with a single "teapot" 4 BBL carb, but doesn't have that brake system just good old single system manual brakes. Thats a beautiful car, immaculately restored. I remember those engines with the solid lifters or tappets (some would call them) would just cladder along. They would torquey. My late uncle back in that day raced circle track and drag strip as well, he told me the only engine he always blew up was a 312, so he when back to running 292's never had that problem again. I remember when I was a kid he had a 3-2bbl intake manifold hanging up in his garage for a "Y" block. I don't know if he ever used it. With that remote brake booster, first time I've seen (in the early 80's)that type of system was on a '70 Toyota Corona. It was a different system but they worked. I love those classic cars!
GOD BLESS YOU ..THE COUGAR IS SUPER IT WILL COME OUT GREAT.. I LOVE THAT 312 ENGINE. ALL YOUR PROJECTS... N TALLADEGA DONT LET THE NEGITIVE GET TO YOU. YOU GUYS KNOW YOUR STUFF. I HAD 292 IN 59 TRUCK. GREAT EVERYTHING.IVE NEVER SEEN THOSE CARBS
Anyone who thinks aluminum is an "upgrade" from copper should not be commenting on this stuff. Copper is a MUCH, MUCH better thermal conductor than aluminum,. It's not even close. Copper is like twice as thermally conductive as aluminum.
Hey Kiwi, don’t forget the VH44 booster on HR Holdens , XR falcons and ZA Fairlanes, very common setup in Australia and New Zealand. Love ya work mate.
Back in school, I was driving a 56 Ford wagon. It had a 312 with another strange Holley 4 barrel with a center float. The car also had dual exhaust, Fordomatic trans and limited slip diff.
My parents have a 1970 Cougar that I need to work on at some point, but I really love the fast back look and it really is a shame Ford didn't have the mindset to actually make that. Beautiful lines.
My Mummert heads will be ready around Feb, got his new single plane intake already. Then u can get working in the rest. Have an offset ground crank and Eagle rods from Ted Eaton! Should be fun this coming year getting the rest of the parts together!
That looks to be a VH44 booster. In Australia they were quite common on certain Chrysler V8s prior to 1970. They were fitted to disc-drum installations. The front discs were solid type and boosted, the rear circuit was the usual self energizing leading-trailing shoe type drums but unboosted. The master cylinder was generally a tandem type. The single front brake line came out of the master cylinder, went to the VH44 then to a brake warning light block where it divided into 2 lines. The rear circuit went to the brake warning light block (completely bypassing the booster), then on to the rear. The system worked well and was properly biased. The solid discs weren't fantastically great but they were an improvement over brake fade of four wheel drums in a V8 powered sedan. It was simple and it worked in normal driving better than front drums by stopping more consistently in a straight line. They were fitted to 273, 318 and possibly some Slants. After 1970 the discs were ventilated and the brake system was entirely conventional disc-drum or sometimes 4 wheel drums (but they were reasonably rare after 1970). Brake warning light arrangement was integral on the master cylinder.
Cut my teeth on Y Blocks in both cars (50's Ranch Wagons) and boats (Interceptor Marine) while working as a young'un in the boat yards in Santa Cruz, Ca. Y-Blocks have tappets that insert from the bottom and unusual oiling systems. The "stacked" ports were done to clear the push rods more easily. The ports are small, but square and regular in dimension/shape. Go back and look at 1956 Nascar footage and you see these things walking away from Chevy, Olds, and Chrysler. Good durable engines. Eventually fitted with a Paxton blower from the factory. Banned from Nascar and NHRA in stock classes because the blown 312 could leave on (wheels up) and run away and hide from a 327 Chevy 😁
Many of the Ford campaigned race cars did not use the 312, rather they used the 368ci Y block, usually installed in the Lincoln Mark II and some Mercury vehicles. By 1960 Ford used the 430 ci MEL engine for racing in the larger Thunderbird that came out in 1958. That engine was available in the 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and was the first production vehicle to be rated at 400 hp with 3 two barrels, although some claimed the Chrysler Fire Power 392 actually performed better.
Never messed with the bigger Lincoln/truck engines, to heavy. Even our farm trucks just ran the 312. Had G headed 312 in a 56 Ranch Wagon w 4:11's that gave many a hard time on the street. No real top end, but plenty of grunt. And they did OK with the blowers too. But, like my cousin, if you really wanted to go fast, BB Chrysler and a TQ-Flyte dropped right into a 57 Ford chassis 😁
Hey, Tony! I wish you'd shared more about the "teapot" carb's infamy. They were also known as the "towering inferno". By placing the float bowl and metering circuits directly above the venturi, if you had a stuck needle and seat, or any leaks at all, one backfire and your car goes up in flames! Another quirk about the Y-block is they all had mushroom lifters, when the cam profiles weren't radical enough to demand this. This meant you had to completely tear down the engine and turn the block upside down to change a camshaft: yet another of Fords "Better Ideas".
What is interesting about the 57 T-Bird is that the single 4 barrel 312 was the first application to use the "modern" Holley 4 barrel. Only the 2 X 4 application got the old "tea pot" Holley. It's also the first application of the 9 in rear axle. Been driving my 57 with a 312 for 27 years. The old 312 has good power and runs great.
The Y Blocks oil pump is on the outside of the engine. There is a large tube going to it from the oil pan. And all Y Blocks are side oilers. They oil directly to the main bearings from the oil pump. Ford later used this method on their 427 race engines. The Y Block was in production for 10 years. 1954 till 1964. After the Ford FE went into production in 1958 the Y Block was used in a lot of trucks.. The last two years ,63 and 64 , they were available in trucks only. In South America, the Y Block stayed in production into the 80s. South American Y Blocks got a more conventional side by side ported cylinder head and intake manifold.
In about 1960 ,I remember an auto shop advertising for a 4 bbl. Mechanic. No one could work on those things. The standard 2 bbl. Carbs were super simple on all cars. The 1 bbl carbs on the 6s were super, super simple.
Many years ago in high school I bought a well used 292 Y block. An oily mess, I was going to reseal it before I put in my Ford. I took the intake off & I thought it had a cover of so sort. No, it was packed full of sludge. They used a road draft tube to vent the crankcase. Didn't work too well. I hammered new cam bearings in the block & discovered they were meant to be machined to size after installation. Sandpaper worked for me. It ran good & I drove it several years before selling it. Simplier times.
Lordy, Lordy. The last time I saw a dual quad Y-block intake was in like ‘91 or ‘92 at Mormon’s Hollow Salvage Yard in Wendell, MA in a glass display case. It came out of a badly wrecked ‘57 Bird. It had a $2,500 price tag on it. Never seen one since.
Remote brake boosters are VERY common... on medium duty trucks. Chevy, Ford and Dodge used them for decades, but yeah, this is the first car I've ever seen with that system. Those "teapot" carbs are definitely weird... but just to offer a correction (don't bite my head off for being a "know-it-all") regular Holley's and most other V8 carbs are downdraft carbs... that's not unique to these. I'm sure you just misspoke, but I wanted to clarify that. Yes, there are sidedraft and updraft carbs (usually used on inline engines), but all V8s that I know of with the carb mounted on top of the intake that's on the top of the engine are downdraft carbs, but these are very unique downdraft carbs, that's for sure.
Those remote boosters were used on lots of British applications, such as the MGC, MGB-GT V-8, Big Healeys, Mini Coopers, and others. I can see why Tony and Kiwi weren't familiar with those, being hotrod guys.
A guy down the street from me is always working on mustangs, he has a couger that is being converted to a fastback. It has been in the same stage as this one for many years. Makes me wonder if he is having some issues to get things to look right?
I just restored one of those E-code T-birds. All I can really say is: I hate Thunderbirds and I hate those Holley carbs. I work on a lot of 55-6-7 Thunderbirds and those are almost impossible to fix if something is wrong with them. Ford refused to do anything normal or simple. There were tons of other 4bbls they could've used, but ended up with.....that. I am more familiar with those cars than I ever wanted to be. The divorced booster is extremely common on English/European cars. Once you get into dual circuit master cylinders, those cars have two boosters; one front, one back. And as far as the "younger guys" comment, I'm 30 and my workload is cars from the 1980s back to 1890s.
4bbls weren't as common in the 50's. That was why there was a multitude of factory and aftermarket multicarb applications. In the 40's Buick had a twin carb engine, in the 50's GM had a lot of 3x2 setups on Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles, heck I think Cadillac even had one. When the Quadrajet came out the multi carb systems started to wane except maybe for Mopars.
A lot of the higher end Cadillacs had a tri-power setup, but for the most part they used the small Carter afb of the time. There was also the Hudson twin H setup which I think is what buick called their twin 2bbl as well. Buick was quite fond of the carter wcfb. Both companies as well as Stude and others of the time used the Stromberg 4A. There were plenty of 4bbl carbs out there to choose from, Ford just had to be Ford and be different from everyone else. Hell, the T-bird's headlight isn't even the same sealed beam as everyone else. The alignment tabs are in different places.
I had a 312 3x2 in a 55 Ford sedan back in the day 1969 .......had a crane cam....with 3:5s in the rear she was a mover . only problem was when you lit up the tires because the fender inner had some rot the whole inside of the car would fill up with tire smoke ...In fact that wasn't out of the norm up here past the 49th most of those 55 -56-57 Chev's and Fords were like that back then ......... it didn't stop us. and the cars looked real good...........we would call those carbs Toilet bowls
I really love Kiwi's channel. The man is good at what he does.
And, there's always a Ford or 5 in his shop.
Added bonus for me!
👍😎
Everything Kiwi works on ends up being amazing next level quality.
Thanks man!
True that!
Thanks man
Agreed. Top notch work for sure.
Those baby birds are some of the prettiest cars ever. George Holley and Henry Ford worked together on the Ford stuff. What about the factory supercharged T birds? That fastback Cougar is gonna be cool.
Mad respect for you uncle Tony for not being single brand minded!
My Dad put a 312 single 4 barrel in my Mom's 55 ford sedan. It ran pretty good.
My father bought a Thunderbird shortly after graduating high school in the 50s. I don't remember what year, probably around 56. It's amazing how back then a recent high school grad, maybe 19 or 20 years old could afford a brand new car.
Probably about $35-40,000 in 1956 money...
Funny how it doesn't work that way anymore.
Why do you use the ru terrorist flag?
@@Yaroslav_Tselovanskyi A) it's not. B) because it's red white and blue.
Russia is the good guy. WE (Americans) are the bad guy. WE started this war. WE are responsible. We promised (our word is worthless and has been worthless since 1861) NATO will go NOT ONE INCH EAST! Now it's nuclear weapons on Russia's border.
@@tarstarkusz NATO never promised anything to russia.
You are not American.
🇺🇦💙💛🇺🇸
Back in the 60’s our family had three FoMoCo Y block cars: my Dad had a 1958 Mercury with a 312 Y block, my Mom’s car was a 1956 Ford Station Wagon with a 292 Y block, and my car was a 1956 Ford 2 door with a 272 Y block. Upper end oiling was sometimes problematic, and squeaky push rods meant time to remove rockers and clean oil passages. We’ve come a long way with motors like the Ford 5.0 Coyote that can make in excess of 700 hp.
The way you treat Kiwi it’s no wonder he didn’t bring one of those 6 cylinder hemi engines back for you. ;o)
I love my Y-block. Some claim they never cooled right, but I never had trouble with it overheating. I guess mid-year they went from a three blade to a four blade fan to remedy the heating issue. Mine is from October, so it has the four blade. I've seen that spacer mod, it looks like a straight forward conversion.
The distributor on the back of the engine can be a pain. Even with the right distributor wrench, it's tough to not bump it a degree when you tighten it. I bought a palm ratchet because even a stubby wrench has very little space to move at the hold down.
I'd love to do a stock Ford tach, but those tach driven distributors are super expensive. I wondered why guys with T birds always put an aftermarket tach with the original still in the dash until I saw how expensive the tach equipped distributors go for. I still bought the tach in case I find the distributor for a reasonable price.
They used the Y-Block until around 64 in trucks.
The coolant sender on a Y block is at the back, when FE upwards are at the front. I have a 2nd sender in the thermostat housing and it reads cooler than the rear one. Both the same value. I ditched the water pump spacer altogether on my 57 T'Bird. The impeller is over an inch away from the rear of the housing with it fitted. The pump is virtually ineffective with it.
@@alansutherland9686 There is a plate available which goes between the water pump and spacer which makes the pump more effective in moving coolant. I just got one ($30) for a 57 Thunderbird Im working on, the owner reported it had the usual overheating issues despite having an auxiliary electric fan, the original radiator showed evidence of leakage as did the water pump. The radiator is being replaced with a 4-core and the 4 blade 18 inch fan is also being replaced with a 6 blade unit
Ford also issued a technical service bulletin in the early 1960s recommending that both the head and block be drilled with additional coolant holes, a modern head gasket can be used as a template for drilling these holes. Iskenderian supplied camshafts to Ford for the high performance versions of the 312, they are also still available.
If replacing cam bearings, modern Sealed Power or Mahle/Clevite bearings must NOT be used as they are softer than the originals and will "mushroom" into the camshaft groove which feeds oil to the rocker arms causing rapid failure of the shafts and arms.
Bearings made from original-spec material are available but are difficult to find, some are imported from Argentina where the Y-block was still produced until the early 1980s
@@donreinke5863 Yes, I'm aware of the stainless baffle, I have one, haven't used it. There is also another modified spacer with an additional ramp that works better available. However NOT having the 1 inch spacer there solves the problem altogether on the Thunderbird. I have already drilled the extra holes in the block and opened up the rear galleries. I spent around 14 hours chiseling the build up out of the galleries which was like concrete. At the rear of the block, there is very little clearance anyway, so clearing that is a plus. I have NOS heads too. I am running P/S rack and pinion which allowed me to remove that w/p spacer and put in a 1 inch pully spacer to put the w/p pulley at the correct setting. I will run a/c as well. I have a Davies Craig 16 inch thermo fan and controller. Fan pulls 2120 CFM. I have Sanderson headers and MSD ignition. Should be around 280 HP, or if I use a 600 Holley, 300 HP. I have owned 5 Baby Birds in Brisbane Australia all of which I personally imported from the US.
My dad was a Ford man who really appreciated the power of flatheads after his first car was a Model A. We had a sea island green 53 sedan with the last Flathead, and he bought a 56 wagon and then. 57 sedan both with Y blocks of course. I remember opening the 57 up on the first bit of interstate we had in our area south of Brattleboro Vermont. I took it up to 100 and backed off, but that was my benchmark for what a V8 should feel like. A modern V8, and I’d still say it makes the grade as a modern V8. The absolute best stock V8 I ever drove was a 383 in a 63 Chrysler convertible. I did own a 54 DeSoto with the early Hemi and it always felt special, a thoroughbred that just kept on keeping on. It met its end honourably blowing up in a drag race in the the streets of San Francisco according to the guy I sold it to. That first couple of generations of overhead valve V8s got a lot right as can be seen in this really original Thunderbird.
Hey Tony, I used to drive School Busses from 1979 to 1997. The gas powered ones had 2 remote frame mounted vacuum brake boosters. I like your content and I have learned so much about older cars. Keep up the great work.
Those braking systems were very common in those model year of medium duty truck chassis, ( which school buses are build on)they were called a "HydroVac" a Bendix name. Depending on the GVW rating they came in either a single or dual diaphragm and also if the chassis was equipped with a gas engine or diesel which would be fitted with an engine driven vacuum pump and single or dual drive axles. Air brakes were also available as well. I don't know what the cost different was. As far i know they're still used today. Trucks that had those brake system came with a stand alone parking brake assembly mounted usually to the rear of transmission or front of the rear diff assembly and were cable or linkage operated. With air brakes the parking brake is incorporated into the rear brakes through the rear brake actuator "cans" which are much better for holding.
In 78 working for a Lincoln dealer I worked on the horn. On the wheel is where it starts and terminates out the front of the steering gear. Madness
I'm a scale modeler and I've seen the Mustang graft on a Cougar in styrene. I've seen photos of actual cars (photoshop?) too but this..... This is toooo cool!
Thanks man!
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!
"CARS THAT NEVER WERE....BUT SHOULD HAVE BEEN!!!"
Tony talking Ford is always a must watch for me. "First on race day" Baby!
I thought it was Clambake and Contusions.
Beautiful work Kiwi. Having owned a 69 fastback and a 71 Cougar as well as a 55 Victoria 289 I can really appreciate the work.
AND the T-Bird valve covers, classy.
Cheers mate!
My dad had a 1956 Mercury with a 312 in it. it had a 3 speed on the column. That car was a road cruiser that took curves with ease.
Jimmy, did they offer the Lincoln Y block in 56? It seems like I remember a Slick looking 2dr ht with a 341 cube version of the Turnpike Cruiser . The Lincoln Capri was a running MF!
Been working on my Holley 1901 for a 53 Mercury Flathead . It’s a strange setup but really easy to open up. Having the fuel distribution upstairs is convenient for access and for burning the car to the ground…
That style of brake booster was common on Australian Valiants, as the slant 6 + Right hand drive presented a problem. The booster was mounted on the other side of the car. The introduction of the Hemi 6 allowed the booster to sit behind the master, in the conventional manner. Our V8s had an offset bracket with linkages from the pedal to booster. Some Leyland and early Holden models ran remote boosters too. I do my own brass radiator repairs. I guess I'm a dying breed 🤣
Vals used remote boosters until VH. Fords too had similar. Both only boosting the front brakes.
Welcome back Kiwi! 😎
Cheers mate
😎👍
Thank you Mr Tony for not making the Y-Block's weirdness into negative comments like so many do that do not like them. In your quest for weird things, you forgot the different firing order that gives the engine it's distinctive exhaust sound. Thanks for a great video, cheers.
For those who might not know…the ‘55-‘57 T-Birds were THE cars to own in the mid ‘70s to mid ‘90s before mopars became a big hit for collectors. Corvettes weren’t even as sought after as these were.
6 cyl corvettes were a joke back then. Dont know what chevy was thinking
Man Kiwi is a metal magician for sure. Beautiful work. That's a sweet Thunderchicken too!🏁
Thanks man!
I finally beat the squirrel guy. Lol
He blames squirrels 😂
Any Comments left.. are a Win over That Dude.. cheers from Huntington Beach CA..
@∅
Nice
Beat him how?
I feel like there's a blind squirrel in reverse situation unfolding....
Very pretty Thunderbird. The Y-Block was an interesting and odd V-8, but they were actually fairly smooth and reliable engines if you didn't push them too hard. I enjoy the one in my old Ford. As for the other car, I almost never like seeing major aftermarket body mods on cool old cars, but the Cougar fastback was such a naturally good looking style idea that it's hard to believe FoMoCo never came out with one. There's one other I've seen on youtube, and it truly does look like a factory concept car rather than your typical hack job...e.g., '55 Chevy "El Camino" etc.
im a huge Ford guy and been waiting for this video LOL didnt expect it though from such a Mopar guy. I love Cougars. I'll take a Cougar over a Mustang any day. Y blocks are cool pretty rare to see a Ford with a distributor in the rear. Gotta say I like em up front though.
Here in north California, I'm the second owner of a 67 cougar for the last 47 years 390,two four, 5 speed four wheel disc,,no rust total restoration
It's wild that the distributer is in the back and on a slant. If I hadn't seen y blocks before I'd assume this was a small block Chrysler predecessor
Yea! Fastback Cougar update! The T-birds is really cool as well.
@@dogsense3773 awesome! I love Cougars 67 is my favorite year too.
@@bluecollarred6912 yeah it is!
The first engine I rebuilt was a 312, solid lifter Y block. Tons of low end!
Another bit of weirdness with at least some of the Y block Fords is the crossover exhaust pipe that ran across the front of the engine and connected the exhaust manifolds and ran the exhaust out one side. I never quite understood what the hell that was all about. We had a 1960 Ford 4x4 pickup and a 63 truck that both had the 292 with the crossover pipe. I remember the pipe rusted out on both of them and then there was all kinds of exhaust fumes and noise under the hood.
Had an early 50s F100 orig farm truckI restored. Rebult the original 292, good valve job, rv type cam ran pretty well. Exhaust note was pure classic car stuff. Solid lifters...no complaints never missed a beat got hot nothing
You overlooked two other unusual items about Y-block Fords: 1) they all had solid valve lifters that loaded in from underneath and 2) they all had external oil pumps.
Beautiful T-Bird. I love anything different.
The Ford Y block won so many engine masters championships they outlawed them from the competition.
Oh ya?
I'd love to have a job at Kiwi's. I love modifying classics and learning
can you bake clams though
Cheers mate!
My father had a 1977 Ford LTD, 351 Canadian import apparently it was a Y--block had a Quadrajet carby, I used to love driving it when I was 18 ,thanks for sharing, all the best to yous and your loved ones
351 was a Windsor or Cleveland block, different beast entirely
That graft looks REALLY good! Not just how and how well it was done but it looks damn good! The rear looks a bit Javelin. Amazing!
Thanks man!
@@kiwiclassicsandcustoms9160 Saw 1st hand a guy that had built a gen1 mustang into a Ranchero......this thing looked STOCK. Like it came from Detroit that way.
Have a '68 Cougar myself, and have always been puzzled as to why Mercury never saw fit to do a fastback version, but did have fastbacks of other models. The other custom attempts to put a fastback on a '67 or '68 tried to recreate the lines of the same vintage Mustang; this creates an inherent compromise, since the Cougar has a longer wheelbase. Using a '69 'Stang roof, at least the way Kiwi did it, seems to work better. Great job, and congratulations for thinking outside the box.
The mushroom valve lifters are different than the competition. The Mack six cylinder diesels and gas engine used mushroom lifters. The camshaft has to be removed to replace the lifters, no other way unless you bore the block for Chevy lifters. The engine is the car is most likely the 312 cu. in. and not a 292 or 272 versions.
That is an outstanding 57 Thunderbird. A beautifully styled and it’s a perfectly restored car. The problem is it’s way to perfect! There is absolutely no way that car would have come off the assembly line looking like that. But that’s perfectly fine with me. That car is more about the perception of perfection than the real far less than perfect car that rolled of the dealership lot and onto the road home with the first registered owner.
That was really interesting on that t-bird never seen it before. I sent this video over to a buddy of mine who's got a cougar and he's working on it. Not yet but he will be but just wanted to show him what you can do. Thanks guys. Great video 👍👍🙂🇨🇦
Medium duty Dodge trucks had remote brake boosters like that mounted to the frame under the floor of the cab in the 60s! They do neat stuff when they fail - like suck brake fluid in through the vacuum line and create some really exciting smoke.
GM did it on their medium duties as well. One of the farms I worked at had a C-60 Chevrolet truck. we used it maybe two months of the year to haul silage from the fields and wheat to the elevator. I had to crawl under the darn thing every day to re-fill the master cylinder. It had a 292 straight six. The daily routine was to fill the oil and brake fluid and check the gasoline level. When it started smoking you weren't sure if it was brake fluid or motor oil, when you went for the brakes you found out.
I love the sound of y blocks they sound so raspy and awesome
My grandpa had a dual quad T-bird with the electric overdrive.
I guess he rigged the overdrive to drop out when you floored it, so you'd nail it and drop it in 2nd and have the back end get loose at 45✌️
Borg Warner overdrives did that normally, it was vacuum operated, much like the passing gear kick down on many automatic transmissions.
My cousin has a '55 T-Bird. His has 292 with a single "teapot" 4 BBL carb, but doesn't have that brake system just good old single system manual brakes. Thats a beautiful car, immaculately restored. I remember those engines with the solid lifters or tappets (some would call them) would just cladder along. They would torquey. My late uncle back in that day raced circle track and drag strip as well, he told me the only engine he always blew up was a 312, so he when back to running 292's never had that problem again. I remember when I was a kid he had a 3-2bbl intake manifold hanging up in his garage for a "Y" block. I don't know if he ever used it. With that remote brake booster, first time I've seen (in the early 80's)that type of system was on a '70 Toyota Corona. It was a different system but they worked. I love those classic cars!
Kiwi, your fab work is 2nd to none. Thanks Tony and Kathy for Hi-lighting his jobs.
Damn that’s a beautiful car design can’t wait to see it all done up and painted. This would be one of the few Fords I’d actually love to drive
GOD YESSSSSS!!!!! Yes we do know about that car! So gorgeous!!!
GOD BLESS YOU ..THE COUGAR IS SUPER IT WILL COME OUT GREAT.. I LOVE THAT 312 ENGINE. ALL YOUR PROJECTS... N TALLADEGA DONT LET THE NEGITIVE GET TO YOU. YOU GUYS KNOW YOUR STUFF. I HAD 292 IN 59 TRUCK. GREAT EVERYTHING.IVE NEVER SEEN THOSE CARBS
Great video and great car. I'm fortunate that I found a rad shop to rebuild my wife's 58 desoto rad. The shop was only a few miles away.
Anyone who thinks aluminum is an "upgrade" from copper should not be commenting on this stuff. Copper is a MUCH, MUCH better thermal conductor than aluminum,. It's not even close. Copper is like twice as thermally conductive as aluminum.
You are correct sir !
Probably, copper's thermal properties are sacrificed for aluminum's lighter weight; copper has about 3X the density of aluminum.
Hey Kiwi, don’t forget the VH44 booster on HR Holdens , XR falcons and ZA Fairlanes, very common setup in Australia and New Zealand. Love ya work mate.
Back in school, I was driving a 56 Ford wagon. It had a 312 with another strange Holley 4 barrel with a center float.
The car also had dual exhaust, Fordomatic trans and limited slip diff.
My parents have a 1970 Cougar that I need to work on at some point, but I really love the fast back look and it really is a shame Ford didn't have the mindset to actually make that. Beautiful lines.
Kiwi's Kustom Kakes and Kustards and Kars....and if Tony keeps it up, Killers for hire! LMAO
The video-bom b starting around 13:57 is priceless.
I love the old Yblocks. 292 was my fav. Last of Ford production solid lifter V eights. Good luggers.
That Cougar is a really cool car!
Thanks man
I always thought those early t-birds were good looking cars.
That fast back cougar is brilliant 🤘🏼
Kiwis Clambakes & Convulsions is a channel I would subscribe to!
With the modern parts available you can make a Y-block put down some serious hp numbers.
My Mummert heads will be ready around Feb, got his new single plane intake already. Then u can get working in the rest. Have an offset ground crank and Eagle rods from Ted Eaton! Should be fun this coming year getting the rest of the parts together!
I always expect Kiwi to go into Barry mode from Mad Max. "It's got phase four heads!"
What a GORGEOUS T-Bird!
Very interesting car. Never was a big Cougar fan but I like this.
That looks to be a VH44 booster. In Australia they were quite common on certain Chrysler V8s prior to 1970.
They were fitted to disc-drum installations. The front discs were solid type and boosted, the rear circuit was the usual self energizing leading-trailing shoe type drums but unboosted. The master cylinder was generally a tandem type. The single front brake line came out of the master cylinder, went to the VH44 then to a brake warning light block where it divided into 2 lines. The rear circuit went to the brake warning light block (completely bypassing the booster), then on to the rear.
The system worked well and was properly biased. The solid discs weren't fantastically great but they were an improvement over brake fade of four wheel drums in a V8 powered sedan. It was simple and it worked in normal driving better than front drums by stopping more consistently in a straight line. They were fitted to 273, 318 and possibly some Slants.
After 1970 the discs were ventilated and the brake system was entirely conventional disc-drum or sometimes 4 wheel drums (but they were reasonably rare after 1970). Brake warning light arrangement was integral on the master cylinder.
Cut my teeth on Y Blocks in both cars (50's Ranch Wagons) and boats (Interceptor Marine) while working as a young'un in the boat yards in Santa Cruz, Ca. Y-Blocks have tappets that insert from the bottom and unusual oiling systems. The "stacked" ports were done to clear the push rods more easily. The ports are small, but square and regular in dimension/shape. Go back and look at 1956 Nascar footage and you see these things walking away from Chevy, Olds, and Chrysler. Good durable engines. Eventually fitted with a Paxton blower from the factory. Banned from Nascar and NHRA in stock classes because the blown 312 could leave on (wheels up) and run away and hide from a 327 Chevy 😁
Many of the Ford campaigned race cars did not use the 312, rather they used the 368ci Y block, usually installed in the Lincoln Mark II and some Mercury vehicles.
By 1960 Ford used the 430 ci MEL engine for racing in the larger Thunderbird that came out in 1958.
That engine was available in the 1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and was the first production vehicle to be rated at 400 hp with 3 two barrels, although some claimed the Chrysler Fire Power 392 actually performed better.
Never messed with the bigger Lincoln/truck engines, to heavy. Even our farm trucks just ran the 312. Had G headed 312 in a 56 Ranch Wagon w 4:11's that gave many a hard time on the street. No real top end, but plenty of grunt. And they did OK with the blowers too. But, like my cousin, if you really wanted to go fast, BB Chrysler and a TQ-Flyte dropped right into a 57 Ford chassis 😁
BEAUTIFUL 57 and the 312 looks like a backwards 440 cool
you guys were great together
Hey, Tony! I wish you'd shared more about the "teapot" carb's infamy. They were also known as the "towering inferno". By placing the float bowl and metering circuits directly above the venturi, if you had a stuck needle and seat, or any leaks at all, one backfire and your car goes up in flames!
Another quirk about the Y-block is they all had mushroom lifters, when the cam profiles weren't radical enough to demand this. This meant you had to completely tear down the engine and turn the block upside down to change a camshaft: yet another of Fords "Better Ideas".
The Y-block also had a weird firing order that gave the engine a very distinctive exhaust sound.
Now I know why it sounds better than my 283 Chevy
@@bernardpolaco4973 they still cams for the sbc that swap the firing order to the y blocks... they sound great
What is interesting about the 57 T-Bird is that the single 4 barrel 312 was the first application to use the "modern" Holley 4 barrel. Only the 2 X 4 application got the old "tea pot" Holley. It's also the first application of the 9 in rear axle. Been driving my 57 with a 312 for 27 years. The old 312 has good power and runs great.
D code 2x4s and the F Code Supercharged models ran the teapot.
@@sycoticone e code 2x4
@@pedromartinez2837correct, my D code was a typo. D CODE 312 1X4
E CODE 312 2X4
F CODE 1X4 +McCulloch VR57 Supercharger
you have to put the lifters in before you can put the cam in also unique
Great video, guys. Keep up the awesome content. 👌
Love the Cougar !
My 72 Winnebago Rm 400 chassis has those remote brake boosters
The Y Blocks oil pump is on the outside of the engine. There is a large tube going to it from the oil pan. And all Y Blocks are side oilers. They oil directly to the main bearings from the oil pump. Ford later used this method on their 427 race engines. The Y Block was in production for 10 years. 1954 till 1964. After the Ford FE went into production in 1958 the Y Block was used in a lot of trucks.. The last two years ,63 and 64 , they were available in trucks only. In South America, the Y Block stayed in production into the 80s. South American Y Blocks got a more conventional side by side ported cylinder head and intake manifold.
In about 1960 ,I remember an auto shop advertising for a 4 bbl. Mechanic.
No one could work on those things. The standard 2 bbl. Carbs were super simple on all cars.
The 1 bbl carbs on the 6s were super, super simple.
I'm surprised more people aren't subscribed to Kiwi's Costumes and Cabinets.
🤣🤣🤣
I wish i could have kiwi work on my 292 y block in my 62 galaxie. Man, would mean the world to me. Im to far away in southeast michigan.
Wow 😳 kiwi is building modern day old-school Ford auto Rama cars . AMAZING inspiration!
I LOVE THE THUNDER BIRD. THUNDER ROAD IS A GREAT SONG GOD BLESS
Beautiful work on the cougar!
Thanks man!
Many years ago in high school I bought a well used 292 Y block. An oily mess, I was going to reseal it before I put in my Ford. I took the intake off & I thought it had a cover of so sort. No, it was packed full of sludge. They used a road draft tube to vent the crankcase. Didn't work too well. I hammered new cam bearings in the block & discovered they were meant to be machined to size after installation. Sandpaper worked for me. It ran good & I drove it several years before selling it. Simplier times.
Cool T-bird! I'd never seen a remote booster like that before or the down draft carburetor either.
another awesome car shop in tennessee
Lordy, Lordy. The last time I saw a dual quad Y-block intake was in like ‘91 or ‘92 at Mormon’s Hollow Salvage Yard in Wendell, MA in a glass display case. It came out of a badly wrecked ‘57 Bird. It had a $2,500 price tag on it. Never seen one since.
Nice ride and workmanship
Remote brake boosters are VERY common... on medium duty trucks. Chevy, Ford and Dodge used them for decades, but yeah, this is the first car I've ever seen with that system.
Those "teapot" carbs are definitely weird... but just to offer a correction (don't bite my head off for being a "know-it-all") regular Holley's and most other V8 carbs are downdraft carbs... that's not unique to these. I'm sure you just misspoke, but I wanted to clarify that. Yes, there are sidedraft and updraft carbs (usually used on inline engines), but all V8s that I know of with the carb mounted on top of the intake that's on the top of the engine are downdraft carbs, but these are very unique downdraft carbs, that's for sure.
Every time I see Kiwi I am reminded of Bennett hot rod.
Who took over all his work in progress
When I saw. That personal build mustang of his convinced me of his talent beautiful.
Those remote boosters were used on lots of British applications, such as the MGC, MGB-GT V-8, Big Healeys, Mini Coopers, and others. I can see why Tony and Kiwi weren't familiar with those, being hotrod guys.
A guy down the street from me is always working on mustangs, he has a couger that is being converted to a fastback. It has been in the same stage as this one for many years. Makes me wonder if he is having some issues to get things to look right?
That’s a truly unique museum piece. I doubt there are any survivor examples of that car.
Beautiful lines, nicely done 👍
The 50's Caddy's had a remote booster like that. Funky stuff!
Many medium-duty Ford trucks also did back in the 1960s.It was mounted on the frame behind the cab.
I just restored one of those E-code T-birds. All I can really say is: I hate Thunderbirds and I hate those Holley carbs. I work on a lot of 55-6-7 Thunderbirds and those are almost impossible to fix if something is wrong with them. Ford refused to do anything normal or simple. There were tons of other 4bbls they could've used, but ended up with.....that. I am more familiar with those cars than I ever wanted to be. The divorced booster is extremely common on English/European cars. Once you get into dual circuit master cylinders, those cars have two boosters; one front, one back. And as far as the "younger guys" comment, I'm 30 and my workload is cars from the 1980s back to 1890s.
4bbls weren't as common in the 50's. That was why there was a multitude of factory and aftermarket multicarb applications. In the 40's Buick had a twin carb engine, in the 50's GM had a lot of 3x2 setups on Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles, heck I think Cadillac even had one. When the Quadrajet came out the multi carb systems started to wane except maybe for Mopars.
A lot of the higher end Cadillacs had a tri-power setup, but for the most part they used the small Carter afb of the time. There was also the Hudson twin H setup which I think is what buick called their twin 2bbl as well. Buick was quite fond of the carter wcfb. Both companies as well as Stude and others of the time used the Stromberg 4A. There were plenty of 4bbl carbs out there to choose from, Ford just had to be Ford and be different from everyone else. Hell, the T-bird's headlight isn't even the same sealed beam as everyone else. The alignment tabs are in different places.
Kiwi has got it going on !💯
Love the Ford love!
My first car was a 68 Cougar I've owned several over the years the last one I had was a 68 XR-7 that's cool making a fastback Cougar
sooo kiwi is a ford guy, love it ty i really like your channel Uncle Tony.
Good carbs when set up properly. I've built a couple E-Code Ys.
Love it it’s cool don’t know why they didn’t do that years ago
I had a 312 3x2 in a 55 Ford sedan back in the day 1969 .......had a crane cam....with 3:5s in the rear she was a mover . only problem was when you lit up the tires because the fender inner had some rot the whole inside of the car would fill up with tire smoke ...In fact that wasn't out of the norm up here past the 49th most of those 55 -56-57 Chev's and Fords were like that back then ......... it didn't stop us. and the cars looked real good...........we would call those carbs Toilet bowls