yeah i'm old thunderbird 312

[Guest De Schmaydee]

....when i was a kid (last week)...no seriously...in about 69-70 a buddy of mine had a car that his dad (a mechanic) put a 312 thunderbird special motor into....out of a 2 seater tbird i think.....he called it "a racing engine".....and it was...or it sure seemed like it at the time....are any of these still around..

.....s

[Guest Anonymous]

I doubt the 312 interceptor engine would be much of a race engine today. After the 292 ci engine a 312 was considered fast. Ford wanted to sensationalze their T bird motors but dropped the ball in 1958 by going to a 2 door sedan by any other color.

[zgeezer]

312 Thunderbird Specials

 

The "block" engine was durable and, by 1949 standards a well designed engine; the better design was the Chevrolet small block. Ford kept the design for light truck use (292) for many years. The 312 version was standard in all '57 T'birds and cop cars, optional in sedans. I recall four separate factory hp versions: 1.) Standard @225HP or 245PH, dual quads with Isky cam (E-2, I think), dual quads with a fatter Isky cam (E-3 or E-4) and the only real Chevy buster Ford produced until the 1960's HP FE engines, the supercharged 300HP Special. The supercharger was a unique Paxton unit and quite good looking (Not that here such a thing as an ugly Supercharger.) You can usually see one or two of these in any flock of hard core early T-Bird restorers.

 

Are they around? Yes, I see a 312/292 in out of the way wrecking lots about twice a year... maybe.

I had a 312 police intercepter in a '54 Ford station wagon. It would run heads up with power packed '56 Chevrolets and would jump '57 270's for about the first 200 feet and then all Chevrolet tail lights. Nevertheless, by '57 Chevrolet owners generally believed they had a God given right to prevail in a drag race against all Fords, all times, and anywhere they met. They were not too far away from the truth. I never admitted to the 312, it was always my dad's '54 with a four barrel. Some actually believed me.

 

gw

[Dan Juday]

If anybody remembers the Rio Vista Hob Nob and swap earlier this year, there was a restored '57 T-bird there with a 312ci V8 in it.

[Guest Anonymous]

Leave us not forget the venerable Ford Police Intercepter 352 Cu.In, with stock 300HP ( dyno'd then at about 350BHP). Came with 1959 fords and t-birds. With stock .269 rear top speed was over 120 MPH. I owned one and still miss it.

Vintage thinking by yours truely.

[zgeezer]

Yeah, Ford lost about 3 generations of hot rodders from 1955 through 1960. In 1960, someone at Ford decided to stop the bleeding and intoduced the 360HP, 352 ci high performance FE. After my first ride in a 3 speed overdrive (remember those) Starlight (Starliner?) hard top I believed, lord yes, I BELIEVED. So many of my friends, relatives, co-workers, and students purchased these things that it was not uncommon to see 3 or four of them parked outside the weekly Rotary/ Lions clubs' breakfasts. Chevy just continued to truck on, creating an incredible supply of interchangedable parts in wrecking lots and aftermarket. CSB's will probably be built by hot rodders for the next 50 years.

 

gw

[mike240zt]

if i'm not mistaken the 292, 312 were a Y block config. not a v-8 but a Y-8=) i also believe there was another block in this series but cant remember the CID

[Guest Anonymous]

I suspect the Russians copied the design of the y block Ford V8 for their trucks. I saw a fellow working on a V8 powered military truck in Kiev, Ukraine and it looked Ford y block to me (the engine was even painted bowtie blue). I pointed and asked Ford but he did not understand me. I heard all the Chinese trucks were based upon a 1937 Chevrolet truck.

[Guest Anonymous]

"Y" was the designation..it's still a V8. Check www.ford-truck.com as they have a posting section of their forums on Y-block motors. Displacements listed are 272,292,312,317,341,368.

[johnc]

They were called "Y" blocks because the skirt extended below the crank centerline. Looking at the block from the front it looks more like a "Y" then a "V."

 

Had a 292 4 barrel in "Mazola", my old 1958 Ford 1 ton truck.

[MONGO510]

They also made a 272 inch Y-block.

[Guest 305240]

Everyone seems to be forgetting the first Y block. It was a 239. They come in the Mercs. One of the fav swaps was the 292 with the 312 heads. Those old "castle" 4 bbls left a lot to be desired. Say all they want to about those engines, but put a set of glass paks on them and do the same to the chevy, and the ford sounded so much sweeter...but that's about as far as it went. Chevy kicked their keister.

[FEnatic]

OH MAN, I love the old Y-blocks! I run a 292 in my 60 Galaxie, These are much overlooked motors in my opinion. With a little work a good 292 or 312 will make Great HP. The 312 had a longer stroke than the 292, slightly bigger bore. the crank journals can be turned down to fit a 292 block and is the 292 block is much stronger. These engines have a lot of metal in them too, they can be bored up to .120 with no problem. In the day these were a real SBC eater. Check out this website for some great info.

 

http://www.ford-y-block.com/yblockpage.htm