New Logo
Things have grown enough through the website and the YouTube channel that I believe it is time for a logo! I am very happy with the results from the artist I hired. The look is simple, clean, and the presentation says it all. The online store here on my website includes Comfort Colors brand t-shirts (one of the most comfortable t-shirts on the market), hats, coasters, coffee, and even bandanas for the dog! There have been repeated requests for the logo and such gear so I finally made the effort to get things going. Stickers for your toolbox should be available soon. Most of the logo items are drop shipped by Printify, a very reputable company for quality. Each item is shipped from a different location and there is not much of a shipping discount for multiple items. However, per item things are very reasonable. Thank you for supporting the website and the effort to keep things going.
The new line art logo is crisp, clean, and sends the message succinctly!
California Wildfires
Multiple subscribers have reached out to me over the past week concernign the wildfires here in southern California. Let me assure everyone that we are safe, but there are thousands of people that have lost much of what they own - including their residence. I live in LA County, but our city of Lancaster is about an hour and a half away or more from where the fires have spread.
The visit to Santa Anita Park introduced me to me to many wonderful volunteers.
Early during the week of January 12, I led an advance team from Lancaster Baptist Church to visit various sites and discover where we could bring 75 volunteers to deliver 1,000 large bags of groceries and feed 2,000 hot meals later that week. We visited the Rose Bowl (and early staging site for disaster relief), the Pasadena Civic Center, the Red Cross, and other areas. For the most part not even FEMA was set up yet to provide assistance. But at Santa Anita Park there were a wonderful group of grass roots volunteers organized to help deliver assistance to displaced people in the region. Literally thousands of people visit this large parking lot each day to pick up food, clothing, water, and various supplies such as diapers and personal hygeine items. Our church is looking forward to joining the effort soon although the logistics of bringing people such a great distance will have its own challenges!
Beyond meeting various physical needs, our church will be counseling the victims of the fire, offering to pray with those that need comfort, and handing out Bibles. During our advance visit, people were very receptive to our ministry, taking Bibles and gospel literature quite frequently. There is no greater message of hope than the hope that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings. Ours is a simple message that declares a relationship with God and peace for eternity only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. You can read more about the gospel we believe by reading this page here on the Hot Rod Reverend website.
Pray for our church's efforts to assist thousands of blue collar people in need of help.
Adding a PCV System to Your Y Block Engine
Of all the technical how-to questions I receive about the Y Block Ford V8, upgrading to a positive crankcase ventilation system has got to be at the top of the list. Several years ago I wrote an article for the Y Block magazine. You can download the file below if you like; if you have any problems opening the file or reading it, just send an email to dan.jessup@hotrodreverend.com and I will be happy to send it to you.
The reasons for upgrading from a crankcase breather tube to a PCV system is three fold. For starters, the original crankcase ventilation in a Y Block (or any other 50s engine) did a minimal job in scavening the gases left over from the four cycle operation and blowby of the pistons. An operating PCV system serves to releive that back pressure, burning the fumes left over in the crankcase. Adding a PCV will leave your garage smelling much better, allow your engine to burn off the fumes and relieve pressure even at idle, and it will keep your engine from releasing all those gases into the atmospher. Added bonuses are increased oil life as contaminants are removed and better sealing of the crankcase as negative pressure is put on the gaskets and seals, putting slight force moving from the outside-in. Most owners who install a working PCV system report decreased oil leaks.
There are many ways to modify your Y Block for PCV. Aftermarket companies have entered the scene over the past few decades to provide kits specific to the Y Block's four barrel carburetors or even valve covers that are manufactured with a provision for filtered venting and PCV. This option certainly takes away the need for a vented valley pan. Whatever you decide to do, by all means please use a baffle of some sort. These days, even baffled grommets are avaiable. The baffle will keep your PCV system from sucking oil back up into the carburetor's port or the intake manifold. This would certainly be a problem because your burn would lean out, spark plugs would eventually foul, and the general results would not be good.
I like the vented valley pan with Ford's original "teapot" adapter coupled with an inline PCV valve plumbed to the carburetor's port or a port on a phenolic spacer. The rear vented valley pans can be plumbed for PCV in a variety ways, not just Ford's original hardware. My friend Ted Eaton has posted an artilce about it a few times - here is one of those links: Ted Eaton PCV Setup.
In the meantime, you can watch the first video in the series "Three Heavenly Upgrades for the Y Block" - I included a few examples and also showed my personal setup for my 292 Ford Y Block in my 1955 Ford Club Sedan.
As I close out this blog post, I need to tell our subscribers that very soon I will be sending out a separate email with updates about the website, my YouTube channel, and what is coming up for 2025. Thank you for keeping your Y Block-powered Ford on the road!
The Hot Rod Reverend