During the 1950's, Ford put quite of bit of advertising into promoting the Y Block engine.
Prompting
If you are a subscriber to my website blog, you may be wondering why in the world I would even pose such a question. "Has the Hot Rod Reverend let the Southern California sun fry his brain cells? Has he been taking in all the second hand marijuana smoke from the neighbors?" The answer to both those questions would be a definitive "no" - but I deal with both problems quite often.
My mental faculties are just fine, and I do not have any psychological illness. The prompting for the title question comes from a recent YouTube video that received over 12,000 views and a host of comments in less than two weeks time. The title of the video is "Ford Y Block V8 MOST FAILED Ford's engines of all time | Why?" (all caps the channel's owner).
I first learned of this failed attempt at a documentary video when a subscriber sent a link to me the day it debuted on YouTube. From that time, I have received email's, text messages, social media contact, etc to alert me to the video and get my opinion. Initially, I did not watch the video until about two weeks after it was originally posted on the so-called channel "Muscle Car Masters". From the comment section of the video, even the likes of John Mummert berated the channel owner who posted the video.
To keep my promise to many, I have both posted my own rebuttal video to YouTube and written this article. You are welcome to comment at the end of this article or you can get on my YouTube channel and post a comment there on the video's page.
General Problems
Before diving into information specific to the Y Block, please allow me to cover a few perceptions about the video that point to lack of credibility.
No original footage or pictures. In over 15 minutes of video, ALL clips and photos are borrowed from other sites and videos on the internet. NOTHING seen is original from the producer except the text overlays. (Thankfully, none of my original content is in the video, but I did recognize some of the content from other videos I have seen on YouTube.) There are a few times when the clips are repeated, and even one clip that reverses a Thunderbird to put the steering wheel on the right side. When the camera angle pans to the engine you can see that everything is flipped - even if it was an "Australian Tbird" there would be no way to flip the engine like that.
Voiceover. It is hard to tell whether or not it is AI (artificial intelligence) or if the channel owner paid to have a professional narrator record a script. A giveaway is when the narrator pronounces "unleaded" as "unleeded" - pretty bad.
Footage and Photos Not Matching Content. For instance, in one section where Y Block heads are discussed (supposed valve seat problems) the video shows several seconds of a high performance girdle bolted to the bottom of the block.
No Footage of Y Blocks with Problems. The video describes several problems the Y Block had back in the 50's but NO FOOTAGE shows any of the so-called problems mentioned. In fact, all of the borrowed videos show Y Blocks running in otherwise wonderful condition. It is odd to produce a video that describes the Y Block V8 as Ford's worst failure and then show NO FOOTAGE of any of the problems.
Intent. I do not know the channel owner and have no idea why this AI appearing video was produced. We do need to remember that YouTube is all about getting view counts as high as possible. If any channel owner has over 1,000 subscribers, the individual can begin a Google AdSense account and receive money for the ads run on their videos. More views, more money, it is as simple as that. There is a tremendous "shock" and "troll" factor when titling your video as "MOST FAILED" - the fact that there are so many views on this crazy video are testament to that fact.
Content that makes no logical sense. There are times in the video when the narrator states such non-sensical ideas as, “Some chose to simply replace the entire distributor instead of risking damage by forcibly removing it.” Say what? If you are having trouble getting the distributor out you are going to damage it anyway. Since you are installing a new distributor and you cannot do so without removing the old one what sense does this script make? Or how about this one? In the section on the exhaust ports (2 and 3; 6 and 7) being next to each other and causing the head to crack, the narrator says that Ford solved this by putting a post in the water jacket... more on this later. However, suffice to say, there are several things in the video that just do not match logically.
Misinformation, Myths, and Urban Legends
Listed below are several items of misinformation about the Y Block V8 that were presented in the video as fact. I do reference a few video clips below if you feel the need to view the portions to which I refer.
The Y Block began in 1954. Actually, Ford make a Lincoln Y Block in 1952, also used in Ford trucks throughout the 50's. The Ford Y Block is heavily based upon the Lincoln variant that was highly successful and even won a couple of years of the annual Pan Americana race in the 1950's.
Vertical intake ports, exhaust and intake stacked on one another. (The intake ports on a Y Block are horizontal, and the stacking is for the intake ports. I have no idea why exhaust ports are mentioned in stacking. Maybe the author of the video was smoking weed while writing the script?)
312 heads had a tendency to crack. (The only such thing as a "312 head" is the extremely rear EDB-D and EDB-E head that was for factory superchargers. These did not have a tendency to crack. There were several head castings that SHARED life from the factory with the 292 and the 272 as well, especially in 1957. It is a misnomer to say "312 head". )
Ford's fault for owners not using detergent oil. (In the same breath describing the oiling system and Ford's recommendation to use detergent oil, the narrator states the Y Block was a failure from Ford because owners used non-detergent oil and allowed the passages to block off the supply of oil to the top end.)
If you are having trouble with top end oiling, this video may help.
Facts the Video Ignores
These are just a few facts about the Y Block Ford as commonly known. I do not hold a monopoly on this information - much of it can be garnered by a simple few minutes of internet searches and reading books and other reference materials.
Ford outsold Chevrolet in 1957.
At 12:52 and 13:42 in the video, we are told that the Y Block had marred Ford's image as a reliable manufacturer of automobiles and that Ford needed to restore trust in the consumer market.
If the above were true, then why did Ford outsell Chevrolet in 1957? This was the year that the Y Block had its best performance packages, and by that time the general public had been given THREE YEARS to make their decision about the Y Block. The ONLY V8 available for Ford cars and wagons was the Y Block in 1957. If Ford's reputation was damaged by the Y Block and they were having consumer trouble can someone please tell me why the 1957 Ford outsold Chevrolet? Some may say because of styling. If that is true then why are the 1957 Chevrolet's remembered as the car of the 50's by the general public? Not for its engine, not for its reliability, but for its styling/appearance.
Y Block Racing Performance
In years 3 and 4 of the Y Block, the 292's and 312's dominated NASCAR, winning more races in 1956 and 1957 than all other makes combined. While this does include Mercury, that FoMoCo division ran the same exact Y Block as Ford cars.
There are many other notable high performance history-making events such as winning Pike's Peak in 1957, Karol Miller's record-breaking run at the salt flats of Bonneville, and quite a few wins in the 1/4 mile drag strip scene across the U.S.
In South America, the phase II version of the Y Block was winning races up into the 1980's! (There are many other stories of such victories for the Y Block well beyon the United States.)
In the modern era, such notable builders as Tim McMaster, Ted Eaton, and John Mummert have brought the Y Block to the forefront of the power potential. Over the last decade the Y Block has not only made a strong showing in multiple entries at the Engine Master's Challenge but even such legends as John Kaase built a Y Block and took first place.
Success of the 292 in Trucks and other Applications
The Y Block lived on past 1957 (the FE series really began in 1958) in passenger cars until 1962 and in trucks until 1964. It was known as a reliable, workhorse of an engine with loads of torque.
The Y Block also saw duty in thousands of boats, generators, and other industrial applicaitons over 50's and 60's. (My C2AE block that was bored to .030 a standard 312 3.800 cylinder size was originally and industrial engine.)
Thankfully, many more people have responded to the misinformation video put out by MuscleCar Masters. The amount of negative comments towards the video and the positive statements about the Y Block Ford are certainly very telling. The producer of the video has ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what he is talking about. Social media is such a help and a hindrance at the same time, making it difficult at best for the uninformed to get down to the truth. Of course, we will do our best here on the website and on my YouTube channel to continue preaching the truth. I guess I received the name "Hot Rod Reverend" because I preach the gospel truth about Jesus Christ, and I happen preach the value of the Y Block. We will continue to do so at HotRodReverend.com. You can also expect more uploads to my YouTube channel very soon since my subscriber base has grown and a large number of questions have been sent my way.
Thank you for your support,
The Hot Rod Reverend
Since the 50's ALL of the "Car Magazines" have been drinking the koolaide at the GM trough. Without their heavy endorsement GM would have sold a lot fewer cars, engines and parts. One is given the impression that once they managed to move the flathead Ford out of the way there was no longer any competition for them. As more history and photo's of old time hot rods come out we see a LOT of non GM engines and a lot of Y-Blocks in hot rods. This article is completely wrong and falls down all the old traps pushed back in the day. Even Smokey was a Y-Block guy until GM hired him away!
As far as the Y Block bashing video goes,you know what they say. “Opinions are like _______,everybody’s got one”😂 Unfortunately when someone goes to the trouble to document something and post a video,the majority of people that watch it assume it’s all true. These days I don’t believe much of what I read and about half of what I see. 🥴With all the AI available and such. It’s refreshing to read your posts and be able to relate to all the info. My first car was a 56 Ford 2door club sedan with 292 four barrel and dual exhaust.that my father bought brand new. This was in the mid seventies and I embarrassed many of my classmates in their bran…
Daniel, thanks for keeping up the good fight. As you know, it's all about the number of views and income, and to heck with the truth.