When the Ford Y-block overhead-valve engine came on the scene in 1954, it was the replacement for the long-running and beloved Ford flathead V8. With its odd vertically stacked intake ports, shaft ...

The Ford Y-block engine was known for its distinctive look and good power ... Instead of installing cylinder head intake ports horizontally side by side, Ford had installed them vertically.

First introduced in 1954, the Ford Y Block engine was rated at 130 horsepower. Yesterday, Ted Eaton's thoroughly reworked Mercury Y churned out peaks of 603.2 horsepower and 565.5 lb-ft of torque ...

That being said, Ford's Y-block had a fair share of quirks that weren't all that common among the V8s of the 1950s. Unquestionably the most uncommon feature was its intake port configuration.

The Ford/Mercury Y-block V-8 (a different creature from that found in Lincolns and Ford big trucks from 1952-’63) came out for the 1954 model year in 239- and 256-cu.in. displacements.

Ford introduced the 239ci Y-block in 1954 in Fords, and a 256ci version in Mercurys to replace its flathead V-8 introduced in 1932. The Y-Block swiftly grew to 272, 292, and finally 312 ci by 1956.

To equal the port flow of a stock Chevy small-block intake port, the Ford's intake port volume needs to be increased to at least 160 cc. The exhaust ports in the Ford head have a hump that ...

The successor of the Y-block engine started production ... According to Ford, the Velocity Vane intake port design of the Z2 is worth 3 and 7 horsepower from 4,500 through 6,500 rpm compared to ...

Ford Motor Company introduced its own Y-block OHV V8 in 1954; a year later, ... but they suffered from reduced intake and exhaust ports, (for higher torque to power a 4wd army truck).