Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Late V8 (1954+)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-05-2017, 06:08 AM   #1
mercman from oz
Senior Member
 
mercman from oz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 10,289
Default 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?




When my brother located my 1956 Mercury Monterey in California back in 1988, the Engine was completely disassembled. Naturally, he didn't want to leave the dismantled Engine behind, so it was loaded into the trunk.
When the car arrived in Australia, I managed to locate a "going" 272 Y Block, so this engine was installed. On a subsequent trip to California, Graham located a Factory Rebuilt 272/292?
When the original 272 started making noises, we swapped over the Reconditioned Y Block. That worked well for a while, but in the end, no oil was getting to the top end. It was obvious that something needed to be done, so I stopped driving the car. That is when I thought that I should get the original 312 rebuilt, and my friend Bob offered to do it for me.
There was so much build up of old oil in it that the Block had to be hot tanked numerous times to get it clean. Bob said that in all his years with rebuilding engines, he has never seen a Block will so much caked on rubbish.
He believes that last oil change would have been in 1956?
Unfortunately, I did not get any Push Rods, and none of the Bolts etc to attach the Heads, Sump, Intake Manifold, Water Pump etc. Luckily, I have a mate Allen that lives 120 miles away who said he could help out, as he has lots of dismantled Y blocks in his shed. A visit up north to his shop and another problem solved. The Valves and Heads cleaned up well, which was nice, and they are all ready to go.
It was when Bob started to clean the Crankshaft that he noticed that one of the Journals has slight surface rust, which meant a slight regrind. This was a pity, but such is life, so off went the Crank to be reground.
When Bob went to pick up the reground Crank the machine shop manager asked if he had noticed anything strange about the crank?
It seems from the Factory, that Ford forgot to drill the Oil Feed Hole in Number 2 Journal.
Once back home, Bob rigged up a Jig and drilled the missing Hole, so this problem has now been solved.
It is a wonder that the engine was any good, after discovering this problem.
I wonder if it is still covered under Warranty?
So that is where we are up to at the moment.
It is very strange indeed that Ford assembled this engine in the USA without the Oil Feed Hole.
The top photo shows the missing hole, while the lower photo shows the hole that Bob drilled, the one that Ford forgot.
mercman from oz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-05-2017, 01:10 PM   #2
40 Deluxe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: now Kuna, Idaho
Posts: 3,774
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Wow! I guess that shows that rod bearings don't need much oil after all!
40 Deluxe is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 12-06-2017, 07:11 PM   #3
TedEaton
Senior Member
 
TedEaton's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 155
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Story 1:
Had a 454 Chevy in the shop for balancing. Noticed it had been stamped 010, 020, and 030 on the crank for rod journal grinding. The 030 for the rod journals was the fresh one at this point. Upon cleaning up the crank after balancing, I ran a brush through all the oil holes for cleaning and found one of the oil holes to a rod journal was not drilled all the way through. it was simple enough to finish drilling it. I asked the customer if the same rod journal was always giving the problem and they hadn't paid attention but they mentioned that the engine was having to be worked on at 10-15K mile intervals. The only oil that particular rod bearing was getting was the residual from the bearing next to it but it does show you how long a bearing can survive without direct oiling in a non-performance application. That same engine now has many miles on it now and still going strong.

Story 2:
On a 327 SBC steel crank, I've found the oil hole to the front journal intersecting the factory lightening hole in that same throw. That rod was not getting any oil pressure and was only getting residual oil from the oil being thrown into the hollow journal hole. This was not a low mileage engine. The 'oil starved' rod bearing was distressed but not failed. In this case, I simply junked that crankshaft and went with another.
TedEaton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-06-2017, 09:38 PM   #4
miker98038
Senior Member
 
miker98038's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kent, WA. Tucson, AZ
Posts: 1,373
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

We had a local guy, Ole Bardahl who made oil treatments. He was well known for pouring his treatment into a car, especially an older worn one, then draining it and driving from Everett to Seattle, or Tacoma, or Olympia with a couple reporters in the car. Never broke down. Some of them before I-5 was built in stop and go traffic. It’s amazing how durable the crank and rod assembly was.

Outside our area he was better know for racing sponsorship, but that’s where it came from. Still around.

http://www.bardahl.com
miker98038 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-14-2017, 10:32 PM   #5
Bubsyouruncle
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Gurnee, Illinois
Posts: 269
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

When I said "I DO" to my current spouse in 1970 I also got her 1968 Mustang to take care of. A few miles later (on both) time came for a tune up. Points, plugs, timing, etc.

Replaced the ignition wiring as well. Car ran like crap.

Long and short of it.

When I replaced the ignition wiring I followed accurate placement. Turns out that the factory had mis-wired the last two cylinders on the passenger side and had tweaked the ignition to make it run! Spent time re-timing the car and it ran like it should.

Well, that was 1968
Bubsyouruncle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2018, 04:19 AM   #6
mercman from oz
Senior Member
 
mercman from oz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 10,289
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)



After sending my 312 Y Block away for rebuilding, this is how it looks today. My Engine Builder invited me down to hear it run. After the initial hiccups, (see original Post) it is now a sweet running engine. Next job is to put it in my Mercury.
mercman from oz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2018, 12:23 PM   #7
willowbilly3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Black Hills, SD
Posts: 577
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubsyouruncle View Post
When I said "I DO" to my current spouse in 1970 I also got her 1968 Mustang to take care of. A few miles later (on both) time came for a tune up. Points, plugs, timing, etc.

Replaced the ignition wiring as well. Car ran like crap.

Long and short of it.

When I replaced the ignition wiring I followed accurate placement. Turns out that the factory had mis-wired the last two cylinders on the passenger side and had tweaked the ignition to make it run! Spent time re-timing the car and it ran like it should.

Well, that was 1968

I dropped a junkyard 302 into a tourists blown up car, early 80s. Since a lot was different, I re-used his intake and other bits. Car ran like crap, backfired and opened up the muffler. After much head scratching I discovered the car was a California emissions 302 with the HO or 351 firing order and that is how I installed the plug wires, according to the intake firing order.
willowbilly3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2018, 02:09 PM   #8
Herman Munster
Senior Member
 
Herman Munster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: SW WA state.
Posts: 564
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by willowbilly3 View Post
I dropped a junkyard 302 into a tourists blown up car, early 80s. Since a lot was different, I re-used his intake and other bits. Car ran like crap, backfired and opened up the muffler. After much head scratching I discovered the car was a California emissions 302 with the HO or 351 firing order and that is how I installed the plug wires, according to the intake firing order.
Easy fix!
__________________
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 292 V8 with Ford-o-Matic
Herman Munster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2018, 05:04 AM   #9
mercman from oz
Senior Member
 
mercman from oz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 10,289
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?




My fully rebuilt 312 Y Block has now been delivered. Now waiting for good weather to change it over. Can't wait.
mercman from oz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2018, 08:18 AM   #10
streetdreams
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Howell, Michigan, USA, The Peoples Slightly Overspent Demodependancy of Michigan
Posts: 638
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Nothing like a fresh Y-Block !
streetdreams is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-28-2018, 07:39 PM   #11
cars2cool
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Sioux City Iowa
Posts: 196
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

Really? You have to wait for GOOD weather down there? lol
cars2cool is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2018, 02:56 AM   #12
mercman from oz
Senior Member
 
mercman from oz's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 10,289
Default Re: 312 rebuild. Look what Ford forgot ?

We have good weather all year around. No snow here even when Winter arrives in June.
mercman from oz is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:44 AM.