Ford 292 Y block rated Horse Power?

[SSsssteamer]

In 1956, Ford rated their 292 Y block at 212 horse power. By 1962, the 292 Y block was now rated at 170 horse power. Where did the 42 horse power go to? What parts did they change to down grade their engine's horse power? With rebuilding the 292 engines today, it could get a bit complicated if the 292 parts are not all interchangeable. What power robbing parts of the 1962 Ford 292 Y block do we not want to use? Thank you for any help on this request.

[raceron1120]

In addition to answers you'll get here from the real pros, check Mummert's site for some good Yblock info:
http://www.ford-y-block.com/technical.htm

[streetdreams]

1957 -'59 were peak years for 292. They used the big valve ECZ-G heads like the '57 312, but with a 2 bbl. Ford detuned them starting in 1960 as the FE series of 332-352-361 engines started taking over duty. Another reason was the recession that started around '58 as was still being felt by the big 3 in 1960. With the 1960 release of the Falcon, which outsold the big Ford in '60, or close to it, economy was a big selling point. The 292 went back to the early small valve heads, along with milder cam timing, slightly more restrictive exhaust manifolds and the lower ratio, 1.43:1 early rocker arms. Any late model 292 is a prime candidate for performance with the right heads, cam, exhaust, rocker arms, intake manifold, distributor and carburetion. If you ask the question:

" what parts should I use and what should I do ? "

You will be deluged with information from this forum.

[Hot Rod Reverend]

The low compression heads made all the difference in the world to bring about the horsepower change.

There are 500 horsepower naturally aspirated Y blocks on the road nowadays. I would suggest that you go to www.y-blocksforever.com and get on that forum to find out what they are doing. Also, a good thing to do would be to subscribe to the Y block magazine. (I am pretty sure that there is a link on their website)

The forum also have some handy information from a real world Y block dyno testing sequence done by a machine shop owner named Ted Eaton. Plenty of real stats on heads, intakes, and parts testing as different combos, carburetors, etc have been swapped over a several month period to get the results.

[Paul H]

The 62 292 had a 2 barrel carburetor,single exhaust,small valve heads and a slightly different cam.Those are the reasons for the loss of horsepower compared to the 56 292.

[SSsssteamer]

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Thank you very much for the detailed replies. I now know what 292 Y block parts not to use in my 1957 292 Ford engine.

[Rock Hornbuckle]

I think the 1957 292 was rated at 215 HP, and the 1956 T-Bird 292 that was rated at 202 HP. The 1958 292 had the highest compression at 9.5 although it was rated at 205 HP. Some 292 truck engines had larger sodium filled exhaust valves. I think '60 '61 '62, but not real sure of the years. I just gave away a '57 312 4bbl manifold.