The Ford Barn

mercman from oz · 12-05-2017, 06:08 AM

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.

12-05-2017, 06:08 AM	#1
mercman from oz Senior Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 10,372	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.