Quote:
Originally Posted by tubman
I always liked "Y"-blocks, especially the intake ports. 
I always thought the 312's were the best of the bunch, too. |
I’m glad you said that Tubman. I used to scratch my head when I first saw them. Then I thought about it........
I realized the valve seat (width of the valve) is in line with the wide dimension of the port. Thinking about it even further if you had two situations where you were pouring water over a ledge which way is better? In the case of the conventional vertical port the “fluid” is pinched in the minor width of the port then has to flare out to be able to flow around the valve.
In the second case the horizontal port in the Y block has the major intake port dimension in line or parallel to the entire periphery of the intake valve. The “fluid” column is NOT pinched and therefore it’s my opinion that at least theoretically this is a superior configuration.
Look at a modern 4 valve engine and tell me what you see looking down the intake port. Answer: generally you’ll see a horizontal and “in line” major port dimension.
Maybe just maybe the Y block is the only common 50’s engine that got it right.