272 y-block intake swap ?

[steve fritz]

Got a chance to buy a used 272 y-block out of a 55 Ford. Supposed to be a good runner , rebuilt several years ago. My question deals with the intake/carb.
Ford used the three bolt carb/intake in 55 and 56. Then in 57 and later used the 4 bolt Ford/autolite 2100 carb. I have had very good luck with this carb and would like to swap out the earlier 55/56 version and use the 57 and later 4 bolt manifold. Will this later manifold match up well with the earlier 272 head ports?
Any thoughts , good and/or bad about this swap?
Accelerator linkage of course would need to be swapped as well. Not sure about 55 vrs 57 and later distributor swap as well.
Thanks for any input.
Steve

[all american boy]

According to my handy 'December 1959 How To Hop Up Your Engine'.


Yes.


It says 'fantastic interchangeability'.


Because all '54-57 Ford and Mercury ohv V8's' were all built on the 'same basic



engine and tooling setup'.


I bought this with four Hot Rod books but this ain't by Hot Rod.


Just noticed that now.It was put out 4 times a year.

[Hot Rod Reverend]

Early Ford Y Blocks had smaller intake ports (the 54's are extremely small and will cause problems for you with this switch.) However, the 55 and 56 heads have the same ports sizes and then in 57 things got just a tick larger I believe.

If the 55 is original to the car and nothing has been changed, then you should have no trouble with using the larger intake. The ports will not be an exact match, but then you really wouldn't expect to see performance changes in air flow unless you start doing some other modifications to the engine. You may get lucky and find that the 272 is from a 57 car, and if so, it will have the ECZ-G heads most probably. Who knows?

MAKE SURE you use a 57+ distributor (both mechanical and vacuum advance) with any carburetor beyond the Holley 94 or Holley 4000. That 2100 is a very good 2 barrel carb - my great uncles used those things on many 272's and 292's religiously.

[Alaska Jim]

Be sure it is for a 272, not a 239 / 256, as the port size is different, and can cause a vac. leak due to the miss matched ports. oops, the hot rod Rev. beat me to it.

[paul2748]

As far as fit, it will with no problems. The only thing is the 57 and later manifolds have bigger ports than the earlier heads.

[darrell]

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the important thing is the 57 up dist,

[dmsfrr]

Confirm which engine it is by checking the block casting number with the chart at this link...
(if it's a '54, walk away)
http://ford-y-block.com/Block%20identification.htm

The '54 to '56 Loadomatic distributors have a flat side of the shaft to index the rotor. (photo 1)
FYI they operate the timing advance at a fractional vacuum level of the '57+ versions. (0 to 5 inches vs. 5 to 20 inches)

If you're using a '57+ carb you should change to a '57+ distributor, they have a notch for the rotor. (photo 2)
I don't recommend an 'exchange' rebuilt '57+ distributor from a chain auto parts store. Many of them are remanufactured from 60's/70's 289-302 style dist cores and the center main shaft length is wrong.

Here's a very good Y-Block tech info website...
http://ford-y-block.com/technical.htm
.

[scicala]

Also, if your engine is a '55 272, the block casting should start with ECG and the cylinder heads ECL or ECG. Also, the heads in '55 had core plugs on the front and back faces. That held true thru early '56.
What everyone else said about port sizes and distributors is true. Don't know if the port mis-match would cause a problem, but I'm sure it's been done a million times.
The stock 3 bolt '55 two barrel carb is also a good one and very easy to work on.


Sal

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by scicala

... the heads in '55 had core plugs on the front and back faces. That held true thru early '56.
...

true for '54 heads as well.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by steve fritz

Ford used the three bolt carb/intake in 55 and 56. Then in 57 and later used the 4 bolt Ford/autolite 2100 carb. I have had very good luck with this carb and would like to swap out the earlier 55/56 version and use the 57 and later 4 bolt manifold. Will this later manifold match up well with the earlier 272 head ports?

Not sure about 55 vrs 57 and later distributor swap as well.

The swap is good. You need a 57/ 2V Intake - ECG-9425-H (there also later 2V Intakes).


EDIT-

Also - B9EA-9425-B and COAE-9425-F

These are Casting I.D. Nos. It should help in your search.

You have to go with a 57/ Dual-Advance distributor.

[darrell]

the mismatch in port size is not going to make any difference since all y block intakes had smaller ports than the heads they were used on.

[paul2748]

If he is using a 57 intake on 55 heads as he mentioned, there coiuld be a problem.

Originally Posted by darrell

the mismatch in port size is not going to make any difference since all y block intakes had smaller ports than the heads they were used on.