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While I applaud any effort to keep our 1957 Fords on the road & recognize that the owners have the right to replace the original engine in their car, if they wish. I find this an unfortunate trend, which harms the originality of the cars. There is no need to write off the Y-Block engines. Due to a set of unfortunate curcumstances, the engine in some circles has gotten a largely undeserved negative reputation. Probably, the Y-Block engine is the most underrated of just about any of the V-8s of it manufacturing period. Ford management of the late 60s had a hand in this, as they dropped any further performance development of the engine after 1957, in favour of "big block" development. This was a huge mistake, as while they got side tracked, their nearest competitor, establishes it self as the "darling" of the small block performance set. By the time they replaced the Y-Block (which had been detuned in later years) in 1962, they had missed the boat! Now to my point, there is renewed interest in the engine in recent years, and even a bi monthly magazine about it and related matters. Y-Block Magazine, is probably the only regular publication, now 10 years old, about any engine other than the ubiqutious SBC. Also, there is an excellent site about the engine with some very helpful registered members. It's been said by some that it's the best engine site on the web, and I believe it! In recent times their has even been some new parts & performance items brought on stream. The Y-Block, sometimes referred to as the Thunderbird engine, is a tough reliable engine which responds well to thought out upgrades. So, don't tear out your Y-Block engine without giving it some thought, & if you must, don't just scrap it! Adveritise the parts in the magazine or on the www.Y-Blocks Forever site. Oddly, many of the Y-Blocks engine replacements, are also discontinued engines!.. And remember, properly tuned their is no better sounding V-8 engine.. - Paul
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