Building a 312 Y Block for the Fairlane! (Part 4)

The C2AE block has been fully prepped by Hanford Auto Supply and Machine.

Amidst all that has been going on this summer and now fall, the "312" build has been slowly but surely coming along. During a recent visit to Tim McMaster's machine shop in Hanford, California we were able to take a few minutes and discuss a few of the rotating parts going into the buildup of this hefty Y Block. The block started life as a 292 c.i. C2AE block being used in an industrial application (I believe an Onan Generator) but along they way the block has been bored to .030 over standard 312 size (3.830) and earlier this year another .045 larger with a final bore of 3.875. With an offset stroke on a 312 crankshaft whose mains are now at 292 std (going with 2.00 rod journals) the final c.i. will be 342. There is not much more in the way of cubic inches that you can get from a Y Block without serious modifications, special head gaskets, etc. Tim has built up quite a few of these 342's with great success and in the video below he brings out some of the recommended parts off the shelves for review. Note: the video below is Part 3 in the series, but we are on Part 4 for the blog posts that include specifications, photos, and further information.

For anyone who builds a Y Block there are two complaints made public: 1. Parts are hard to find. 2. Parts, espeically high performance parts, are very expensive. Having dealt with Y Block Ford V8's for well over 35 years now I can attest that those two complaints are justified. The law of supply and demand make things tricky for any Y Block owner if he has a tight budget. Speaking of parts availability, I called John Mummert last week and his son Geoff answered the phone. The reason for my call was to order the 6.254 connecting rods for my build. There is nowhere else to get these rods other than John Mummert from what I understand. John sells these separately or with his stroker kits that would include the pistons and rings. Evidently this year many Y Block builders have been buying the rods separately without the pistons. This has put the rods in very short supply with many sets of pistons on the shelves. Geoff ended up telling me that they cannot sell any more rod sets right now because of kit orders. However, Johh has ordered more sets of the rods and they should be in by early December. So, we will just have to wait. It has been 12 years since I first had the block bored to 3.830 and was preparing for this build when I had to put things on hold. What is another month or two for rods?

Mummert Machine sells a 312 stroker rod, but inventory is always tight.

While I wait on the parts, Tim has pretty well finished the block. The C2AE block has been decked and aligned to the crankshaft center line, the mains aligned honed, the cylinders bored out to 3.875 and honed as well. Except for a final cleaning the block is pretty much ready to receive the rotating assembly.

The C2AE block getting its cylinder bores honed at Hanford Auto Supply and Machine.

Concerning the rotating assembly, Tim does have the crankshaft in queue for the rod journals to be offset to 2.00. Originally, the 312 crank just had its mains turned to std 292 size with a plan to true up the rod journals for OEM 312 ECZ rods, but earlier this year I made the decision to really build this engine up to be one of the strongest naturally aspirated street Y Block. The closer we get to the assembly stage, the more we will have on a detailed parts list. In the background I have purchased bearings, an oil filter adapter, hardware, and many more items. Of course, I have also cleaned/repaired smaller parts of the engine such as the timing cover, oil pan, etc. A new HEI distributor is also sitting on the shelf. You can bank on the blog and the YouTube channel to cover all this information and even get into real world cost. Various emails and messages are floated my way, and unfortunately I do not have the time to answer them all but will certainly do my best in the blog series.

Tim McMaster has quite a few crankshafts in supply in various stages of preparation.

During my visit to the machine shop I took a few photos of the two land speed race vehicles that take up some of the floor space. The Model A roadster pictured below holds the world record for the fastest Y Block, ever. Tim is fast approaching 200 mph in that race car. In August at the Bonneville salt flats the Y Block Guy was officially clocked at over 197 mph. He really believes that 2026 will be the year the car breaks through the 200 mph barrier, and with what we have seen we certainly believe its possible!

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The Hot Rod Reverend

aka Daniel Jessup