? About 25 T lincoln engine

[mnwildpunk]

I have been looking for info on the lincoln/latham engine that comes in the AMT double T kit. But have found zip-o-. I don't know a whole lot about fords or lincoln for that matter. Would I be correct that it's a lincoln big Y block? What was the horsepower of a lincoln? Was the latham aftermarket or factory option? About how much horsepower would be added by bolting on a latham? What is the possible cubic inches for that motor? I found a couple pictures of a latham supercharger but they were for a corvair and bonneville. Any info you may have I would be greatful for.

[Jantrix]

Yep. Its a y-block. The Latham is an aftermarket item and were not terribly popular according to my dad.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sorry, nope.....here's the deal...the engine in the double-T kit is neither a Y-block Lincoln (wrong port spacing) nor a later MEL (wrong distributor location). The VALVE COVERS on the Lincoln in the kit you're talking about are for the Lincoln 317-341-368 Y-block, built from '52 through '57 (factory rated in '57 at 300HP) but the heads, manifolds, etc. ARE NOT Y-block.... I've done considerable research on this.

 

Port spacing on the Y-block is entirely different than on the engine you are asking about, which in reality represents a mashup of the '58 or later Ford MEL engine (Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln) and other Ford engine influences, with cast-alloy factory valve covers as delivered on the '57 Continental Y-block (which will NOT bolt to an MEL engine).

 

Jantrix is right about the axial-flow Latham blower. It was expensive because it was difficult to machine the impeller shaft, it didn't make much boost at low RPM, and it wasn't all that popular for those reasons. Depending on cam, carburetion, etc, you could expect somewhere around 20% HP increase from bolting one on. The blowers offered by Ford as factory or dealer-installed were centrifugal-flow Paxton / McCulloch -style, very much like the Vortechs of today that look like turbochargers without the turbine.

 

This is a '57 Lincoln Y-block. Note the port spacing is like an Oldsmobile, intakes paired towards the ends, exhausts paired in the center....

 

 

Below is the MEL engine. Note the port spacing is like the double-T kit engine you asked about....all ports evenly spaced...but the distributor is in front, which couldn't work with the Latham blower as suppiled in the kit. And you can't just move a distributor on a real engine. Also note, the blue-green engine is set up for marine use, so don't pay attention to the mounts, etc.

 

The shot below shows an MEL engine from the front. Note again that the distributor is in FRONT, not in the rear as on the AMT double-T kit. So...the engine in the double-T kit is neither a Y-block Lincoln (wrong port spacing) nor a later MEL (wrong distributor location).

 

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[Jantrix]

So the heads are different. Kinda odd that. So what kit would have the correct valve covers?

Edited October 22, 2012 by Jantrix

[Ace-Garageguy]

Like I should have said, the entire engine in the kit is a mashup of the later Ford MEL engine (Mercury-Edsel-Lincoln) and who knows what else. It's not an accurate anything. The valve covers were included apparently because someone's homework got dog-et, and they weren't aware they wouldn't fit the MEL-style heads. MEL valve covers are boring stamped steel anyway.

 

Tim Boyd did an article on making a correct Lincoln Y-block years ago, as it's never been kitted, and i've been modifying stuff on my own to come up with one.....

 

 

Note the 1:1 photos.....the MEL port-spacing is the same as the kit engine. Look at the valve-cover hold-down bolts. Entirely different from the 2 bolts on the kit valve covers and on the 1:1 Y-block. The reason I referenced the Olds port spacing is that, during the course of re-producing the 1:1 '57 Mercury Mermaid, which was Y-block powered, no Hilborn injection manifolds were to be found for the engine. Miraculously, an Olds 303 unit turned out to be almost perfect. Here's the story....

http://webpages.char.../enginetech.htm

 

Note also the Y-block has up-swept headers to clear the plugs mounted low on the heads. The factory cast-iron manifolds had a similar upsweep.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[mnwildpunk]

Wow thank you Ace I learned a lot!!

[blunc]

hmmm, that MEL block looks like the precursor to a fomoco 352/390/428 block, that may be a decent starting point for a conversion.

regarding the y-block valve covers on MEL heads....I bet some genius made a mounting bolt conversion bracket that allowed y-block alloy valve covers on the MEL heads.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Right on the MEL, and I'm sure you might be right on the valve cover swap. Getting them to bolt on wouldn't be hard, as long as the gasket sealing surface is about the same size and shape.....and that is something I don't know.

[Deuces]

Your right ace!!!.... Guess I screwed up again on that other thread.... My bad... ??

[Dave Darby]

On 10/22/2012 at 1:07 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

but the distributor is in front, which couldn't work with the Latham blower as suppiled in the kit. And you can't just move a distributor on a real engine.

Except for one thing. The AMT 25 T kit does come with a 90 degree offset magneto that does work with the Latham blower. So other than the rocker covers (which I'm pretty sure are too short in real life), it's not all that far off from an MEL engine. Given the time period when the kit was conceived, we can call it a 430.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

...So other than the rocker covers (which I'm pretty sure are too short in real life), it's not all that far off from an MEL engine.

Except the rocker covers look nothing at all like MEL rocker covers, which have multiple perimeter hold-down bolts.

The rocker covers in the kit very obviously represent the OEM alloy parts on the '56-'57 Continental, which is a rear-distributor 368 Lincoln Y-block, pre-MEL, and the rocker covers can not be bolted to the MEL.

Granted the rest of the engine is MEL-ish, but why the totally wrong and very distinctive rocker covers?

EDIT: And I completely missed the angle-drive mag years ago when I first started looking at this kit as a possible powerplant donor for a Lincoln Y-block 368, to go in a Mercury Mermaid...so my bad on that.  

Edited June 7, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[Dave Darby]

On 6/7/2023 at 3:43 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Except the rocker covers look nothing at all like MEL rocker covers, which have multiple perimeter hold-down bolts.

The rocker covers in the kit very obviously represent the OEM alloy parts on the '56-'57 Continental, which is a rear-distributor 368 Lincoln Y-block, pre-MEL, and the rocker covers can not be bolted to the MEL.

Granted the rest of the engine is MEL-ish, but why the totally wrong and very distinctive rocker covers?

EDIT: And I completely missed the angle-drive mag years ago when I first started looking at this kit as a possible powerplant donor for a Lincoln Y-block 368, to go in a Mercury Mermaid...so my bad on that.  

I should have said, which are "also" too short. I assumed you knew I was aware that those rocker covers were used only on the smaller 368 Lincoln Y block, the 56-57 Continental, specifically. I never expressed or implied MELs ever used those. But like I said, incorrect rocker covers aside, it's about as close to an MEL engine as AMT got to anything else they made at the time. (1960).

[TECHMAN]

Not getting into the middle of things, but.....   There is a fairly decent MEL engine in the AMT 32 Vicky kit   ???

DJ