Hot Rods 56 Ford Mainline

The ”old” radiator assembly, the surround is cut:

 

Most of the cars I drove back in the day were manual drum brakes.Keep up the good work bud!

 

Thanks, I will!

I am test fitting the aluminum radiator. Wish I had an original radiator, but this is what I have right now. Anyway, I have a new problem. The radiator is for a 56 Ford. But it touches the fan blades, so have to put it on the outside (front) of the u shaped frame/surround. It should sit on the inside, right?

Is the spacer behind the fan supposed to be there on a 56? Removing it can solve the problem. See image below. Engine is from a non air conditioned 1957 car:

As usual, the problems I run into is that I often have no idea of how the OEM parts should look or be installed.

 

Use a shorter spacer or no spacer if fan clears everything.... Use with a shroud also.... You will also need shorter bolts.....

LynnW

 

Yes, engine side or “inside”.

Yes, the spacer should be there. It should be 1.18” long including the pilot stub. It’s hard to tell if that will give you enough room. But, your present one does look pretty long. The radiator should sit fairly close to the fan when mounted. On my ‘55 Mercury the radiator is about an inch from the fan.

I wish I had a good picture of the cooling system for ‘55/‘56 8 cylinder cars. The one in my parts book indicates it’s typical for ‘55/‘57 8 cyl cars but only shows the ‘57 parts. Not much help for you!

 

I found some pictures I took of the engine in an local original 56 Ford. And that engine ha no spacer at all. So, I removed the spacer and the problem was solved! Radiator now fits.

I saw some shorter spacers sold online, marketed as fitting an engine with air conditioning, so I guess some parts must come from an AC car at some point.

Repro chinese battery tray is something like $230 here, so I made my own rock solid arrangement using Volvo 140 parts. Quality stuff and available here in the parts pile in my barn. Cheap battery types will fit, also a plus. I can always switch to the correct OEM parts later on.

 

I keep working on the car. Front is back together, the brake booster now has a small dent in it to clear the left valve cover and the carb/kickdown linkage works freely. A hundred little issues to solve, and this takes hours and hours.

Saw four holes in each door, for a badge or piece of trim. What is this? See pics below, I tried to outline the holes with a red line.

 

I don't think the holes on door are for trim.
Were they used with sheet metal screws to remove a dent?

 

No, holes are nice and clean, and the pattern is identical on both doors. I think the holes look like they are for pins for old tags or emblems. No stock Fords had badges on the doors, very strange.

 

These 56 Ford fender badges attach with 3 studs that look like the same pattern as your doors have.

 

Well, the pattern is four holes, so it remains a mystery. My guess is some kind of badge for a company or simular.

I have solved lots of small problems. Biggest step forward is that I have made a shifter mechanism from a combination of automatic and three on the tree parts. It works well. Lots of cutting and welding but it really went smoothly.


The car had an 80s looking race car type floor shifter. It looked wrong and probably did not work with the Ford-o-matic shift pattern. See image below from when I did a mock up with the column shifter. Plus, I do not want to cut a hole in the new carpet I intend to buy later on.