Hot Rods My 55 Ford

Here is where I will add from time to time on the projects of my 55 Ford.

It will be Pix heavy.
I usually do very detailed pix's as it helps others to understand better.

So I bought this car on Ebay and had Showtime deliver it to me out of Massachusetts.
I've had the car now about 6 weeks and it's been a LOT of fun doing little projects to make it better.

The car came with a 351W and AOD in it.... It has a 8in Ford rear end out of a Granada with 3:00 gears.

Here is the 1st time I laid eyes on the actual car.













One of the things the car needs for Fl. weather is A/C , that's not a option......It's a necessity !

Now when I got the car it started and ran, but it was a Full blown PIG!
The previous owner told me it was timed by ear, due to the balancer not being able to see the timing marks... [clue #1]
So with the idea of A/C, I wanted to convert to serpentine pulleys. Since I want to start at the foundation and build out. A new Professional Products harmonic balancer was ordered from Summit.. If I'm going that far, may as well install a new timing cover seal for it also. So I pull the thing down and timing cover off to replace the seal.
Timing chain has 3/4in of slack in it.
So I ordered a new double roller Cloyes from Summit






When I got the new Balancer and compared it to the old one...It was about 20 degs off. The outer hub had spun.

The transmission was improperly adjusted also. It up shifted to fast and thus just killed the motors power.

 

One of the problems with the car is it runs about 210degs. Previous owner told me he put a new radiator in it. Actually he had it done , due to being crippled. So he's paying someone to do all the work while he owned it.
So while the front of the motor is apart a new High Flow water pump was installed.



The pump didn't make any difference in the motor's temp.
The radiator that was new.....Was a copper/Brass radiator, but only a 2 row core. Might be fine for Massachusetts, but not Fl.
So a new alum 3 row was ordered direct from Champion Radiators. It actually has a larger height core also.
http://www.championradiators.com/Ford-Cars-1954-1956-radiator
I got the Police Interceptor model.
That brought the temp down to 195deg.



This fan was mounted directly to the other radiator as a pusher.

I didn't want to do that to the new alum unit. So I built some custom mounts.
You can't really tell from the pix's , but the mounts pick up on the factory bolts.



As you can see, it's VERY tight on the backside.

 

This car sits pretty High...... To High!
I read the forum on this thread
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...coil-springs-49-thru-59-ford-and-merc.260795/

Yes.... I read it ALL. I got a little confused ,as there were a LOT of different cars using the parts that were called for, but I ordered them from Summit.
Moog CC850 Springs and KYB KG5514 gas shocks $128.91





I knew when they were coming, by watching the shipping and commenced to pulling the right side apart. Just as I got it apart the Big Brown truck shows up.

Here's the old and new

 

Here is the car Before



Here it is After



So I did get a Full 2in out of the Spring change. It's amazing how much Better the car drives.

 

Nice looking car, thanks for the pics and the write-up.Good Luck

 

Congrats - yep, even with pics & contact with seller sight unseen purchases can be a big gamble - looks like you are only making it better - flip rear leaf springs shackles to bring it down some in the rear

 

Lookin Good !

 

Love those tri five fords. Yours is the bomb

 

Thank You

So...... Disconnect shackle from spring, roll shackle up 180 degs and reconnect spring to shackle ?

 

Yes, the shackle is supposed to point up--lot of people flipped the shackles to jack them up in the rear. Carefully inspect the crossmember under the radiator, the one that the front legs of the lower A arms connect to. Those crossmembers are notorious for rusting out on '54-'56 Fords and Mercs. If they are weakened by rust, the control arm bolts will pull through and cause the suspension on that side to suddenly collapse. One of my cousins wrecked a '55 Club Coupe like yours because of that. I had to replace the one on my '55 Town Sedan (Fairlane 4 door) that my parents bought new. Poke on your crossmember with a big Phillips screwdriver and a hammer, if it pokes through, the crossmember has been weakened by rust too much to be safe. Beautiful car, by the way. What is the third character of the serial number? That indicates the assembly plant--if it's an A, it was built at the Atlanta plant and my father leaded the seams on it. He worked at the Atlanta plant from 1952 until he retired in '82.

 

Great advice on the front cross member. You can sometimes just put a large pry bar in the shackle and flip it back up. What does the car have for exhaust manifolds?
Nice car, best of luck with it.

 

You speak of the car being a PIG.
Keep in mind, the 3:00 rear end isn't going to get the car off the line, in any hurry.
Nice looking Ford, flip the shackles though.

 

Lookin' good! I had a '55 Fairlane Town Sedan back in the day. I'll back up what 38fordpickup said about the front crossmembers rusting out. I got a plain jane '56 four door back in '76 to turn into an oval track racer which had sat for some time with no front clip. The lower leading edge of the crossmember was rusted right through in several spots - didn't need the Phillips screwdriver and hammer on this one! Wasn't that bad to change it out, just buzzed the welds, yanked it out, fit the new one and welded it in. Keep at it and good luck! Regards, Dave.

 

Yes that was one of the first things I did. It appears in really good condition.

Thanks on the shackle flip. I did not know they were supposed to be the other direction.

 

Yes that needs to be changed.

The pie in the sky goal is a Fatman chassis and a 351 stroker = 427.
That would also have a 9in rear end in it.

 

Keep the posts coming, love them 55's !

 

Great car, love the posts, thanks for sharing and welcome to the HAMB.

 

Beautiful car! You may learn to appreciate those 3:00 gears! They help you cruise past those gas stations.

 

A lot of people have used Granada spindles and rotors to put discs on '54-'56 Fords. For that swap, you have to ream out the bottom ball joint hole. If you can find a pair of late '60s big Ford or a '70s Torino /Mercury Montego spindles/rotors/calipers, those bolt on with no modifications. I pulled the ones on my '55 from a '76 Mercury Montego. These are bigger brakes that the Granada ones. If everything is in good shape, the stock '54-'56 Ford chassis will handle well. A heavier/stiffer stabilizer bar helps them a lot. They won't corner like a new Corvette, but they can be made to handle as well as any '50s car and better than some.

 

Nice car I always liked post cars. Guys reverse the shackles because Ford long springs sag over time. Add a leaf or have them re-arched after you put the shackles right. My avatar has the Areostar fronts and correct rear springs. I think the AOD has a pretty high od if it's .67 your rear is near 2.00 when cruising which is too high. You need a 3.50 rear gear then it would not be a dog. Good luck

 

That's Very interesting 38FP.

The car had PS installed. The previous owner had hand controls in the car.

I'm all about Bigger brakes to make a vehicle stop better.
What M/C did you use?

I was just looking at a 1 1/8in front bar and 1in rear bar kit for it.

 

Nice looking car, I had a '55 Victoria back in the early 60"s and it's one of several cars I've owned as a daily driver that I wish I still had.

 

If you want a larger diameter front sway bar, the sedan deliveries came with a 1" diameter one as compared to the 3/4" one on the coupes and sedans. At least the ones here in Canada did. Station wagons may have had them too but I don't know for sure. I put one on the '56 racer I built and YES they definitely improve handling!

 

She's a beauty.

B

 

If you want to change the brakes buy one of the complete kits that include the tin protector back plates. I have no intention of changing mine. May add a Bendix style power booster.
Remember every person who ever rode or drove in a single master and drum brakes died when their brakes failed and there are no cars left with drum brakes. We are all driving illusions. Yeah right!!!

 

You can see from the above pix's that it has some kind of 8in booster and M/C combo on it. The PO gave me paperwork on it, but that's a joke.
There is No bore size in the paperwork and there is no proportioning valve.

The car stop's pretty good, BUT......The peddle is extremely Hard.

From things I've read and investigated, these kits come with a 1 1/8in bore M/C and the right set up is a M/C from say a '74 Maverick with a 15/16in bore.
Your input?

 

I used a master cylinder from an '80s Ford LTD (big LTD, what became the Crown Vic). No booster. You get enough boost from that long brake pedal arm--m/c doesn't know or care whether it is boosted by a vacuum booster or mechanical leverage.

 

10-4

I flipped the shackles this morning. Dropped the Ass end 2in..

BEFORE




AFTER

 

Looks great as you can see in my avatar they about the same but they should be the same was done to both cars. Not sure on your cooling problem but you could have a 195 degree thermostat in it, typical of 80's engines. Many solved traffic cooling problems by speeding up the water pump pulley with a smaller one. Good luck

 

Nice looking Ford.
Making it your own.
The height adjustment is definitely what it needed.