New Ride - Survivor 1956 Ford Fairlane

I guess I've never paid much attention to the interior on your car. I know the car is fairly stock. Has the interior been updated with color or is that how it left Ford? The blacked out window crank is what initially caught my eye

 

The doors have maybe never even been apart as far as I know. That window crank is chrome as would be expected. It just doesn’t appear that way in that pic. The only things that have ever been done to the interior would be the seats being recovered in the early 90’s with some couch-type material and the dash padding was removed at some point since it was coming apart. Otherwise, it is as it left Ford. I hope to recover both of those, replace the headliner and the original carpet this year.

 

Larry to the rescue!!!

 

You hadn't posted on this thread for awhile....thought it needed to come back out with an update...
this ride of yours has been real faithful to you

 

Yep, I need to regain focus on this. Between trying to help my two daughters and grandson move into a rent house and the distraction of trying to buy a 41 Chevy, I haven’t messed with the car in a month or so. I suppose I need to consider whether I want to try to take it to Dewey in a couple weeks or not.

 

see you in Dewy either way.... always love to see your '56 too but you know her limitations
checking on flywheel and bell housing

 

This is one of my favorite cars....Always know that Jeff is in town when you see this beauty!

 

Well, I was able to get the heads from Larry @winduptoy in Dewey thanks to a ride in a pickup driven by a guy they met in Tucumcari, NM pulling an Edsel that he picked up Saturday at 3:30 am in Ada after a breakdown of a 40 Ford pickup owned by Darrell (Larry's buddy) in Tucumcari on the way to Dewey...

Yea, that is obviously a very abbreviated story of one of those you will likely never forget. Now, I just need to get them to the machine shop so they can be rebuilt.

 

That sounds like quite the story! glad you are moving forward

 

It is and everything aligned for Jeff (and me) to get them there...
I still can't believe when Robert, my new best friend, said " car show, where?" "can I bring my Edsel?"
Larry..."I am sure we can substitute you for Darrell...or buy your way in"
Robert..." really...I can bring the heads then...I'll be there Saturday"
He called later that night to tell me he found a running, driving Edsel, in Oklahoma, that he was going to buy on the way and he would be there by noon on Saturday....he showed up at around 9:00 and unloaded his Edsel....heads in the front seat....he is a rare breed in my mind
I did give him gas $ in Tucumcari....even a rarer breed
He has called and texted me multiple times to tell me what a great time he had...
He is putting on a car show in Tucumcari, NM on the 24th of the month and is going to have Donna Reeds Edsel there.. come on over to the show. Darrell and I will try to be there...
Back to regular scheduled programming .....

 

Well, been about 6 weeks and still no real update. Block and crank still at the machine shop and I haven’t even got the heads there yet that Larry brought me. I do seem to be catching up on a few other projects, so maybe I’ll get something done soon? I got it out Friday night and washed it off since it was out behind the shop under the lean too for a bit since it seemed like we had a chance of hail most of June and needed shop space for late models that I didn’t want dents in. Paint looks bad so I used some Meguir’s #7 on the decklid just now since it is here in front of the golf cart I am working on tonight…. At least it sort of shines better. You can see how bad it was in the panel under the decklid. I guess I should keep going with the #7…

 

The oxidation got so bad on my Pontiac before I stripped it that I was hitting it with #7 every Friday for shows on Saturday. #7'd right on through the paint in a few spots....that just made less paint I had to strip off. LOL

 

Well, the machine shop called me Friday and said that he had the block almost done. It is bored .030 now and he just needs to clean up the decks some and knock the cam bearings in. I decided to go ahead and get a set of cam bearings from Vern Schumman that have the groove on the OD to make sure I always get oil even if the bearings ever turn in the bore. So, getting closer. I am also going to try to get the heads to the machine shop tomorrow to verify if I have two that aren’t cracked.

 

The grooved cam bearing is intriguing. Does the Y block have timed oiling like the first gen Olds? If so, would the groove in the cam bearing change affect oil timing and just provide full oiling to both shafts full time? If so would there need to be a higher volume pump to accommodate the additional need? How deep is the groove?

Sorry to inundate with questions but it's a great thought

 

Joe,

My understanding is that you just have to be sure to be running pressurized rocker shafts and tube style pushrods. Doesn’t sound like any more is needed. And, not sure about how deep the groove is. Pretty sure it isn’t real deep. It is just a precaution against the bearing ever spinning. But, your questions were timely since it helped me question things and ask Vern some of those questions as well.

 

Just dropped off the heads and also checked out the block. I love the look of a freshly machined block! Crank still needs turned and will hopefully know something about the heads soon. Slow but sure…

 

So, most of you all may have noticed I have been distracted by the new shoebox over the past couple weeks. But, that doesn’t mean I have given up on the 56…. @winduptoy I dropped off an old cam at the machine shop Monday of this week so the machinist could verify that the cam bearings were correct. Otherwise, the block and crank are done and ready to start assembling. Also, three of three ECZ-G heads I dropped off to have checked all checked out good with no cracks. So, he is now starting on two of those which need seats, guides, and valves. Anyway, I guess I need to pick a cam so I can get it on the way and start assembling the short block. Been a long time since I was in machine shop jail, but I also haven’t been pushing him too hard either.

 

I like grooving the block before installing the cam bearing. Also install positive seals on the head to the valve stem instead of the umbrella style worked better for oil contamination on valves. I have the tooling for other engines so it just cost me a couple of hours and $20 for the seals. Need to check the retainer to seal for clearance.

 

How many projects do you have going on right now?

 

Too many! Thankfully, the 51 is easy and mostly done. This car needs a mechanical rebuild and I will pick up the block and crank next week. And, the Merc is my long term project that I really haven’t started on. Oh, and then there is the 54 panhead I just got and all my kids projects…

 

Busy man!

 

Got the block and crank picked up from the machine shop. Heads are also almost done. So, looks like I need to pick a cam and get the motor together soon.

 

So maybe you can "accidently build a y-block" in the next few months?

 

Oops, how'd that choppy cam get in there?