Yep...its a '59 Edsel Ranger. I seriously heard her tell me to take her with me...Honest! Then after I heard the engine I was sold. I bought it without even taking it for a test drive. I felt ****erflies in my stomach when I sat in it..."the first date type of ****erflies"....so the next thing you know is I'm driving it home to show the wife and kids. My son and daughter stayed out side cleaning it 'til 2 am...man was that cool... Well enough mushy stuff...Here come the questions... 1. Is this a Y block? 2. Where are the casting numbers located so I can confirm if it is a 292, 332, or a 361 V8? 3. websites, parts vendors, or any info pertinent welcome... 4. The engine sounds great in park but when I drive it it diesels as soon as I touch the pedal...the carb is leaking gas from the front where the throttle pushes into the carb. Should I just do a carb kit? 5. Does anyone have any pics of these cars? 6. It is still running a generator. Do I have to use a 6 volt battery? 7. should I convert to 12 volt...how would I? 8. I went to the auto parts store last night to see if they had a carb kit and the parts guy said a '59 what???? What other cars can I get interchangable parts from??? I figured same year Fairlane? Thanks, TD
Some of them came with the 430 cu. in. Lincoln V8. I test drove a friend's Grampa's car (black 59 Ranger) in college. They wanted $400.00 (1971) for it. It had 63,000 on it and did it have power. I p***ed in favor of a 65 Impala 2 dr htp. Nice score!!! overspray
Yeah, fairlanes had y blocks. Rancheros and galaxies did too. dennis-carpenter.com has a ton of parts that are normally a pain to get like lenses, dash knobs, scuff plates, ect. Dearborncl***ics.com might have some y block parts as well.
Anyway, that a pretty cool car, does it have the electronic push-****on shift? Or is it a 3 spd manual? I like the lines of it, definatly more of a 60's style than late 50's. What are your plans for it?
you're probably gonna hafta run hi-octane gas in that beast to stop the pinging. you might wanna check the timing too,it might be too advanced. looks good though!
The first thing you need to do is get a shop manual for it. Judging by your questions you aren't too informed about cars of that vintage. That's not an insult just an observation. I always buy a shop manual (reprints are fine) for every new ride I find. That's how I learned a lot. A "Motors Manual" (the blue mechanics reference book (check Ebay) that covers the 59 year) will come in handy. 90% of the cars parts and systems would be in a 59 Ford shop manual if they aren't any reprints of the Edsels. Every one of your questions can be found in the shop manual or Motors manual. It should have a good section on rebuilding the carb. Read it before you take the carb apart. A shop manual is an instruction sheet for working on that particular car and any idiocyncracies(sp?) that that year and model may have. Yes it's a Y block. Yes it's a 12V generator. Yes a carb kit will probably fix the gas leak problem. (sounds like the accelerator pump) You'll need the brand of carb and the number off of the carb to give to a good parts guy. I got a kit for my 57 Ford 292 with no problems. Good mechanics don't memorize everything but they know where to find the pertenent information when they need it. After a while some of the stuff sticks but you will still need to refer to the book from time to time...at least I do!
thanks for the input guys. This is the first project I've had with a ford engine. Besides the model A.
Looks Like A Neat Toy, I Had A 59 Wagon, Shaved It Put 61 Invicta Tailites In It, Red And Pearl White Suede, It Had The 332 In It, Dropped In A 351, Last I Heard It Went To Texas Somewhere?? You Can Wee Some Pics Of It In Various Forms On Carnut.com, Go To Custom Pics I Think?? Man The Guy I Got I From Was Piiiiisssssed Cause I ****ed Up His Stock Beauty, Yeah Right!!!
I wonder if the sheetmetal from a 59' Ford or Mercury would work on one of these? Especially that front end...
Congrats on the Edsel ! parts are not easy to find but alot of the parts are ford, you can find lots of info by typing Edsel in your search engine, you well also want to find Dennis Carpenter, Macs Auto parts and Concours Parts on line and order there catalogs, engine and suspension parts on rangers/pacers are mostly ford, the bigger bodied corsiars/citaitions are based on the Merc body and use merc parts mostly but somethings like outside sheetmetal and dash parts are edsel only. if you want to go disc brakes, Im putting 1973 Torino parts on my 58 ranger. Enjoy !!
It's a y block. And that looks like a 12 volt battery in there already, so I'd say it's a 12 volt system, which it should be in '59. In the Edsel, the y block is most likely a 292. Same block as the 312, just not as many c.i. It's a good motor, I have one for my '30 coupe. Have fun with it. I am insanely jealous.
Thanks for the input guys. I did my research and found out that it is a Y-block 292. I plan to keep it as stock as I possibly can except for power steering an A/C for sure. TD
I'll just throw my hat in here. 292 Y-block is right if it's a Ranger, they shared their platform with the Fairlane and Galaxie and came with only Y-blocks and FE series engines. The larger Edsels (Corsair and Citation, I think) used the Mercury platform and could be had with MEL motors. I don't think they were 430s, though. In '58 they were 410 cid, but that might have changed in '59. The '58 FE series, for example, was 361 cubic inches but they went to the standard Ford-sized motors in '59 with only a few leftovers being installed early in the model year. Good looking car and a nice score. I'd drive an Edsel in a heartbeat. How about a resto look with wide whites, stock wheelcovers and a fire-breathing 460 V8 and a six-speed?
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