Has anyone hot rodded a 56 t-bird

The front suspenion looks a little weak. Has anyone done any suspension mods to this type frame. I have 312 i want to put back in. What trans will bolt up.

 

saw this one last summer, don't know about it's suspension though

 

I think this guy may have made a couple of changes.

 

The 55 to 57 Bird has the same front suspension as the 55 to 59 Ford cars, Granada spindles gives you discs, and the rest is easily upgraded.

 

BSM has a real nice one more of a kustom then a "hotrod"...

 

there are a couple of nice mild custom ones rolling around. There was a red one in the last issue of Rolls and Pleats that had some nice scalloping done to it.

there is also a light blue one with white scallops.

sorry no accessible pics of either.

 

Here's my buddy Toms...

 

I put a 389 Poncho/trips/Muncie in a 55 back around 66. Handled fine since the old Y Block weighed as much or more than the 389.
If as someone mentioned it used the same suspension as the cars 55- 59 then you can possibly go with FE springs and maybe even the hi po/Police Interceptor anti sway bar if you want to stiffen it up.

 

Kind of irrelevant, but my dad knew a guy with a tube-axle, 4-speed, 406 tripower 2-seater. I also saw a listing on eBay from a guy who was selling off the Buick Nailhead from a rodded 2-seater that he was taking back to stock. Because the world really needs another over-restored T-bird, right?

Anyway, a 4-speed shouldn't be a problem, I believe a Ford T-10 or an early Toploader should bolt to the Y-block bellhousing. I make a point not to know much about automatics, lest I should become lazy, but I'll bet Flat-o-matic offers something to put a C4 or C6 behind that 312. Sounds like a cool project.

 

The suspension should hold okay - as mentioned same as 55-57 car. There are adapters for C4's, AOD's aand I think FMX's. A toploader will work with only a few small mods, ***ume a T-10 will without mods. A friend of mine had a 427 FE in one.

 

I have a 57 tbird project with the stock front suspension in it. Like other people have said, its pretty much the same as the other ford cars those years. I have a 55 ford as well and it's real close if not exact.

the 312 automatic was the weak link in mine. I put a 351 windsor with a C4 in it. Not too hard to do, but the oil pan was trial and error and I used a remote oil filter kit.

the 55 to 57 tbirds are great hot rods, if you can get them before the collectors or restoration guys do!

 

Doanne Spencer ( of 1932 Roadster fame )....built a 55 Tbird...back in the 50's...pretty nice too......like most things he did.

Here is a 427 FE series side oiler in a 55 T-bird.....they were fairly common in my area back in the late 60's and early 70'd.....before they became COLLECTIBLE....