1952-59 Ford Another Newbie with Questions

Hello All! I am the proud owner of a 55 Ford Mainline and have just found this group. I have many questions that I hope you Guy's in the know will help me with over the customizing period that I have planned. I Appreciate any and all info that is given me and hope I can help others out as I learn more about these older cars. I am trying to add a pic to this post of my new purchase so please be patient with me because I am new to forums also and dont have it down pat as to how to do these things. Thanks Everyone!

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=24712&pictureid=272667

 

welcome to the group, very nice original looking car you got there. tons of good info here and people willing to help.

 

Thanks, yes it is all original just new parts,Paint. I am looking to upgrade to a V8 and auto ****** and change the tires and rims. Just wanting to make it more of a hotrod look i guess.

 

Welcome! Very nice, I especially like the salmon color - very '50s.

Lots of info here on upgrading to a later V8 with auto ******. Most of the guys use Ford motors. They're probably the easiest. But, forever the maverick, I've got a Chevy V8 / 4-speed in my '52 Vicky. The Merc, however, has a '90 5.0 HO with AOD.

Give some thought to keeping the wheels and tires you've got. With some simple lowering, they'll be right in style with today's old-school trends.

 

very nice ride. wont take much to get it looking more like a hotrod. myself, i like the look of the wide whites and hubcaps. 302 and aod make a nice hiway combo too.

 

Sweet car. Ive got cragar ss on my 54. 15s in the back and 14s up front. Too hot rod for me, I need more "kustom" with those fat white walls ya got. Pretty *****in if you ask me. I'll be upgrading to those soon enough. They look good on your car. Oh, and welcome to the group!

 

Welcome! Nice ride!

 

Welcome, nice car. Good to see another 2 door, I just never warmed up to 4 doors. I agree with the hot rod look, maybe some Torq Thrust wheels, slight rake.

 

Cool, Thanks for the Kudos Guys! I have spent over 5 hrs reading your posts on V8 swaps and many other things Tonight and I have to tell ya I am glad I found this site. You guys have just the type rides I'm looking for so I'm sure I'll be stealing your ideas over time LoL. I was set on putting some 60's/ 70's style slot rims on it but those Cragers and Torq thrusts look NICE, I may be changing my mind. I like the original rims with the white walls but they just dont fit the look im going after and the tires are pretty old too so i really need to buy new ones so I figured I might as well go with what i want for the future instead of replacing the old ones and then have to buy more later.

Stiq.. I like how your car sits do you have Air shocks on the rear to get that stance? And one more question how wide are the rear tires/rims? I dont know what size I can get away with. thanks everyone

 

Thanks, no air shocks, I flipped the shackles. (jack up the car by the bumper, put a crow bar in the shackle and flip it to the top of the spring)
The wheels are 15x8 with 235x60x15 tires. I've got a set of Cragars in the garage for the front, just waiting for money for tires.
I put on a 4 inch narrower rear end (98 Blazer) which gives me 2 extra inches on each side to make changing tires easier, but still not easy.

 

dragonknucks Do you have a pic of the Cragers you have? wight be Interested in a trade with you when you get ready to change if you would be Interested also.

Stiq Did that rear end bolt right up or did you have to fab it up?

 

Sircamsalot, type in the search box for this group. Look up My 54 build thread. I think thats the ***le of it. Its got tons of pics of my car in there. Sorry, I'm on a work computer and cant post pics from here.

 

Welcome to the group! I really dig the look of your car. A mild al***ude adjustment would be all I would consider- looks nice as it is.

 

car looks great, all i would do is lower it with blocks in the rear and lowering springs in the front. After that just cruise away.
Keep the steelies!

 

Hi and welcome to the crowd. Great to see another pastel color mid 50s Ford, just as they were meant to be! But I know it's to each his/her own regarding such things.

I also like the rake look and plan on doing something like that this summer. New springs on order and if I can ever get Rocky to sell me those Cragars....

Ron

 

Sircampsalot2... Glad to see you found us. Nice looking Mainline. I wouldn't do a whole lot of changing, something along the lines of the '56 that the-stig posted. Sometimes less is best!

 

Welcome to our little corner of the HAMB.

 

sircampsalot2, I did have to do some fab work.
I had to weld new brackets on the rear end for the leaf springs. The calipers hit the leaf springs so I put on two inch lowering blocks so they would clear. The tires were too far inboard and hit the leave springs also, so I had to use wheels with only 2½ inches backspacing to push the tires outboard. Then the tires rubbed on the inner fenders because it was too low so I had to flip the shackles to raise the car back up. I had to have the drive shaft reworked with the right yoke for the rear end and of course a new master cylinder for the disc brakes.
Sounds like a lot of work but it wasn't too bad and now I have disc brakes on all four wheels.
Cost was about $300 for the Cragars, $200 for the master cylinder, $100 or so for the rear end and maybe $10 for the lowering blocks.

 

Thanks Guys, I was told it is a Saddle Brown color but not sure since he didnt have a paint code number. I'm trying to figure out what rear end to install in it in order to put some tiers and rims on back and also that have disc brakes. If i can find one that fits I will go ahead and start trying to find one in a junk yard or ebay. I have read that it needs to be a ford 9" but not sure what vehicles it would have come in that would be the same width for my car. I dont have a welder or a fabricator around that i know of so I'm going to have to try and do it with parts that pretty much bolt on when i can. I know you guys experience will help me out tremendously with this and is much appreciated. This is getting to be fun already just doing research and I cant wait to start installing parts. I plan to get all the parts and then do it all at once. The one problem Im having right now is the existing Carb....It was supposedly rebuilt but doesnt run good at all..it floods the engine out and is hard to start. when i take the breather off and pump the accelarator it shoots gas about 10 feet out the hood! Not sure where to start without buying a whole new carb which is around $250 and on back order from the parts house and they dont know when they will be able to get one. any ideas? Thanks

 

dragonknucks I tried to find your post on your 54 build in the search but all i can find is a few for sale items and post like that, can you put a link for me? thanks

 

the stig has a nice setup too.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=16005 Here you go. Enjoy.

 

Thanks Dragonknucks I just got through reading it....looks like the school of hard knocks! LoL, I'm sure I'm gonna go through the same I'm so glad there are good teachers here that have been there too. Maybe the knots on my head will be few.

 

Hope there are only a few. Its been an interesting journey with both my 4 door and 2 door now. Ive read lots and learned even more. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. Good luck on the journey!

 

my car has a ranger rear in it right now with drum brakes. ive got a disk brake explorer rear witch is the same width as mine . the spring pad/ perch's will need to be moved a little . the ranger rear fits good with original steelies on it.

 

Old ladys mad, what year and model did the rear end come out of?

 

Sircamsalot2 Hi from California and welcome to group. I have used a 75-80 Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch rearends drum brakes. I have in my two 54's and 55, a 76 Lincoln Versi rearend with disc brakes. Both of these rearends are bolt ins if you are using original leaf springs. E-brake cable on disc brake rearend has to be reworked alittle but not a big problem.

The-stig Did you use a two wheel drive s-10 rearend or the wider four wheel drive rearend in your 56.

 

Thanks Riskybiz I will look around for these types of rearends also, I am writing down all the different types and year models and will make a decision on which one to go with when I get to that point in the build and which one is available in my area. Thanks for that info, Would you happen to know what size and backspacing I will need in order to buy Crager SS's for the original axle I have in it? I know its a Five Lug 15" rim but not sure of the correct bolt pattern and backspacing. Ive been looking on ebay and other websites and there are a million different sizes. thanks

 

riskybiz, I think it was a 2 wheel drive. I remember it is 4 inches narrower than the stock 56 rear end. Maybe I can go out tomorrow and measure the width. I went through the Pick a Part and the Blazer was the only thing I found that was even close.

 

not sure the year as it was in my car when i bought it. but to the best of my knowledge they are all the same width. the main diffrence between the ranger and explorer are that the rangers have the springs on top of the axle with smaller drum brakes. the explorer 96 - 01 are disk brakes and 95 down are big drum brakes. and are also underslung springs. get the drive shaft with it as it has a funky flange. and most explorers have posi.