Projects Brought Home a '56 Ford 4 Door (Barn Find)

Well, not much of a barn find compared to alot of the ones posted on here, but I thought I'd share it anyways. This one actually found me, in the next town. Driven by the barn hundreds of times, and always wondered, until I got a call a few weeks ago. It was backed in the barn 30 years ago, and hasn't been touched since. I'm now the second owner of the car. Going through all the receipts, it looks like it got a rebuilt engine in '76- and according to the slip and odometer, has about 15k miles on it. 4 Doors aren't really my thing, but it's complete (MINUS the ignition key), and I figured for $200 how could I go wrong?

Anyone have ideas on what to do for the ignition key/switch? I have the original set to the car, but they only fit the glove box now. I found an old work receipt that said the ignition tumbler was changed, but that's about it. The trunk lock also doesn't fit.

 

Wow, $200?!

 

Damn dude, that's a score. $200 is less than scrap value. I'm pretty sure '56s were 12 volt, so you could throw in a cheapie Pep Boys switch for the time being until you get the right one from Mac's or Dennis Carpenter. There are lots of parts available for these, and that one looks presentable as it is. A good mechanical once-over and you'll be cruising in style.

So what are some of the details on it? 3 speed or Fordomatic? More pics?

Obviously you'll want to go through proper start up protocol prior to starting that engine up. The rear main seals in those Y blocks are rope, and I'd be willing to bet after 30 years of sitting, that one is totally dry rotted. Thankfully now they make a neoprene rear main that could get snaked in and save you a lot of trouble and oil loss.

Awesome score man, best of luck with it!

 

4-door and all, great score! Looks like the body is decent. What are your plans for it?

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Great score, rockers look a little lumpy, the rest looks super straight and complete. Shave and a haircut you're good to go.

 

Love it, 4 doors and all. Great find and right price too. A good lock smith should be able to help you with the keys. your lucky.

 

Overall the body isn't too bad, it has some bondo and patches here and there, but nothing too major except for the passenger side quarter. Rockers appear to be pretty solid as far as I can tell.

I've gotten the engine to turn over by hand, but it seems to stop about halfway... Not sure if that's just from the old belt slipping too much, or something worse. I'll be sure to check it over though, and I'll keep that advice in mind about the rear-main. The barn floor didn't look too covered in oil, but that could be a different story once I get it started.

For right now, the plans are to just get it up and running and bomb around in it. Needs all the usual parts and maitenance, but if things go well I hope to be cruising around before the snow flies up here.

 

I'm working on a '55 Fairlane 4 door that my parents bought new. My father worked at Ford's Atlanta assembly plant 1952-82. If it's an Atlanta car, the third character of the serial number will be an A. If it's an Atlanta car, my father leaded the seams on it.

 

A great car, 4 door or whatever, a great find. Nice body to work with.
What does not make much sense is getting a rebuilt engine at 15K.
Since the odometer had only had 5 places (digits) back in 1956, it is more likely that the car has 115K on the odometer, based on the engine replacement.

 

Conrats

 

Thanks for the comments guys, should be a fun little project. It's definately growing on me.

I kept fiddling around with one of the keys and I actually got it to turn in the ignition... Pretty sure it wasn't the right one, but I guess it was close enough! I hooked a jumper pack to the car and found all the lights and AM radio still work, and the engine turns over so that's pretty good. Definately glad to see that... I actually found the original Ford warranty info card from 1955 that gave the original key number for the ignition as well as the doors.

Forgot to share a little more about the car... It has a Y-Block, I assume just a stock 272, all complete down to the spark plug shields and oil-bath air cleaner. 3-Speed on the column, which was a little stiff when it first came out of the barn, but I think I've got it freed up now. Kind of curious about the rear-end ratio.

Sorry, I don't think I phrased that too well... I'm pretty sure the motor only has about 15k miles on it. The warranty card I found for the engine had "Mileage: 51,XXX) hand written at the bottom, and now the car has around 76,XXX miles. Still surprised they had to change it at 51k miles though, looks like someone has taken care of it pretty well at some point.

 

Went and checked it out, has a B for the third character... I'll have to try and decode the VIN some time.

 

Understand your phrasing now, but agree, replacing engine at 51K is somewhat low, but you don't know the conditions were, as to why it was replaced.

 

Wow what a deal. My first car legal for the road was a 55 just like your 56 272 and three on the tree. Lucky for you the 56 is already 12 volt.

I used to have to carry a 12volt battery between the grille and radiator on my 55 in cold weather to jump start it all the time. Not knowing any better that 12 volt jump made it turn over real good.

 

Great find and even better price! That will be a neat driver!

 

I agree with hot rod nut A good lock smith couldn't make a set of keys for my 1st ignition in the the 56 buick wagon but the 2nd switch I dropped off to her she had a key made with in a hour.Bruce.

 

Nice score, they nearly gave it to you.
Check the front crossmember for rustout before you drive it any, they are known for rusting out there.

 

Very good point. If these are rusted through and fail while you're driving, your front tire is going to try to enter the passenger compartment through the floorboards. I've seen this occur with my own two eyes.

 

Wow! That's nicer and cheaper than the one recently for sale here with only a biill of sale $600! Nice score

 

Thanks for the heads up guys- the front crossmember has some rot, mostly on the drivers side. I'll be sure to fix that up before driving it.

 

My first car was a 56. Always will have a soft spot for them. If I recall, the door key is the same as the switch so you could pop out a door lock cylinder and take it to a locksmith and they can make one to fit it. No way to lose money on that. Good deal.

 

I think for now I should be OK for the ignition key, I probably won't worry too much about having to lock it up... I did manage to bust part of the trunk lock today. Someone had disconnected the rod going to the lock and I had to crawl in to pull it yesterday, but today I managed to pull the rod out- that should be a fun little project.

I picked up a battery today and tried to get it started, but no luck. Not getting any spark. Test light lit up on both terminals of the coil, but nothing coming through. Tried to change the coil, but no luck there either. Is it just the points?

 

Sand the points if that dont work buy some new ones.
Also I like using starting fluid for the first fire.

 

The points did look a little corroded, so I cleaned them up- but then the starter decided to quit (of course). All I get is a single click from the solenoid each time I bump the key. Tried hooking a jumper pack to the positive cable going to the starter, and the negative to the block, but no luck there either. Have to wait until next week for a new starter.

I looked at the front crossmember, and it definately needs to be replaced. Ordered one today off of eBay, so hopefully I can replace that next week sometime.

 

You're wise to replace that crossmember. Had to replace the one on the '55 that my parents bought new. One of my cousins wrecked and totaled a '55 because that crossmember failed due to rust.

 

How hard was it to replace? I'm guessing it's just time consuming, but are there alot of alignment issues with the A-arms?

 

ooBack in 1969 my buddy an I watched a couple of Army sergeants scrub one of those that was about that scuzzy with Bon Ami in a Killen Tx car wash and I saw it a few days later all polished up and looking great. It looks like you have been doing some scrubbing on that one as I scroll down the photos.

 

You really need to join up here too:http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/social-forums/1952-59-ford-social-group.282/ You will be right at home with us as there are plenty of folks with cars like yours to get advice from.

 

Sometimes a low battery will cause your bendix cog to stick in the flywheel causing just a click.
Try grabbing the crankshaft and turn it back and forth and it should release the bendix out of the flywheel if it is stuck there.

 

Actually those are just as it was pulled out- looks better all cleaned up now, I'll take some more pictures soon.

Thanks for tip!

I think you're right! Thanks for the advice! I tried turning it and no luck, put a socket on the bolt and that didn't work either... Any magical tricks to turn it?