Technical Engines that would fit 1955 Ford FairlaneClub Sedan

I had a '55 Fairlane Club Sedan. It had a Y-block (272). It sounded great, ran great, was a very fun car to own. My suggestion is keep the Y-block and add the power steering and power brakes, etc.
Something like this ought to do the trick:

 

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the 312 Police interceptor. Probably not cost effective.

 

I always found that the 312 in my 12 second '55 was more than enough motor.

That said if you own a sawzall or a torch and can weld pretty much anything you want to shoehorn in there will fit. Some engines take a little more imagination than others. The only bolt ins are going to be Y block or the 223 6 cylinder.

Power brakes and power steering should not be a must have for your wife unless she is just a peanut. My wife reaches 5'3"if she stretches, and 145 is heavy for her. When we were in out 40s she was driving my Power Wagon, no power steering or brakes with 12.50x33s. In our 50s she used to drive this POS, the only thing power on it was the motor. She never complained about either and could wheel them both as well as anyone.



That said upgrading the brakes and steering is nothing to be ashamed of if that is what you want. And a newer engine is also fine, I suppose that a Windor or a Cleveland Ford motor will work or an SBC or BBC or FE, or caddy, or olds or Pontiac or whatever floats your boat. It all just depends on how much imagination you have and your skill level.

 

On the subject of power brakes and steering-

Power brakes not hard to add, you just need a booster and master cylinder. Upgrade to a modern double master cylinder. Someone probably sells a kit for this.

The steering is a lot harder problem. Here is what I suggest. Go over the front end carefully and replace any worn or damaged parts. While you are at it put on 4 new shock absorbers. They are cheap and make a big difference in ride and handling. Take it to a good alignment shop and have a front end alignment done. Inflate the tires to 32PSI.

I have given this suggestion to different people and those who followed it up were very pleased with the result. They found their car steered and handled like a dream, and took away all need for power steering. Set them up right and they steer easy, unless at a dead stop, and then you only need to be barely moving.

Women drove those cars all the time when they were new, they steered and handled easily if set up right. 60 years of wear and tear, bumps and jolts have taken a toll.

This gets us back to the engine question. Keep the same engine, or replace with a 302 which is lighter than the original and steering is no problem. Put in a big engine that is heavier than the original and you have to worry about the front end and steering. Also if you put in a more powerful engine you are going to need disc brakes. They are a good idea in any case but not totally necessary with the smaller engine as long as you avoid real meat axey traffic.

 

A FE is a bolt in. Ive bolted in several in 55 & 56 fords and the only thing not factory was the accelerator linkage.

 

... Well, you need new head pipes too... But it IS a bolt-in other than that IF you have the right parts.

The main issue with the OEM '55-56 power steering is the factory idler arm. For some reason Ford used a 'torsion' rubber bushing in the idler arm to pull the steering back to center. When you turned either left or right, this bushing was twisted and wanted to return to center. While this worked after a fashion, this proved to be an issue as bushing failure was pretty common, so MOOG came out with an 'improved' idler arm that corrected this. Unfortunately, these are long out of production... and the available aftermarket rubber replacement bushings don't seem to hold up. Maybe they're better now, but in the 80s when I had one of these I went through several bushings in a short period of time (about 5K miles per bushing). They're also not easy to replace (you needed a special Ford tool to do these on the car without busting your knuckles, which I didn't have) so after the second one failed, I converted to manual steering. Like Rusty says, if the stock steering is in good condition, steering effort isn't bad, especially after you drop 200+ pounds off the front end with a SBF swap. I will note that the front end on the '55-56 Ford cars is heavy-duty enough to support just about ANY motor you may choose to install. If these front ends were greased on even a semi-regular basis, about only thing that will wear out is the rubber bushings.

The other issue with the stock steering is the worm gear in the steering box. The gear runs on tapered roller bearings, but for some reason Ford made the inner races part of the gear and not separately replaceable, and hard-chromed the races for wear. The problem is the plating chips/peels over time, giving you rough or notchy feeling steering. The fix is a new worm gear/steering shaft (which are available now in the aftermarket). I'd give a serious look at that new Borgeson power box if yours is bad...

And the OP asked which motors were EASILY swapped. The FE will be easy if you have the early log exhaust manifolds, but lacking those getting exhaust on the car could get expensive. The SBF swap will be the cheapest (FEs still aren't the cheapest motors to build), with factory exhaust manifolds not that hard to find ('64-73 full-size Ford/Mercury, and '80s-90s Ford trucks work well, plus I think the 289 Hi-po manifolds will fit too) as well as numerous inexpensive headers that can be made to fit (although I don't think all of the headers will fit with the taller/wider 351W). After those, all the rest will start needing more fabrication to get them in (primarily the 'normal' Ford bugaboo, exhaust) so the degree of difficulty goes up.

Personally, I think the 351W is the best choice as the added torque ('There's no replacement for displacement') makes for snappy performance.

 

Hmnnn wasn't aware, the only FE I ever put in a '55/6 I made frame mounts.

Thaks for the info next time I have opportunity to do one I'll pick your brain.

 

You use the OEM Y-block mounts, but turn them 180 degrees so the offset is the other way.

 

Back in 1965 I bolted a 427/425 FE in my 57 Ford. I also changed to a 58 steering box which is much better and also the brakes off a roll over 58 Highway Patrol car. The 58 box also gives you a little more exhaust clearance too

 

302 fits like a glove. HRP



The old Y block Police Interceptor would be another good choice.

 

Here is a link for doing the mounts for a 302/AOD swap: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/albums/289-302-351w-swap-mounts.41498/

 

That's correct. I usually trimmed the support of the top A arm on the drivers side to give a bit of clearance for the exhaust,

 

A good link to the Borgeson site. I'm using their add on pulley and PS bracket. Works, but for 5 hundy the engineering lacks. Try Mummert.

 

My first choice would be a yblock or an FE followed by a 4.6 or sbf. But if you wanted to have something different a Hemi, Olds or Caddy would look good in there. Saw a 49 Ford a few years ago that had a 389 Pontiac in it that looked right at home in there.

 

I have heard that a Pratt and Whitney 18 cylinder aircraft radial engine is a bolt in. However, the mileage is nothing to write home about.

 

Damn and I went trough all the trouble to make a motor plate and mid mount. Live and learn I guess.

 

Old Henry was always thinking ahead. You would be surprised the amount of later stuff that bolts in,I bolted up my 302 & AOD to the stock rear with a 1986 Crown Vic driveshaft and a conversion U-joint (no cutting) just as an example.

 

Pretty sure Henry (or Edsel) wasn't thinking that far ahead. Actually if you follow the progression of Fords over the years it seems like they tried to make it harder to swap things around and not easier.


When you are swapping things around its easier if you can find things that will work. My '55 had a full syncro 3 speed that was a bolt in. To this day I have no idea what it came from. No internet back then. A friend had it and said it would fit, so I used it. Sometimes we finesse 'em other times its just dumb luck.

Hey whileIam thinking about itandmaybe this is an @Old wolf or @Crazy Steve question/solution. The first car me and the missus bought together (about 2 weeks after we started dating in high school) was a '58 merc, had a big old MEL in it (a big heavy pig in a big heavy pig of a car). Anyway it had power steering and it was a real dream car to drive. I don't doubt I could swap it in but I am not sure how easy it would be. Is that a viable power steering option for the '55/6 Ford?

 

I agree with Beaner. Back in the day, a friend of mine had a 55 Ford Fairlane four door with a 312 with a Wolverine cam and a 57 Nascar dual quad set up and if remember correctly a three speed open drive floor shift from a Ford pickup. For the time period, the car was considered pretty quick.

Gary

 

I tried that social Group link and it said "There are no threads to display."

If it was a Power Steering car to start with (and it has failed or been removed, like my wifes 56 T-Bird), and you are running modern wider tires and a steering wheel that is less than the Yacht sized one that came in these ares PS is desirable. I will be doing a 56 Sedan delivery soon and plan to use the Borgeson Box - then the same for her Bird

Younger Guys? I'm in my sixth decade on the planet and plan on putting in PS on two mid 50's Fords in the next couple of months (see above)

 

anyone ever swap a 472/500 caddy into one?

 

I've seen an earlier Caddy done, as well as a MEL. IIRC, the MEL swap wasn't that tough (very similar to a FE swap) but the weight penalty didn't do anything for handling. A FE weighs about the same as a Y-block.

I'll note a couple of other things to think about...

The 'common' motor mount most use is the late Mustang. I don't like these because they move the motor up/forward and you don't get the full benefit of the reduced weight. Now, they do solve two issues; one, you can re-use the OEM throttle linkage and two, most intermediate Ford SBF exhaust manifolds (like Mustang, Fairlane, etc) will fit. The other downside is you have to move the radiator forward (unless you have a 6-cylinder car) to get room for the water pump pulley and fan. Rather than do that, I used the 'generic' mounts that Ford used in most late 60s/early 70s cars (the single horizontal bolt ones) and built a intermediate 'adaptor' that had the single bolt and the two bolts into the frame. No frame mount pad mods needed, and these adaptors aren't 'sided' i.e. both are identical. This got the motor slightly lower, and moved it back about two inches compared to the late Mustang mounts. Unfortunately, the drivers side head gets too close to the firewall for the OEM linkage (I used the OEM cable linkage from the donor instead). The common 'intermediate' straight-back-exit exhaust manifold on the drivers side no longer fits well either, which is why I used full-size-car or truck manifolds with their 'down' exit. But you don't need to move the radiator now...

The reason for the tight fit is Ford 'reversed' the engine 'offset' starting with the SBF compared to the earlier motors. While on the FE and Y-block the drivers side cylinders were 'leading' (they installed on the front half of the rod journals), all the later motors were reversed; the passenger side cylinders were 'leading'. This was to give more room for AC/heater boxes under the hood, but if you mounted the motor in the 'same' place in the earlier car, the drivers side head gets real close as the firewall relief is now backwards.

 

My vote goes to the y block. A built 292 will make 300hp theses days, and be dead reliable. Unless your looking to put your wife in a 500hp car?

 

Thinking of it for a few reasons. Mainly it will definitely be different.

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Burt Sugarman of the rock and roll show the Midnight special had a Lincoln engine in his 55 Ford. But today use Y block first then a 289'302 last a FE. I mounted a 300 CID Ford six in a 54 many years ago. Over the years I have seen the following power plants in a 54 to 56 Ford. 57 olds / Pontiac/ small block chevy/ MEL/ FE/ a 1957 352 CID Packard/and one that looked good was a nailhead. I would use the 289 base engine. 65 Mustang headers work with no trouble. If brakes are a real problem go to the Granads and associated parts. A small bit of modification is needed like reaming the lower ball joint. Good Luck Bobby..

 

I'm surprised nobody said put a flathead in it.

I'd go with a 289/302/ C4. Still easy to find parts for and no more expensive than the SBC since there are so many Mustangs running around using them. Induction can be anything from a single two barrel carb to fuel injection and everything in between. Exhaust the same way, all kinds of manifolds and factory tube headers, I had to use 5.0 Explorer manifolds on mine to clear the steering box. As to the steering, just looking at the pic, a GM Saginaw power box off a GM intermediate like a Monte Carlo, Cutlass, or S10 pickup looks like it would fit right in with a little work.

 

If you guys that gripe about FE fuel economy would think outside the (Holley) box, you might find the FE engines are not that thirsty.

Jon.

 

Did Ford (or anybody else) ever make a Quadrajet intake for the FE? I've seen them for a 460, but not an FE, that I can recall.

 

Ford used a quadrajet on the 429 as factory equipment.

Jon.