Customs Needed like a hole in my head: '55 Ford Mainline

The weather has been nice, cool and brisk. Fall weather. Hockey season. Craft beer season. My favorite time of the year. I took the '55 to work the other day because why not?

I hit a huge pothole on Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City and blew out the bottom of the front control arm.



Not a huge deal. You have to laugh at stuff like this. The irony of city driving is that you need an off-road vehicle because the streets are so bad. Anyway, I fabricated a new center for the control arm and welded that in last night. Unfortunately from driving home with the shock hanging and smacking the road, it bent the shock, so that's trashed. I will replace both as a matter of course.

The two major issues that need to be rectified are an awful fuel leak out of the top of the tank, and this cobbled together exhaust system. The fuel leak is likely due to no gasket being present on the adapter for the aftermarket sender. The mounting surface of the sender is bent too. I bought some sheets of Buna-N and will try to put the together in a better fashion. Unfortunately the vent line snapped off the tank and will need to be welded back on. I hate welding on gas tanks, and the $200 that a brand new one will cost gives me pause as to whether it's worth it or not.

The exhaust is also disassembling itself as I drive, so that needs to be replaced. Aside from the head pipes that come off the headers and into the K member, there was no welding at all in this whole system. It was all put together with flex pipe, couplers, and self-tapping sheetmetal screws. I'm actually glad because it made removing the entire system a 10 minute job and I have a bunch of decent, straight sections of pipe I can reuse later for something else. I bought a universal 2.25" exhaust kit and a couple Thrush Turbo mufflers, and I hope to get working on that this weekend.

 

Fuel leak is the gasket under the sender. Needs to be cork or corprene.
The reverse on the gauge is the car was built as a positive ground 6 volt car. It’s now a negative ground 12 volt car. Try changing the wires behind the gauge.
56 was the only year Ford used 12 volts for its gauges 57-up went to resistors.

 

Amazing how some people do exhaust. My son and I went to see an Edsel wagon a week or so ago and it’s exhaust system makes yours look good. I had never seen someone use that flex pipe until I saw it on the Edsel...and now yours. At least it is an easy fix. I’m sure you’ll get worked through all the stuff like that soon. And, the control arm issue is just part of using this stuff...although that must been a heck of a pothole!

 

This is good info but I'm going to follow up. The car has been rewired with a new style harness, like a Rebel/American Autowire/etc. kit, and has a VDO aftermarket fuel gauge mounted under the dash, which as you correctly mentioned is reading backwards. It is not using the stock 55 fuel gauge. The car is negative ground now. Would the fact that the car used to be 6 volt affect the performance of the gauge now?

The sender has a different mounting pattern than the stock tank accepts, so it has some machined aluminum adapter with countersunk machine screws that adapts it to a smaller sender. There was a cork gasket below the adapter, but above it was just some red silicone. Needless to say, it was like the top of the tank was a screen door when I'd fill it.

I'll post some pics tonight for some clarity

 

There is a tremendous amount of development going on around my office in Jersey City as they transition from old, 3 story homes to much larger mixed-use commercial/residential buildings. As they do that, they keep tearing into the street to access utilities, plus the construction equipment traffic, and the roads look like they've been bombed. I'll take the busted control arm over the broken aluminum wheels on the 5 series I used to have any day of the week. I cracked 3 at once one time.

 

With new wiring and not using the stock gauge disregard what I said about the fuel indication but try swapping the wires anyway.
I never use RTV on fuel related items. Try Permatex #2 or aviation Permatex. Let it sit over night with out moving after installing. I fought this on my stock 56 replacement sender and #2 fixed it. Also check your vent the 56 came out thru a grommet right next to the filler when you pull down the license plate. It’s a 1/4” line that might snake up behind the left taillight and to the tank.

 

Awful sweet setup as is and running- but of course I would long to put an FE in it, as it's so easy, and just cool when done. Mild solid cam, some vintage valve covers and a 3x2 and a Duraspark that looks stock- yummm. Cantrell's dad had a '54 with a medium riser side oiler, Shelby Dominator intake, 65 LTD discs and hubcaps, 65 Shelby rearend with 3.91's and a Locker behind a HD 3spd with OD- mega-sleeper in that original drab green color

 

If I'm going to change anything, it's going to be to swap out the stock 55 rear for a 57-59 9" and trade the Toploader for one of the T5s I have. FEs are cool, and I liked the one I had in my Thunderbird, but Windsors have been good to me as well. And this is a really nice running car, much too nice to take apart IMHO.

 

Promo o f that car?

 

Been chipping away at the to-do list on this '55.

Front control arm has been repaired and new shocks installed. Shouldn't be an issue again going forward.

I have 75% of the exhaust done and so far I'm really happy with how it's coming out. I'll snap some pictures when it's all done.

I investigated the backwards reading fuel gauge last night as well. The wife was kind enough to sit in the car and read the gauge to me while I played with the sender and wiring. The gauge is an aftermarket VDO gauge. Nothing fancy for sure. I put my multimeter on the sender, and it appears to be around the universal ohms range of 33-240, but opposite readings for full and empty. Also, before I took it apart, it would seem from driving it that the gauge was actually fairly accurate, just reversed.



Based on that, I think it's safe to conclude that it's just the wrong sender for the gauge, and the proper repair is to simply buy the correct sender and install it.

I've been debating buying a new tank since the vent line nipple twisted off when I was pulling the stuck line off it. Of course I could TIG it back on, but I hate welding on fuel tanks that have recently had fuel in them. But this tank looks perfect otherwise, and is really clean inside. It's obviously a recent reproduction and I hate to toss it and waste the $225 bucks. Maybe if the weather is nice this weekend and I can flush the tank out well enough I'll take care of it.

I gave myself a $1000 budget to take care of ancillary items to tidy up this car and so far I'm sticking to it. I don't want to get too underwater on this car just buying whatever like I did on my 61 Olds.

 

That cars happy Joe, you're making it feel better...its reciprocal...happy car, happy Joe, happy Hamb...not to mention educating, good stuff...

 

Joe,
Ford used the King Seeley sender through the 1980s and beyond. In 56 they went to something else but quickly went back to the KS 6V senders and gauges after that.
What works is original KS senders with KS gauges.
Repro Ford senders just do not work as well as the original units.
Best scenario....Original Ford KS gauge with original Ford KS sender.
What might work OK....Original gauge with repro Ford sender....
What does not work well or at all....Original gauge with generic GM style sender or vice versa.
P.S.
Make sure use the factory Ford voltage reducer for the gauges. This was used on all 12V Fords since 57ish....56 was a weird year. This reducer is usually found on the back of the gauge cluster and it must be used with the KS gauges.
1955 was 6V so it does not have that reducer and you need to find out how the 12V conversion was done.

 

Great score !! I've long felt that 55-56 Customlines made for nice interesting fun drivers. It's nice to see a non-GM for a change. My wife has had a mainline and a customline, both with Y-blocks/4-speeds. I guess they both drove well, so she told me.... One of hers had '55 Pontiac side trim, and a guy pestered her for months to sell it. She finally relented nd gave him a price which was just double what she paid. After buying the critter, he laughed and told her she had just been screwed out of a very rare car. He said that only a handfull came out with that special trim. She simply shrugged it of, and off he went. She laughed like crazy when she told me. The next time I say the car was at Pleasanton, and much to my surprise, no side trim........

 

57JoFoMopar,
I'm a little late to the game on this thread. Nice car you got there. I've always had an affinity for mid fifties Fords but never got one. Your thread has me looking at them on CL and FB, lol. I found one not far from me in great shape with no engine or trans for a decent price. Is the engine compartment tight for space? I assume that since it came from the factory with a v8 that its spacious enough.

 

i think a set of valve covers and such to make it "look old" would be good in my opinion at least. people probably swapped small block fords or FEs into these cars all the time back then. but its your car, i'd just think it'd look cool with era correct dressing.

 

maybe some shellac? i know thats what youre supposed to use on cork.

 

Maybe you could put a bolt in type of vent, accessible from the sending unit hole. I had a tank one time that had what looked like a metal screw in valve stem for the vent, no valve core of course. Somebody probably makes one just for the purpose.

 

Some stamped steel valve covers and stock type air cleaner would do the trick under the hood. The engine is a '66, so it's not like it's a 5.0 roller SBF. Plus I don't open the hood at shows, so it doesn't make a big difference. `It's one of those things where I will get to it eventually, but it's low on the priority list.

 

I wouldn't say these cars are tight for space, but I also wouldn't say space is abundant either. Of course Y blocks fit, and FEs fit too, though it can get a little tight with one of those. The biggest problem with the engine compartment on these is more the width and then proximity to control arms. I had a friend that had one with a 460 and it was a pig that barely fit and ran hot. The Windsor, which is narrower than the Y block, fits like a dream.

 

as long as shes a runner that's all that matters. it's a nice and clean looking car. as much as it would be "cool" to have a 292 or 312 Y block, it never had one to begin with, and speed parts are twice as much (or more!) for Y blocks. I wouldn't want to tear apart a running car for any swap, especially to a motor that is of questionable usability.

 

Thanks for the info. I just relooked at the ad and saw that its a 56 Fairlane. So basically the same car I suppose.
The wheels in my head are turning....not a good sign. lol

 

Great thread so far. Keep the updates coming.

 

Got my exhaust done tonight.



All in all, I'm really happy with how it came out. This was a basic universal exhaust kit in mild steel that I bought off of Amazon. I actually think it was through Speedway but I order it from Amazon and got free shipping. Some of the pipes were a little rusty, mostly on the inside of the pipe, and they were packed in plastic with some oil/cosmoline on them to help prevent corrosion. The mufflers are new Thrush Turbos. Since I plan on driving this car a lot, not to mention probably starting it early in the morning, I wanted a little quieter muffler than a Cherry Bomb. I'm excited to hear what this will sound like. For a grand total of $275, I'd say it was a success.

I was also able to get the drain plug out of the gas tank, so I can get a good flush on it. I'll give it a go welding it this week.

The list of things remaining to tackle are:
-seal gas tank and install new sender
-install front and rear middle seatbelts
-install stereo headunit and proper rear speakers in package tray

Also, the fellow that put this car together had used an electric fan on the new aluminum radiator, but the subsequent owner I got it from took the electric fan off and put a 16" 5 blade mechanical fan on without a shroud. The day I took this car to work I sat in a good 30 mins of stopped traffic, which is fairly normal, and this car got pretty hot. It peaked at about 230 degrees, and was obviously unhappy. In ordinary driving this car actually runs below 180, so it's not like the radiator can't cool the engine. It's an airflow issue when stopped. So I will likely abandon my typical M.O. of shrouding the mechanical fan and using as big of an electric fan (with a shroud) as I can get for the purpose of cooling at a standstill.

Lastly, one of the things that annoys the hell out of me with old cars are the 2 speed wipers. I bought a module off of Amazon that allows adjustment of delay from 3-30 seconds, so I'll experiment with that and report back.

 

I wanted to try to seal up and reinstall this gas tank this week. The vent tube banged into the leaf spring on the way out and broke the solder holding it on, so I tried to TIG it back on. After sanding a wire brushing it all out, and then welding it back together (or at least attempting to), I'm still getting the tiniest weep under the weld.

Is this something I could seal up with JB Weld or should I braze it instead? Or just suck it up and buy a new tank and stop being the cheap MFer I am.

 

Just bite the bullet. Brand new tank + great price = peace of mind. Free shipping too!
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...JRTAlJgT-4JiwPWVSkocAxr3FmRU2ldQ2oJa6E4wgvMmQ

BTW,
TJ Maxx called.....they want their cart back.

 

Could clean it up and seal it with solder. Sounds like the whole fitting was originally soldered, so your tig welds should keep it strong, and solder should stick and last just fine.

 

The statute of limitations has run on that one

 

Exhaust looks great! And, I’m thinking the solder idea would be fine as well on the vent tube. Curious what you try.

 

I m not a Ford guy but that's a sharp car.....Nicely built engine should have plenty of power for sensible driving.