How Many Parts??

L

L5wolvesf

Member
Not sure the title here is quite right but . . .

First, I'm somewhat "thinking out loud" here.

I'm preparing to get some work done on my 55 so she can at least be driven. This is the oldest car I've owned, among a number of older cars. Several have been cars where parts are rare (not necessarily the case with the 55) so I tend to gather up certain parts/systems to fix up, if possible, or for individual pieces. For me this serves several purposes; some money savings and by working on a part/system, off the car, I can become familiar with it. This has worked out well for me over a variety of types of older cars.

I'm considering picking up some parts for the 55 to get various systems working. The heater for instance, is this something y'all do for a mid 50s Ford?
 
You must first determine which type of heater you have. There were two different types offered; the best of which has the capillary tube thermostat controlled water valve. A second, but probably more common type is the one with the bimetallic vacuum thermostat valve which works with a vacuum operated water valve.
In rare cases, cars that went to southern dealers without a heater unit, may have a dealer installed '55 Ford F100 pickup truck recirculating air heater.
1) Get a '55 Ford car shop manual
2) Determine which type you have
3) determine which parts in the system are defective or worn out.
4) order parts from various Ford reproduction parts suppliers. There are several to choose from and most offer a pretty good inventory or replacement gaskets, control cables and components. Control valve rebuilding and replacement blower motors are offered (except they are single speed instead of two-speed).
5) Heater water hoses and vacuum hoses will probably be cheaper at your local chain auto parts store.
6) If wiring insulation is exceptionally bad throughout the car, you should consider getting a new main wiring harness and possibly sub-harnesses as needed, also offered by most of these repro parts suppliers.
7) Everything is extremely expensive, of course and prices are rising constantly.
 
L5wolvesf said:
Not sure the title here is quite right but . . .



I'm considering picking up some parts for the 55 to get various systems working. The heater for instance, is this something y'all do for a mid 50s Ford?
Click to expand...




I just completed a full heater refurbishment on my '54 Ranch Wagon the other day...a sub-project of the car rewiring project I did over the winter. When I bought the car way back when, I thought, boy, the heaters on these old cars weren't very good. Not really true, as it worked good and heated well after I completed the job. But I replaced pretty much everything.



The '55 and the '54 are similar in that both were 6 volt from the factory. Beyond that, I don't know much about the '55. If it's anything like the '54, though, a good place to start with a heater that isn't heating well might be the right (passenger) side fresh air control cable and louver/ directional damper/whatever. If the car isn't heating/working well, it could be the flow of air through the heater core is bad because of a broken cable or seized pivot shaft on the louver. Could also be a disconnected or bad cable to the heater control valve (which connects to the heater hoses.)



If your car is still 6 volt, and you need a blower motor, you may have difficulty finding a two-speed 6 volt motor. I know I did, and ended up having to use a one-speed instead. No big deal for me...it works real well and my RW isn't really a cold weather car anyway. If you have a 12 volt system, no problem.


As I recall, everything for the heater I needed was available from either Mac's or Dennis Carpenter, both online. Good luck.
 
Last edited:
darrell said:
a 2 bbl is not a teapot
Click to expand...

Interesting, the carb was one of the first things I rebuilt when I got it. I went to a rebuilder, in Phx, who has a very good reputation for info and a rebuild kit. He is the one who called it a "teapot" and mentioned issues with them catching fire back in the day. The kit was right and it runs much better so I figured he was right. If it is not a teapot what is it?

Thank you
 
Daves55Sedan said:
You must first determine which type of heater you have. There were two different types offered; the best of which has the capillary tube thermostat controlled water valve. A second, but probably more common type is the one with the bimetallic vacuum thermostat valve which works with a vacuum operated water valve.
In rare cases, cars that went to southern dealers without a heater unit, may have a dealer installed '55 Ford F100 pickup truck recirculating air heater.
1) Get a '55 Ford car shop manual
2) Determine which type you have
3) determine which parts in the system are defective or worn out.
4) order parts from various Ford reproduction parts suppliers. There are several to choose from and most offer a pretty good inventory or replacement gaskets, control cables and components. Control valve rebuilding and replacement blower motors are offered (except they are single speed instead of two-speed).
5) Heater water hoses and vacuum hoses will probably be cheaper at your local chain auto parts store.
6) If wiring insulation is exceptionally bad throughout the car, you should consider getting a new main wiring harness and possibly sub-harnesses as needed, also offered by most of these repro parts suppliers.
7) Everything is extremely expensive, of course and prices are rising constantly.
Click to expand...

I keep learning things here, which is why I'm here. I didn't know there were 2 types of heaters. I'll have to check it out further.

1) Get a '55 Ford car shop manual First thing I bought after the car

2) Determine which type you have will do

3) determine which parts in the system are defective or worn out. will do

6) If wiring insulation is exceptionally bad throughout the car, you should consider getting a new main wiring harness and possibly sub-harnesses as needed, also offered by most of these repro parts suppliers. Yes this is part of the overall plan

7) Everything is extremely expensive, of course and prices are rising constantly.
This is why I am considering picking up a previously experienced heater assembly. It seems likely that I could take the 2 sets of parts and have one good and functioning assembly.

Thank you
 
JimNNN said:
I just completed a full heater refurbishment on my '54 Ranch Wagon the other day...a sub-project of the car rewiring project I did over the winter. When I bought the car way back when, I thought, boy, the heaters on these old cars weren't very good. Not really true, as it worked good and heated well after I completed the job. But I replaced pretty much everything.

The '55 and the '54 are similar in that both were 6 volt from the factory. Beyond that, I don't know much about the '55. If it's anything like the '54, though, a good place to start with a heater that isn't heating well might be the right (passenger) side fresh air control cable and louver/ directional damper/whatever. If the car isn't heating/working well, it could be the flow of air through the heater core is bad because of a broken cable or seized pivot shaft on the louver. Could also be a disconnected or bad cable to the heater control valve (which connects to the heater hoses.)

If your car is still 6 volt, and you need a blower motor, you may have difficulty finding a two-speed 6 volt motor. I know I did, and ended up having to use a one-speed instead. No big deal for me...it works real well and my RW isn't really a cold weather car anyway. If you have a 12 volt system, no problem.

As I recall, everything for the heater I needed was available from either Mac's or Dennis Carpenter, both online. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I don't know whether the heater works or not at this point. But it looks to be in rough shape. I figured I would pull it out and give it a once over, clean up, lube etc etc. My plan is to go 12v so I would deal with the motor at that point.

Good info Thank you
 
L5wolvesf said:
Interesting, the carb was one of the first things I rebuilt when I got it. I went to a rebuilder, in Phx, who has a very good reputation for info and a rebuild kit. He is the one who called it a "teapot" and mentioned issues with them catching fire back in the day. The kit was right and it runs much better so I figured he was right. If it is not a teapot what is it?

Thank you
Click to expand...

Hmmm, does your carb use three bolts to attach to the intake? If so, it is NOT a 'teapot'! The only 2 bbl. teapots were '49-'53 Mercury and maybe Lincoln and mounted with four bolts. If original, yours is a Holley Model AA-1 or 2100. If I remember right, '55 292's only came with a 'teapot' 4 bbl. Model 4000. But who knows what got changed over the years.
 
A few other things to consider when doing the heater system.


-When you put things back together make sure that everything is sealed well (flexible ductwork, etc.) I think Ford was still using a downdraft engine vent system in '55. You don't want any of those fumes - which come from the engine bay - creeping into your heated or ventilated air, especially when you're in slow traffic in cold weather with all the windows rolled up. Using a silicone type product like DAP will help.


-The square clamps I bought (new from one of the suppliers) to secure the sq. flex duct between the blower housing and the heater core inlet didn't fit well at all. I used large zip ties for now, with DAP seal on the inside, until I find something better. The zip ties will probably work in the long run.


-Even if you buy used heater components, if you disassemble everything you'll still need heater core housing gaskets, available from one of the suppliers I mentioned. There are a few different ones required, and I had to double up on one to make a good seal.



Having said that, I find that a lot of gaskets, grommets, fiberboard housings/ducts etc. that are replacements today aren't the quality that the originals were. I was amazed at some of the gaskets and grommets and fiberboard stuff throughout the car that were good enough to reuse throughout the car. Many weren't though. You'll almost certainly need to replace the heater core housing gaskets.
 
I have to ditto what JimNNN said about the quality of the repro gaskets. When I redid my '55 heater, I was able to keep all but one of my original gaskets as they were still in real good shape, thus I only ordered the one bad one.
As far as the square duct clamps, I cleaned mine up on a wire-wheel attached to a workbench grinder, then took them with a bunch of other stuff to get chrome plated. They are real nice.
 
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