the Americruzer

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wagonmaster56

Junior Member
greetings group;
I have been on HAMB for a while, but this forum seems to fit my build better, so thought I would bring my build over here. Vehicle is a 1956 Ford Country Sedan 4dr Wagon, restomod. Wagon came with 312 that ran well, and had been updated sometime with later distributor,manifold/carb, and possibly heads(never could find any casting info/numbers with motor in car). Trans ran well, so I decided to register and use as driver/project for a while. Did so for a few months then "yblockitis" set in, and passenger side stopped oiling. Now its a frame off restoration.
The intention is to build a long distance cruzer with as many improvements as I can afford. Counting on Ted Eaton to get me some streetable horsepower even if it means boring out the 312. Backing that up will be a built 4r70w. The stock Dana rear should be fine for this project, just rebuilt. Dual master cylinder setup and eventually front discs. Power steering and new A/C just installed as I thought it was to be a driver.
So far I have replaced the rear floor, both sides and tunnel. Not sure if I will need to enlarge tunnel for 4r70 trans install, anyone done this in a 1956? Wagon stripped to bare metal, epoxy primed to keep from rusting inside and out. Have completely stripped, repaired rust, epoxy primed, interior body shell and applied Eastwoods rust encapsulating paint to interior surfaces of exterior body. Lots more done and to be done. Will post some pics next time.
Oh yeah, me. Car crazy 70, mostly original parts, patina finish, alcohol fueled.
 
Welcome aboard ! My first car (44yrs. ago) was a '56 Country Sedan 4 dr. wagon .
It cost all of $175.00 , and it was rock solid !
 
I didn't do the same car, I did a 55 bird with a yblock /adapter/Aod.
I found the best way to really make this work best is to get a block /heads adapter and trans shell. use those as a mock-up and then you will know exactly where you are. The tunnel will most likely work as is but I have heard lots of opinions about this stuff from people who have never actually done it! Much better guarantee if you mock up before you get things all pretty.
 
A friend of mine has a '57 Ford with 312 t-bird engine. Had it built, .030" over. Now it overheats like hell!
 
at >030 it should not heat, some thing went wrong with the rebuild, but as a starter I would check radiator and water pump, a good radiator will be hot at the top near the tank, and warm at the bottom, get a heat gun and shoot the radiator to find any flow problems
 
An AOD will clear in a 54-56 Ford I have a 5.0 & AOD in my '54 a good build core for the AOD is from 1989-93 those had the later lubrication upgrades and improved valve body and are non-computer. The 4R70W needs a computer box ,a lot of info on both can be found here: http://www.becontrols.com/aode.shtml A mildly built AOD should easily support a Y-block. You can see the AOD on the stock trans cross member here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/users/jeffb2.24352/albums The drive shaft is from a 1982-86 Crown Victoria with a NEAPCO 2-0291 conversion u-joint bolted up to the stock rear.
 
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Wagonmaster; you did not say where you live. If you live in a part of the country where junk yards still exist, look for a pair of spindles from a Granada. You may save several hundred dollars in your disc brake conversion. Good luck with your project, keep us up to date on progress.
 
Welcome. That will be a great long haul combo. With proper attention as stated above, cooling shouldn't be an issue. A good shroud really helps. If you've been over on the HAMB, you've probably seen the references to Aerostar springs. The yblocksforever site also has good info, and a lot of overlap with this site.
 
fordor41 said:
A friend of mine has a '57 Ford with 312 t-bird engine. Had it built, .030" over. Now it overheats like hell!
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If the top front corner of each head gasket doesn't show at the front of the engine that gasket was put on backwards and the rear water passage will be blocked.
 

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Thanks dmsfrr for posting these great pictures. It is good information to have. I have saved these pictures for future reference when I rebuild my 312 Y Block.
 
trying to post and send pictures, but when I hit post reply I get message I'm not logged in. Is there a time limit to create a post? Lets see if this goes through.
 
wagonmaster56 said:
Is there a time limit to create a post?
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Yes there is, and it isn't very long.
Click the "Remember Me?" check mark box next to your user name & password as you log in and the web-server won't log you out while you're typing...



.
 
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Like y'sguy says, mocking up first is the preferred way, but I'm south of Houston in a land where rubber rusts, at least 75 miles to any junkyard. I would have to find a mock 312 block, because mine will be shipped out for rebuild. Easier to just gather parts and do it.
While I been saving up for this conversion, I decided to rebuild all 4 drs completely including glass, then set aside while body comes off frame to finish bottom of floor pans already replaced. One front door and one rear door have been stripped to bare metal, rust repaired/replaced, primered and inside of door painted, outside left primed. Now comes the fun you wagoneers all know. Chasing parts like the correct window glass runs, door weatherstrip,etc. that no one reproduces. A 4dr is extremely frustrating as most suppliers think 4 dr sedan rear doors take the same parts and list them as 4dr sedan/wagon, a stack of which I am accumulating. Today I tried using the stainless beaded window run channel, and after riveting the bracket back on, tried going slow bending the channel to curve of glass, but kinked the inside bead. End of the day. The body clips on this channel dont line up since its for a 4dr sedan, but I was going to try to move them to position, maybe epoxy them on. Curious what other 4 dr wagon owners have done. So many great builds going on here, glad to be part of this group.
 
wagonmaster56 said:
Like y'sguy says, mocking up first is the preferred way, but I'm south of Houston in a land where rubber rusts, at least 75 miles to any junkyard. I would have to find a mock 312 block, because mine will be shipped out for rebuild......
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If you do try to go the mock-up route any other y-block engine block from a '55 to '62 full sized car would be 99.9% the same as a 312 block. The only difference to a 312 block is the bore, crank & main bearing caps.
Even the '54 239/256 blocks are 99% the same. The difference is bolt-on parts that go onto the bare block (example: Birds & trucks have rear sump oil pans, different timing covers, exhaust manifolds, etc).
The '55, '56 and '57+ y-block engines originally had several one-year-only differences/upgrades but if you're only using the extra one for lining up basic mounts and spacing to the body and frame it shouldn't matter.
.
 
wagonmster I ran into the same problems when I did my 55 merc wagon I got a lot of window felts /runs from restoration specialties in winber pa I think they have a web page just google them lots of odd stuff clips hardware
 
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dmsfrr said:
If you do try to go the mock-up route any other y-block engine block from a '55 to '62 full sized car would be 99.9% the same as a 312 block. The only difference to a 312 block is the bore, crank & main bearing caps.
Even the '54 239/256 blocks are 99% the same. The difference is bolt-on parts that go onto the bare block (example: Birds & trucks have rear sump oil pans, different timing covers, exhaust manifolds, etc).
The '55, '56 and '57+ y-block engines originally had several one-year-only differences/upgrades but if you're only using the extra one for lining up basic mounts and spacing to the body and frame it shouldn't matter.
.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I wasnt sure what years would be the same. I guess I'll try looking around this area, but not much of a hotrod community here.
 
it's been a while since I've posted, still getting set to remove the wagons body. I had to pour a 20x20 concrete pad to work on beside my garage, not enough headroom to remove engine,body. Started laying out door bracing, but not really sure I will need to. Body is solid with floor pans already replaced,but it is a 4 door with all doors and rear gates removed. Windshield will also come out. Body will be on a cart and not on a rotisserie, so what do you folks think about needing the bracing? Really don't want to spend time, money, and sweat (will be 108 heat index for rest of the summer here) to satisfy my paranoia. I was planning on using 3/16 or 1/4" angle iron for cross bracing and plates bolted to door hinge mounts. Ready to get this off the frame and get moving again. Opinions?
Recently had to get new computer with windows 10,(sucks) and in process cant locate a link to the 1952 to 1957 (I think) group I had, or find any link to it from HAMB, etc. Is this still an active group and how can I get back in again?
 
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