New member thinking about finding a 55 or 56 Sunliner

[Jayvee]

Hi everyone,
I recently sold my 68 GTO and as I have always liked the 55/56 Fords, I am considering venturing into the Ford World. Specifically thinking about a Sunliner. I learned with the GTO that there is a lot to learn about any classic car and there is a lot of friendly advice and help available in forums like this one. I have a couple of questions as I begin my search. Wondering about highway cruising with the stock rear gear ratio (which I understand to be either 3.22 or 3.56 with a V8 and automatic transmission). Do you find the RPM's to be ok, or is it common to change the gear ratio to lower them? Conversion to overdrive transmission? I know 3.55's in the Pontiac put the car at about 3,000 at 60 mph and I wasn't comfortable pushing it much beyond that on long highway trips. Also, what are some of the common upgrades owners consider? Rack and Pinion steering or other suspension upgrades? Anything else I should be careful about or aware of when checking out potential purchases? Like I said, I am new to the Fords and any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[1930artdeco]

Jayvee, welcome to the best site out there for Fords. I am still new as I am still installing the floor pans in my 57 wagon. Here is my 2 cents worth.

1) check the front cross member as they are apparently prone to rusting out.
2) For RPM's, these are not GTO's so not the fastest in the 1/4 mile or top end. If you want low RPM's you may want an OD manual or replace the auto with a newer one with 4/5 gears. You will also get better MPG's.
3) Options: disk brakes are preferable but may need a wheel change. Power brakes if you want as well. You can also get AC, AM/FM/blue tooth radios and if you can find one a power seat I believe as well.

Other smarter people will chime in as well.

Mike

[Oldgearz]

I have a 54 Customline Y-block V8. It is a stick shift 3 speed with B-W overdrive (about 26%). My differential is a 4.10. I would like to have a 3.56 as I must crank about 2200 rpm to do 55 mph. What do you consider a good cruising speed (60 mph) rpm to be desirable?

[56sedandelivery]

Look for rust. Rocker, lower door and quarters seem prone especially if car is from up north where they used a ton of salt in those days. My SD looked great when I bought it decades ago, but when I started stripping it there was a ton of bondo on it. Must have beat the crap out of it back in the day. Luckily only some pitting on the floor boards and cross member while some rust was patchable.

[1942deluxe]

We drove our 55 Fairlane Club Sedan to a car show last night. On the way home, I said to my wife if we could only have only car (we have 1930,1942,1946,1948 Fords and a 1990 Mustang) I'd choose the 55. 56sedandeliverary is giving you good advice.

[miker98038]

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You don’t say where you’re located or what kind of driving you do. Kansas is different than Colorado. Typical 56 gear rations with and auto are the low 3.xx. They work fine, and with a 27” tire you can run 70’s. 80’s in Idaho gets pretty buzzy. You won’t have the torque your GTO had, so you’ll need more gear, and more so with altitude or hills.

The stick shift cars, with overdrive, ran from 3.7 or so to 4.1. The 56 6 cylinder wagon was as low as 4:27. It wasn’t that happy at 70+. The other thing to remember is the oem rear end is not well supported now, for parts or ratio’s. 8.8 or 9” rear ends turn up under those cars fairly often, and that’s why.

There’s a fellow on another board with a good 56, and he’s happy with a 2.7x ratio. But he’s is SoCal, sea level, and not a lot of hills.

If you join the HAMB you can then join the 52-59 Ford social group. You’ll find a lot of info there (a lot of it hot rod or modified stuff) but some will be of interest. Read the rules first over there.


Welcome.

[Jayvee]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am in Wisconsin and it's certainly true that road salt (especially back in the day) was very damaging on cars and trucks. I recall being amazed during my first out west back in the mid 70's and the lack of rusted out fenders and doors on the cars. I just looking for a car that would be good for the occasional highway road trip and a few car shows. I've done the muscle car thing. I also have a 56 F100 with fuel injected 302 and a C4 which serves my needs well. Thanks again for the advice, it looks like there's nothing in particular with these cars that should be a deal breaker other than the usual things like rust, etc which applies to any classic car candidate.

[Jayvee]

Originally Posted by Oldgearz

I have a 54 Customline Y-block V8. It is a stick shift 3 speed with B-W overdrive (about 26%). My differential is a 4.10. I would like to have a 3.56 as I must crank about 2200 rpm to do 55 mph. What do you consider a good cruising speed (60 mph) rpm to be desirable?

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking RPM's in the low 2000's to maybe 2500 at 60-65 mph would be good for the occasional road trip.

[Hot Rod Reverend]

You may want to get on my website blog at HotRodReverend.com and check out all the articles I have on 1955/56 Fords. I have owned my 1955 Fairlane Club Sedan since I was 16. I also have a YouTube channel @HotRodReverend.

[Merc Cruzer]

We did a search for a 56' Ford, as a possible purchase, as it was the first car my wife owned and drove as a teenager.

Nothing East of the Mississippi. Preferable search area would be: in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas.

Go to ebay and do a search of parts for 56/56 Fords to check availability and prices.

Buy the owners manuals for the car you want. It will show you what options were available for the year.

Good luck with your search.

[1942deluxe]

Oddly enough in our area I'm seeing a number of listings for 55-56 Crown Victorias on Facebook marketplace.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by 1942deluxe

Oddly enough in our area I'm seeing a number of listings for 55-56 Crown Victorias on Facebook marketplace.

Jayvee and 1942 deluxe,
As mentioned, I'd be very concerned about hidden rust, covered with bondo or undercoating. These cars had virtually no factory rust preventive measures. They were not designed or built to last any longer than the average back-in-the-day life expectancy of 10 years.

It's nearly certain all but the most well cared for convertibles will have rusted out floors.

Also, be very wary of non-original engines & drivetrain parts... if original, better or 'close enough' is important to you. 70 years is a long time to not expect undisclosed engine swaps.
You may find an engine that almost looks right but isn't. If you don't look first it's yours.
A chart of oem engine block ID numbers and photo examples of their locations is at this link...
http://ford-y-block.com/Block%20identification.htm

The '55 Bird here came to me with at least its third engine, that was effectively worthless.

.