1955 ford Ranchwagon/ pitman arm shaft seal.

[poolplayer1]

The pitman arm shaft seal is leaking pretty bad on my 55.For those of you that have replaced this seal,can it be replaced with the gear box in the car or do I have to completely remove the gear box to replace the seal.
Thanks for your help.

[54vicky]

you can do it .the hard part is removing the arm those who have done it can attest to that.the consensus is filling with john deere cornhead grease will slow it down if removing pitman arm proves too difficult

[poolplayer1]

Ok, thanks for your reply. I just finished replacing the upper and lower control arm bushings on this car. Also replaced the center link,tie rods, and the 2 link bolts that connect to the stabilizer bar.I have been working on this car since last year but its coming along pretty good. After all this is done,my next project is installing a Gen.IV air conditioning unit.That should be a fun job.

[poolplayer1]

Ok, I have the leak on the steering box fixed. The engine has been completely rebuilt,everything new other than the block. I decided to replace the old fan with an electric fan. My question to you guys is: Which fan is best,the pusher or the puller.
I want to make sure that the rad.will be cooled pretty good,especially after I install the vintage Air cooling system. Thanks for your help.

[Alaska Jim]

Personally, I would keep the mechanical fan. If you insist on an electric a "puller" fan on the eng. side of the radiator is best, as it does not block any air flow through the radiator , and is more efficient. just my .02 --- Jim

[dmsfrr]

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This might be in the 'If it ain't broke don't fix it' category. At least until you know if it needs help.
Did the stock fan and original radiator have a full shroud on it? Was it not cooling well? Has the radiator been flushed and tested? Were the freeze plugs in the block removed and the water jacket thoroughly cleaned?
.

[poolplayer1]

Thanks Alaska Jim and dmsfrr for your suggestions and help with this question. Like I mentioned,the engine has been rebuilt.I took the block and heads to be worked on at a machine shop.The the guy at the machine shop called me to go see all the crap that came out of the block,looked just like in the pix here. He put the block in boiler room ( I don't know what the exact word is),I think he said the vat or something like that.He did have to bore out the cylinders to 30 over.He also machined the heads and did what ever had to be done to them.When I picked up the block,it was really nice and clean. Heads looked good too. He has been in that business for 35 years and is very good at it.
I am using the origional 6 blade fan.I put a fan spacer and it now sits about 3/4" away from the rad. I don't have a shroud for it but if I decide to keep the oem fan,I will order one.The Rad is brand new,4 row copper and brass rad.All new hoses too.
I drove it over the weekend and the temp.reached about 200 degrees.Is this normal for this 302 being that there is some friction due to all the new parts. A friend of mine here in town told me that since it was bored out,the walls are thinner and will tend to run on the hot side so for me to get a shroud and maybe a fan clutch.What do you guys think about this idea/ Thanks.

[dmsfrr]

A fan shroud will make a big difference in cooling, whether it's the stock fan or electric.
If an electric fan is sort of small get two, bigger/more has to be better.

[Alaska Jim]

you have the correct distance between the fan and radiator for a set up that does not use a shroud. If you go to a fan shroud, which may or not help, the center of the fan blade needs to be half way into the shroud opening for the best cooling. to far forward, or back will hinder cooling. What thermostat are you using, and what was the ambient air temp. when you were running 200*F ? 200*F is a bit on the warm side, but not really any thing to get worried about unless it runs hotter when running it a little hard. it may be that the eng. is just tight with a fresh rebuild. I have heard of cases where some 289/302's have run hotter when bored more than 30 over, but have not experienced it myself. I once had a 260 bored 30 over, and it ran 180, with a 180*F thermostat all day.

[poolplayer1]

Good Morning and thanks again guys. The thermostat is 180. When I drove the car it was 96 degrees outside.When I got back home and shut the engine off,there was no boiling water coming out of the rad at all.No leaks of any kind eighter.I think I will order a shroud and see how it does.If I can get it to run at 180 degrees,that will be good.
I will make sure that the half of the fan blades are inside the shroud and the other half are outside the shroud. Glad I asked about this,I never would of thought this about the fan having to be only halfway in the shroud. Thanks again.

[50fordcoupeman]

My avatar has a 302 in it. It has a 6 blade flex fan that is half inch from the radiator and no shroud. It will run all day at 180 regardless of the ambient temp. Maybe lucky but I will take it......