Yes, tri five chevys do rust. How many tri five Fords and Plymouths are out there comparesd to Chevys?
Yes there are more old chevys. and there are more old chevy trucks than fords of any year. and one of the big reasons is because of the long use and interchangibility of the better design small block chevy. The avalablivility of new and used parts and pletoria of aftermarket parts for the chevy is a big thing.
Wow a '55 Ranch wagon. My second legal car was a '55 Ranch wagon (Forest Green Y block car). That was actually the car that got me started drag racing. Hell yea an FE is an excellent choice.
Its my Thread so I thought I would go off on a tangient and show some very rusty Chevrolets. There is even a song titled Rusty Chevrolet! I just took these pictures of stuff in my Hoard. These are victims of what I call StLouis Rust. The 73 thru 79 ford trucks did not rust out near as bad as the 73 thru 86 chevy did. I always joked that the fords didn't rust as bad as the chevy because the leaking rear main and excessive blow by kept the firewall and floor oiled up.
I swapped a 352 in my 56 because its what was available. The 289 & 302 engines where high dollar and didn't have the torque of a FE. A 289 was great in a mustang or fairlane ect. But in a heavy car it had the same problem a 283 chev had. when you shifted into high gear there wasn't and power. You could wind 30 MPH in low 60 MPH in second and when in high it took a 1/2 mile to get up to a 100MPH. A 351 might be Ok in a 55 of 56 ford. I prefer the FE.
Ok here a few pictures of Fords with Zero rust other than surface rust. Ive owned the 56 since the 70,s it had a 272 auto originally. When I got it it had a 292. I very soon swapped in a 430 Mel with a granny low 4 speed. Then I went to a 66 galaxie 352 engine. I pulled the 352 because I sold the big truck bell flywheel & 14inch clutch to a guy that has a puller truck. Andi was thinking about putting the 352 in the 55 wagon. and Ive got a nailhead that would be ok in the truck. It until last summer had a thick coat of oil on the firewall and underside left over from its Y block days. I cleaned and power washed it off. The 64 one ton is also rust free. I replaced the Y block with a 330 FE from a school bus. Used the bus bell flywheel 14 inch clutch and trans. The brakes where marginal when loaded. It has the Treadle Vac booster. and its bad. and a new one is pricey. and has the oddball 6 lug wheels with 17.5 tires. I bought a 75 one ton and was gonna swap the 64 cab on to that chassis but never got around too it LOL.
I was still playing the Y block game with mine. Chevy stuff was too expensive where I lived. Mine had a fresh 292 in it when I got it. I got spanked by a kid in a '56 chevy post car who said he was running a 283. A friend's mom had a '57 Thunderhawk that she had wrapped around a pole behind the barn. She gave me the motor out of that car and I went looking for the kid in '56. I have been basically useless ever since. LOL
My mother had a 59 ford 4 dr. former cop car. and the crusomatic was burnt up. And when I got my 56 it had a fordomatic with no reverse. So I changed it to a stick shift. And I worked on that 292. bigger carb 57 dist and still couldn't win a drag race. My father worked away. and the shop was across the creek away from the house. Mon never came over there. So I pulled my engine stripped off the intake and dist and hooked the fordomatic to it. Pulled the 352 from the 59 and set my Y block in it. closed the hood and cut the release cable so dad couldn't get the hood up. got a FE bell and flywheel. and put it together. and promptly blew the spider gears out of the 56 rear end. So I swapped rears with the 59. That 9 inch was 300 gears too tall. So I swapped pumpkins with a 58 6 cyl truck dad wasn't driving. 411 gears and I could smoke that passenger side rear tire. That 59 set 35 years without anyone lifting the hood. and it was still there when my folks estate was probated.
Ok I think the freezing is over for this spring. so I got around to cleaning a bit on the old ford engine. suprized not much sludge in the oil pan. freeze plugs rusted badly I knocked them out & flushed the rust from the jackets.. oil pan bent. suction bell bent. oil filter adapter busted engine mount bent. likely the result of a car crash. possibly get it installed in the 55 soon.
That old 55 Ranch Wagon is an exact twin of the car my dad bought in 1956 right down to the color. I learned to drive a straight shift in that wagon. Odd thing about it though is he bought it nearly new and it had an unusual steering wheel in it. I didn't realize until around 1960 when he traded it in that the steering wheel was a T-Bird steering wheel. I found that odd on a stripped down basic wagon with the only options a radio and heater.
Yes the wagon is not full of trim no frills car. it does have a radio and overdrive trans. dana rear with 427 rear gears. My 55 chevy in my avatar is no frills 150 handyman. You would be surprised at how many folks call it a Nomad.
My 1st and 2nd '64 Fords were 390 equipped. The 3rd had a 352, all 4-barrels. The last one met with an untimely end... the engine and 3-speed wound up in a '55 Ford pick up.
All it means is tri 5 Chevys have a larger following. More were saved from the crusher, they were hot rod magazines favorite car. You can build a complete 55 Chevy from aftermarket parts whereas your lucky to get floorpans or lower repair patch for a fender with a Ford.
Good on you. Keep us posted. FWIW, I put a 390 in my 49 Ford F1 Pickup. I had built the engine in the late 80s when I was a teenager and after it sat in a wrecked 1976 F100 pickup in my parents pasture for about 15 years, I decided to pull the engine and tranny and build a truck around it. I changed the oil, lines, Spark plugs, wires, new distributor, cap and rotor, cleaned it up and it started right up. Now I'm having problems getting it to start (requires me to prime it every time form a cold start then runs fine after that) and it has no power cause it needs a rebuild. But it sure sounds good. I'm hoping that a rebuild (already rebuilt the carb) will help fix it.
A rering kit for a 390 with rods, mains, rings and gaskets is 129.59 from Northern Auto parts. http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ek-er0549 Pretty cheap insurance to have an engine that should be pretty reliable for another 60+ K
The weight difference between a Y block and a SBC is more like 50 pounds. I had a 56 bird with a 299 inch Y block that was in the high 13s in 1970.
On 65 and newer FE. You can use a certain size drill bit and it if will not fit betweent the gap of the cyls in the water jackets its believed the block can be bored possibly out to a 428 bore size?
The famous drill bit test! It’s useful selecting the blocks in junk yards and stuff. The smaller the drill bit the better the block. But the FE was notorious for core shift and any FE being bored more than .030 should be sonic checked for cylinder wall thickness. Bones
In 1971 Using a JC whitney adapter I installed a 61 -352 two bbl engine in a 46 ford bob truck. It would smoke the dual 750 x 20 rear tires. So I installed 8.25 x 20 and could still smoke them. and run 80 MPH. The brakes where good but not power boosted so I bought a 66 F 600 with a 330 FE
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