just getting started '56 Ford Mainline

Just getting started on my driver project. Some things are better than expected, some a little worse. Standby for heavy rolls as the ship comes about.

 

A few more for your viewing pleasure...

 

You sure have your work cut out for you !!!! Good luck.

 

At our monthly club meeting one of our members has just finished making the new front cross member piece in his 56 Parklane wagon,,with the scrap piled up it must have looked much the same. HRP

 

wow, that is one crusty cross member... looks like a lot of work ahead!

 

Yeah that crossmember was a mess. I cut it out sat and made a template for the new one. I will grab some new steel next monday(half day at work) and tackle that next.
Here is a pic just before the teardown.

 

Its been pretty cold in the shop the last few weeks. The crossmember is started and hope to complete it this weekend.

Got my EMS rear floor pans yesterday. Wow, very nice! Fit like a glove. Gonna make me rethink the lesser brands rear quarters i purchased initially. Hmmm...

 

That's a bad case of rustmites, I think I would look for a better car. The sheet metal doesn't bother me but the frame does.

 

Good Luck!
I wish I had a 2-door!

I have a '56 Fairlane Fordor that the previous owner covered problems in bondo.
Currently working on making it safe - or not so dangerous.

 

Then you should see the frame of my CJ5! haha '56 is solid except for the crossmember. And the surface rust is actually coming off that better than i expected.

 

Looks like you're at least doing it the right way!
I built a semi-hot motor, did a half-assed clean-up job & plopped it in.

I'm hoping my boss teaches me some day how to properly weld & I'll do some proper repairs.

I look forward to seeing the development of your car!

 

glad your happy with our stuff!

the ems guy

 

Turned this into this...

 

found my donor...

 

new springs...
& diggin acorns and 3 gallons of dirt out of frame rail. frame looks good considering the crap the squirrels had stored inside.

 

Wow, that old crossmember was a rust bucket. The new one looks much improved.

The first car I ever had was a '56 Mainline. But that was close to fifty years ago. Good luck with your project. What are you going to use for a transmission?

 

I have a toploader 4spd to go behind the 302. The 302 is weak but runs good so it should get me going. The 8" rear is out of a 74 maverick. Pretty high speeded but again it should get me rollin.

 

A question for the body men!!! Ok puttin on the new rockers and quarter patch panels.... The front quarter patch panel (half the rear wheel weel to the rear of the door). Use as much of the original car or cut off as much as possible and use the most of the new piece??? Seems simple enough but cutting half of my door jamb away kinda wigs me out. Confident enough in my welding skills but this is my first try at body work and so afraid that this rust bucket will never line up. So cut off all i can or cut up along the jamb and butt my new piece to the jamb??

 

The cross member turned out great,,I'm not the greatest body man but if you take a few minutes to check out my Fotki site you can see how I did the patch work. HRP

 

I guess i'm leaving the original jamb and adding the panel to it.

 

Please dont throw away the original motor. They can be made to run like gangbusters with a proper overhaul. They aint cheap, but they are fun.

 

Yeah , keeping for sure! Not in the budget now but one day i would like to get it back in. For now it's some new paint and a carb on the 302...

 

Crossmember turned out nice,we had a member in the 52-59 Ford Group several years ago that was selling them for $175 but when he moved he quit, the demand was pretty good if you want to pick up some project cash you might want to think about making them and posting in the Group.

 

Ill be watching this im getting ready to start on a 56 fairlane 2 dr ht resto.

 

thanks for buying again from us

the ems guy

 

Yes! Always love seeing '56 Ford builds Good luck on yours and keep us posted

 

I have all of this for sale if it will help you guys that are building these cars.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=813399

 

Well got the left side tacked on.

And another shameless plug for the EMS panels. Wow! I look at the junk i originally bought and if i had to put that on compared to the EMS, i woulda pushed this thing over the hill. So glad i went with the good stuff!!!!

 

Ran out of welding gas over the weekend so i put some red then black rustoleum over the front end which it seems i have been wire brushing off and on for a year. I like the rustoleum.

 

Good save. The 56's are one of my favorites. I had a 56 back in high school that I put a 312 in and had a blast with it. Looked stock as could be but the 312 had quite a horsepower increase over the original 272. Have fun.