congrats on the old truck have fun with it and welcome to the forum

 

That's a good looking truck, especially for one in your area. I bet the color may grow on you, or it will make a good base for any other color. If you have the 56 wind deflector panels rather than the early ones, you won't need to cut anything to put in the 56 headlights in. The reason people put the 56 grill in the earlier trucks is that the 56 was the first all chrome model. Personally I say put whatever powertrain in it you'd like, the "right" choice is the one that suits you, that's what hot rodding is all about. It's good that the frame and suspension is all painted, but you really need to find out what in the front end has been rebuilt/replaced, and what still might need replacing such as kingpins, steering box, tie rod ends, spring eye bushings, wheel bearings, brakes (speaking of which, there doesn't seem to be a brake pedal?) etc. You might want to order a free MidFifty www.midfifty.com catalog, it has a wealth of useful info as well as all the stock and hotrod parts you might need.

 

Hi again,

I reread my post and didn't mean to sound so critical - you've got a great truck! put a 351 Windsor and a C6 or AOD and yo uwill be all set!

I noticed th eback tires because when I bought mine it was the way. I got no mileage, couldn't get it up to 55 and it looked a little funny.

I have 15 inch rims on mine and after a little experimantation went with 235R1575s on the back. What a tremendous difference!

Are yougoing to put the shield style tail lights on the back. I have those as well. We ahve had a couple of threads about getting the light, license plate bumper etc to all fit toghether back there. So, the proverbial ounce of prevention.

It's a beautiful truck and I'm looking forward to hearing about your engine experience.

PS, Save yourself the trouble and change out the motor mounts now and do the ford engine/tranny. There's lots of threads about different set ups!

 

Nice truck and by the look of it your off to a great start.

 

Thanks everyone for the kind Welcome. Julie I did not feel your post was critical at all. I'm still on the look out for a motor/trans combo. I did open my options up to a Chevy or a Ford. Whichever I can get the most bang for my buck for now. The brake pedal is there. But the rubber foot pedal part is missing.

Matt

 

Well, bang for your buck SBC will always get you more but don't expect anybody to say "Wow" when they see that thing in there.

 

I may be prejudice since I am quite happy with the SBC in my 56, it fits like it belongs in there. Distributor nestles right into the factory depression in the center of the firewall, no fighting with oil pan clearance, header clearance etc right combo of engine and tranny that bolt together etc. It would have cost as much as I paid for my whole truck to get a Ford engine and T56 6 speed for it since Ford used the T56 behind so few engines I would have had to go with a modular EFI engine. I don't have anything against anyone putting a Ford (or anything else for that matter) in a Ford, but that backlash has started making FLater model Ford engines under the hood pretty common and hardly drawing a WOW.

 

Tee hee:




$8.50 at C&G Ford Parts! Part Number on the picture!

By the way, if you want comments put a 427 Cobra Jet in the 56. If you want an outstanding balance of power, economy, reliability, parts availabilty, and maintainability, the Chevy 350 engine is one of the best engines ever made. So is the 351 Windsor used in the Mustangs +. Parts for either are plentiful and both are proven reliable engines. You can't go wrong either way. Just, if we hear you put a Chevy Engine in your 56 we hope you'll have the good taste not to mention it again.

How do you like us so far?

 

FYI, there was no 427 Cobra Jets. 351's, yes, 428's yup-per, 429's, absolutely, but not 427's. They were so bad all on their own, they didn't need no steenkin' fancy names. ;-)

 

I buy alot of trucks and have alot of guys call and want me to buy their truck....but when they say it has a 350 in it......I don't even entertain the thought of buying it. I have had alot of chevies and alot of mopars but the 350 in a 56 is maybe a nice fit,but don't think you will get alot of lookers when time to sell.
Now if it has a viper motor or a 440 six pac....then you are different....LOL

 

chevy's ...... YYYYUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! case in point : i got her brand new chevy sitting in front of the house waiting on a hook to go to the dealers as it freaking QUIT !!!! they get here i'm gonna drain all the fliuds out of it and tell them to drop it in the lake !! maybe it will make a nice home for a fish !!!!!!!!!! whadddya think she's driving ???? my thunderbird as the 53 isn't running yet !!! ford all the way !!!!!!!!! do whatya gotta do but seriously don't put a belly button in it !!!!

 

Maybe you should have bought her a Toyota instead?

 

WOW I guess this Debate just isn't going to end. As I stated in my earlier post. I was considering putting a Chevy in it for now and then Build in a Nice Ford motor over the winter. The truth be told I'm working with a tight budget right now. So whichever the cheapest way I can get the truck on the road this year is what I'm going to do.

 

she picked what she bought ax . not me . owned a lil' of all , and one or two furrin cars , didn't care for them at all used one in a car football game as the football . and too all of you who say they're american built , they're still furrin , so is the chrysler corporation as far as i'm concerned . toyota . she would not have been parking it in my driveway and she knows it . not that they're bad , i am an automotive racist . my oldest daughters nissan altima , nor the others honda , was never parked in my drive save to unload my grandkids . i grew up with american made cars and bought american made cars , not furrin' stuff . the debate rages and will forever capone . we all have our preferences but my biggest issue {s} with chevy's are one : the cockiness of the purveyors of the chevy fraternity . they think they are the only thing made . two : it's boring and been done way too much . cheap is where you find it . i have a 95 tbird i paid 200 for . 4.6 v-8 that runs sweet . would've made a good donor for a transplant for someone . i had a 91 tbird with a 5.0 and auto that ran and was free as it was rusted beyond use . it's out there , just gotta look . charlie , i can see what your talking about now on the grille shell , but again around here they are quite scarce so i cringe at the thought . p.s ax i'm getting cranky with the late model 'stang guy's too as they got that same mentality as mentioned . soon i'll have a no chevy's allowed , no furrin cars allowed , and a no mustangs allowed sign in front of the garage to irritate folk's { we ain't gonna mention what i said about her chevy to her when it wouldn't start this morning and made her " angry " ! }. they all have good attributes but getting way to overdone shall we say ...............

 

That is a nice looking truck. Stick to a Ford drive train man!! Worry about the paint after you get the drive train solid. The truck looks like a good driver. Like others have told you--drive it and enjoy it!