Back in the 1950's my parents had a '56 Ford Fairlane with a 312, 4 bbl. carb, dual exhausts, rated at 225 hp? At least I think it was a 312, I was too young to read the engine decals. It did have a thunderbird V8 type of badge on the front fenders. Would this of been a 292 or 312, back in '56?
Dad used to have carb trouble with this car.

We also had a '58 Ford Ranch wagon with a three on the tree, standard and I think 272 V8, 2 bbl? I could read by then, but now I'm not sure with my rapidly aging memory. My father had clutch touble with this wagon and that was the last standard he ever bought.

Any Ford fan out there that would know for sure what was under the hood of these old Fords?

I really liked the old Ranch wagon. I always thought the '58 Ford was a great looking car, but I understand it was not a great seller and you hardly see any of them around anymore.

 

the 58 would be 292.the 56 could be 292 or 312.

 

Lesmore, the first car I was allowed to drive was a 58 station wagon, 6 cylinder with column shift. At the time the car wasnt up to my teenage tastes. I actually tried to kill it with high rpm speed shifts, but it never croaked. Now I think the 58's are nice.

 

According to my 1960 Motor's manual the 58 wagon had the 332 or 292 V8's. Also came with the 223 six cyl.

The 56 Fairlane and station wagon came with the 292.

T-birds were the only ones listed with the 312 engine.
Of course it's an old book and it's memory could be fading.

My first post here.

Hi there, I'm fixing to swap out the dizzie on my old 1962 mostly yellow Ford pickup truck. Have new old rebuilt Holley 2 bl 2300 carb in the mail to replace the 1948 flathead model currently mounted.

Don

 

In 56 ANY engine available in any series including TBird could be ordred in a car. The 225 hp one you remembered was a 312 and called the Thunderbird Power Pak. It included T Bird finned valve covers and the last year of the Towering Inferno 4bbl.

In 58 both the 332 and 352 FE engine were options. The 332 was a problem engine that was pulled before years end.

 

400bucktruck, welcome to the Y forum. Keep the 292 alive!

 

quote by 286 merc
"In 56 ANY engine available in any series including TBird could be ordred in a car. The 225 hp one you remembered was a 312 and called the Thunderbird Power Pak. It included T Bird finned valve covers and the last year of the Towering Inferno 4bbl."

I would agree with engine options as long as we are speaking about the V8s.
Couldnt get a 6 cyl in a T-Bird.

The 312 that was availiable in 1956 was targeted for the T-Bird.
The other body styles that recieved that 312 engine option got a badge on the fenders signifiying T-Bird Powered.

All of these 312 were either 215 or 225 horsepower depending upon what transmission was installed.

The 225 horsepower was in front of the automatic trans and the 215 was for the standard trans.

Now the Power Pack option for the 312 was a little known option.

It consisted of two 4 barrel Holly 4000 series carbs(towering infernos,teapots)mounted on the EDB-9425-C intake.
This was only installed with special cylinder heads (ECG-H),a special camshaft and included different valve springs,lifters,air filter,etc.

Supposedly only 103 of these Power Pack setups were manufactured and went into all body styles in 1956.This was a dealer installed option ONLY,it NEVER came from the factory.

It was very similar (except for the intake manifold) as the Mercury M260 option.

The engine dress up option was a T-Bird option including the finned valve covers and chrome air filter.This option was different than the "Power Pack" option.

The 4000 series Holly was still used in 1957.One example where it was specifically used was in the "E" code option which sported two four barrel carbs.

The towering infernos were problematic and were finally done away with.

Hope this helps.

Oldmics

 

Yup, I remember that now. I had a '58 hardtop with the 352 in it. She smoked and belched but ran after it started. That's all a 16 year old wanted, just something that ran like a striped *** ape, hardtop and a radio.

Motor's obviously isn't the last say in what's what, heh?

I didn't get the distributor changed out as I had planned to do on the '62 pickup. I got out there and discovered a loose exhaust manifold bolt. Tightened all of them considerably. Then discovered that the carb linkage I fabricated back in 1998 had worn enough that it cocked itself to a new location. Hence the thought of it being down on power. It was loose enough to allow play and not go to open throttle position. Readjusted and tightened it as well. Then the clutch pivot assembly that attaches to the engine from the frame had worked loose also. Tightening it up removed the play that had me thinking it was time for a new clutch plate.

Changed oil and filter and discovered that the oil pressure sending unit had lost it's seal around the plastic inset and was not quite a steady dribble for a leak. And I thought it was using oil and just being it's leaky self, had me planning on a regasketing exercise. Had another on the bench and swapped it out, all is fine.

Took it for a test drive and it's like a brand new truck now. It'll climb a tree if the bark don't slip.

Engine code above the oil filter looks like EBV, the intake is an EBU. I tried to stick a 4 barrel manifold with Holley carb on it but the ports don't line up properly. I left the old 3 bolt style on it and found a carb off a '48-49 tri power setup back in 1998.

Have another block out back I'm planning to reassemble. One of the wrist pins was knocking so I swapped engines.

Thanks for the welcome aboard. I reckon I ought to post some about me.

Don

 

I would agree with engine options as long as we are speaking about the V8s.
Couldnt get a 6 cyl in a T-Bird.
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This is a Y Block forum! I dont even consider the 6 cyl.

The 312 was an Option on the 56 Bird; it was really targeted for the Merc where it was the only engine offered.
At least two plants, Somerville and Buffalo, refused to use the Towering Inferno on 56 Mercs and had a Carter WCFB installed.

The term Power Pak actually signified the 4 bbl carb, higher cr heads and dual exhaust and in regular 56 cars was the TBird badged option. In 55 the Power Pak was offered on the 272 and 292. The dual quads were refered to as the Super Power Pak on both Ford and Mercs including the Edelbrock supplied FM255 intake to the dealers. This used side mounted WCFB's or in line Holley 4000/4100.

Hope this clears up some minor misconceptions.

 

Engine code above the oil filter looks like EBV, the intake is an EBU. I tried to stick a 4 barrel manifold with Holley carb on it but the ports don't line up properly. I left the old 3 bolt style on it and found a carb off a '48-49 tri power setup back in 1998.

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The EBV block is a 54-55 239 truck engine. No wonder the 4bbl setup didnt line up!

 

I remember my father had all sorts of trouble with his 4 bbl. carb on his Thunderbird V8, in his 56 Ford.

So much so that he avoided 4 bbls on all engines from then on, even to the point of having a 396. 2 bbl., for towing in his '69 Impala.

I don't remember what problems he had with the 4 bbl carb on his 56 Ford, but I wonder what do you guys mean when you refer to the carb on some of these engines as the towering inferno? I'm new to Fords?

Did the carb cause backfires and cause fires, or...?

 

286merc quotes

<TABLE class=tborder cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=4 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR title="Post 3311081" vAlign=top><TD class=alt2>"This is a Y Block forum! I dont even consider the 6 cyl."

Absolutely correct,Silly of me to think any differently

"The 312 was an Option on the 56 Bird;"

Agreed

"it was really targeted for the Merc where it was the only engine offered."

Interesting thought-Never really considered it in that fashion.Not sure if that was the case.Kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg?
Does make sense though.

"At least two plants, Somerville and Buffalo, refused to use the Towering Inferno on 56 Mercs and had a Carter WCFB installed."

A superior carb-More to follow below

"The term Power Pak actually signified the 4 bbl carb, higher cr heads and dual exhaust and in regular 56 cars was the TBird badged option."

There was NO designation for the 56 312 engines except for the T-Bird designation.They were not called Power Pack.That was only for the 55s.

There was as you have so correctly pointed out the Power Pack kit in the 55 vehicles was an availiable option.It did contain all of the parts you describe.

"In 55 the Power Pak was offered on the 272 and 292."

Agreed-Again it was not called Power Pack in 56.

"The dual quads were refered to as the Super Power Pak on both Ford and Mercs including the Edelbrock supplied FM255 intake to the dealers."

Disagree-The 56 dual quad setup on the Fords was simply referred to as "High Preformance Kit"
It is option #B6A-9000-B-K3 for passenger vehicles and
#B6A-9000-B-K4 for the Thunderbirds

The 56 setup for the Mercs was referred to as the "Maxium Duty Kit"
It is option #MGK-66005-AA
I assume this is where the "M" comes from in Mercs referral as "M260"

This M260 kit used a prototype version of the Edelbrock FM 255 that was Ford casting branded.It is part # ECZ-9424-D but is cast as ECZ-9425-C.

Supposedly Ford had Vic build the intake for the Carter carbs but Holly came in with a better deal to supply the dual quads. Edelbrock gets screwed in the manufacturing deal and releases the FM255 to recoup its research and design investment.

"This used side mounted WCFB's or in line Holley 4000/4100."

The M260 option only used the Holly carbs.

Nothing was mounted side ways on the FM255. You might be thinking of the sideways carb mounting on the FM257 manifold.

Hope this clears up some minor misconceptions.

The 56 year is a bit of a quagmire due to these parts and information being so scarce and rare.

I have all of the documentation regarding all of the information above and would be happy to share it with you if you like.

Not trying to start a flame war or a pissing contest.If you have any additional information regarding the above setups,I hope that you would be willing to share it with me.

Best regards,Oldmics
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=thead colSpan=2>Yesterday 08:24 PM</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

I suspect that the primary area of disagreement is the use of "Power Pack" or "Pak"

What the factory literature said did not always fly at the dealers. I worked part time as a teenage gopher at a dealer in 56-58 and the terms Power Pack and Super Power Pack were in regular use for those years models. Most likely they simply continued terminolgy that was already in use by customers, magazines, etc. "Damn the factory we want to sell cars!"

OK on the dual quads. With 5 different versions available between Ford and Edelbrock I still get confused. However I still have memory visions of a 56 Ford 2dr Mainline with a 312 and side mounted WCFB's. It well could have been a 57 upgrade, too long ago. Great street racer however.