New Member Needs Help

[scumdog]

Argh!! was the politest thought that went through my head when I saw the 'non-detail' on that motor, what were they thinking???

One can only hope the car wasn't parked with the hood open to 'show-off' the motor too often...

Never mind, it will tidy-up and look real smart in no time!

Oh, and the car looks real nice, quite keen on '57 'birds, you're a lucky guy.

[Guest]

Nice car ...

and I can abide the later small block, but that HEI style dist is just wrong. Mike

[Doc Love]

I haven't had a chance to post here for a while. The distributor/wires, brakes, exhaust, cooling system, parking lights and wheels/tires are new. I've had to rewire quite a bit under the hood and under dash, it was a mess in some places.
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We have been busy though. Here are a couple of recent photo's.

[simplyconnected]

Nice work and it looks beautiful. I'm glad you kept the electric fan.

[KULTULZ]

I understand that you are not concerned about a dedicated restoration but want to keep the eng/trans conversion and make the brakes safe for the street?

This engine bay brings back a memory that I still laugh at. I once went to a restoration shop and noticed the owner had a very nice 57 FORD Fairlane 500. I asked if I could see the engine and he opened the hood and stood back.

I looked for a few minutes impressed with the 312 I thought I was looking at but something(s) did not seem quite right. I looked back at him and he had a possum smile on his face. I looked again and finally realized what he had done.

He did a 351W/AOD swap and made the engine appear as the correct 312 of the period. I turned and smiled and he said he didn't know how many he had fooled at cars shows their thinking it was the correct engine. I need to get back up there and get photos. You can also make yours appear as OEM and still enjoy the later drive-train.

The booster asm. you have is a Midland Hy-Power Booster and can be rebuilt if you want that look. FORD also had a later model year system that had the booster behind the firewall @ the pedal asm and a remotve vacuum canister on the left fender apron. It is barely noticeable and of course takes no more under-hood space than the manual setup.

I think where you want to go with this is RESTO-MOD whereas the car appears OEM but has been upgraded. I understand completely.

As for the four wheel drum, there are several material upgrades that allow it to respond as if it had disc.

If you need any advice or help. I would be pleased to supply the info.

[KULTULZ]

and I can abide the later small block, but that HEI style dist is just wrong.

Mike

Bless You...

[Alan H. Tast, AIA]

I looked for a few minutes impressed with the 312 I thought I was looking at but something(s) did not seem quite right. I looked back at him and he had a possum smile on his face. I looked again and finally realized what he had done.

He did a 351W/AOD swap and made the engine appear as the correct 312 of the period. I turned and smiled and he said he didn't know how many he had fooled at cars shows their thinking it was the correct engine. I need to get back up there and get photos. You can also make yours appear as OEM and still enjoy the later drive-train.

I have to ask, Kultulz, since I have a 298/C4 in my '55 Ford: was the optical illusion of a 312 done just by using an adapter to mount the Y-block valve covers and reuse the original air cleaner, then painting the block/intake/front cover red? Obviously you couldn't mimic the spacing of the exhaust manifold/outlets and mounting the distributor in the rear: you could do that, though, with a (vomiting in my mouth as I type) belly-button (gag) SBC (hurl).

[KULTULZ]

I have to ask, Kultulz, since I have a 298/C4 in my '55 Ford: was the optical illusion of a 312 done just by using an adapter to mount the Y-block valve covers and reuse the original air cleaner, then painting the block/intake/front cover red? Obviously you couldn't mimic the spacing of the exhaust manifold/outlets and mounting the distributor in the rear: you could do that, though, with a (vomiting in my mouth as I type) belly-button (gag) SBC (hurl).

Alan,

No, he had used the SBF covers but had painted them black and decal-ed them with the THUNDERBIRD SPECIAL decals. He retained the 57 FORD air cleaner. The engine had been painted red of course.

The distributor position did throw it off but was hardly perceptible. Had he run the plug wires tightly around the rockers covers, the feature would be more hidden (IMO).

The exhaust manifolds did give it away but he said it had fooled several old timers at shows.

As for the intake, EDELBROCK makes an AIR-GAP that would give the almost same appearance as the Y-BLOCK intake.

I have been thinking this out since I saw it (several years) and with the addition of DIS (coil packs mounted and hidden @ rear of intake and plug wires originating from the back) and early SBF front engine dress (with closed rocker covers), one could almost complete the illusion (again IMO). Shorty headers (maybe with raised runners) would be a nice touch.

But like I said, it would not fool a purist but it surely would make many wonder...

Are there adapters that would allow the use of Y-Block Rocker covers?

[Doc Love]

Nice work and it looks beautiful. I'm glad you kept the electric fan.

Thanks, we really did not have much choice with the fan. The centerline of the 351 water pump pulley is 3 or 4 inches higher than the stock configuration. It would not line up with the center of the radiator, I can't imagine what the fan shroud would have looked like.