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By 46yblock - 17 Years Ago
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My neighbor has a 53 Ford sedan he is selling. It has an I6 motor now. How easy or hard does a Y go into this year car, and what motor mount method would be used?
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By pegleg - 17 Years Ago
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Mike, I've wondered that also, seems like the '53's sell for less than the '54's. I'd almost bet that all the '54 mounts crossmembers, etc. will fall right into a '53.
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By 46yblock - 17 Years Ago
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I noticed on an ebay description of a Canadian '54 Ford that the flathead motor was still used in '54, for cars built in Canada. So it seems like you said Frank, that the '53 and '54 frames should be alike, except for maybe some extra mounting points for the flathead cars. Didnt the '54 239 Y use a front motor mount instead of the side mounts? I am going to go over and take a closer look at the car. It is far from cherry, and has been sitting out in rain and snow all winter. I took a ride in the car late last summer. It may be silly to be thinking about this, but my 318 292 is going to need a home before too long.
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By MoonShadow - 17 Years Ago
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Hmm, gasser style, straight front axle, big radius wheel wells, slicks, Pipe rear bumper, no front bumper. Gee sounds good to me!
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By Teros292 - 17 Years Ago
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Looks like 52-53 frames are different than 54 frame. Here is pictures of them from parts manual.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 17 Years Ago
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46Yblock: From what I remember, this is a fairly difficult swap as swaps go. First, you'll need a T-Bird pan. Then, unless you carve away some of the front crossmember, you'll still have to section the front of the pan. You'll also need a dropped drag link. Maybe you could carve enough of the front crossmember away to use a front sump pan. Then you wouldn't need the dropped drag link. The flathead front mounts are of no use, Bruce at Y-Block magazine did this swap a long time ago, he used the second crossmember with the mounts from a '54-'56 car, cut to fit and welded in. I don't know if rear outlet exhaust manifolds cause a problem with the steering box/column or not, but they may. But don't let me discourage you from doing this project. It can and has been done. John
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By 46yblock - 17 Years Ago
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Wow the front of the frames do look much different, and the 53 crossmember looks massive compared to the 54. I wonder if most all could be removed and a FE style underpan crossmember/mount welded in place. Good point of concern regarding reardump manifolds and the steering column. That would not be cool. I have suffered from the same issue in the 46. But surely the two generations of frame are the same width? A gasser style would be neat. Or just leave it looking like gramp's old car, with a surprise under the hood  . Thanks for the responses, Mike
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By Glen Henderson - 17 Years Ago
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Like Moonshadow said, 2x4 front frame clip, straight axle, black primer, piece of cake and way cool.
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By Town Vicky - 17 Years Ago
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When I was a kid I did this change on a 52 Customline I cut into the top of the front crossmember to fit stock pan I had a standard tranny so I used the stock tranny location and set the engine and tranny in as a unit and made my own engine mounts and the only other problem I remember was the ball for the Z bar was missing on the Y block I had I used stock exhaust manifolds. This was only 40 years ago so if you take you time it will work
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By pegleg - 17 Years Ago
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Mike, I didn't realize there would be that much to it. Maybe pick it up, make it run and swao for a '54 when you get a chance.
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By 52MERCURY - 17 Years Ago
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I used a stock front sump and just notched and reinforced the crossmember.The 54 had the new ball joint front end and the frames are totally different ahead of the firewall.I used side mounts and made frame adaptors,I also put a T-10 in so I had to slightly modify the trans crossmember. ROY.
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By PF Arcand - 17 Years Ago
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52 Merc has hit on the big difference between 1952-53s & 1954s. Not only did ford introduce the Y-block OHV V-8 that year, ( a year ahead of their nearest competitor) they also introduced the first Ball Joint front suspension in the low price field. I've been told that G.M. paid royalties to Ford use the system for a while. How true that is I can't confirm. I'm sure it would be somewhat easier to do a Y-blk conversion on a 54 than an earlier model...
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By 46yblock - 17 Years Ago
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I will find out what the sale price is. If its very high a reasonably priced 54 should come along.
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By Town Vicky - 17 Years Ago
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If you like the 53 why not get a 3x1 intake and split the exhaust I was told that this could be a fun engine for something different and not a scrub
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By 46yblock - 17 Years Ago
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That would be OK, but I will have an extra new Y, and having it sit around in the barn on a stand isnt cool . Given the modifications needed to put it into a 53, I think I will look for a 54. La Carrerra Pan Americana??...just a dream.
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By Doug T - 17 Years Ago
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Gents, remember your Ford history, the '54 was the first of the low priced three with overhead valve V8 and Ball Joint Front suspension. The ball Joint Front end with rubber bushes is much different from the king pins and greased A arm bushings. The 54 ball joint front end has longer lower A arms that attach at the rear to the tube cross member that also mounts the engine. These A arm bushings are under the engine. The oil pan sump is at the front of the Y in the embrace of the A arms. The motor mounts are almost at the center of gravity of the engine/transmission assembly over half way back on the engine itself. The Flatty was mounted on the water pumps at the front of the engine. All this means that the chassis around the engine is much different from 53 to 54. There was an article in an old HRM from when they actually published info that you could use, about how to put a Y in the 49 to 53 chassis (they are more or less similar) and they did use some T bird parts. Bruce's scheme of using a 54 cross member without the A arms is probably a better approach. You still have to do something fabricated for an oil pan. The body firewall isn't too much different and I think the steering box is located about the same. New springs would be in order since a Y is heavier than a flatty. The I6 is different from 53 to 54. It is slightly smaller in displacement and has different motor mounts to match with the flatty mounting. I believe you could get more power out of the 6 than the flatty without extreme measures and it would be different but nothing sounds better than a Y.
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