I think I finally understand it. Im going to set the carb within 3 degrees of ride height front to back and level side to side. Then make sure the pinion and crankshaft are parellel with a little bit of adjustment taking into consideration leaf springs.

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

Not correct.   engine can be over but must be parallel with diff ,engine can be up or down as long as trans output is within 5dgrees face to face with diff. with 4wheels on the ground with normal weight of the car. this angles will chang when driving but if you start out close all will be fine

I actually thought the pinion and crankshift angles were correctly set in a driver 2 degrees off so when the engine and driveshaft came under torque, that would put everything parellel. Is that not correct? If they are set perfectly parellel, I thought under torque, they would not be parellel. Another thing I have wondered is when the pinion and crank are parellel up and down, what about side to side? Some engines are not centered from front to rear between the frame rails, and some rear axels do not have the differential centered in the middle of the axel. Its ok to be parellel up and down, but side to side does not matter?

Darrell Howard Whitefish, MT Outlaw 56 Ford F-100's

marves sujested website is a bit misleading, first of all the 2x4s ar not required. the dana manual says 5degrees is ideal.up down or sideways engine ,or diff position as long as the 5dg is adhered to also engine and diff parallel.( example is early ford ecoline vans had rear diff to 1side as 4x4 front diffs)
THE KEY TO THE 5DG # IS VEHICLE MUST BE ON THE GROUND IN ITS FINISHED STATE(WEIGHT)  for final setup..as you go down the road with leaf rear springs the angle will change as diff goes up and down with no problems. a prefect aligned eng. to diff will cause short u joint life.So with vehicle on the ground as final adjust you will be fine. carb angle is easy adjusted with marine typ spacers. so don't screw you drive line angle for how the engine angle looks. 
marves site showed the right protractor,best result is re suggested front damper check then diff input yoke(5degrees)

Marv.  THANKS for the link.  GooD reference information!  Much appreciated as I change things.  


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Here is  a link to a very informative site. Click on it then look for the Education Zone
I have done several engine, mostly transmission swaps mating to y-blocks using the info from this pub and have had great luck with drive line setup.
https://www.iedls.com/
marv

Most car and pickup engines will sit with about a 3°- 4° incline to the rear.  I don’t have a Thunderbird here in which to check but I suspect they sit reasonably close to level due to the engines simply sitting lower in the chassis.  The rearward angle of the engine provides parallel lines between the crankshaft and the pinion so that driveline geometry can be optimized.  As a general rule for street driven vehicles, the driveshaft is not aligned in a single straight line but instead with the two lines of sight being parallel with each other; this promotes a constant needle bearing movement in the u-joints.  Drag cars are different scenario in that then crankshaft and pinion are perfectly aligned simply to eliminate any potential HP loss due to any angle in the u-joints; in these cases the needle bearings in the u-joints do not rotate within the cups and must be serviced on a frequent basis.

For the cars and pickups with their engines and rear ends in the stock locations, you can check that the carburetor is sitting level which will indicate all is well regardless of any obvious lean to the rear of the engine.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

The rarity of 58s especially Rancharo's, sedan deliveries & 2 dr wagons, especially Meteors, is in part because 1958 was a substaintial recession year in both the USA & Canada. Further, like many car manufacturers of that era, rust control efforts were minimal & to excellerate the rust issue, around that time, major cities, especially in north eastern areas started using road salt during the winters. Virtually a death knell to regularly winter driven cars of that era.. The problem was so bad that owners of 1957-58  ( & later?)  Chrysler products, took up a class action suite against the company for rust issues...        


Paul

58 Meteor: there was a fellow on this site very familiar with Y-Blocks and so on, lived in Redciff Alberta. However, his name or handle escapes me at the moment (?)  If it comes to me I'll post it..    


Paul

58meteorranchero 
58meteor.... Thanks for reposting. The pix came thru just fine. You have a great looking Ranchero. Your 58 Meteor Ranchero is indeed very very rare! Even here in the states I have never seen a 58 Ranchero, although I have seen a number of 57 and 59 Rancheros. I am thinking that this might be a good vehicle to try to get into Hemmings "Classic Car" magazine to enlighten many that they do indeed exist. I like all of the Rancheros and wondered why they stopped at 79? I heard that Ford was going to do one based on the Fairmont chassis?? Anyways, I do have a very original 68 Fairlane based Rancher that I am currently working on.   Cheers - Bob

AKA   Bob-93021