Nate,

First off, welcome!  For what its worth, im only about an hour and a half from you (in wauconda, IL, down by the chain o lakes, about 20 miles south of the border on rte 12).  My wife and i did a complete frame-off on our 56 sunliner, so i know these cars (at least the fairlanes) reasonably well.  IM or email me if you want my contact info, id be happy to help with info, etc if i can, or a helping hand, or if you ever need to see a finished car (granted, they are never finished!) for reference.  Just let me know!

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

Nate,I wish you'd been around a couple of months ago when I put an excellent 56 headlight door on Ebay.I would have been very happy with your $15 bid.Mine got 1 bid.$1.00.It takes me 3 gallons of gas to take it to the UPS store.Real profitable!!!!!!!!!

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

Thanks John...

I'll keep that in mind. I put a $15 bid on one on e-bay yesterday, we'll see what happens, it might be junk..

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Nate:

Those headlight doors are pretty common.  I have a few, could probably sell you one cheaper than you can retrace those 60 miles.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Nate, welcome to years of fun, reading your stories  you seem to have adventurous nature! Oh! and youth on your side so everyday you will learn more of these cars and engines and carry the flag! we will help in any way on your great project! P.S my 1st car was 56 customline sedan!. regards bill. 

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Holy cow!  that would've been a disaster, I don't have friends with heavy machinery...not to mention one that would've been willing to drive 100 miles to come help!

I'm not too worked up over it, it is all part of what makes this hobby adventurous..plus now I get to buy a new tranny for the chevy...I'm a little exhausted from recent non-fun (aka required) car repairs, and cannot fathom starting the tranny job in my driveway.  So it is either got to wait or I'm going to have to suck it up and pay someone to put it in.  I was so exhausted at the end of the weekend it was almost enough to make me consider buying a newer car/turck...but got some rest and am re-assured I like driving junkers too much

Of bigger concern was the loss of the headlight "door" (the visor ring that goes over the headlight, is that what is called the door?) off the 56...although from a quick scan of e-bay they don't appear to be impossible to replace.  That made me feel better.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Sorry to hear about your transmission...

One of my Uhaul stories that wasn't so good was when I rented a tow dolly - pretty heavy duty at the time, much more than what I needed for the 55 Ford parts car I was towing. I rented the unit, drove back 15 miles to the lot, loaded the front wheels on the tow dolly, strapped them down, chained it up, AOK right? Wrong! I pulled away and tested the brakes, the connection and everything for safety's sake, and as I stabbed the brakes a little, I heard this awful screeching sound like metal scraping across metal in a "blood curdling" way.

I stopped everything, got out and inspected the damage - No damage to the car or truck, but evidently, the last person who used the unit must have taken the carrier pin out of its boss (the wheels sit on the ramps, strapped the unit, and then the unit pivots on the dolly with the center pin) and just laid the unit centered on the dolly. The unit had slid out of the dolly completely, and there I was with the wheels completely strapped down and the chain hooked up. That could have been a fun mess on the highway.

UHaul ended up giving me the rental for free. My buddy with a front end loader lifted the entire car, still strapped to the unit, back onto the dolly and the pin into its boss, and away we went a few hours later.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

The Uhaul trailer worked great!  But the rest didn't go so good, my suburban blew its tranny..had to have AAA tow my truck and my customline-on-trailer for 60 miles...$$$$ but it's only money.

Much worse..when I got home, my car was missing one of the "visors" over the headlights 

I'm going to go back over some ditches tonight looking for it, but I'm not hopeful. It most likely tumbled into the grassy ditches and if finding a golf-ball in the rough is any indicator, finding a green headlight visor in the tall grass over 60 miles is likely impossible, but I'll try.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Dropped the suburban off this morning at Uhaul.  They wouldn't rent the trailer to me unless my hitch was rated for 5000lbs.  Mine was rated for 4000.  So dropping another $250-$300 to have a "Uhaul" hitch installed with an another 1000lbs capacity.  Seems a little scam-ish to me that they control the requirements and sell the hitches, but at the same time, more capacity can't hurt.

I bought this suburban for $500, I knew it needed an engine.  Engine $750, New Manifolds $150, Torque converter $75, Tires $125, mount balance tires $125, New fuel lines $150, Seal replacment from trans to transfer case $350, new Radiator $300 and the latest...new hitch $250..new total value of truck $2750

I didn't know how fast my "beater" truck would appreciate in value!  From $500 - $2750 in just 2 years!  At this rate I should be able to sell it at Auction 10 years from now and pay for my retirement

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

I just brought a '56 Town Sedan several hundred miles on a U-Haul a couple weeks ago. The trailer towed great with my Dodge diesel. It has surge brakes so no problems.



I will admit, climbing out of the window, because the door won't open against the trailer fender, is a little unsightly at my age! =-) It's all good!



Best of luck with your project!



Geo. - Ore.