Mike;

Great looking '56! My 56 Custeomline Victoria was a black and white car when I found her in a farmer's field in southeast Idaho. I've also got the Cragars. Mine came stock with a 292 and 4bbl. As John and others have said, 275HP is doable with some moderate engine mo 312ds and upgrades depending on whether the motor is a 292 or 312.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Nice car! And I think you are being a bit pessimistic about the engine. Why not check out the oil pressure and so on & drive it locally for a while & enjoy it. I wouldn't tear it apart till you have most of the parts together for the upgrades. And as John mentioned, the original H.P. ratings of the day were gross ratings withou any accessories running, not today's ratings which are supposed to be net horsepower. If you obtained 250 real H.P. today, that car would move along real nicely..

Paul

That is a beautiful 56. Probably the best looking Ford in the last 68 years. Yeah a '40 is hard to beat. When a magazine tested a bone stock 56 312 back in the day they got 185hp as I recall so you have a ways to go. The cam, manifold and carb will go a long way. The distributor must go also.

The big valve heads seem to be good for about 280hp unmodified but I've never seen dyno testing on stock ECZ-C heads with other mods. 250-265?

Hoosier. Care to elaborate on how the 56 got rolled?  

http://ford-y-block.com 

20 miles east of San Diego, 20 miles north of Mexico

Great looking car.  I had a black/white 2 dr ht, bought it in '59, rolled it in '61.  Had a dual quad 312 in it.  The remains sit rusting away in my woods, riddled with bullet holes.  Take good care of your new find.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Ya gotta just love those Cragers ..

Doing Fords for 45 years. '56 Customline Victoria

E.J. in Havana FL

Great looking car! Of course I have to say that- it looks just like mine!(except wheels) I have a 292 and converted to 4 speed. I like them all but have always been partial to black and white.

All the engine info you could ever want is on this site.

Ol'ford nutCentral Iowa

56 Vic w/292 & 4 spd.

wow! what a beautiful Vicky! it is identical in color to my 56 2dr sedan customline. please,more pictures! that's what is so cool about YBForever is seeing other guys rides,thanks

Great Ride!! I always think of changing mine to black and white, it just looks cool!

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning!

man that thing is a beauty.. i love that color combo..

Dustin

Southern Oregon Y's Guy

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1441322018

The vin will tell you what it originally came with, if it starts with U = 272, M = 292 and P = 312 and if it came with a 6 it would start with an A. And they did make them with 6 cylinders, I don't know how many vicky's came with 6's but I looked at one once and the glove box still had the 6 id tag but someone converted the car to a 292.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?