I am not satisfied on how my 55 rides and handles after I lowered it and I wish now that I would of kept the original motor and found a couple 292s but I am thinking about just yanking everything out and putting it back all original with a couple tweeks,since I cant raise it back up untill I find a Y block I have been thinking on trying to find a complete rusty 55 parts car with the 4 bbl 272 and starting over.  The disc brakes (Granada) dont seem to be much of a improvement over the drums and the rear brakes on the maverick rear end are definately smaller then what originally came on it so I need to come up with a plan soon as its been bugging me.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

I think the 55 and 56 Ford had very good suspension and handling characteristics for their time. I drove a 56 Ford for many years. The only modification I made was to put 57 and newer 14" wheels on because the 15" originals would allow tubeless tires to lose air on hard cornering. The 14" were engineered for tubeless. I had to build spacers and use longer studs to clear the upper ball joints. One of our favorite small town motor sports in those days was a timed run from court house to court house. Every court house had a pay phone. One person would drive to the next town and call the pay phone in front of the court house in our town. The 3rd ring was the start and he would time the car as it went by the the neighboring court house. It was from 22 to 60 miles to the next court house depending on which direction we went. This was a grueling test on the windy roads of the Texas hill country. My 56 consistently turned good times. I think the 55/56 not only look better at stock height, I think they handle better. Having a tight suspension is important. Idler arms were a wear item that had to be replaced as well as the drag link joints. Also take a good at your front cross member. If it has rust out, there is a good chance the bolt that holds the lower control arm can move around. I now have 4 1956 Fords. One of them I drove from Long Island NY to central Texas. I ran her up to 80 and 90 on occasion and never felt uncomfortable. I think you should drive a 55 or 56 with a tight suspension. I think you might make the decision to bring it back to stock. There are lots of 55/56 parts cars around. If you have a place to put it, having a parts car around is nice to have. I have 5 or 6 of them.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

The front suspension has been completely rebuilt but I have it lowered too much and I am tired of the tires rubbing the fenders and it bottoming out on big dips in the road so something has to be done as I want to be able to drive it long distances and be comfortable,its not going to be completely put back to original as there will be little tweeks here and there like a modern carb on the Y block and will reatain a dual master cylinder and I will install a FMX trans and I am not going back to 6 volts.  I dont know if I will put in a original 55 rear end due to parts availabilty on the road but I will be going back to steel rims and the stock hubcaps,I would like to find a decent original 2 door post or hard top to transfer all the parts I dont want on mine and put back on it to resell or just get a rough complete parts car.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

It seems to me from what you said, the main problems are the lowered suspension and the brakes. I don't see the need to start from scratch, just fix the suspension (raise it?) and add sway bars front and back. As far as brakes, check out some other 8 inchers for size. There must be other 8 inchers that had bigger brakes. They should be fully compatible with your rear. Make sure you swap backing plates as well as drums and insides.

54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Brakes, Look at early Mustang/Fairlane and Mercury variants. Most of them had 10 or 11 inch drums.

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

I think the maverick brakes are 10 inches and maybe I should see what the small block torino/fairlane wagon had for rear brakes,I might have a p/b master cylinder on it (no power brakes) and would that cause any issues.  Its too low and a pain in the butt to get raised up for maintenance plus I want a Y block back in it since I need the 351-W for another car.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

The correct master cylinder will make a big difference.


Lawrenceville, GA

I posted on here before about using 1975 Cougar brakes. They have 11" rotors and bigger calipers. I put them on my '54 Mercury and the car stops with using the pressure of my toes. It is not a hard change over and only cost me around $100.00. My Mercury weighs almost 2 ton and it stops on a dime with no effort at all and I live in the mountains of southern Ky.









I have made over 20 sets of these sleeves for other people sense I made mine. They fit over the lower ball joint and the spindle goes right on.





Jeff Leydig
Stallions Auto Interiors
Stearns, Ky. USA

If I did not have so much money in the spindles I have now I would try those brakes,I will try a booster and see if there is a larger brake I can put on the rear before doing anything drastic,I am kind of frustrated what I done has not worked to my satisfaction and I am close to seeing if I could trade my 65 country squire for a semi restored 55 2 or 4 door with a rebuilt 4 bbl motor and start over and put the late model parts in what I buy and use for a driver but will concentrate on getting my 55 to ride better and go from there.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

As Charlie pointed out, master cylinder and wheel cylinder diameter is critical. If you look at a listing you will see that Ford used 15/16", 1", 1-1/16", wheel cylinders on different models just to get the front - rear proportion correct.

I have also noticed hugh differences in the brake shoe material. I once put new shoes on my 64 Falcon and it wouldn't stop worth a damn. Went to a bone yard and found another 64 with new shoes ect. Put all those puts on the Falcon and it stopped great.

http://ford-y-block.com 

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