Jim:

Interesting, I had a Pine Ridge green '56 in '61, and a friend of mine dubbed it "Mean Green".  I had a dual quad Y in it and drag raced in a stock class.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Yes, I think they are (were) the same color, but your seems to have a lot less of the optional rusty-brown perforated sheet metal than mine does.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Your welcome Nate!



Looks like ours are the same color.



Is yours F (Pine Ridge Green)?


Jim
Norfolk, VA

"MABLE"
1956 Thunderbird Green / Brown Interior (ZE-XG)

"MEAN GREEN"
1956 Mainline (FG-BE)

Cool! Thanks Jim

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Thanks Old Mics, that is great info.  I did pull up a wiring schematic and it looked pretty simple.  The wiring looks old and and in not good shape.  There was an underhood fire (float stuck) when my grandpa had it, they caught the fire quickly, but they had to replace some wires so it likely needs to be cleaned up.

You started to answer my next question which is what are the likely culprits?  There aren't many components, the kick-down switch, the solenoid, a relay, and the wires themselves right? 

Can I apply 12 Volts to the solenoid and see if I hear a click to check it?

Is there a way to test the relay?

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Big6

I had the same sort of not knowing issues when I finally got my O.D.

If you know how your cars engine RPM feels when running in 3rd gear now (O.D. not engauged), thusly when the O.D. is engauged and is functioning the engine RPM will be considerably lower when crusing in 3rd gear.

With the O.D. engauged starting off in 1st gear and shifting into second (above 27MPH) the car should feel at a normal engine RPM range/once you are in 2nd gear-simply let off of the accelerator pedal and the car will then automatically put itself into O.D. in 2nd gear.

This is when you will feel the engine RPM drop due to the O.D. kicking in.

Shift into 3rd normally and you will be in 3rd gear O.D. for hiway crusing.

Mashing the accelerator pedal to the floor when the car in in 3rd gear O.D. (or 2nd) causes the trans to momentarilly drop out of O.D.It feels like you are kicking into passing gear with an automatic trans.

If the O.D. is not functioning your RPM will not drop down and you will have to troubleshoot the system.

Check all of your wiring.My problem was I did not have a full 12 volts at the coil when running (I ran the O.D. circuit thru the ballast resistor). Once I had 12 volts at the coil all was well.

The wiring schemetic is simple.Just check all of the required locations for wiring continuity and voltages.

You could have a stuck solonoid which is easy to clean.

Hope this helps,Oldmics

Nate,



Here is a link to the entire owners manual in pdf:



http://www.tocmp.com/manuals/Ford/1956/Owners/index.htm



Attached is pg 12 with OD info.



HTH


Jim
Norfolk, VA

"MABLE"
1956 Thunderbird Green / Brown Interior (ZE-XG)

"MEAN GREEN"
1956 Mainline (FG-BE)

Nate..........To engage the OD,at any speed above 27 MPH,simply lift your foot from the accelerator and it engages.Pushing the pedal all the way to the floor disengages it,into what known as passing gear.After coasting down to below 27 MPH,the car freewheels.The handle on the dash is used to lock out the OD.If you pull it out,no OD and the car doesn't freewheel at low speeds.

Most of the vendors that handle mid-50s Ford parts have at least some of the OD electrical components.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

Thanks Slumlord!  I was looking at the wiring tonight and it looks a little suspect to me.  I don't believe mine is working.  At least the kickdown button doesn't do anything when I floor the throttle at cruising speed.   I think a re-wire is in order on that whole system, anyone know of a good source for the components of the parts for this system?

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

That prety much covers it. You probably want to engage or disingage it with the car stoped. You can disingage it with the car moving if you hit the kickdown and shift it out of OD and then pull the handle out. Not sure about engagin OD when it is moving. Memory fails me at the moment.