The stock 54 steady rest will not work with a later balancer. Many choose to leave the steady rest off as in later years they were not used. I decided to use on in my 54, had to get a 55 one.

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

As has been mentioned, the removal of the front steady rest on the ’54-’56 Ford cars is quite common. Here are some links to past threads talking about the steady rests or ‘front motor mount’ on the cars.

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http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/FindPost20565.aspx

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http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic44306.aspx

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http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic66354.aspx

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http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/FindPost66358.aspx

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http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic64787.aspx

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Doing an advanced search using 'steady rest' as the search terms and defining the search with using: ALL keywords will bring up more.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Mark T on this site was looking for a high mount fan and water pump. He's somewhere in PA.

Thanks all Good stuff

Yes, the fuel pump will work.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Thanks , so far so good the 272 has a manifold and distributor, if I use the 239 timing cover Will the 239 fuel pump work off the 272 cam ?
I thought I might get the one engine ready and on a nice day just swap them out, but now I see I will need the old one for parts. that means doing it in the driveway over a few days, rather then borrowing my buddy"s lift and shop for the day.

The truck oil pan will not work in a passenger car. Use the '54 pan and pickup tube. The truck dipstick is in the wrong place, you will need to install your original dipstick and tube and plug the hole in the block where the truck dipstick goes. Motor mounts match up, the front mount will bolt up. You will need a '55 or later water pump, then the hose size is wrong. A hose with two different sized ends fixes that. Or you could use your 239 pump, but will also have to use the 239 timing cover. Valley covers will interchange. The 239 intake will bolt to the 272, but be very careful of gasket seal. Whichever carb you use, be sure to use the matching distributor. If you use the 239 distributor, you will have to change the oil pump and drive, also the gear on the distributor. As you get into the project, feel free to ask about any problems you run into, someone here can help.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Save that high mount fan pulley and the water pump. These are getting scarce and, sure enough, somebody will want them.

I just picked a very nice 272 out of a 56 truck, and was wondering what changes I will need to make to put it in my tired 54 mainline,
Will the front motor mount on my 239 mate up with the 272 block?, will the other motor mounts match up . it looks like I will need to change water pumps this one has a high mounted remote pulley, also there is a strange looking vent or something on the rear of the valley pan ,what is that for ? should I just use my old valley pan? what can I swap onto this 272 from my 239 or do I need to start looking for 55/56 components.
Bob
54 mainline
54 chevy 150
30 model A