'55 Country Sedan Diary: U5NX132xxx

[Vombatidae]

Hi,

I'm Thomas, and I am a little surprised to find myself here. My bucket list plan was to resto-mod a '65 Galaxie with a 390 or 427 but stumbled into a deal I couldn't pass up. ...so on May 14 I picked up a '55 Country Sedan with a 272 Y-block and three-on-the-tree, and drove it home almost 200 miles from the mountains of NC back to Raleigh.

It ran pretty well. It has newly repaired brakes, floor pan, exhaust, hoses and 12v conversion and was fine for the three-hour drive home. It's a numbers-matching survivor. The cosmetics and interior a little rough, but hey, I wanted a project.

The catch is that I wasn't really prepared to do this quite yet, or for this car, so I'm fishing for resources and suggestions. I have the '55 shop manual, Hot Rod Rev'd documents and more, but I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions in the near future.

Here's the "Before" picture:

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by Vombatidae

Hi,

I'm Thomas, and I am a little surprised to find myself here. My bucket list plan was to resto-mod a '65 Galaxie with a 390 or 427 but stumbled into a deal I couldn't pass up. ...so on May 14 I picked up a '55 Country Sedan with a 272 Y-block and three-on-the-tree, and drove it home almost 200 miles from the mountains of NC back to Raleigh.

It ran pretty well. It has newly repaired brakes, floor pan, exhaust, hoses and 12v conversion and should be fine for a three-hour drive home. It's a numbers-matching survivor. The cosmetics and interior a little rough, but hey, I wanted a project.

The catch is that I wasn't really prepared to do this quite yet, or for this car, so I'm fishing for resources and suggestions. I have the '55 shop manual, Hot Rod Rev'd documents and more, but I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions in the near future.

Here's the "Before" picture:

Welcome, congratulations. That's a much better looking 'before' car / photo than a few others I've seen

Fyi, some 12 volt conversions are done better than others so here's a link you can refer to if you have questions. Yes, it was written for '55 T-Birds but 99% of the info will apply to 50's 6 volt Fords.

https://www.ctci.org/battery-for-6v-to-12v-conversion/

[Vombatidae]

5/28/2022

I'm planning to keep a work log and my thoughts here. Want to make sure I record all the things I'll be cringing at when I have a little more experience.

Did a compression test and created my ToDo of priority items before I do much cruising in it. Made a rookie mistake and my compression numbers are "throttle mostly closed" not "throttle wide open." I'll do it again in the near future along with a wet test to compare rings vs. valves. The lowest reading was #5 at 115psi and the highest was #7 at 130. The rest were all 120-125.

There's some shake and roughness at idle, carbon deposits on all the plugs (except #2, which is notably cleaner and dry) a bit of dark smoke and a smelly exhaust. That all seems to point at running rich. It does smooth out quite a bit at higher RPMs.

Things to fix ASAP:
1. Wiper blades. (done)
2. Left turn signal/brake lights. (tail lights, right turn signal work)
3. Drivers window badly cracked. (ordered)
4. Driver's door latch. (striker plate ordered)
5. Repair license plate frame.

Things to do soon:
1. Remove and strip cargo area cover to deal with decaying rubber(?) and corrosion.
2. Work on engine tune.
3. Wash, buff and add patina preservative
4. Speedometer - see if it's just a cable or something else.
5. Replace fan belt, adjust tension, and check new alternator bracket for alignment to fix squeaky belt when cold.

Upgrades to investigate:
1. Power front disc brake conversion.
2. A decent set of extended engine gauges that aren't too obtrusive.

[Vombatidae]

Some general thoughts:

My goal is to have a fun classic cruiser, not a show car or a high-performance hot rod. I do want a front disc brake conversion. If I eventually need to rebuild the engine, it will definitely get bored out to 292 and get the T-Bird manifold and a better carb, but that's about all I plan to do HP wise.

The interior needs a lot of work, and all the weather seals are shot. A headliner, upholstery, carpet, and some Dynamat (or similar) all need to happen. I think the seats will be OK if stripped back to the metal.

i would like to the exterior to be basically original, though I'm not going to be too precious about it. The yellow is a respray (it was originally "Mountain Green") but it looks like it may date back to the 60's or 70's. I'll run it with the existing patina until everything else is done, then I may look at painting it. Sticking to the factory palette, if not the door plate, I might go "Regency Purple"

Suggestions welcome!

[Vombatidae]

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

Welcome, congratulations. That's a much better looking 'before' car / photo than a few others I've seen

Fyi, some 12 volt conversions are done better than others so here's a link you can refer to if you have questions. Yes, it was written for '55 T-Birds but 99% of the info will apply to 50's 6 volt Fords.

https://www.ctci.org/battery-for-6v-to-12v-conversion/

Thanks! Good material there. I think the 12v conversion is pretty high quality, but the clock, radio, and heater/fans are all still disconnected. I'll check those when I get to them.

[5851a]

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Nice looking, looks very original. Be sure to lube up everything that moves. Most 55 and 56's that were around here have bent hoods from rusty hinges. Strange your post comes up today as I had taken a trip to decorate graves and along the way met a beautiful red and white 55 Crown Victoria and on the way home a 55 Ranch wagon crossed an intersection on the road ahead. Don't be in too much hurry to hook up your clock radio and heater until you read about what you need to do about the 12 volt conversion. On your paint color, see if you can find someone to do a photo shop of your desired colors on your body style.

[scicala]

Also, there were two clocks in '55. A wind up, and an electric. The wind up had a small knob at the bottom to wind it. The electric clock didn't have the knob at the bottom. I believe the wind up clock still had a wire going to it, but it was for the light to iluuminate it at night.

Sal

[mercman from oz]

1955 Ford Country Sedan - Before Picture - Vombatidae

[miker98038]

Great car, and welcome to the site. If you’re not aware of it, the HRR has a blog on his 55. Much useful information there.

https://www.hotrodreverend.com/blog

If you’re new to the y blocks, Ted Eaton has a lot of articles relating to the engine. He’s one of the the top builders in the country for these old engines.

https://www.eatonbalancing.com/

While there’s a lot of members here with engine and drivetrain knowledge, the Yblocksforever site has some pretty good hands too. Many members on here are also over there.

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

Enjoy the ride.

[mercman from oz]

1955 Ford Station Wagons - Original Sales Brochure.
What is interesting is that they don't show the Country Sedan with the Fairlane Side Trim in this Brochure? Was it released later in the model year?

[mercman from oz]

Notice that the "Country Sedan" Script on this Wagon is located in the same place as the Country Sedan Wagons with the single horizontal Chrome Strip?

[mercman from oz]

1955 Ford Station Wagons - Full Range.
None show the Fairlane Side Trim that appears on Vombatidae's Wagon?

[Daves55Sedan]

It's not a Fairlane series wagon. Fairlane series cars all had bright metal trim all around the rain gutters, and all had the premium headlight shrouds with the chromed pot-metal inserts. All Fairlane series cars had the smaller Ford badge with the Fairlane script below it on the hood.
I believe this car is a Customline series car since it has a Customline/Mainline hood and headlight bezels and is missing the bright metal rain gutter trim.
Possibly, somebody just removed the straight body side trim off the front doors and front fenders and installed the Fairlane series body side trim instead.
But 99% of people wouldn't know this today unless they were familiar with the '55 Ford family of cars.
Looks to be in fair shape except for needing new paint on the hood and some polish on those dull bumpers.

[Daves55Sedan]

BTW, I noticed you mentioned you wanted to get a T-Bird manifold and carburator. If you get one from a '57 or later, the carburator might not work properly with the loadomatic distributor. You should get the '57 or later Y-block distributor to match the carburator you end up with.

[KULTULZ]

Below is what you are looking for -

1955 FAIRLANE STATION WAGON 'COUNTRY SEDAN' (BODY TYPE 79B)

Please feel free to blow it up as my browser won't.

BTW - Most art ads are not that accurate and you have to look for the DATE STAMP if it has one.

[mercman from oz]

The Date on my Station Wagon Brochure shows 10/54. Obviously, the "1955 FAIRLANE STATION WAGON 'COUNTRY SEDAN' (BODY TYPE 79B)" that you illustrated was released later in the Model Year?

[Vombatidae]

Here's the VIN/patent plate. Production date is Feb 23, 1955.

I've seen resources that show 79B and 79D being used for both Customline and Fairlane. Searching for pictures of Country Sedans, I see a lot of them with Fairlane chrome, and also a lot without. I'm definitely no expert, but as far as I can tell it looks original.

Here are some other quirks: the paint code is just 'E' for Snowshoe White, but all the panels show Mountain Green over primer under the Yellow. Interior trim code matches. There's evidence of a repair under the paint on the right rear quarter that may correspond to the respray.

The vehicle had lights and sirens until recently, and still has a spotlight but no signs of any police or ambulance livery that I can see. The headliner under the area where the light/siren switches were is spotless, and a mess everywhere else, indicating they were there for a long time. It had a fire extinguisher bracket and a case of flares bolted under the dash on opposite sides. The flare case was full of 1966 dated flares. (Not sure why anyone would leave those in, they are out now!) The previous owner said it was from TX, which is consistent with the lack of underbody rust, but that is all I know about the provenance.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by mercman from oz

Notice that the "Country Sedan" Script on this Wagon is located in the same place as the Country Sedan Wagons with the single horizontal Chrome Strip?

FORD MPC shows it as being on the quarter panel.

There are a few things not adding up according to the PATENT PLATE.

U = ENGINE - 272-2V
5 = MODEL YEAR -1955
N = ASSY PLANT - NORFOLK
X = BODY STYLE CODE - COUNTRY SEDAN

79D - EXT TRIM CODE - NOT LISTED FOR 1955 - (DOES HOW FOR 1956)

EXT COLOR - SNOWSHOE WHITE

AL - INT TRIM CODE - LIGHT TURQUOISE VINYL and MEDIUM TURQUOISE WOVEN PLASTIC

[mercman from oz]

VIN/patent plate. Production date is Feb 23, 1955.

[KULTULZ]

VIN/patent plate. Production date is Feb 23, 1955.

That info is hidden within the PRODUCTION CODE and this being an early PATENT PLATE (Pre-Spring 1957) cannot be broken down without more info that was never deciphered here.

If reading 23B, it may well be the SCHEDULED BUILD DATE.

That discussion can be found here - https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=307368