Charlie's comment regarding cylinder heads is very appropriate.  Over time, for one reason or another, cylinders heads may have been swapped from one engine to another.  While your replacement engine may be coming out of a '60 Ford, who knows if it's the original engine for that vehicle OR if the cylinder heads are that vehicle's original application.

Click the link below for John Mummert's listing of engine block casting numbers by vehicle production year.  JM's chart indicates where to look for the casting ID, too...
http://ford-y-block.com/Block%20identification.htm

Click the link below for John Mummert's listing of cylinder head casting numbers.  This chart will also indicate the original engine application, some head's combustion chamber volume, FoMoCo advertised compression ratio, and the valve sizes...
http://ford-y-block.com/cylinderheadchart.htm

Hope these links help you to identify what you're swapping to.  


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

I don't think wider belts (1/2") was truck specific.  I'm positive there were trucks that came with narrow (3/8") belts  

All kinds of heads were used on truck engines through the 10 year run, some the highly sought after heads and others not so desirable.  Also, after 57 years, there is no telling what is on there now.  So check before looking for better heads.


Lawrenceville, GA

the truck 292 i have in my 1948 merk has larger belt groves,so i would think water pump and dampner should be used from the car engine.while the engine is out look for some better heads,intakes are not very big.

Baldmustang.  IF your '56 has the original rocker arm assemblies, you may want to consider swapping them to the later engine.  Original FoMoCo '56 and '57 rocker arms were 1.54:1 ratio while all other years and virtually all of the aftermarket replacement rocker arms are 1.43:1 ratio.

FoMoCo '56 and '57 1.54:1 rocker arms have the casting letters & numbers  ECG 6564  on one side of the rib that runs between the valve lash adjustment stud and the pad that contacts the valve stem.  Original '54 & '55 rockers have the letters  EAN  while '58-'64 have the numbers 5751066.  The higher lift rocker arms will serve to improve your engine's valve lift and give you what Ford provided originally for your vehicle.

John Mummert's web site is the source for the rocker arm data.  Click the link below to take you there.
http://www.ford-y-block.com/rockerarm.htm

Hope this helps.    


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

If not using the front engine ‘stabilizer’ support, then the pickup or truck timing cover can be used.  That support ends up being removed or simply left off on many of the ’55 and ’56 Ford cars once the engines get swapped out.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

If the engine has a truck pump and comes with the pulley, then nothing should have to be done.  As long as the truck pump has the correct pulley, the belts will line up.

There is a difference in the offset of the car and truck pulleys, so even opening the hole in a car pulley is not enough to make it work with a truck pump.  The truck pulley is also smaller in diameter, which works  much better for modern traffic - more coolant flow and higher fan speed for a given engine rpm.


Lawrenceville, GA

100% correct. Just did the same on my 56 last winter. I had to change the oil pan and timing cover as Charlie described. Also if the motor has a truck water pump they have a bigger shaft so if you decide to keep it you'll have to open up the hole in the fan pulley. Might be a good idea to change out the valley pan gasket while your at it. Nothing worse than having a oil leak after you go through all that work.

Durham Missouri

Welcome to the site.

Charlie is steering you correctly.  The basic engine block is identical.  You'll need to swap parts from your '56 engine for your application.  These may include swapping oil pans (front sump vs. rear sump) front timing chain cover (front engine mount vs. no frt. engine mount), and other such pieces.

This site will be supportive of what you run into that you have questions about AND the Archive of earlier information is amazing.  


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Thank You. This my first Y block and it looks pretty painful.

Yes.  The significant difference is bolt on parts for mounting.  If you are replacing an engine which currently in the car, then you swap over the necessary parts.


Lawrenceville, GA