The installed front engine steady rest was part of the better ride those ’54-’56 Fords were noted for.  But doing away with the steady rest didn’t kill that ride or the dependability of the car.  Those steady rests were over kill in regards to engineering and were eliminated on the ’57 and newer models.  I put FE’s in a majority of those early Fords back in the day and the steady rest was the first thing to get rid of.  Besides those steady rests not bolting up to the FE engines, they were simply in the way.  The Ford frames were boxed very well so the flex seen in the ‘C’ car frames was not an issue in our older Fords which is where the over-engineering of the Ford cars comes into play.  In eliminating the steady rest, there are no issues with engines coming forward on hard stops as long as the existing engine and transmission mounts are in fair condition.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Guess I should consider myself lucky as my old '56 still sports the gravel shield under the engine as well as the steady rest.

1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

About the same as every car built after 61. Exhaust pipes held up most of the one I worked on.....

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

Are the Fairlane engine mounts the same as the Thunderbird? 



.150 Stroked Y-Block:327.25 ci @ >1hp per ci
 

Different style Steady Rest.

  

Are the Fairlane engine mounts the same as the Thunderbird?

The BIRD has a different and very unique mounting system.

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What looks like  steady rest in a Tbird (and trucks) is actually the front mount.  TBirds used "steady rests" on both sides of the block





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

Yep there are differences.

Here is the T-bird steady rest which is actually called a front support in this case.


Here is the engine side support for the Thunderbird.


Here is the engine support for 54 and up cars


And the car steady rest which I couldn't find in the parts and illustration guide but there is a illustration in the 1956 shop manual I have.



1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan - 292 Y8 - Ford-O-Matic - 155,000 mi

The trans shop and I both caused a problem with the harmonic part of the front damper to make contact with the steady rest. I repaired the problem and later found that contact moved the timing mark. I was able to get a damper from a friend and I have it rebuilt and now am changing it. I've decided to remove the "steady rest" and have a question for those who have done it, The portion of the mount where the large bolt from the bottom go thru still sticks out in the way. How many have cut it off? The mount must stay because it looks it part of the radiator framing and is spring mounted. The auto trans cooling lines were a pain to remove with the steady rest in there. 




56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

The trans shop and I both caused a problem with the harmonic part of the front damper to make contact with the steady rest. I repaired the problem and later found that contact moved the timing mark.

... hmmpf ... Never thought of that. THANX for the wake-up call. Newly learned FACTOID of THE DAY.

The portion of the mount where the large bolt from the bottom go thru still sticks out in the way. How many have cut it off? The mount must stay because it looks it part of the radiator framing and is spring mounted. The auto trans cooling lines were a pain to remove with the steady rest in there. 

The mount is part of the front cross-member (5019). You could cut the flange but leave the mounting section for the core support.

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