Hi everyone, I just purchased a 55 ford fairlane town sedan with a 272 and a 3 speed overdrive. The car is in good condition has about 88000 miles on it and I did drive it about 8 miles or so before I bought it. Currently my shop is in deer hunting mode and I dont have the space to get the car on my lift so I am not driving it untill I check the trans and rear end fluid levels, my memory isnt the best anymore and I am pretty sure I spoke with Mr. Eaton yesterday to be able to register  and I really appreciate the conversation with him it really helped me to format a game plan for the car. The car is leaking oil from the rear of the engine and I am pretty sure the rear main is toast and I have a gasket kit on the way and I am pretty sure it has a neopreme rear main seal " any tips on this replacement is appreciated". It also has the original oil filter and I would like to upgrade to the spin on filter, If anyone has any advice on where to get the adapter kit would be appreciated I have seen some on the net but thought Id ask you folks. I also would like to confirm that for the trans and overdrive you use 75w90 conventional gear oil and I was planning on using rotella 15w40 with about a half quart of lucas. Ive been a gear head since my youth but it has been a scruby
 experience and this is my first experience with an older ford. Thanks for reading this long post and I am looking forward to chatting with everyone. Rickey

With our older engines and cars and new cars seeming to need less maintenance it’s good to get into a 50’s frame of mind to keep your Ford fun and reliable.
Your glove box inside door decal if your lucky is still readable and shows grades and oil weights. Mine shows 20W and since it’s not readily available I personally use a 10-30 blended for our old car engines. More oil companies are making them available; I’m using Lucas Hot Rod and check my rockers every six months for evidence of oil. You can even run your engine with one off with a cardboard deflector and see if oil is coming out the overflow tubes. These are not SBC’s.
I also take a grease gun to all the fittings every 6 months. When I had the original brakes I adjusted them at the same time. 55’s are good ones, I remember when my dad brought home a new Mountain Green Sunliner for my mom.

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

I use Valvoline 20W-50 VR1 Racing Oil part #vv211 or NAPA VAL822347. It’s formulated high in zinc especially for flat tappet engines and comes in a six pack, NAPA usually has it on the shelf. I heard awhile back that Rotella reduced the amount of zinc they were putting in the oil.

1955 312 T-Bird Warwick, NY