Thanks again Paul.

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

I would not think the 53 part would work. I know that puting a Y Block in a 53 is a problem becacuse the front ends are different.

A side note on what SL444 mentions. The same fitting problem likely applies to 1954 Canadian Fords, as they did not get the new Ball Joint front ends.

Paul

Thanks guys, I suspected as much. I was just confused by the sellers claim that his center link was for 53-56. Mac's lists separate parts for the 52-53 and the 54-56 but you never know for sure until you compare the parts first hand. Unless the right piece shows I think that I will replace the idler arm,bushings and ball stud and go with my link for now. You're right Paul about the Canadian Fords. My brother in law has a 54 Meteor - he loves the flat head but hates the king pins.



Thanks

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

I just pulled out my 49-54 catalog(Canadian issue Ford+Meteor) and 49-59 catalog(USA issue).Part # for 54(US model)-56 w/o power steering is AD-3305-B.Part # for  52-54 Ford in Canada(same as 52-53 Ford in USA) is AB-3304-C which probably was replaced with the B3AZ # that someone is trying to say fits 54-56 which it does not.The 49-59 catalog I have is final issue and does not even list one for 52-53 in USA so I can't verify if the B3AZ was a replacement for AB-3304-C.Hope this info helps.Sounds like Macs has the correct information too.The ball stud repair kit is the same from 52-56 with manual steering.Kit # is B2A-3312-A originally replaced by B2AZ-3A533-A.Either kit will work.

  

Thanks OldCarMark, (there sure are a lot of Marks on this site). I think this confirms it. There is no 53-56 part.

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

No problem.I just wanted to ad my 2 cents worth regarding control arm bushings and springs etc.I redid mine a couple of years ago when I also added disc brakes.i completely removed all the control arms and rebushed them.If you look at the tool Ford used to separate the ball joint studs from the arms I made one using a large wide nut with bolts on each end.Fits between the upper and lower ball joints.Holding the nut and turning the bolts outwards applies pressure to the studs.Back off the nuts on the ball joint studs about 4-5 turns.Do NOT remove completely.Use a floor jack to support the arm and remove the nut and SLOWLY lower the lower arm once the studs release from the arm.Removing everything makes for a much better job than trying to work on the arms in the car.One more item to check is the lower arm to front crossmember  bolts.When I got mine out they were badly corroded.Bought replacements from Dennis Carpenter.However they are made in china(like everything else these days).The supplied nuts were only narrow ones.I bought wide ones from a local supplier.Original NOS kits show up on Ebay from time to time.I needed mine NOW so I used the DC ones but let them know I was NOT impressed with Chinese parts.I think their bushings are also offshore so look around for some made in North America.If you have any questions about disc brake swap contact me.World of difference now with power disc brakes.

  

Oldcarmark;

I just replaced the driver's side upper ball joint on my 56 Customline with a new one from Dennis Carpenter. He seemed to have the best price (by far). I replaced it because I noticed the ones that were in the car had a rubber dust boot on the big end of the ball joint by the grease fitting and one of them blew out.  I didn't know if there were other issues so I thought I should replace it. The replacement from Carpenter didn't come with this boot. I thought it must be some new design so I installed it anyway. I hope it won't be an issue. Carpenter is usually pretty good about his replacement parts.

Rono.  

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Thanks for your help Oldcar and Ron, I'll use your advice. I already have A arm bolts and bushings from Dennis Carpenter or as I now know China.

Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

If you look at the supplied nuts they are the thin type.I would recommend replacing them  with ones closer to the width of the originals.More threads in contact with the bolt.Also if you re-read the shop manual the weight of the car should be on the suspension when torquing the bolts for the control arms-NOT with the arms hanging down with no weight on them.