I would like to hear from those of you with experience with small block Ford swaps into stock suspension ‘53-‘56 trucks. I’m prepping my 302 for installation and I’m not sure which pan to use. The truck still has the dead 223 in it and is not in a place where I can pull it out for a test fit.

I’m keeping the straight axle in it and using the common tubular crossmember type mount. I’ve got a front sump car pan, a twin sump Fox chassis pan, and a rear sump 90’s truck pan. Any advice? Pics would be a big help also!

 

I'm pretty sure the tube crossmember engine mount utilizes the traditional front sump pan. They've been around a lot longer than the optional pans. It's all there was when I put a 289 into my first truck back in the 70's and I had no issues with the stock axle and ride height. Hope this helps.

 

I have the truck rear sump pan on mine and if I had a front sump there'd be a danger of the axle hitting it. I did lower the truck a good amount and the motor could be an inch or two farther back, but I don't think that would change much.



Ignore the oil leak this is when i did the main seal.




Also I reccomend welding a pad onto the mount, as the mustang mounts aren't meant to bear the load on the ears. I ate some motor mounts until I put the pad on to rest the weight on the flat of the mount, haven't had problems since.

 

Thanks for the help. I dug around for several hours looking for pics online and I've come to the conclusion that pretty much any pan will fit and work in one of these trucks with the tubular crossmember mount. There is plenty of space all the way around. I think I'll press forward with the front sump pan mostly because I prefer having the dipstick in the front.