Study Rests on 57 Fords.

[Lou]

Did the 57 Ford car come from the factory with or with out a front mounted engine mount (Study Rest) like the 54/56? I once owned 2 57 Fords both built at Someville, MA. One was built in October 1956 and had a the front mount, the other was built in April 1957 and did not. I have also owned several 57s built at Marwar, NJ and one built at Buffalo, NY none of them had the front mount.

[maurits1947]

57 fords with V-8's had a 3 point mount system, 2 on the side of the block and one at the rear of the transmision, If i remeber correctly the 6 cylinders were mounted in similar fashion.  It's relatively easy to mount a V-8 into a 6 cylinder car.

[shopratwoody]

Mine was a side mount one. I put an FE in yrs ago where the 6 cyl was. I have owned 1/2 ton
50's Ford pickups that had the front mount and 2 bellhousing mounts.
I don't get what you mean "study rests"
Ron

[Lou]

The front mount on a 54/56 Ford car was what Ford called a "Steady Rest" It kept the engine from twisting and braking a motor mount. Also the fan was very close to the radiator in 54/56 Fords and the study rest kept the engine from moving fowared during hard stops. This was more importain as the mounts got older and tended to flex or brake. I had a 56 that someone had taken the study rest out of and had to do a panic stop with, the fan did a job on the radiator. Needless to say when I repaired the radiator I went thru my parts and found a steady rest for the 56.
My question is did Ford use this same system on any of the 57 Ford cars?

[shopratwoody]

Thanks for explaining that. I remember them, but not on 57's.

[Hoosier Hurricane]

I looked in my parts books and couldn't even find them listed except for the 6 cylinder cars, but I know the V8s had them.  I had two '56s back in '60-'61, so they were probably original, and they had the steady rests, which I eliminated.  I looked at the frame illustrations, and the '54 to '56 frames showed the tab on the front crossmember where the steady rest sat, but the '57 frame has no such tab.  Is it possible your car had a '56 engine installed at some time, and the guy didn't have a puller to get the front pulley off, so just left the steady rest on but not bolted to the frame?  Or even added a tab to bolt it to?

John

[Lou]

The car in question was a real early Fairlane 2 door HT with a 292. The engine was a rebuilt long block put in about 1961. I would think the whoever put it in wouldn't of gone thru the work of putting the steady rest in if it wasn't on the original engine. The car was a company car used by many people so maybe it was put there for insurance in case some one hotroded the car and broke a motor mount, or they had had motor mount problems in the past.

[Lou]

John, yes it was bolted to the front cross member.

[JimNolan]

Lou,
   My 63A was serial no. 103794 and it didn't have a front motor mount. My car was built the second week of production, how early are you talking about. The early Fairlanes did have the 56 power steering ram, 56 ash tray and 56 Thunderbird rear veiw mirror mount but no front motor mount. Jim

[Dennis_W]

The car in question was a real early Fairlane 2 door HT with a 292. The engine was a rebuilt long block put in about 1961. I would think the whoever put it in wouldn't of gone thru the work of putting the steady rest in if it wasn't on the original engine. The car was a company car used by many people so maybe it was put there for insurance in case some one hotroded the car and broke a motor mount, or they had had motor mount problems in the past.

It's a little late getting in on this thread, but "better late than never". The T-Birds use the front mount, not the big cars. Side mounts for them used a thin rod to hold it on the sides. Earlier trucks have a front mount, IIRC.

Dennis