Hi Guys,

I've been searching around and found little information on how the Belly Pans are configured.

The Manual unfortunately does not give any leads either, so I thought I would tap into the V-V's
braintrust...


(overall view, leading edge is along the ground, size is about 3 feet square)


(pan has a slope to it, and sidewalls. Front is at the left in photo)


(an important hunk of metal, supposed to force air into the engine/doghouse for cooling.)

I found the most info looking at Belly Pans on e-bay. Turns out there are two types
with the one above for earlier Econo's (mine's a '61.) I found that the later ones, which
look more rounded in contours, had side duct pieces to go with the main pan.
What I am seeking is information about this earlier pan- Does it have other pieces
like the later 3-piece Belly Pans?

Thanks in advance,
George

also,, 240 radiator is different, so the belly pan is deeper to accommodate. Also,, the belly pan is a BAND AID in my opinion,, it does absolutely NOTHING in stop and go traffic, when you need the air,, when your blasting down the road, yes it will force air into it,, but that's not the problem time,,
Vic

Actually there was a discussion on belly pans at Carlisle. Basically there are 2 styles but in reality there are 7 different versions. Pretty lengthy to describe each but it depends on the year/engine/tranny type of which there are many differnt combos. Most of the 2 basic versions can be made to use on the others. One example of a different pan is the one used on the 170 with 4 speed transmission since it needs extra room for the extra shift rod. Another consideration is the several different auto tranny year/versions needing room for the cooling lines.

Also for the record,the belly pan isnt just there for cooling purposes. It also protects the radiator,fan, and cooling lines from road debris and the master cylinder boot,emergency brake assembly, and undercarriage in general from dirt,road salt/ debris,etc. Even if your vehice cools good,you should use the pan for extra protection.

Hi Old Skool,
Agreed, one bad scenario is a hot day, stuck in traffic, idling...
...my pickup had an electric fan (pusher) that stays on via
switch (P.O. was in Arizona=HOT TIMES.) Seems to stay cool
around here though!

Hi EconoUSAparts,
Wow, 7 versions... ...makes sense, plus Ford engineers of the
time were that meticulous, they would produce that many.

Perhaps I could add to my question, I have ONLY a center pan,
does anyone know if I should have two side panels like I saw on
a '65? (I have a '61, originally 170, 3sp, pickup)

George

My personal experience on the small side pans is that I ve only seen them 3 times actualy installed on a vehicle and each time was on a 64 auto DCW. Not saying thats the only case but its all I ve ever seen and I own a 67 240 auto now and have owned at least 5 other 240 autos that never had them,various years 65 thru 67. Again thats just what I ve run across.

Wow thanks for that info, you obviously are on top of this stuff-
Here's something interesting. When I got my P/U it came with some
extra parts. One is a side panel (about 1' x 1.5') but I can't figure
out how it connects to the main Belly Pan. The P.O. is out of state
and not easy to contact, plus didn't seem to know as much as I
did about Econolines, so no luck there.

Lastly, this is a little O/T (on my own thread, ha) but I acquired an
automatic column (for future conversion,) and am looking for the
clear plastic (PRND12) shift indicator. Looks like one from a Galaxie
might work???

Thanks for your knowledge/experience,
George

Vic,aka Old Skool may have one, if not you can use one from a 2nd gen van.

I ve got a Chevy pan myself. I ve considered grafting the center section into the Ford pan to get more air. Looking at the Ford pan pictured makes me wonder if there werent also pans that didnt have the notch for the sway bar to passs thru. There may even be more than 7 styles.

Both my 62 P/U (144 and 3 speed) and my 64 van (170 and 3 speed) had the side pans. I think the side pans are more for protection than airflow.

Is that Chevy Pan stock? Looks pretty trick. I thought the Belly
Pan diverted cooler air from the front grill, and also prevented the
hot air from the road surface (on hot days,) from rising into the
engine area?

Hey Pickle4k, do you have any pictures of how those side pans are
situated? I've got ONE, but can't figure out which side it goes
on. I should post a pic of the Panel, maybe someone will know
where it goes...

George

Hi Donivan65,

Good pics.

I think the Econo is similar. In the case of the '61 I have a large
center pan, and now I am thinking there might be two side
panels that protect stuff like you describe. I know how the
large center piece fits, the sides probably go outboard (?)
of the center one. Basically the 3 pieces make up on continuous
larger underbody/duct/bashplate.

My pickup came with the large center pan and one side panel in
a box of other stuff, so it appeared as a mystery.

Interesting how other makes like yours have similar engineering.
Clearly the big 3 (or 4) were in tight competition and shared a
lot of ideas, which is helping us figure stuff out now, ha.

The 4-piece tunnel version is interesting, sounds like the center
floorboards must have a large hump or mini-doghouse connecting
to the main DH?

These vans/trucks are good candidates for electric fans. (When they
are at speed they get plenty of moving air, but sitting still when they
really need cooling, they get stagnated.)

Mine has a smaller powered fan in it by the P.O. plus it has the mechanical
fan. It is not on a thermostat, it just runs when the engine runs. My
thinking is a larger, maybe 16" electric pusher tied to a thermostat would
be ideal.

George