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Definitely silver and the sender can probably be purchased from your local parts store as it's the same as used on certain late '50s Ford and Mercury models. Likely the arm will need some adjusting for full travel but otherwise it's a direct replacement. These are often made in stainless too so should outlast the tank! The tank is also available as reproduction.

Thank you all for your replies and interest in my project!
A silver Matt it will be.
Think I will try to clean up the sending units first, I do have 2 that look in 1/2 decent shape.will post some photos when I get them back. The radiator shop wanted them left in for pressure testing.
Thanks DBeD for the tip on the mustang shop. If mine don't work I will reach out to them.

If you are going to paint the tank or use an old sender do yourself some favors before reinstalling it and the tank.

First is check the sender with an ohmmeter connected between the mounting flange and terminal to ensure it is good and the value is correct at approx 73 ohms empty and 10 full. Be sure the numbers are changing SMOOTHLY as you move the float from empty to full and back to empty. If they reach a point where the numbers suddenly change direction or drop completely and then resume the previous value and continue the change, the support the resistance wire is wound on could be warped and letting the wiper lose contact. Erratic numbers results in a jumpy gauge and sometimes a non functioning gauge if there is a spot that loses contact completely.

If the sender is good make sure there is no paint on the area where the sender mounts and on the tank where it touches the body. After a tank has been removed, worked on and reinstalled many have found ground issues so needed to drill a small hole in the excess metal at the center weld flange at one of the corners to attach a small ground wire connecting the tank to the frame or body.

If you are not a purist it might also be to your advantage to cut a hole in the trunk floor before reinstalling the tank so you can access the sender. That way the tank does not need to be removed again should you need to replace or do more work on the sender. The hole can be covered with a plate and the mat will hide it from view so only you would know it is present.

If you are interested in a hole, here are some dimensions Ross provided. I believe this hole was cut on a 51-4 body but the dimensions should be very close to those needed on a 55-6 body. You might want to verify though.

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Yes, saw that in another post somewhere. Dimensions were given for hardtop applications I remember . Still looking for that post. But will definitely check these measurements.
A purist.........no.........but will do my best to car as original as possible.
Thanks for the tips on checking the sending unit and on the grounding

Those dimensions are good for ALL 51-56 cars.

Thank you sir!

Hi all. Its a great,great day in the great white north eh!

no offense, but don't expect you folks south of the 49th to get that...............but I digress

got my gas tank back from the radiator shop, cleaned tested and primed, my buddy and I painted it. seems like a silver matt to me??

but the best news is that I finally got the "stinky thing" (according to my wife)in my newly heated garage for the winter to work on it. Love, love my wife!

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started looking the car over a bit better, found that the transverse bars were bent. the long one more so. the short one not so much. can they be straightened until I find another set? not sure when they got bent I took great care to have the switch off and unhook the battery when I moved the care. perhaps I missed doing something else I should have?
I have taken the compensator out. the motor works fine, think I will repack the gear box though. Is there an equivalent to the Sta-Lube SL-3303 that you know of, I cant find a supplier for that grease here. will any synthetic brake caliper grease work? such as another product by CRC-- CRL 75353? seems similar......

on another note has anyone had any luck with fixing the wires on the compensator switches? the covering is cracked, wires are still fine. if I could repair rather than replace that would be good. a new wiring harness may be in the works all around.

as per earlier suggestions I pulled the spark plugs and I put some marvel mystery oil in the cylinders. will manually turn the engine over a few times. then I hope to drain the oil in the next few days. I have read a lot about different types of oil for cars in service...............but what would be advised to put in for the 1st start up in over 42 years?

surprisingly the transmission oil looks very clean.

"A" type transmission fluid to top up the power steering before start up?

thanks!

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Just take a heavy hammer and beat them straight on a big rock. They are just mild steel and there is no benefit to replacing them. They got bent sometime in the past because someone bypassed the limit switches and ran the motor too far. That is why I am STRONGLY against manual override switches on TL cars--I just repaired a customer's car as a result of that foolishness 2 weeks ago.....

Clean the decayed rubber off of your switches and build up some epoxy way up onto the wires. They love to fatigue off just above the solder joint. Check for continuity.

Any old lithium grease will be just fine. The secret to a reliable and very quiet leveler is the ball bearing that locates the worm shaft in the upper housing. Condensation tended to collect there. Pop that little freeze plug out and excavate for the snap ring. I think the bearing is about $12 from NAPA and is worth every penny. Pack the bearing cavity and the worm area well with grease.

Your trans oil looks clean because all the mung has settled out. It is in there waiting for you.

There is no Type A anymore. Just dump in some Dexron--but not modern "power steering fluid".

Thanks for replying Ross

So the transmission pan should be dropped also, thank you for that.
The frost plug hiding that bearing, any tips for removing it? Is a replacement readily available? Would you have a part number for the bearing? Or will I find a number on it when it comes out?

Sorry if I ask too many questions. This is my first restoration and worry about breaking scruff that will be hard to replace