I have always loved 1957 Fords, and have had around a dozen over the years. The only thing I did not like about'm is the headlights. They just plain stick out too far. Lots of people have modified, tunneled, frenched the darn things, but they still look like a sock on a rooster. In 1958, I started thinkin about stick'n '58 headlights into '57 fenders. I have seen it done several times, and a couple really look good. Tiago's first rendition was an example. So, I picked up a '58 Fairlane (not 500) 2 dr hdtp a while back, with the intentions of going drag racing. I belong to a drag racing club at Firebird Raceway near Boise. Well, I'm a kustom guy at heart, so I figured, why can't I race a kustom. Soooooo, the '58 had been treated to a '57 front end many years back (I wouldn't have bought it otherwise), and now is my chance to kill two passions with one torch. I have Travis the magnificient doing the headlight change, and then I will call on another idol for the paint inspiration. It's a very long distance call, as it's to Larry Watson. I've always loved his work, and saw many of his creations in the Long Beach area in the early 60's. I'm going to stick with the original color scheme, which was yellow and off-white, but will scallop in only the style that Watson did so well. Ideas are welcome. Pictures will follow tomorrow of the progress to date. Any ideas on a late 50's taillight treatment would also be welcome. Who says you can't drag race a kustom??????
Sounds cool! Keep us posted. PS - here's another option. 1957-58 Chrysler/Desoto headlights on a '57 Ford.
excited to see this. gotgas that is a GORGEOUS ford. early mopar stuff is scarce as hell these days though. and yeah, who says you cant drag race a kustom? I think its time to break the racism of hot rodding and make a stupid fast kustom sleeper that NO ONE will see coming, or going for that matter
I read this thinking he was talking about dual four-barrels. Funny. Yes, '57 headlights do need help. I always thought of them as Mister Magoo like. I want a '58 Ranchero, with a '57 louvered hood. Most people don't realize it, but Ford sold more cars during the tri- years than GM. So, there ought to be parts. Good luck on your car.
each to their own, I like singles. years ago, a neighbor had a '57 Ranchero and installed vertical '59 Chevy car headlights -no pics -looked good. saw this '57 with quads at a recent show
First, that '57 Fairlane shown by Gotgas is absolutely stunning. I'd be in hog's heaven if mine ever looked that good. Now, ironically, mineis the same model, cept'n a '58, with the early Corvette inspired side trim. I was going to leave the side trim off, but it makes for a great Watson style paint job. Lemme back up a couple clicks. My '58 popped up for sale a couple years back, and once I looked at it, with that '57 front end, I snagged it prontomundo. CHEAP!!! It had not been run for about 10 years, and at that time was all new, mechanically. Later I found out that the front clip came from a high 9 second drag car that is run by a member of the same club that I race with. Small world..... The mill is a much modified 429, and the tranny a built C-6. One of the reasons I bought it, is that mid last year I was asked to come quick to the drag strip, as the my friends club, the Melba Outlaws needed a body (as in car). I went out in my Sonata (4-cyl auto), and was immediately asked......WHAT THE HELL IS THAT???????? A Sonata I replied. WE KNOW THAT, BUT WHY IS IT HERE????? To put this into perspective, I had a 63-1/2 Galaxie 500XL factory 427/4spd, a '66 Custom 500 with a nice 390/4-spd, and my wife's '55 with a ferocious Y-block/4-spd. So now you can understand the question...... I finally got the '58 ready to race, but figured I'd have Travis, over at Combined Metals, paint the top, as it was beginning to git surface rust. Then I thought about the headlights. Might as well take care of that at the same time. Next week is the last Race, so that means I have about 9 months to git ready again. Great, the trim can go back on, and at least a Watson inspired primer job on the lower body. Suggestions are more than welcome!!!!!!! Now, for the progress. You all know what a '57 front end looks like, so I went to the next step. Check it out...... This is the cutting out and beginning of the put back. At this point, we realized that it was more of a job than we thought, at least to do it proper,and keep the lines accurate.
I've always loved the look of a 58 Ford front and 57 Ford rear ever since my Dad got a 58 Ranchero. One of the few FoMoCo products that I would love to have.
Now....Trying to make it all fit.....It looks here like things are crooked, but wait!!!! Aaaahh....now I see, said the blind man...... Now you can see how things are lining up.... This last shot shows how the bezel has been cut, andthe bodyline extended, so that the bezel will set on top of the fender line, looking more factory. Change for the sake of change, and simply smoothing stuff together is not the way to do things, in my humble opinion. Paint can be wild and crazy, but the body changes must be with reason. Speaking of paint, come'on Watsonistas, gimme yer stuff!!!!! Remember, stock side stainless, think Fred Lefevre's '59 El Camino. One of the few GM products I'd like to have... OUCH!!!!! Just kidding, my daily driver for many years was a '62 Fuelie Corvette....... And of course, the R&C Dream Truck......
Brilliant solution, Mr. Cabong! Looks so natural! Here are two '57 Fords by the late, great Larry Watson. It just doesn't get any better than this '57 Fairlane 500 Club Victoria – Candy Red, gold panel outlines, silver roof, and white interior, are simply beautiful. The '57 Ranchero with the stock trim, repeated and flipped below it that creates a "cove" effect similar to that on the '58 Fairlane might be more relevant to your application.
Hey Froghawk......Those are all kool, especially the '57. I'm not real keen on the addition of flames, as they have been way overdone in the past 30 years or so. I'll post a couple more pics later today that will show why I'd kinda like to say with the original colors, even if the are kandied or pearled. I'm 70, and have never done a custom with kool paint (other than the DT), and figure this '57/'58 can do just that. Thanks for the great pics, and Larry Watson has been an idol of mine for many years. Well, since he began getting ink. Again, I'm hoping to get down to the Winfield/Watson digs in Mojave in a month.
I don't know enough about the differences between '57 and '58 Ford front sheetmetal to know the answer to this question, but why not just use '58 Ford fenders that already have dual headlights??
he could have, but the leading edge of the fender where it meets up with the grill is different on 58. So either way there would have been some metal work to do it right. On the teal car above, Im pretty sure they used 58 fenders, and you can see how the bodyline below the lights has a weird shape/line to it in order to make it match up with the 57 grill opening. Cabong's method may take a bit more work, but it will look the best doing it this way
The classic custom taillight for '58 Fords (and '59-'60 Tbirds) is the '59 Pontiac Bonneville/Starchief piece. On the Ford it has to be cut and modified for the decklid opening, but when done it almost looks like it was born to be there! Photo from Andy Southard's "Custom Cars of the 1950s." Of course you'll want to disregard the conny kit and louvered cruiser skirts, except as an example of what not to do! BTW, I agree on the flames on the Ranchero. Larry's best work, I think, was on cars like that red Fairlane 500, just a simple, elegantly drawn outline around the panels. Is your car yellow ("Sun Gold") on the body with white cove and roof? Or the reverse?
Ya know Bruce, it's too bad you and I didn't spend more time in Spokane talking kustoms...hell, I coulda built that '57 for you in a matter of hours since waaa-aaay back when '57/'58 Fords were a favorite of mine...I 'built' a lot of them as models...uh, that is before I got into '57 Chevys...!!! Here's a shot of my friend's '57 retractable...while it doesn't have quads in it, (note the Harley-Davidson park lights), the hood has been modified. I helped him build this one and all the mods shown are my ideas...he just wasn't a kustom guy... R-
Hey all you old geeks and leadsters..........I gotta throw out about three quickees. The '58 front fenders are actually totally different, with the wheel well and shape of the headlight surround being the only similarity. The front, as mentioned is totally different, and the top of the fender has a recessed body line on the '58 and a ridge on the '57. The headlight arrangement on the '58 changed the method of bucket attachment. I used to think this modification was a piece of cake, but now that we're doing it, I have a profound respect for the old kustomizers. The Pontiac taillights look great, and if I can find a set, I'll probably do dat. Roger, sorry we couldn't spend more time bs'ing at Spokane, but Nick and I were all eyes, as we hadn't been to a goodguys for many years. I know what you mean about models, as I musta built hunderds of'em. Thanks all, and pics will follow shortly......
to help understand difference between 57 and 58 - search- 57 & 58 Ford Headlight Mounting Panel : hotrodhardware.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=4448/prd448.htm Edsel Station Wagon Tail Lights look good too. some pics of a '58 Ranchero too
The teal car also has a '58 roof. '57's didn't have ribs, the '58's did. The front fenders have the raised rib along the top that '57's have. I'm not sure what that car started life as..could have been a '57 or 58, but in either case it's a combination now.
Just a couple quick answers again. My Fairlane is sun gold bottom with wimbleton white coves and top. The top will be painted Mon, just to keep it from rusting, and the bottom will be primer/sealer tinted to the "sun gold" color. Then this winter I will paint the bottom. The nice thing about the top being white is that I can always pearl it and then git crazy with the bottom. The first and only time I sprayed pearl wa on the Dream Truck. I sprayed a few coats of GM pure white, then followed with clear mixed with some pearl paste that I picked up at the Pomona swap meet. Go figure!!!!!! I don't mean to brag, but that pearl turned out stunning. It actually hurt the eyes in the direct sunlight. Funny thing is, the Dream Truck was never painted in white pearl, it was straight white. I had Shakey Jake(RIP) stripe it, and he told me when I asked how much, he offered to pay me. He and Gary Emory used to play in the cab of the Truck when it first got to Valley Custom. Now, check it out, I painted the pearl in about 1990, and it's still on the truck today. Kurt's painter simply sanded off Shakey's pinstripping, applied scallops (very nice) and re-cleared. He left the HUGE design on the rear, but removed Shakey's signature. Now don't git me wrong, Kurt is a dear friend, and I certainly don't fault him at all. If any of you remember Shakey Jake, you'll remember that he was as sweet a man as ever roamed this land of lead. Sorry, didn't mean to git off course there, I'm simply old and sentimental!!!!!!!!
Hey "YNOTTAYBLOCK"........I couldn't figure out how to PM this photo, so thought I would just stick it in here, even though it's off-topic. I'm very fortunate to have a real gearheadette for a wife, cept'n she has more early iron than I. The pic is a '55 Ford Custom mill, which is a pretty high HP 292. I had more carburation on it, but it seems to run better with the modified '57 intake and 600. It also has a 4-spd and was 'built in the early 70's as a show car. Needless to say, it's not now!!!!!!!
Love the 57 Fords as we had 1 when I got my ticket in 62. I always thought that Ford was planning on the Fed. Gov. allowing quads and designed the 57 with taht in mind and had to throw in the funny looking single as last resort and could use the same fender in 58.
in 2011 Bo Huff had his custom '57 Ranchero For Sale. for ideas search this from Fotki -Rik Hoving/Custom Car Photo Archieve - Dick Tiago 1957 Ranchero: public.fotki.com/rikster/11_car_photos/customcars_i_like/ford_custom_cars/57_ford_custom_cars/50s-60s-built-1957-/dick-ti
That car gets around! I saw it in Reno a couple of years ago and it had a sign in front of it that said it started as a 57 .
Wimbleton....wimbledon....upturn....intern....examination....contamination....all I know is I haven't demonstrated in three months and I think I'm stagnent.................Old, old, story, but then again, so am I. Sorry for the mis-spell'n. Actually, if my memory, or what's left of it, is correct, in '57 and '58 it was called Colonial White. Wimbledon just sounds more sofisticated. Hey Peanut, remember, my wife also has a flat yellow '60 Lark with a kettering 289/4-spd combo.
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