Recently I ran across some photos of my old '57 Ford Custom and it really got me thinking about how my tastes and "build style" have changed over the years. Granted, I've only been messing with old cars for 18 years and driving for 17... I sure have learned alot, though! When I was 15 (1995), my dad bought me my first car. It was a '58 Ford Custom 300 2-door with a 223 6-cylinder and 3-speed/OD. From what I recall, it was only $350. It ran and drove, but certainly needed some work. We replaced the rockers, welded patch panels in the floor, made and welded in floor bracing & body mounts that had rusted away, patched the front fenders, installed lap belts, and some other misc. stuff. It was a great learning experience and really a good first car to start with. We spent a few months working on it, but unfortunately I only got to drive it to school for one week. I was on my way home from basketball practice on a Saturday morning and was in a bad head-on accident. Home to school was about five miles of gravel and the accident happened at a blind Y intersection. The other guy was at fault. He was driving an '80s full size Oldsmobile, didn't have insurance, and his car was in worse shape than mine after the accident. Thankfully, my dad made me put lap belts in the '58 before driving it. I would've most likely been hurt much worse than the badly broken nose that I ended up with. Reconstructive surgery and numerous stitches had me fixed back up. I do remember being more worried about the car and apologizing to my dad when he got to the hospital.. haha! I have the bent steering wheel hanging in my garage... And a really crappy photo of the front end damage I do still have the car. We pulled the frame straight and found another front clip to put on it, but it ended up being a stalled project. Just needs too much work. My next car was a '64 Ford Galaxie 500XL that we did a ton of body work to and completely painted. I really wish I had more photos of that car. I drove it for a couple years and put a ton of miles on it. It ended up getting parked when the engine got tired and the frame and floors really started to rust bad. Driving it through the midwest (salty roads) winters was not a great idea. I sold it about five years ago. If you're still reading, I'm finally to the '57 Ford Custom. In the fall of '97, my cousin was in college down in Hastings, Nebraska, and told me about a '57 Ford that was in a farmer's field down there. I took an 800 mile weekend road trip in the '64 Galaxie and stopped in Hastings to visit and look at the car. As soon as I saw it, I HAD to have it. For only $50, I couldn't go wrong! It came with a title and had been sitting since 1982 or '83. It was also a 223 6-cyl/3-speed car. The engine was bad - had a hole in one of the pistons. (More to come, bare with me....) Malcolm
This is gonna be cool. I can totally relate with you on how over time, our tastes "mature." Can't wait to see more.
It was a pretty solid car. I welded some patch panels in the floors, gutted the mice-infested interior, rebuilt the brakes, ran new fuel and brake lines, and swapped in the 6cyl/3-speed/OD out of my '58. I also installed the seats from my mom's first car, a '66 Fairlane XL. The rear seat and buckets actually fit quite well. After a few months of tinkering, new tires, and other misc. parts, I was ready to head off to college.
College was in Milford, Nebraska, about 2-1/2 hours away from home. My dad and sister followed me down there with some belongings to help get moved in. That trip proved just how tired the little 6-cyl was. I made it back home the following Friday and started planning an engine swap. Within a few months, I had a 302/C4 out of a '79 Lincoln. My dad did some work (I helped a little) on his boss' '54 Ford Sedan Delivery in exchange for the 302/C4. I figured out engine and transmission mounts and wiring and got it running. I quickly found out the fuel pump was bad and had been leaking fuel into the oil. The main and rod bearings were now toast. Crap! Out came the engine. I had the crank turned, we honed the cylinders, and installed a re-ring/bearing/gasket kit. By the Spring of '98, it was back on the road and I started racking up the miles. During the Summer of '99, on a whim, I decided to spray the car in primer in one weekend. My family was out of town, so I had the garage to myself and tackled the project. Sanded the original paint down, taped off the glass and chrome, and sprayed away. Our little Sears air compressor could barely keep up, but it turned out ok. I went with a tan colored primer because it wasn't the black or grey that you normally see. (for some reason this photo scanned B&W) (That was my awesome '79 Ford Granada in the background. It was actually a pretty damn good, reliable car!)
I drove it like this until the Spring of 2000. I graduated from college in December of '99, got a job right away, and started saving money to do more work on the '57. In the Spring of 2000, I decided it was time to upgrade the engine and put new wheels on the car. Up until then, I wasn't fully aware of everything that was out there and the options and possibilities... As far as wheels, stance, etc. I knew what I liked in magazines and at the Rod & Custom Americruise when it would come to Lincoln, Nebraska. I just didn't know how to get it. It seemed out of reach and somewhat unattainable and expensive. So, in went a GT-40P crate engine from Speedway Motors, a set of Weld Rodlite wheels (yep, mistake #1), and a rebuilt front suspension. Oh, and a '58 hood, too.
Again, I drove the car like that through the Summer/Fall of 2000 and made more changes during Winter/Spring of 2001. This time, I was figuring out what it would take to get closer to the image in my head. The 14" wheels went back on with a set of WWW bias ply tires and my dad, and I, sprayed on black primer.
During the Summer of 2001, I added Moon discs and cut a coil up front. I was finally really liking the look of the car, although it rode rough as hell.
Great story. Glad you found a decent replacement for crashed 58. When I was in high school in Fayetteville NC there were many 57 Fords in the school parking along with earlier and later Fords and Chevies and Mopars plus a Beetle or two and one Volvo B444. Carolina is Ford Country as they used to say on the radio. Nice work though I think a set of Cragars would make the car just right.
I ended up selling the '57 in the Fall of 2002 and picked up a nice 50k mile '67 Ford Galaxie the same day. The '67 was really a great running and driving car. A few years ago, I ran across the '57 at our local cruise night here in Omaha. Holy crap! I was pretty excited to see it was still around and had a little more work done to it. He had the seats recovered, door panels done, and a new headliner installed. The dash and carpet are the exact same as when I sold it.
As far as I know, it still looks the same today and is owned by the same guy. Of course, if I were to do it over again, I'd still own the car and it'd look much different. Live and Learn. Here's a photo of the '67 - sold it in 2003.
I sure love the '57 & '58 Fords. I've enjoyed watching how your car "matured". I am amazed at how much the primer color changed the overall look of the car.
If I had the car now, it would most likely have a set of ET 5-spokes from Team III or a set of kidney bean type wheels from PS Engineering. Lee lenses were actually on the list of future upgrades. Those were stock lenses with no chrome trim or reverse lights like the Fairlanes had.
cool story and car. i wouldn't call the rodlites a mistake. it's not what we do here, but thats where you were at the time and that was the hottest, newest wheel at the time.
Man that car looked tits with the moon discs and WWW. Can you imagine it gloss black, those wheels and tires, wiith the new interior....YUMMY!
The Jalopy Journal
