57 Sheetmetal

[maddog350gt]

Hi all,

I have a 57 convertible that is in paint. I find my hood and trunk lid don't match the contours of the body the way they should. I have been told that the ones I have may be Custom parts and not Fairlane parts. Is there any truth to this? Is it possible to get these mixed up? Are they close enough in appearance  that you wouldn't notice until you tried to do final fitting?  I bought the car from someone who found it in AZ and did all of the preliminary body work. He had it on a rotisserie  and said it was ready for paint, so I assumed he had test fit the hood and trunk lid even though they were loose when I picked up the car. I don't know if the guy I bought from got it from an individual or a salvage yard so I don't know for sure if all of the parts came together. Are there measurements I can make to tell if these are from a Custom or a Fairlane? 

My painter thinks he can save the hood but he said the cost to redo the trunk lid will be high, it looks as if the crown in both directions is wrong. If these are Custom parts I will just sell them and find parts for the Fairlane, but I need to determine if  this is actually the case.

What makes this even more frustrating is that I sold a complete parts car and an extra deck lid at last years Portland Swap Meet and helped the buyer load them in a container to ship to Alaska. I thought the ones I had were good because the guy I bought from had primed and blocked them and said the car was ready for paint. Not hardly!

Any help would be appreciated in identifying if these are Custom or Fairlane.  I am also looking for replacements if anyone know where I can find them. I am in Washington State so west coast would be better, but I would be interested in any available parts.

Thanks,
Bob Maddix
(360) 601-4558

[hotroddonnie]

I bought a trunk lid for my Custom and it was about 4" too long, I found out it was from a Fairlane.

[57 imposter]

Tee Pee Auto wrecking had a pretty good supply on both 57 and 58 cars. I don't know where your located but they are in Outlook Wa. That's just west of Sunnyside. I got some parts for my 58 remodel but that was about three years ago so don't know what their status is now but may be worth a call.

[SkylinerRon]

All the 57 hoods are the same.  58's bolt right on if you like the scoop.

Ron.

[Zapato]

mad dog, go to the parts supply area on this board, go to Oregon first guy there is Clayton Bauer just south of Portland, he'll be able to set you up with both your needs. You will not regret dealing with him, believe he's rancho57 on here but won't swear to that just not sure at this moment.

Zap-

[RICH MUISE]

As those above mentioned, it doesn't appear to be a difference in Fairlane vs Custom. Only difference in anything forward of the firewall are the various trim holes. You didin't tell us where the nonconformity is, so I'm wondering if it's posible your front fenders have a crown in them over the center of the wheelwell? That is a common problem with '57's caused by the bumper brace being attached to the front fender. A tap on the front bumper can cause the fenders to buckle at their weakest point. One of our members here in the past had a body man tell him every '57 he had worked on was like that, and he wrongfully assumed it was suppose to be there.
As Donnie mentioned, the Custom trunk lid is in the neighborhood of 4" shorter. What I don't know is if there is a difference in your convertible trunk lid vs a hardtop trunklid, and 2 dr vs 4 dr. I could see where it would be feasible that the area between the trunk lid and the roof would be a different crown on a hardtop vs convertible. Someone with a parts manual could check the convt trunlid and 2 dr hdtp lid to see if they are the same numbers.

[lalessi1]

My hood and trunk on my Custom do not match well at all. My hood is too flat at the cowl. The trunk also does not follow the body contour on the lower edge. I can tell the car was in a minor accident and I think that may be the issue in the back. I also believe the hood is simply bent. I plan on addressing these issues at some point but I feel your pain!

[Lgcustom]

You would be amazed at the hammering and bashing that went on in the factory to get the fender to door and hood to fender contours to match up! I'm talking rubber tipped tire hammers, tire irons and dum dum blocks wrapped with tape. Saw this every day at Dearborn Assy in the 70's!

[Limey57]

I've seen a film from the British Ford factory from the 1960's, on the production line for the Ford Anglia 105E (the Harry Potter flying car model) you can see the fitters trying several front fenders for fit before they chose the best and welded it on!

I guess there could be some variation if panels have been swapped over time with panels made by a different supplier?

[djfordmanjack]

please keep in mind that our cars were very afFORDable back then, they were really cheap and the fit of body panels was the least problem they had in production. I haven't seen a OEM 57 where the lower front fenders fit the rockers. They used rubber mallets in production and the body manual shows how you would bend a door with a piece of wood. all of that was common practice and as easily as body parts can be twisted by hand, it was just a bad thing to get everything painted before trial fit. hopefully you will be able to adjust without ruining the fresh paint.

[lalessi1]

I was amazed at the shop manual door adjustment directions. I plan on bending my hood and jacking out the tailpan to conform. "Beat to fit, paint to match". 

[Lgcustom]

Yep, that's how it was done. Sheet metal varied a lot from run to run. There was a complete heat beat and hammer to fit rework book in the factory for convertibles!

[hotroddonnie]

My body guy had to do some monkey business to make some of my panels fit.

[SkylinerRon]

A  2x4 and a BFH are nessessary body tools!

Ron.

[RICH MUISE]

LG...since you worked in the Ford factory back in the 70's, I'm wondering if you have an answer for a discusion we've had a few times. How did they staple various components like fender well seals onto the metal parts?