I dislike the factory gold trim on my inherited four door 1957 ford custom 300. I think it's gaudy and tacky. I would much rather have the square holes welded up flush on the front fender and doors, and maybe something just like a one piece strip of chrome on the quarter panel (right above the wheel well).
-Keith
"Hideous"...have to smite you for that one...LOL The inserts are a classic look for the fifties era.To be perfectly honest I'm not that crazy about them either. Another option to consider is leaving the chrome and just deleting the inserts. There should be some examples in the models area at www.1957ford.com. If I remember corectly, I think 57agin's custom 300 is going to receive a special paint tratment in the insert area. Most guys that I've noticed that delete the inserts are doing it on a one-tone paint job and just have the color in the insert area the same. If those inserts are in good shape, they are saleable...don't discard them.
Rich
I'm not a big fan of the gold inserts either although with some color combinations they don't look bad. I've seen some two tone cars that leave the area inside the chrome the same as the hood color (usually white). I think we may go that route.
I had an original custom 300 2dr sedan that only had the single(no gold) spear down the side. It was also a 312 car as well. I let it go to scrap as I did not have a place to keep it and it had the roof caved in from kids. I still have the doors, but wish I had the forsite to save the data plate,
I am not a huge fan of the gold on the 300, but I still appreciate the '57 ford look no matter what body style. The Fairlane 500 cars seem to look ok with it though.
You have to remember that 1957 was a time when your car made a statement and chrome, stainless and two tone paint was what it was all about. 1957 Fords had and still do have class that was was created with the chrome, stainless and colors. You could tell a 57 ford from every other make at at least a 1/4 mile, try doing that today. The gold insert is part of the heritage that made it different from every other make.
Are they reproducing the trim?
Try www.burtonantiqueautoparts.com.
Quote from: 57redwhitered on 2012-01-30 23:38
Try www.burtonantiqueautoparts.com.
Great site thanks 57redwhitered!
I can come over and take the front trim off your hands. mine is a little tweaked.
It's You!I don't like four doors. :006:
@62, what wouldmbe the best way to fill those square holes in?
Weld them, not bondo, not brazing...MIG or TIG the holes closed.
Custom300Madman,
I am one of those guys that prefer the 300 over the other model customs. I'm just like the people in 1957 to present. What set the models apart was trim, paint and accessories. Usually a car with more trim, two tone paint jobs and more options cost more. Always have, always will. Those gold anodized inserts that you dislike aren't even reproduced with the exact pattern. They cost about $600 if you're restoring a car and anyone that knows the difference in patterns can tell a repop. If you take them off your car be careful with them. There is someone out there that would pay good money for them and be very grateful to you for letting them go. Jim PS These parts are precious to someone that restores cars. Case in point. I think it was Lou that had good faceplates for the Heater and Town and Country Radio. He wanted a song for them but no one wanted them at the time. Since I have an extra Town and Country Radio he sent them to me for the cost of shipping best I remember. He wasn't looking to make money on them. He was looking to preserve them for someone that might need them. Parts are precious when they don't make them anymore.
@Jimnolan, the extra door in the trunk has perfect gold trim also.
I'm not a big fan of the gold trim myself. It doesn't work well with some color combinations. But i wouldn't call it hideous. My perspective is that the trim and the number designation was purely a marketing decision. Throw some extra trim call it a 300 and bang you net a few extra bucks on each car sold. And at the same you create, for lack of a better term, a blue collar Fairlane. Personally I prefer the no frills look of the plain old Custom. And even crazier the no back seat business coupe is my Holy Grail and luckily enough for me its now in my possession. In 57 Ford for the first time brought out 2 different lines Fairlane and Custom. The Fairlane was created as extra room was needed to store the retractable hardtop. So for a few years the Fairlane was the flagship at Ford. Didn't last long as the Galaxie soon took over the large car spot and fairlane became midsize and the newly introduced Falcon filled in as the compact model. And from then on Dearborn finally had something to offer every buying segment. What we have probably overlooked is in those days one could literally order anything they wanted in any model. So in 1957 a custom could literally be optioned out to an equal level as a Fairlane. And if the factory didn't want to dealers were willing to install those options. Not really unusual to find Customs with lots of features or Fairlanes with radio or heater deletes.
Zap- :unitedstates:
Quote from: Custom300Madman on 2012-01-31 11:29
@62, what wouldmbe the best way to fill those square holes in?
mig weld them. on big holes i use a copper plate for backing. the weld wont stick to it. Another option is nails to help fill the hole. Stick the head in the hole weld around it and grind the rest off.
Quote from: 62galxe on 2012-01-31 19:44
mig weld them. on big holes i use a copper plate for backing. the weld wont stick to it. Another option is nails to help fill the hole. Stick the head in the hole weld around it and grind the rest off.
I don't currently have any welding experience or own a welder/ air compressor with grinding tools. I do however, like the nail idea and think that would fit me the best. I'll look for a low dollar mig welder, I just don't currently have 220 in the garage, maybe I could run an extension cord fromthe laundry room to the garage.
Word of warning on the extension cord...
I used 8-3 cable and the appropriate outlet and plug, for a 12 foot extension for my welder..It cost me about $65. Thats a bunch of money for a 12 ft extension cord....you have to use good quality cable as the welder is a huge amp draw.
Lincoln sells a very nice 110V MIG that will serve you all day long in a home hobby shop. You can always go even cheaper and hit Harbor Freight for one of those $125 Cebeor (Italian) jobs that will work OK for light duty stuff like sheet metal up to 10 ga.
Oh sweet! So the thickness of floor pans and my fender patch holes (where the trim went) is less than ten gauge? Now I'm really excited! I'm going to buy a sawzall from freight this week. The bolts to the down pipe were a booger so I unbolted the manifolds from the 312 when I pulled it out. To my surprise they came out.
Most sheet metal in autos of this vintage is 18 and 19 ga.
So do you think I can run it then?
Keith,
Can you run it ? yes. Will you become a professional if you don't do it everyday ? no. Will you be glad you bought it ? yes. I will give you a piece of advice though. Along with this welder your buying, don't bring it home without investing in a good hand grinder also. That way it'll save you another trip to the store. Jim
Practice....practice....practice, did I say you should practice? The grinder Jim is talking about is a 4" right angle, best tool ever built for fabrication work. You can put cut off wheels, rocks, flappers of many grits and buffing wheels. Don't go cheap on this, mine has seen many a floor board and fire wall along with a two year stint in a fab shop and it is still going strong.
Thanks Jim.
@Fordblueblood, so on the 4'' grinder, not a harbor freight item then?
I use a dewalt grinder. As far as the welder most of the small ones use a fluxcore wire with no gas. Ive found that using solid wire with a 75/25 argon/co2 gas welds better. As usual theres always a better way its just a matter of how much you want to spend. Lots of people use the fluxcore wire with no major issues. It just needs a little more clean up after the weld.
Mine is a Bosch. It has been in service since 1994.
I have a Craftsman been abusing it for over 20 years. Don't waste your money on cheap grinding wheels often sold at swap meets unless you like changing wheels. Buy the good ones usually found at most welding shops. Believe me you'll save money in the long run.
Good buddy of mine has a half dozen or so of the HF grinders, He sets them up with different heads. That way he's not switching from grinding disc to wire cups etc... Runs them till they fail and warranties them. They're pretty tough and are often on sale cheap.
Zap- :unitedstates:
I'm headed to harbor freight later this weekend for a sawzall. What do y'all think about the 90 amp flux core. from 22 gauge to 3/16" thick it's a hundred and a half. Think it'll weld te square holes up in the fenders and the floors maybe some exhaust work?
I taught myself to weld on a hf welder that could be used both ways...flux core or gas... I spent months playing with it with minimal sucess until I finally bought a tank and switched it over to gas and it made a huge difference. My strongest sugestion is to buy the gas type, and not to use any of hf's wire. you can pick up lincoln wire at home depot or lowe's for just a few dollars more than the hf and it'll also make a huge difference. Unlike 62 Galaxie, I haven't talked to anyone that has success with a flux core welder. Any where you get your power from, you are probably going to need an extension cord, and as James mentioned make sure it's heavy enough. I run power from my house main box to the unattached garage, so I have a 50 foot cord, but I made mine from 6 gage..cost almost as much as the welder if I remember..LOL
You're going to want a 115V/25 amp circut and an extension cord to carry that load. That is for welding the heavy stuff, the settings for sheet metal can almost be done with a hand crank generator. Now having said that, set your self up with the max current use in mind, later after you get used to the thing you'll expand into other fabrication work and you'll find it cost only a little more to do it right the first time. Same with the bottle, the welder will come with a little one, it cost the same to fill it as having a large bottle.