front sheetmetal assembly

[Ford Blue blood]

I think it would be easier to run the wires inside the internal structure and have them exit in the hinge area.  Finding a good place for the contacts and keeping them dry and not let any water into the passenge compartment might a be problem.

[RICH MUISE]

You're right as usual..wasn't thinking about my car actually getting wet!!??. BTW, When I ordered my turn indicator lights from RF, they had the option of dim for interior use, or bright for exterior use. I ordered the brighter....LOL...hmmm now if I could only find a digital horizontal tachometer that would fit inside the scoop, "Kit" style.  (just kiddin')

[Ford Blue blood]

Check with Dakota Digital, they might just have what you are looking for or can provide....the readout is just that, the "box" to make the readout do it's thing is remotely mounted.

[jarhead1986]

Im looking for the turn signal socket drivers side front for my 58. Anybody know where to look for them?

[RICH MUISE]

I got my '57's at www.classicautoparts.com If they don't have them, check Dennis Carpenter

[jarhead1986]

Thanks Rich.

[RICH MUISE]

Forgot to mention...unless you need them absolutly authentic for an as-original restoration, don't overlook your neighborhood parts stores. When I redid the sockets for the '63 taillights in my '57 because I wanted sockets with grounding lugs, I found them locally. autozone, o'reilly's ??

[Tom S]

... the '63 taillights in my '57 ...

Hmm.  Any pix of this?  Wondering what you changed.  Lenses?  Buckets?  Trim too?  Are they tunneled in like the stock 63s?
The 63 lenses always appeared to me to be a larger diameter than the 57s.  No?

[RICH MUISE]

LOL...Do I have pics?? Does a bear **** in the woods?
The '63 lenses are actually 1/2" smaller than the '57 lenses. I used the '63 buckets, and cut them down to fit inside the '57 housing. The first pic shows the '63 bucket..what was left of it anyway. It also shows what I cut off a ss dog dish.I made stainless steel rings from dog dishes (yes, real dog dishes). The 4 screws that hold the '63 lenses to the '63 buckets were replaced with ss screws long enough to go thru the '57 redrilled housing and attaches with nuts and washers thru the backside. The sockets shown in the pics were the original ones that I purchases and later replaced with sockets that had grounding lugs. The lenses, btw, are '63 Galaxie 500XL lenses..they are different with different models.

[RICH MUISE]

smore pics. One note of caution...you have to be careful with drilling for the 4 mounting screws. Aside form the fact they are not evenly spaced (go figure??), they are what is going to time the fins when it is installed into the '57 housing, so where you drill that pattern in the '57 housing is important.

[Tom S]

Thanks, Rich.  Yeah, the kitchen is a good place to look for stainless stuff to modify to use on the car or bikes, done it many times.  Better yet, thrift stores.
Needed a little thin stainless to make something for one of my motorcycles.  Expensive at the sheet metal shop, dirt cheep at the thrift store.  Found some of those stainless dog dishes there once, like new.  Great little deep bowls.  I eat cereal or whatever out of them.    
"Why is your dog looking at me like that?" ... "That's his dish"

Needed some center caps for these kind of rare old American Dragmaster wheels I was rehabbing.  Only thing around here was big & ugly, & didn't fit anyway.   I had one small stainless "mixing bowl" or "mixing cup" that I'd bought years ago to see if it would fit a different set of wheels.  Would have been a prefect fit for these wheels but no longer available.
Found a set of six for about six bucks at Bed Bath &  Be .... car parts. 
With a large O-ring from a local bearing supply place they are a tight press fit into the wheel, not too big or obtrusive , look real good.   
The rear wheels get small plastic spot mirrors.  Second time I have done that. 

[RICH MUISE]

gotta love it! that stuff looks real good, Tom. I've always got my eye open at places like Wallyworld, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Lowe's. There's tons of bowls, cups,cooking stuff, flanges, etc. all made from stainless and cheap. I did the cup holders in my back arm rests from chrome bathroom cotton ball cups, and the top flanges for them were cut off two ss kitchen sink drains.
I used chrome 1 1/4" floor pipe flanges from the plumbing section at Lowe's for flanges for the side cowl drains. I know that cheap chrome will rust quickly, so I've been on the lookout for ss replacements..or a high quality chrome over brass.
Those tailight rings I did cost me 8 bucks for the pair. I had figured I was going to have to have them machined, probably costing at least a couple hundred.

[Tom S]

Damn, Rich, you're gonna have everything from the kitchen in that car except the proverbial kitchen sink.
Oh, wait!