1957 Ford Country Sedan mocha silver V8 4dr wagon

[mustang6984]

Looks good! Another successful endeavor! 

[RICH MUISE]

very  clever and well executed.

[djfordmanjack]

thank you, a little detail like that makes life a bit easier, and you should have seen the offset plate, it looked hideous. I couldn't stand it.

[Ecode70D]

Guenter
        You did a nice job making that centered plate holder.   
        Just one question.....Does TUV allow you to not have a rear plate light?

[djfordmanjack]

Jay, this has been a frequently asked question over the last few days also by my friends over here. and the wagon HAS plate lights. they re cleverly (not so much) hidden in the bumper guards. my current license plate has exactly the same width as the US plates, so it has the same lighting effect as well. not too bad, but obviously Ford or government thought the same as you and they made the distance between the bumper guards a lot less for 1958 and they also changed the plate light design.

today I cleaned up the 1960s era plates of my Del Rio to use it for display purpose on the CS. it is a matching pair. I have paperwork and pictures to prove they were original to my Del Rio.
these plates look much better than our new ones.

[djfordmanjack]

This has been discussed on the forum before, but just to show the difference in 58 bumpers guards, they really enclose the license plate.
btw , this is a terrific looking 58 Ranchero !

[hiball3985]

I never noticed the difference between the 57 and 58 before. The ones on the 57 are almost useless 

[lotsafords]

Just admiring the beautiful Ranchero and was wondering if you or anyone else who has a well secured and attractive hitch would mind posting pics of the underside attachment?
Thanks
Jack

[djfordmanjack]

Jack, my hitch is an original from the 1950s, you can see it here: (scroll down a bit)

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6705.msg58971#msg58971

and here

http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=6705.msg59124#msg59124

unfortunately the 58 Ranchero isn't mine....just a pic I copied for bumper guards reference.
yes the 57 wagon rear plate lights are a little odd

[hiball3985]

I wonder if a LED type bulb would work better in the license plate light, or if they even make one?
I put LED in the tail lights, the tail lights and brake lights are now twice as bright as the original 1157 bulbs.

[djfordmanjack]

Ya, Jim, some of the Leds are cool and bright, but some are real junk. I have made good use of Leds and currently replacing the turn signals on my 34 with ultra bright German made ( and expensive ) LED blinkers.
took a night shot for you guys, and I think it doesn't show that badly in the end. The bad bodywork on the tailgate and the og chrome bumper are getting hilighted very well....hahaha

I just love how the afterburners are gleaming in the rocketship taillights....57 must be one of the 10 best taillight assemblies EVER.

[59meteor]

I always found it odd that Ford retained the round 1957 tail lights on the 1958 Ranchero and Sedan Delivery models, but used the 58 tail  lights on the Station Wagons. I wonder what thier reasoning was. You would think that the Ranchero and wagon tail gates would be the same as each other, same with rear 1/4 panel configuration.
Also, the 58 Ranchero did not get the ribbed roof panel, but the wagons and Sedan Delivery did. Kinda strange.

[mustang6984]

In those days...Ford (like all the others) used up everything. When they realized how many of the taillights they had left, and the cost of retooling for the Ranchero before the big new releases coming in '59...they probably just opted to use what they had.
Ditto for the Sedan Delivery. Again...major changes came to the tooling for '59...so they just went with what they had for those two models. Saved bucks.

On a side note...I have always wondered how many of MILLIONS Chevy tossed in the trash when they did the '58 Chevy...one year only as a bridge between the '57 & '59. I personally...think the '58 was better looking than either one of the other two. What a waste of money though.

[hiball3985]

G, thanks for the picture. What bulbs did you use for the license plate lights? those are awesome compared to the originals.

The 57 tail lights were the first time I have used LED. So I just bought some cheap Chinese to experiment with, they didn't work as I expected but that was my mistake, I bought white ones Then a friend explained to me that LED light spectrum is different and you have to use a red bulb with a red lens so all is good now. My tail lights are as bright or brighter then the original brake lights. Even the brake lights in the daytime is a big improvement, we did a side by side comparison with my friends wagon, so I feel a little safer if there is such a thing 

[rovohn]

cleaned debris from inside pssgr door
and put important sticker on 
Rod&Surf by Mooneyes was applied by former owner but I think it fits the car well.

Where can you get the 57 fords international sticker? I want a couple badly
Cheers,John