57 custom 300 build

[glr7533]

I have followed this forum for about six years. I have only made one other  post in that time about fixing the studs on the eyebrows. I thought I should finally post some about my build.

First I will give you some info about how I got to this point. When I graduated school in 1972 I was to young to get a job so I went to work helping a old guy that owned a junk yard. That summer he got in a 57 Fairlane two door. It didn't have a motor but it did have a title. I got that car for part of my pay. That fall I went to work for that man's son that owned a Gulf service station. That fall a man came in with a 63 Thunderbird that had spun a bearing, but he didn't have the money to fix the engine. It was a 390 with the 3X2 carb set up. My boss made a deal to put a used engine in it in trade for the old engine and carb set up. Of course he got the engine from his dad's junk yard for free.  My boss wanted the intake and carbs and gave me the block. I got the crank turned put in new bearings and used the intake and carb I already had. I got married that fall and family life got in the way so the car was sold.

Fast forward 42 years. I have been going to Kool Deadwood Nites at  Deadwood SD for several years. In 2014  I was watching the Sunday morning parade and talking to a local guy. A 57 Fairlane went by and I commented that I would like to have one again. He pointed out a guy across the street and said he might know where there was one for sale. I talked to the guy after the parade and exchanged info. He said he would call me in a couple of days. About three weeks went by so I thought it was done. A couple nights later he called and told me he had the car on his trailer in his yard. I took Friday off, rented a trailer and left 2 AM Friday morning. Eleven hours later I was in Rapid City SD eating lunch. Called the guy and went to look at the car which was a custom 300. Made the deal and loaded it on my trailer and headed east and was home before breakfast Saturday morning. Put just over 1400 miles on that day.
First time posting pictures so I hope this works

[mustang6984]

Unless there is some ugly not shown in the pics, looks like you have a solid base to work from! I think an FE with  tri-power would be the hot ticket...but then I am prejudiced...that's what I am going to run in mine!

Keep us in the loop please!   

[alvin stadel]

I grew up about 170 miles ne of Rapid City, I have lived in Mt for the last 43 years, but still have a lot of family and friends in SD and the Black Hills area. I have been going to Kool  Deadwood Nites since 1998, how ever I have missed the last 2 years.  The guy you bought the car from is his name Al Liget,[ a friend of mine] he has a bunch of 56 & 57 fords.

[RICH MUISE]

Much much better late than never, lol. Thanks for the story, and you obviously did figure out the pic posting. Keep the rest of the story coming please.

[glr7533]

Al Liget was the guy I purchased it from. It had been behind a house close to were he lives. He had been trying to buy it for several years. They guy that owned it finally decided to sell it to Al. I missed Deadwood last year but have my place reserved for this year.

[djfordmanjack]

that looks like a promising project and cool story along !
loving the maroon interior and old naugahyde seat cover, wild shifter !
Good luck with the project and thx for posting your efforts !

[lalessi1]

Unless there is some ugly not shown in the pics, looks like you have a solid base to work from! I think an FE with  tri-power would be the hot ticket...but then I am prejudiced...that's what I am going to run in mine!

Keep us in the loop please!   

I agree! The car looks pretty solid compared to some I have seen. Good luck on the projectI Of course I am partial to Customs with FE's!

[glr7533]

I may have been a little misleading with this post. I have had this car on the road for a few years but I want to post some of the pictures of the build and tell about some of my ideas and mistakes I made during the process. Here are a few of the pictures showing how the car looks now.

[glr7533]

Guess I don't have this picture posting down yet. There should have been pictures of the other side and front, not all of the left side.

[KULTULZ]

That '57 is pretty enough to make a grown (old) man cry ... sniff ...

[hiball3985]

SWEET!!!

[rmk57]

  Slick looking car you got there.

[RICH MUISE]

Love everything about that car. The color is perfect, as is the stance. I've always been torn between the 300 trim and the basic........yours goes so well with the color.
There are limitations on picture posting PER POST. Not only is the total pixel count limited to 4k per post, but there is a max of 4 pictures per post regardless of size. The 4 pic max was probably your problem.

[djfordmanjack]

THAT IS BRUTAL !

Making us prepare chips and drinks for a 5 year build and then shooting at us with this finished KILLER ride ! 

Very, very, very nice ! Loving everything about it.

[glr7533]

When I bought the car in the fall of 2014 I had just turned sixty and the plan was that I would work on it when I had time and hoped to have it done when I retired at sixty five. Life has a way of changing your plans. I was a lineman for the city. We had some power outages on a Sunday night and was called into work. I worked several hours that night in the wind using a 35 foot hot stick replacing fuses on the main lines. About 5 am the next morning I woke up and it felt like I had pulled a muscle in my left shoulder but no other problems. I have been on our local volunteer ambulance services for 40 years and had a good idea what was happening. I went to the hospital and they ran a bunch of tests that came back negative. My family Dr happened to be in the ER that morning and sent me upstairs for observation. They ran more tests that morning and my blood showed I had a heart attack. They sent me to another hospital for stents but ended up having five  bypass surgery. Everything went good and I was out of the hospital in five days and back to work in eleven weeks with no heart damage. That changed my outlook on life and I made the decision to retire a sixty two.