Projects 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible rescued

Did you ever find or get a replacement vin tag for the door jam? We guess you bought it and not a collector in Pennsylvania? It's turning out nice, white top?

 

i just realized you havent had this car for a year and its already in beautiful condition, you work fast.
another note, how do you fasten trim? i have a few loose/bent trim pieces.

 

Got it

 

Black top.

 

Got the windshield in without breaking it!!! We are getting good at this. Back bumper is on. The rest of the trim is next and the door handles.
I’m dreading putting the door glass in, it was very hard to get out as were the door opening and lock mechanisms.

 

ahh, thats even more impressive then!
car is in wonderful condition, i also didnt realize the dash bolts on and isnt welded on like a chevy.

i replaced my door glass on my 4 door sedan, it only took me an hour at most, i dont know how hard it is for hardtop glass though.

 

I took her for a drive around the block.
Hopefully I’ll have the dash painted and installed next week.

I also wanted to show you a couple of pedal cars I’ve had for many years. The big one was made in India.

 

The tail finned Indian pedal car is really neat. I tend not to think about India having a car culture but they actually hold the record for the longest production run of a single model in history.

 

Some more pics.
She’s almost done, just the top left.
I’ve never done one, but I think I want to give it a shot. Does anyone have bay advice?
The dashboard was a pain in the ass getting back on.

 

Dash looks great.

The only advice I have on doing a convertible top is from my old boss who did them all the time on early Thunderbirds, he would put a brick of styrofoam in between the header bow and the top of the windshield as kind of a spacer, about the size of a regular red brick like you'd use in a house, or maybe a bit smaller, like a chunk of 2x4 sized. He would put all the nails and tacks and stuff in with the top in this position as tight as he could pull it by hand, so that way when the block was removed and the top was in the full "up" position, it would be really tight. The framework would stretch it the rest of the way. Helped get the wrinkles out.

Also, hard rubber strips pop riveted into place makes really good replacement tack strip, better than that folded up cardboard pulpy stuff they used at the factory. You can buy it in bulk, it's also used in a lot of coupes and sedans as replacement tack strips for windlace and headliners and whatnot. Same stuff but thicker works great on a convertible top. You wouldn't need the pop rivets if your top parts have all the original fold over tabs but sometimes the rivets are necessary, use aluminum ones in case you hit one with a tack.

I'd say to leave the original top pads in place as a length reference and replace them one at a time but it appears you had none left to begin with so that's useless. That's about all I know about convertible tops.

 

Good score!!!-----------Mine in 1957.---
Son is now 65 years old!!!

 

Love it!!!

 

wow

 

Wait-What ?!.............57 Fords din'nut have padded vinyl dashes..........did they ??!
57 Fordz have ALWAYS been on my Fav list.
6sally6

 

it was an option, kind of rare but nonetheless available.

 

If the dash is rust and it has the trim holes. It most likely has a padded dash. Either way they are expensive and still warp

 

Ford offered padded dashes starting in '56, initially as a safety option in their 'Lifeguard' package. You also got padded sun visors, a deep-dish steering wheel and optional seat belts. Usually only seen on the upscale Fairlanes but weren't all that rare. Unfortunately, the rubber Ford used for padding 'melted' over time and most got removed. Any you see today are almost certainly repos. Padded dashes were available every year after '56 as either an option or standard on the top models until '63 when they became standard on the full-size and most Falcons and Fairlanes.

 

This one did, luckily repros are available, but expensive and hard to fit. It was part of the safety package and included seat belts.

 

Hey @Nads
That is such a cool project, really very impressive results from your efforts.
It's one thing to have a 57 Ford.
It's totally another thing to have a 57 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible.
Definitely one of my favorite cool cars from the 50's.
Thanks for sharing from Dennis.

 

If you still have the OG paint on the Jambs and door, there will be a "Lifeguard design" sticker on the drivers side.
my '57 had it, padded dash, belts, padded visors.

 

I love your custom job