I bought a 55 Ford customline last night. A really nice car, restored. I bought it from a collector. My plans are to just drive the car as is for now and gradually transform it. I ordered the Aerostar van front coils for it today. I have a set of 2" blocks at the house from a previous project. It has a Continental Kit on it that will be removed and I need to add skirts. Would a period correct custom have OEM styled skirts or cruiser type skirts? Anyway, I would like to look up some info on some of the more famous 55 Fords, so I can try and learn a little about it. I'm a custom virgin, go easy, it's my first time. Root
This isn't historic or a 55 for that matter...but this car has made me want a 56 hardtop in the worst way. I'd lower it all around, the right tires/wheels, some period accessories and call it done
Root when I think iconic mid-year Fords I always think of Tony's (50Fraud) car. Doesn't help with the skirt delima but here are a couple pics to show the different looks. 421618-1351107495-9e15b6a93272423d1df14610f5b19e2e by G V Gordon posted Jun 9, 2016 at 9:46 AM Images (22) by G V Gordon posted Jun 9, 2016 at 9:46 AM 55Ford2 by G V Gordon posted Jun 9, 2016 at 9:46 AM For some reason I prefer 55-56s without skirts but that's just my 2 cents, which with inflation is worth about...nothing.
Should probably start with Rikster's site http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...like/ford_custom_cars/55-56_ford_custom_cars/
Frank Monteleon's '56, featured in the movie 'Hot Car Girl', is definitely iconic! I love the perfect bar grille and subtle molded grille shell, done by Barris.
Be sure to join up here too. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/social-forums/1952-59-ford-social-group.282/
They were usually done as a mild custom. Factory skirts, Mercury station wagon tail lights, lowered, nosed and decked, with a nice paint job. Cruiser skirts a little too much if you ask me. If you want to do an East Coast gook wagon theme keep the Conny kit and add the cruisers for a start.
It's not a hardtop. It was a Texas car it's entire life. I'm not feeling the Continental kit and I really don't want a bunch of doo dads hanging all over it. It also has Thunderbird baskets on the wheels , which bring decent money to the restorer crowd. I like the pic posted by Jeff. He has seen the car so he has some insight. I don't have any good pics. I just got home last night at midnight. I do have this one. Sorry about the shadow.
Root my last '55 was never a custom but when I got the body it has some interesting pieces. Like lee lenses for instance, the merc tail lights are cool but I think that lee lenses would be slick on the post car and I am sure that you can still get them new. I would not go nutz lowering it but slightly down in the snout would be smooth, maybe a little work with the bumpers and a tube grill is a must have. I personally like the '56 parking lights better than the '55s. OK I am not helping you one bit I know but I can see it. Maybe this will help you get started.
You should prob open the question up to 56s as well as 55s with the similarity between the two. As far as skirts go, either are good choices, but if I was going to run skirts, I'd run the Cruisers or nothing at all. It's a more custom look as opposed to a factory addition. If you want a set, I still have a set of steel ones that need a little work but are savable. I'll make you a good deal on them. The grill already has a good mouth to add whatever teeth or bar strikes your fancy. The tail lights are an open book too. Lower it, cruise it. It's a great looking car to begin with
That could be home made but that is basically what they sold as a tube grill when I was a kid you could get them about anyplace that custom or speed parts were sold even JC Whittney sold a nice one.
I kinda like the grille in the Larry Watson car. Still undecided. I need to determine the overall look I am after and then proceed.
lee lenses and a tube grill would be pretty neat. here is a company that still builds grills. no idea what they cost. http://www.glorygrills.com/
So, explain lee lenses. Are they a special look or material? I'm serious, I have no idea. I'm a hot rod guy.
Lee lenses were made to fit into stock tail light bezels but be smooth, made for all kinds of stuff, sometimes they would eliminate a reverse light (54 Chevy for example) or in the case of a '56 Chev, they would take up the whole outer bezel instead of just being a little bullet insert. On a '55 Ford, they're almost just flat. 1960 Dodge car tail light assemblies will bolt onto the '55 Ford and they have a hooded top that mimics the Ford headlight bezel, it's a very nice look and complete pairs with decent chrome and lenses regularly pop up on eBay for $100 or less. Those tube grilles were offered by Cal Custom years ago, I have one in my '52 Ford currently but (oddly enough) I'm considering swapping it out for a cut-down '55 Ford grille bar. The old tube grilles come up for sale occasionally too, I have a couple other old ones, one from a '57 Ford and one from a '62 Impala. Wouldn't be too hard to make, find one from a 70's Chevy truck or van and just cut the ends down to fit in between your parking lights (assuming you keep the big round parking lights). The undesirable year/model ones can be bought cheap and modified.
Lee lenses or Lee tail lights - You used to see the ads in the back of hot rod and custom car magazines in the fifties and sixties. The Lee Plastic Compay of Detroit made smooth lenses to fit most cars and give them a custom look. I believe the lenses were moulded out of sheets of red Plexiglass. They also made white ones with a red design in the middle. http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Lee_Plastic_Company
That's correct. The material actually looks like the inserts to a florescent office light except a deep red. They also give off a cool "starburst" glow when the tail lights come on. They look good
Got to give respect where its due, I like the less is more look of the 55 ford Gas Monkey Garage did. I agree to lose the continental kit and "maybe" a altitude adjustment....(tweak wheels tires???)..done! (I thought the gas monkey car would have looked a lot better with the real,original type chrome reverse wheels with no caps ....and maybe even black walls but.....)
I think that those are Corvette grill teeth on the Watson Car. They were commonly used back the and pretty easy to come by. The car presents a good canvas for a panel paint job, in my mind Hawaiian Bronze and Root beer would be sharp as a tack.
54 Chev on Watsons, that's the best on the 55-56's. Mid 50's mayflowers look good to... Total bar grilles are the worst. I had one on our 55 ragtop and hated it. No connies for me..
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