Projects Scarce Parts

Hello, Newbie here. Am having '57 Fairlane 500 restored and some parts are giving us trouble. The folks doing the work tell me they can't find rear shocks for the car. Also the roof drip rails seem to be non-existent. Any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Terry

 

Get in touch with @JeffB2 here on the Hamb. There is a 52-59 Ford social group that he is involved with (or started?) and there is lots of info to to be had there.

 

rockauto.com shows rear shocks for $15 a piece....several options.

The drip rails you'd have to find used, they won't reproduce parts like that.

 

As @squirrel says:

My son alerted me to Rock Auto 3 years back...Now it's my first stop when looking for hard to find parts...
My rings for my 406 (N.O.S. Factory pistons) were N/A., however.
A sharp agent at KANTER'S found a set in one of their warehouses.
Nobody had these rings... Oh, they were discounted to me (because it took the next day 'til they found 'em:
Discounted to $90.00, the agent sent them FREE SHIPPING!)
Let your fingers do the walking...

 

I found rear shocks on the Advance Auto site as well, I suspect if you go to any of the big box store websites they'll have them too.

 

Makes me wonder why the people you hired to do the work can't find fairly common suspension parts like shocks. How far into restoring your car are they? Seen any of their finished work?

 

Pics of drip rails

 

I would be very concerned with the shop you are using.

 

you stated its a restoration !! so are you looking for FoMoCo OEM 1957 shocks? they are out there , same with drip rails .
its going to take some work to find ,
Some one needs to do time looking & posting in wants & looking for those parts , There where people that would go buy up old dealership parts & have them stashed & selling , Let us know if your looking for OEM , I will send a private message, It would be a start .
But several of these people are up in age and are starting to p***,
Has your restore heard of
""Hershey""".

In Pa & you can buy a Hershey candy bar!!!!

 

If your having a 57 Ford restored by anyone that hasn't heard of Dennis Carpenter your in the wrong shop. If it's just paint work maybe your okay. Drip rail for these body's has never been reproduced far as I know. Neither has the S.S. trim if that's what you need.

 

P.S. Real restoration shops are supposed to be able to hand build missing or N.A. pieces.

 

You failed to fill out the information about where you live. I have a junk 57 Fairlane that you may be able to use the drip rails off of if you are close.

 

OP hasn't been back since starting this thread.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Shock "problem" has been resolved. Working on drip rails.

 

Have to concur with several posts. Hard to find a resto shop that will put in the time to find parts. Time is money. If your car is taking up space, it's costing them. A lot of shops will take short cuts to get it out the door and you don't want that. Hunting parts is the fun part of restoration to me. It shouldn't become a h***le. If it is, something is wrong. Just my 2 cents. Won't buy a hamburger.

 

I agree with previous posts. Even retired English teachers know that you should find another restoration shop that's reputable.

 

Jeez, give the guy a break, he's new.

When you're referring to drip rails, are you talking about the moldings, or actual sections of the roof? If you mean moldings, keep in mind that the pieces from any 57-58 Fairlane, be it 2 door hardtop or 4 door sedan or anything in between, may be the same trims. All '57 Fairlane models (not Customs, and not Skyliners) used the same roof skin, so the drip rail moldings I think would be the same. '58 has a different roof skin but I think those trims didn't change since the door tops didn't change.

All I'm saying is, if you're doing a 2 door hardtop, you might not necessarily need to find drip rail moldings specific to a 2 door hardtop, just any Fairlane coupe or sedan.

And if you find some in a junkyard, bring an old style can opener with you. Wrap electrical tape around the rounded off end and use it to gently pry the bottom lip of the molding free (I'll have to look to make sure 57 Ford uses that style molding, but I think they did) Lots of those trims get destroyed y people who tried to beat them off with screwdrivers or wrenched on them too hard.

 

Where are you?
With a group the size of the HAMB, there could be some close by on a junker or parts derelict.

 

I tried the can opener trick on my '60. tended to distort the S.S. I ended up using a wood chisel about 1" wide and tapping the inner edge and the S.S. popped right off without any distortion

 

I see that the shock issue has been resolved but there is indeed the thing of needing correct Ford shocks rather than aftermarket shocks if you are going to show in major Ford shows that judge every bit and piece for originality. Blue shocks, or yellow shocks or white shocks cost points on the judging sheet even if they drive great going down the road.

 

@Squablow Any way you could possibly show a pic of this old style can opener and tape job. Thanks!

 

I think he’s speaking of this style.

 

Like this. Although electrical tape is better than the masking tape in my pic. Sometimes you have to bend the center section out or the end of the opener hits the gl*** before it can grip the underside lip. And you're only trying to move that underside lip a little bit, if you get overly aggressive, it'll bend the molding. Start at one end and work your way down. I've taken off a ton of drip rail moldings this way and I've been very successful, even on rusty cars, as long as you're gentle it seems to work well.

 

That's really cool! I have one that says Pabst Blue Ribbon on it. No idea where I got it, but I've had it for years and still use it in my kitchen.

 

@Budget36 @Squablow Thanks for the photos and explanation. Forgot all about those can openers. And I'm even old enough to have used them!

I have been thinking of a better way to get the drip rail trim off a 59 Ford wagon. Thats a long trim piece.