Projects 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible rescued

Thought I would share pictures of a car I recently rescued. This 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible has been sitting in a carport right under my nose, for over 30 years. Coworker told me about it and after months of back and forth with deceased’s family, finally grabbed it Saturday morning.
The plan all along was to rescue it and get it into the hands of someone, whom would give it a new lease on life. As we speak a gentleman in Pennsylvania wants it. Big red flags are no ***le and missing VIN tag.
Overall not horrible and definitely not a parts car. Seems to be complete. Deluxe model with 312 4 BBL, Automatic transmission AM radio and clock.
Karma a big deal to me, so thinking the old man would have wanted it restored instead of sent to the s**** yard.

 

Apparently the guy used to work for the city LONG before I got there. Worst part was moving all the **** in front of it. And speaking of **** there were huge piles of turds all over it! Yikes!! Yes we all wore masks and gloves. Wish I could have got the trunk open. Ran out of time.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/rP4pb3hWi60?feature=share

 

Well, at least it looks like it's all there. That missing VIN tag may prove to be a problem though... that'll be a big red flag some places. I'd hunt down one of the alternate serial locations and make sure it wasn't stolen.

 

That house looks like it should be rescued!

 

Cool. Could be the tag was in the house in some junk. Check the glove box!!!!! Lippy

 

Most likely getting torn down to build new expensive one. Property in that neighborhood going crazy

 

Cool Fairlane and nice car trailer as well.

 

Yup, the vin number is on the right frame rail behind the upper control arm. I'd keep digging for the tag inside the mess.

 

Big News yesterday!! Ramblur, Nads and I got the trunk/treasure chest open, although had no choice but to slice n dice the trunk lid. Don’t feel bad because spare tire bracket had caused huge rust holes in that section. Trunk lid is fairly rust-free otherwise.
Found lots of **** and a few treasures inside. Also decided to clean out rest of car, looking for additional keys, paperwork or treasures.
Also…amazingly the engine turns over and is not stuck!! This sealed the deal with the new owner up in Pennsylvania. He is committed to giving “Raven”a full restoration. More than 100 1957 Fords in his portfolio. Glad it’s going to a good home.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/JRrOhrjyCE4?feature=share

 

It was a blast digging it out with you and my son. Nasty work but still what we live for.

 

Unreal find

 

Nice job!

It's amazing how much better that car looks with those black steelies and WWW on it.

 

Agreed, they're 15" off of a shoebox, but they definitely look better than the 14s

 

Ragtops are rad!

 

We own it now, and yesterday we got it running. Thanks JT

 

Here he(Raven) is in all its glory
Was a stubborn ole sum*****
Kinda like trying to wake up R.I.P. Van Winkle, after a 35 year nap
So happy to be involved in this
https://youtube.com/shorts/iQJHpIOB5H8?feature=share

 

Very cool!

 

you are the man. So thrilled you got your friend's '39 Ford hot rod through this circuitous deal. It's beautiful that you're bringng it back to life in his memory.

 

We are trying to figure out the paint and trim codes. Somewhere there's a Ford expert that knows these things. Thanks for the link, Jeff.

 

Is the whole VIN located on the frame? I mean eng/paint/interior etc. codes?

Mike

 

I see both. I think it may be Colonial White over Inca Gold two-tone