Technical A Kid's First Project: 1957 Fairlane 500 Town Victoria.

I have one of those Ford accessory Rotunda rubber floor mats in my '57 Chevy. I don't think they're super rare, but it fits nice and looks cool, even if it's the wrong brand for my car. Scrub the shit out of it and save it, if you end up making your own carpets they make a good alternative to a sewn-in heel pad.

 

It's filthy from daily driver duty (white rubber floor mats aren't a great idea in any scenario I don't think) but you can see the Ford logo and the GT40 on them, the old mats are pretty neat. Mine was kinda wavy at first but after it had laid over the hump for a while it took the shape of the floors real nice.

 

Im waiting on tires right now, and doing other things while waiting for them to show up. Once the tires are on, its getting pushed to the garage to get the motor freed up.

 

Also, im kind of scared to remove the valve covers because i dont knownif they will seal back up once ive freed them all.

 

That's more typical than you think. The mirrors and antenna were dealer-installed in those days (to prevent breakage/theft in shipping) and may or may not be genuine Ford as many dealers would use aftermarket items. The lack of AC, power brakes and seat was the norm on all but the most highly optioned cars. While power steering and auto trans were becoming popular, the lack of same wasn't uncommon as some buyers were still suspicious of 'new fangled' stuff like that. If that's the original motor, it's a 272 as that was the only V8 choice that year with a 2-barrel carb. It also has the optional oil-bath air cleaner (a bit rare, as Ford was touting paper filters in their first year of use), and somebody checked the dual-exhaust option (very common). The nicer cloth interior was standard on the upscale Fairlane, along with wheel covers.

All in all, it looks like a car that was ordered with economy of operation in mind. Could have been special order, may have been a dealer who knew his customer base. I'm a bit surprised the BW OD trans wasn't ordered, but if it was a 'town' car it may have been felt that wasn't needed.

 

^^^^
Take heed The_Cat_Of_Ages

I know I may sound like a broken record repeating my self over an over again. (Ha!...funny thing? Young guys these days may have no idea what a "broken record" sound likes or even what the phrase means.)
Have you got this title tag registration issue sorted out?
It's really a nice car. It can make a really nice car, a really nice driver for not that much money as long as you don't go nuts and have realistic expectations.
Sure! You can fix it up and hope you can get it tagged in Ohio but that's risky.
If you do that, you may have to take back to Alabama or some state like that and sell it.

This car is going to require what may seem an insurmountable amount of work and money. This is not really so, but but it may seem that way once you really get into it. It's going to require a lot of hard and dirty manual labor to get it up to snuff.
Before you invest in all that.
Make_sure_you_can_get_the _dang_thing_tagged!!!
This would be my first priority. Get the Ohio state tag thing going now!!!
I would message 31 Vicky.

It would really suck for you to get it running and driving and looking nice only to find you can't register it in your state.

 

^^^^^
This is what you want. No B.S.
It's a manual, manual car which is good. No odd ball Baloney and 65 year old automatic transmissions.

 

That is not too odd as far as options go. The Chevrolets, Plymouths and Fords were the low price three. Quite a few were made with manual transmissions and manual steering and brakes. Nice car.

 

The original owner said he would help, hes registered more than one 60s alabama car up here in ohio.

 

Its a c on the vin, meaning its a thunderbird 292

 

At least the mats are good for a template to make new mats.

 

Anyway, ive had the car for 3 days, im just trying to fix as much random things on it while im waiting for tires to show up so i can move it again.

 

That just means that's what it had from the factory; you have yet to determine just which motor you do have. The 272 and 292 are visually identical from the outside. The '57 292 had a Holley 4-barrel carb, there was no 292 2-barrel option; the 292 2-barrel didn't appear until the following year. So at the very least someone has swapped the 2-barrel carb and intake onto your motor, assuming it's the original. That would also explain the oil-bath air cleaner if a truck carb and intake was used which now seems likely. But it could also be a truck-spec 272 or 292 if the motor was replaced.

You'll need to do some detective work with casting/distributor numbers to figure out just what you do have. After 60+ years, finding a non-original motor in one of these isn't uncommon. Broken crankshafts wasn't a uncommon failure and usually required replacing the whole motor as the block would be damaged beyond repair. If the motor was replaced, chances are good that it is a 292 (just not the T-bird spec version) as the 272 disappeared in cars after '57, although it did hang around in trucks for a few more years.

 

where is the engine casting number so i can check? i was told it was a 292 and it has the code for me to believe it. because it does have a holley, and i thought that the holleys were on the 292s. (as ive heard on the aaca forums)

 

also, there are no mice in this car, not in the vents, not in the trunk, not in the seats, nothing, its so odd compared to what im used to dealing with, i removed the blower motor and was ready to clean it out and found it to be empty, so i oiled the blower motor with air tool lubricant and reinstalled it.

 

It has a 2-barrel Holley, not the 4-barrel it should have if it was all original. Most everything you need to know to identify what you have is here: Y-Block Guy (yblockguy.com) As Ford used the same block casting for both the 312 and 292 most years, you have to open the motor up to really pin down what you have. Partial '57 engine choices here: The Classic Ford facts about Classic 1957 Ford Engines . There was several hi-po 312 engines also available with 2 4-barrel carbs as well as a supercharged version.

The 4-barrel-equipped Y-block was gone from the Ford car line after '57, Mercury used a 4-barrel 312 in '58, everything after that was a 2-barrel. Some '56-57 trucks used a 4-barrel also, but those are rare. Do check the cylinder head casting numbers also, sometimes that's a better indicator of what you have. One interesting anomaly is Ford used a different head on the automatic-equipped cars for a slight increase in compression (and HP).

When Ford came out with the FE in '58, the Y-block became the 'base' V8 in full-size Ford cars (in 292 2-barrel versions only) until '62. It was replaced with the Windsor small block in '63, initially with the 260 but Ford quickly upgraded to the 289 as the 260 was a real dog in the large cars.

 

man, i dunno, ive read plenty about them coming with two barrels, and the original owner (owned from 1957-2021) has even said its the original, its a two barrel 292, ive heard about them on aaca before

 

All I can tell you is I've never seen an original '55-57 292 or 312 that didn't have a 4-barrel carb and I've seen more than my fair share of them. And there's no factory documentation that says otherwise. Could the dealers have changed them out for 2-barrels? That's possible... the '55-56 teapot Holleys had a bad reputation, some buyers may have thought the new-for-'57 Holley was just as bad and had the dealer do a swap.

 

While you wait for tires. You can pull the gas tank clean it and blow out the fuel line, replace the rubber at the fuel pump. Pull the spark plugs and add some penetrating oil just to soak it.
drain the fluids and put oil and filter on.
I would leave the distributor as it is and just clean the points and make sure the wires are in the correct spot. Did I mention you should check out 57forever forums and get a 57 Ford manual?

 

understood, funnily enough, the brake lines appear to be original and not that rusty for their age, same with the fuel lines, im still gonna replace them anyway, and it came with several sets of points, my father suggested that the ballast resistor could be shot if its going through points that fast

 

I tried to tell you that that car should have never left Alabama without a current 2022 Alabama tag. Now it's a "mystery car" with no paper trail. That boat has sailed.
Good luck. You need to get the registration ball rolling now!

There's just too much money and labor at stake.

Cat, Before you put any real money in this car, you have to know if can even drive it in your state.

I'm not trying to be an ass, I just would hate for you to spend a year or two and a lot money only to find out you can't get it tagged or you have to pay an unexpected amount of money to do so. Get that all settled or at least started now.

Below are a series of photos of my 51 Ford. Maybe this will give you some idea of what is ahead for you.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^ First day at my place. It was unloaded the night before. It barely made up the drive way but it was under it's own power.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^ One reason it ran so poorly...just look at those plugs and old wires.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^I have a good spare engine and left over F1 truck parts so I had to make functioning throttle linkage. The car was unsafe and throttle/gas pedal was not really functional. The PO attempted to fix this at the floor with that goofy plate and blue plastic nut as a bushing. That junk did not work. The problem was in the linkage. Notice the bailing wire on the porch door spring where it was wrapped around the generator.
I also pulled the starter and cleaned up all the cables and connections. The car would barely crank. A simple clean up and confirming the right size cables fixed the cranking issue.
I also put a kit in the carburetor I had on the spare engine.
Expect to fix stuff like this.

Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^The exhaust was the first big deal. The wrong size bolts were used galling the threads on the front exhaust bolt holes. This was a big deal. It took days and days under the car fooling around and babying those threads. I was able to get them repaired.
Then there was fitting the headers.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^Brakes!!!! Here was a lot of dirty hard work. Most of my steel lines had recently been replaced. I had to replace the three rubber hoses, the two fronts and the single rear. I had the drums turned. All 4 backing plates were grooved thus possibly catching and interfering with how the shoes slide on the backing plate. This is often over looked and can cause problems. I was able to clean the grooves up with a dremel and a file. Sometimes if the backing plates are severely damaged, the grooves have to be welded and the pads that the shoes slide on restored. Mine were not that bad. The replacement shoes were too fat for the hardware so I had to grind some areas on the shoes for proper fitment.
Brake work is tedious. The first wheel takes the longest, maybe hours. By the time you get the last one done, you can do it pretty quick.
Stuff like this you'll have to do. A shop will not take the time to properly go over stuff and fit stuff.
I had planned to rebuild the 4 wheel cylinders. Come to find out only the front passenger cylinder was able to be rebuilt. The other 3 were locked up beyond repair.
It was only braking fully on the passenger front, basically only on one wheel. I had only yard driven and run the car up and down the street in my rural neighborhood.
I was able to rebuild the master on the car. If you ever own a shoebox with the under the floor master, you'll understand why I went that route. Honestly I could have skipped rebuilding the master as I had a good pedal, I went ahead so all the cylinders were renewed.
The passenger front wheel bearing grease looked like it was full of glitter. The passenger front wheel bearing had failed. It also damaged the race. There was some pitting of the driver side race as well. So new beaing and races for the front.....Using the wrong tool, namely no tool, I destroyed one race by trying to drive it in with the old bearing...DUMB MOVE Use a proper tool to drive in a bearing race. Either buy or rent a bearing race driver/installer. So...I had to get a new race to replace the new race I destroyed by being cheap and dumb.
You'll run into this too. Not only do you need to replace the worn/bad parts but also the good parts you screw up. Woops!
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^tires
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^This is where experience and care comes in. Being patient and knowing how to get parts off of a 70 year old car without destroying them or the brackets they mount too...like that brake clip and bracket.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^ expect off the wall stuff like this goofy tank and leaking sender. This was really a surprise at the gas pump.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^I had to renew the fuel system. The main thing was replacing that crumby tank off of who knows what. That was a big job. There was a time the....Issue was in doubt.....but it all came together after a few days of fighting that tank. Again...plenty of under the car time. You will get very familiar with the underside of that 57 Ford.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^It's hard to see but the car is fresh from the muffler shop with new pipes. The tips are in the shadows.
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
^^^^ First big drive at my daughter's new place.
Not mentioned....
All the electrical work using the right parts and tools to get the brake lights working. See Steve's Wiring 101 | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com).
The rear axle work...replacing a pinion seal. It's not pouring like it was but it still leaks a little. This may have to do with me putting the seal in.... backwards.....Hey I had a 50/50 shot. Anyway I got screwed up with where it seals. Remember what I just said about sometimes you'll screw up stuff and have to re-do it?
Oh, I have a new carburetor coming. My old one that had been built several times is leaking gas so I got a new one.
I'm probably forgetting a lot.
Likely just roughly figuring.....
I figure I have about $3500 to $5000 in parts and stuff to get this car drivable.
Your 57????
Expect something close to this in parts costs and labor...lots of dirty labor to get just the car in order.. Then you have that engine.
Some of the new stuff I have not used like the new dash harness and NOS senders. I'm going to use it but not yet.
Some stuff like above I put on the shelf for future use.
I still need to get more stuff, namely a bead roller to fix the floor.
I might could have gotten by cheaper....but not by much. $27 for this seal, $50 for that part, $700 order from this place.....$150 from the parts store......It all adds up quick. It's best not to keep score.
I posted this so you can see what's coming. Now this has all been spread out over a year's time. The big thing is the labor, the work.

They will nickel and dime you to death but it's really fun.

 

it actually left alabama with current registration... 11 years ago, then it just sat up here in ohio.

but we have some of a plan, re register it to his summer place in alabama or one of his family members, then have a family member send the plate and registration up here to his new place, and then get a notarized bill of sale, and hope to God that the bmv decides to eventually co-operate.

 

also, wiring is my forte, since i daily drive an ex cop car, i have had to rewire a ton of random things, with how simple the wiring is on these, it should be a piece of cake

 

C-code in 1957 is a 292 2 bbl, available on all models, even Thunderbird could be ordered with a 292-2V. 4 barrel optional. B code is 272.

 

Had a guy in out T-Bird club in St Louis that had a 57 bird with a 292-2bbl and a 3 speed OD. I think 57 was the only year you could get a little bird with a 2 bbl carb.

 

alright so im not just losing my mind. i was starting to think it wasnt actually a 2bbl, or like a weird 4bbl

 

Correct. I actually worked at a restoration shop that specialized in 55-57 Thunderbirds and the whole time I worked there I saw one original C-code car, they were only made in '57 and very rarely ordered but it definitely was a thing.

 

i found that the squarebodies battery tray decided not to come in one piece

 

another note, there is no carpet struck under the seats, kick plates, or anything, was it possible to order a car without carpet installed?

 

OK...Lets look at how engines/drivetrains "stick" on an old car.
1. On a straight shift (manual transmission) car the pressure plate can be rusted to the flywheel. When this happens the engine will not turn if it's in gear. In neutral to turn the engine means you'll also be turning the transmission.

An old trick on farm trucks was to pull them with a tractor in gear with the driver depressing and releasing the clutch. Most of the time they will "Pop" loose.
^^^ Not recommended on a car with no brakes.

2. The following seems to be common on a Y block, a "Stuck Starter Bendix". What happens here is the Bendix will " stick" or bind against the flywheel. The bendix could be rusty or for what ever reason sticks out. This can bind the engine tight. Sometimes the engine can be turned backwards. This is opposite how the bendix engages so the engine can be turned backward but not forwards. If the starter was tried on the car, the bendix may be stuck out thus locking it up.

Solution...Try to turn the engine backwards or opposite of it's running rotation. The next step is to remove the starter. Now try to turn it with the starter removed. On a locked up engine, always remove the starter and see if they will turn.

3. Corrosion. Corrosion can stick the engine at the rings. If the rings are stuck to the cylinders, of course it will not turn. If the rings are stuck to the pistons, it will not turn or be difficult to to turn.

^^^^ Rare but possible....A stuck distributor can stick an engine. Since the cap was off of your distributor. It may be locked up there. If pinestraw can get in there water can too.

A few month from now you'll look back at this comment and laugh. A leaky valve cover is the least of your worries. If you notice some exhaust manifold bolts are missing. No telling what or who is in the engine or oil. The distributor cap has been left off......
In short, you will need to take this engine down at least to the short block. You may have to do this just to free it.
At first glance, I think it needs to and probably will come out for a rebuild.