Projects Opinions on which way I should go with my build.

Nice. Simple and clean.
The side trim looks great

 

Really bugs me when guys give this advice to new people in the hobby! I can only be 100% sure of anything from my own experience. In 1981 I started building a customized 55 Olds. Went to the first Lead East, and Sledscene East in 1983. In primer, not finished. At Sledscene (Virginia Beach, that year), Barry Mazza (Herb Ogden Buick, Aztec) sat me down, as a young 24 YO enthusiast, and told me to enjoy this, it's probably at it's peak, and may go down from here.
I was not dismayed, and kept with it, while the revival of Kustoms grew and grew. I eventually finished my customization, including shopping the top, and running in promer for a few years. Then paint. I did all the bodywork and prep in my driveway, and painting it in Manny Bastiao's (Les Cove chopped, hard-topped, and sectioned Merc) shop, where I worked part time.
I always wanted my car to look it's best and didn't skimp on prep and paint, and I never regretted it. Put over 150K miles on it from 83-2003, and even with the chips and road rash, it still gets lots of looks.
In the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, I was gassing up, and a guy came up to me, and complimented the car, and asked where the trailer was. He would not believe I drove it, and was even more shocked to see the NJ license plates. Told me I couldn't have driven that "show car" all the way from NJ!
Do your best to make the car as nice as you can. Call in favors, ask friends to help. Rent a spray booth, if you can't afford someone to paint it, or get a friend to do it. You will NEVER regret making your old car look great!

 

Hello,

Most old cars have their own identity. Some look better in the stock configuration from the factory. But, to make a build to your choice, option two seems the better way to go, but with a single color. There should be no "cheap" in any build. Afterall, it is based on your choices. We have had plenty of cars in our family over the years. From a black 49 Buick to a 58 Impala to a red Ford Sedan Delivery. The only odd ball car was a two toned 53 Buick sedan that gave us all a weird feeling.

For us, it was different, but the look was not for the two young brothers. It was a stodgy family car and needed some changes. It was reliable and drove all over California from San Francisco down 150 miles South of the Baja Mexico border on a camping/fishing trip. But, you are making your Ford reliable, so it is back to the look or style.

similar
1956 Ford Sedan fresh off of the salt flats 1961.
Friday Art
The 56 Ford sedan was offered to us by our friend in Los Angeles. It had a different look, but our friend was trying to get us to stay in the hot rod/racing arena with this different build. I drove it and it was powerful for a street car and had history in the dry lakes racing. So, it was a strong possibility. But, if it had been painted a two tone color, it would have been like a CHP car or local police car. We liked the look, but opted out at the time.
similar
The two tone paint was not to our liking. In high school, one of our friends had a two tone 53 Chevy sedan. It was a first time car and was cool to ride around in our cruising area. But, the look of the two tone was like driving your dad’s family car around with a bunch of teenagers. So, he did the custom thing. All white tuck and roll upholstery, roof/trunks, etc, and a nice new one color paint that instantly made the car a cool looking design.

The 53 Chevy Bel Air was the first in our group to get the full treatment of all white tuck and roll while being a daily driver to high school and to the beach with the rear seat out to accommodate the longboards.
similar in look and style

Jnaki

The contrast of the all white tuck and roll upholstery made the one color custom paint stand out like no other. It was plenty of miles of happy usage of this once two tone factory paint into a custom car for a bunch of teenagers’ weekend escapades. It was lowered, but with several teenagers inside, it got lower to the point of CHP stopping us for a safety check. Of course, we knew the low limit and when all of us got out of the car, it was raised back to the legal measuring limits. Ha!

Unless you are planning on a reliable build that you would have no qualms about reliability, the two tone will make your Ford look odd. Like a stock 53 Chevy from the factory. Keep it a color you are ok with for daily maintenance and unless you are a super finish painter/detailer, watch out for the dark colors. But at least keep it one color. 60s style was for most of us, one color, perhaps with some pinstriping in various places. The fancy flames and scallops were usually for the custom cars that were not daily drivers to school or work.

They were great to see, but for a daily driver, it was too much maintenance and worry when parked out of sight of a restaurant, schools or a movie theater. YRMV

 

My 53. Lowered, but not slammed. Simple, but clean with contrasting color steelies and blackwalls. Regardless of being chastised by some, SBF Windsor and 3 on the tree. Runs fine, fit fine, not afraid to drive it. I would agree a dark color is hot in the summer.

 

Shiny paint, level lowered stance, 15" wheels with hubcaps, lose the spotlights.

Interior - consider late model seats with new black covers, don't use the headrests, full size car. Getting the backseat to work is a chore, but if you can install a seat cover, you can install one on a modified frame too (stretch and hog ring), do the rest in black. Recover or rebuild the door cards etc.

Paint - you can do yourself, single stage non metallic allows you to clean up defects.

Hubcaps, there plenty of 70's cars with good looking hubcaps, don't be afraid to take them apart and change up

 

Whichever path you choose, you will not make everyone happy. So don't try to. If you build a custom, you will piss off people who like performance. If you build a gasser, you will piss off customizers. If you build it modern, you'll piss off traditionalists. If you build it traditional, you'll piss off pro-touring and modern customizers. If you do any of the above, you'll piss off the purists and restorers. I could go on. The bottom line is that you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. So don't bother trying to make everyone happy or look for that validation from others. It's not going to happen. So build it to make yourself happy. That said, I'll add these two things;
1- Whatever style you choose, pick one and go with it. Carry the theme throughout. Do not try to make the car a combination of styles. It doesn't work. The worst styled cars are the ones that try to be a little bit of everything. The best styled cars have a cohesive scheme throughout and do not deviate from it.
2 - Build the car to the best of your ability. Even people who don't like your style will respect a well put together car. That means good bodywork, shiny paint, chrome, actual upholstery, and so on. I couldn't disagree more with the notion that nice shiny paint means you can't take drive the car. That's bullshit and a cop out. And FWIW, shiny paint is easier to take care of that primer all day, every day.

 

I Didn't notice until @indyjps pointed them out, but yeah, lose the spotlights.
As far as paint is concerned.... if you're going to drive it, don't dump a huge amount of $$ into a paint job. The first chip you get will have you pissed off to enjoy it. Do a 'decent' paint job and let it go at that.... $15K paint looks good up close, but $4K paint looks SUPER going down the road!

 

My opinion which don't count for much says, whatever direction you go; punch some lovers in the hood. In one small move, people know it isn't stock.

 

Thanks everyone for all the input! I've made my decision. I'm going with option #2. I had a pic posted of the general direction I'm headed but Moriarity decided it wasn't HAMB friendly. I have a buddy that owns a local paint/body shop that's painted a couple of my cars over the years and I'm hoping to get a good price from him. Money is set aside for wheels/tires and paint. It's the crazy interior prices that are scaring me!

 

My 2 cents... being a traditional forum there are a few categories that come to mind for me. You need to decide what you are trying to replicate, thats what we do here is replicate the vibe, look and feel of the past. High school kids gut cruisin rod in the late 50s? Show stoppin custom? Drag strip terror? Stop light to stop light tire squealer? Once you know what youre trying to replicate its a lot easier to fimd options that fit in that category. Personally ive always been a fan of the young guys cruiser, driveway paint job that looks good, tuck n roll mom did, some saweet hubcaps, tube radio that hums, glass packs for some rumble, maybe nosed and decked with frenched headlights for a little extra cool

 

Here is my vote! Mild custom, with nice paint and new chrome for the win.

 

Frenched headlights and tail lights , Olds taillight lrnses stoch steel wheels wise whitewalls, with full moon hubcsps . Lowered 4 to 5 in front and back, paint a dark color (not 2 tone), black, green, blur, maroon and a teaneaj cover over the back seat and your 54 grill with no center bullet, pipes out the back with glass packs.

 

Go with the way that you can picture your car while your left arm is hanging out...

 

Now that you made a choice, enjoy the process. Oh Yeah, post pics! lol Larry

 

When I was a kid, my uncle had a '54 Ford. It was simple but classy. It was nosed, decked and shaved but had stock side trim. It had frenched head lights, Olds tail lights, mirror shiny maroon paint with subtle black pin stripes and a shiny black top, whitewalls on chrome wheels with a low, level stance. The dual pipes out back had a low rumble... turns out he had Porter steel packs on it... music to my young ears! Inside was a black tuck n roll interior. I think that car may have re-programmed my brain toward the mild custom. Poetry in motion!

 

I have found that when you're not sure of direction, stop and go through some of the thousands of great threads on the HAMB. There are threads on every style you can imagine. Once you figure out what YOU like, then go for it. Asking a question like you did will get you what you have here. The research will also help you with what pics are appropriate.