1952-59 Ford Pic and info request for headlight treatment

Hey guys,

ive been thinking on what to do with the headlight on the 54. And the thought of using 55 chevy style headlight door/brow came to my mind. Anybody have any pics or info on this. Couldnt find anything on the searches. I think that itll look really nice if done right.

thanks

 

This was a fairly common restyle back in the day, but it's not one of my favorites unless the tail lights are done in a similar hooded fashion.

The '55 Olds rings, on the other hand, look really nice on our year Fords in my humble opinion. Custom Crestline has 'em on his hardtop and they look great! PM him for more info as I think he did the work himself.

 

I thought Crestline had DeSoto headlights. I could be wrong, I'm suffering from pre-Superbowl delirium!!!

 

thanks alot missysdad1 i thought about the Olds look and saw some of the pictures. They look great but its not really the style i was going for.
I agree though, the taillight matching the look of the headlight would look great.

 

Ah, thanks Missydad! I wish I could've done'em myself, all I did was cut up a nice set of olds fender caps, and screwed them in place, as to where I wanted them, and then Triumph Terror on here took care of the stickin'em on. I might have the skills (and balls) to be able to do something like that myself in the near future though. Maybe.

Chicosauve1's car is another fantastic example of old's rings.

I know I sound like a broken record, but the Pete Angress car has the best looking set of '55 chevy headlights ever put onto these cars.



^^ see, I can dig it.

Though, I do think that is a cool route to go, (if you have good fenders and everything ( I believe you do)), steel ford rings look as good as anything. They clean the car up and don't really add anything, but they add simplicity. I dunno, there is a million ways to skin a cat, and I'm just throwing my ideas around.

 

Agreed. There's a million ways to skin a cat...but most of 'em will make you barf! Old Chinese proverb... Applies to custom cars as well as cats.

Yes, Pete's car is one of the best of the breed, but credit for the initial build has to go to Ray Moore who started the car in 1954. Ray's version of the car had chromed stock headlight rings and '52 Olds (I think) tail lights, grafted to the Ford quarters in their entirety.



Ray tired of the car, as is quoted in the feature story I can't put my fingers on today, and sold it to "move on to bigger things." Pete Angress bought it and continued to modify it gradually while he owned it. The car got lots of press during Pete's period of ownership which included two or three different versions. The best change Pete made to the car was removing the Olds tail lights and replacing them with frenched in Lincolns which really lengthened the look of the car. (There's a how-to article on this which I believe features Pete's car, showing the Olds tail lights cut off in their entirety. If memory serves me correctly, there's a comment by the article's author...probably George Barris...telling readers not to ask about the severed Olds tail lights, that they'd already been sold to help pay for the new Lincoln lights. Ah... to be in California in the days when life was so simple...).



The final version of the car was painted by Watson...not a pretty sight in my opinion...and disappeared soon after. Too bad. A very nice car.

 

I have to agree even thought I am a purist when it comes to Fords , but the 55 Chevy headlights really look great on the early 50's Fords . They just give such a cleaner look than all the bolted on parts that Ford had for their head lights .
As for the tail lights , it wouldn't be hard at all to add a small hood to add they look to the rear lights as well .
Still a mild kustom could be anything you want to add .
Just remember it's your car and that's what makes this hobby so great , so make that cars your's and enjoy it !

Jim

 

Here's the feature on the Moore/Angress Ford I was looking for yesterday.




I've also attached a photo of the car when in Angress' care in it's next-to-final form with Lincoln tail lights and Watson scallops. Although I'm not real fond of the Watson scallops, this is the version I like best.



Note the wide spread exhaust tips...a "Kustomland" exclusive. Really helps widen the view of the rear.

 

thanks for the info guys. I really like the way Pete Angress car you posted up Custom Crestline, you can see the 55 brows good. I wonder if using round bar would be a better way to go instead of using actual 55 chevy headlight brows.
Do they sell the headlight brow portion seperate or do you have to get the whole fender?

 

Maybe it's just me but I think the '52-56 Fords are a better looking car in stock form than the same era Chevy's,making your Ford look like a scrub Chevy tends to make them look "bugeyed" and cluttered.Try Google images with 1952,1953 and 1954 Ford and you will find a lot of different grille treatments.One I did back in the 60's on a '53 was a '55 Plymouth grill with frenched headlights,it's hard to beat the clean look of the Jimmy Vaughn car.