1957 Ford Fairlane 500

[slusher]

Your foil really pops with the colors on the body.  Which magazine had an article on hinges, John?

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Jim and Carl! I appreciate your comments! Carl, I have sent you a PM with a copy of the article. Its the April 2015 issue of Scale Auto. 

Finished the interior. Used a corvette speedo decal as that is all that I have but you can't really see it anyhow. I also used a console from the Revell 68 Charger that I cut down a bit. The rest are the custom interior parts from the kit except for the basic bucket. Thanks for looking! ?

[espo]

The console is a big improvement from what was in the kit, and the steering wheel looks good. 

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, David! I did move the console back to bring the shifter closer to the driver's reach. 

I installed the windows, magnets, interior, and doors. In the process, since the windshield doesn't fit very well, it fell out. So I took the interior out, reinstalled the windshield and then finished buttoning it up. Doors work pretty well and interior is in tight. So now I can finish the engine, chassis and wheels. After that just the exterior hardware and its done!  Thanks for looking! ?

Edited July 20, 2023 by ModelcarJR
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[Tom Geiger]

Lookin good!   One of my favorite old kits. I was never a fan of the door fit or hinges. I think you got past that by wisely making your own hinges and adding the magnets 

[Calb56]

Beautiful paint scheme. 

[slusher]

Looking fantastic, John what seats are those?

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, Tom, Charles and Carl! I appreciate your comments!  Carl, those are the custom seats in the kit. 

Finished the engine and the chassis and its on wheels! I used the custom wheels in the kit but the Goodyear L60-15s in the kit did not fit the wheels. Fortunately, I had a set that were pad-printed that I tried to use on my last build, the 37 Ford Pick-up but they didn't fit.  They fit perfectly on these wheels! Doors are opening fine but the left door is a little finicky and doesn't fit as well as the right. i have to rub out the hood and force it into place. It may be close on the carb so I may have to shorten the carb to get the hood to close nicely. I'm going for a mild custom look so the final hardware choices should be fun! Thanks for looking! ?

[customline]

That's a keeper, John. Beautiful! 

Edited July 21, 2023 by customline

[rickcaps55]

Awesome build I really love the color combo and the interior is great.!

[espo]

All painted and trimmed out this is great looking. The stock air cleaner dose sort of sit up a little. Maybe hollow out the inside of the air cleaner so it will sit down further on the carb.? You mentioned the mild custom look so maybe just a lower profile air cleaner would help. Looking at your build it is hard to remember just how old this tooling is. 

[slusher]

Beautiful build ,John!

[Rattlecan Dan]

Extremely sharp looking. Nice job.

[TransAmMike]

Oh yeah John, looks great!!  I'm a big Chevy Tri-5 fan (especially '57's) but gotta say, the '57 Fairlane 500 is good looking car.   Love the color too?

[ModelcarJR]

Thanks, All! I appreciate the comments! 

The air cleaner was too tall so I shortened the carb a bit and put the stock air cleaner back on. The carb is not a good looking piece anyway so covering it with the stock air cleaner made the most sense. My Blue Oval decal on the water bottle is a little big so I improvised. I was going to add heater hoses but i had to move the heater motor which covered my holes of the heater hoses. I can't drill new holes with the hood on and I don't want to try to remove it as it might break. I fiddled with the left door to tighten it up and its as good as its gonna get. I used the custom headlights because I don't care for the bug-eyed look of the stock headlights. I used the stock grill and tightened the front splash pan so that the bumper wouldn't stick out so much. I was going to use the bullet taillights but they just didn't look right so I used the stock taillights. That's it! Its all done! Thanks for looking! ?