Opinions on modifying my 57

[Bobioknight]

hey guys I am debating modifying my 57 tbirtd. I am considering adding air conditioning, I have not decided on a manufacturer yet, but the biggest thing is my wheels and tires, my car is all original except we did rebuild the motor (312 yblick) and freshened up the raven black paint a few years ago, Inside and out it is perfect. So I am debating changing the stock wheels and tires for some chrome kidney bean 18” wheels with a low profile tire.and drop it down a little bit and lose the skirts. I am sure I will get a mixed bag of comments. But what do y’all think?

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[Georgia Cat]

It sounds like you have a really nice ride. I am a traditionalist so I will make an analogy. Ask what kind of a relationship do you have with your car, compare it to having a wife. Would you want to make your wife over? That should answer your question. If your car is pristine and almost totally original you can't put a price on that. But having said all that, at the end of the day it is still your car.........

 

[Dale Leonard]

Watch the big car auctions and you will see the modified cars actually bring as much or more money than completely stock vehicles. Yours is a daily driver and will not ever bring as much as one at the auctions. The truly pristine cars that bring the big dollars have been gone through and are concours cars. They have been painted and polished everywhere and they do not drive them period. Yours is an extension of you. Make it you and make it somethingf that you can enjoy and be proud of. I personally do not like lowered cars or low profile tires as the car is limited as to where you can drive it and the tires will go flat if you hit a good pothole. They look good but are not practical. There are many things that you can do to change the profile or looks of your car that would be better. It is your car and you will probably die owning it. Keep all the parts that you remove from it and later on you or somebody else that acquires it will be able to bring it back to stock if they want too. I bought a 55 that had been modified and I got the majority of the original parts with it but I will never put them back on as I will make it a more modern driver with the old style looks. Only thing that I have stock is a new ford 250 diesel an I put a bedcover on it. My 2000 Lightning is not stock either but it is faster than it was from the factory. Hadn't hurt it's value at all. Your car fi it and enjoy it.

 

[CSPIDY]

Remember your car is 61 years old, first consider mods that will make her more reliable, safe and confortable to drive. I installed a Classic Car air conditioning kit. Very nice install and there is no big evaporator box hanging under the dash. They made to fit the car by model and year.

 

[Dlluinstra]

Air conditioning, yes
Lowering , no
18s , no
Low profile tires , no

 

[Bobioknight]

Thanks guys, I was really torn about changing the looks. The 57’s have such small wheels and tires and they don’t fill the wheel wells (in my opinion). The fancy spoke wheels with fatty while walls do a better job of filling Em up, so maybe I will keep an eye out at the next few car shows to see what other people have done. I don’t like the spoke wheels much but I do like the looks of a full wheel well.

Anyone else been through this similar quandary, finding a good fit that keeps the original “style”...

This is a weekend car, we do drive it all over but my f350 is my daily driver. It was originally owned by my friends parents, it was their weekend car as well, so in their memory I would hate to change it, and definitely not sell it. Just spruce it up a little.

 

[Dlluinstra]

15 inch wheels, and 75 aspect tires might work

 

[CSPIDY]

I have 14 inch wire wheels with 215 70 series wide white walls. To help fill the wheel wells a bit I added a 10mm spacers on the front. This pushes the tires closer to the wheel well. Slight but makes a diferance. Most people don’t notice. I kept the skirts and had to do a little trimming but you can’t tell.