Hi all...Ive got a few quick detail questions about our 56 sunliner that im hoping the collective brain trust can help with....

1 - the little front fender extensions... they make the fender look a little longer - they go behind where the front bumper wraps around (does that make sense?) and tie into the front gravel pan ends... should those be argent silver or body/fender color?

2 - on the horn ring (with P/S).... should any part of the background around the lettering be painted?  If so, what?  Not the center emblem, but on the actual metal casting itself.  Im asking because its off to be chromed, and the plater says they dont want to polish too much in that area in order to retain crisp lettering, and he says "you will be painting it anyways..."  What part is painted?  Is the letters, or the letter background?  Anyone know?

3 - Is the oil bath air filter supposed to be painted the same argent silver as the front gravel pan?  I know someone posted the paint code here, so i have that, but wondering if i should shoot the air filter while its all mixed up? 

Ive looked in some of the reference books i have, but vant find conclusive proof on any points above.  Can someone help??

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

The whole gravel pan including the ends should be argent. The checkered area on the horn ring thould be argent as well. The PS lettering should be a gold plate, That's the real toughfe unless you have a real steady hand and can do it with a painters brush?????

-Gary Burnette-

Thanks for the reply!  WHen you say the checkered area should be argent, do you mean it should be painted with the same argent silver paint, or just left chrome?  and if painted, is it just the grooves, or the whole area without regard to raised/recessed areas?

Tough for me to imagine right now, because the horn ring is at the platers!!

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL

I have 4 56 Fairlanes.Two of them have the gravel pan painted argent and the other two are painted body color.One of the argent painted ones has been repainted,so it may or may not be original.The other three cars are just as they left the factory.Never any paint work.Is it possble that the pans were painted differently by different factories?The two with argent paint are 2 doors and the other two are 4 doors.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

Perhaps you should post the VIN of your four cars. There might be information about where the cars were built that correlates to the argent/body color differences.

Best regards,



Paul Menten

Meridian, Idaho

The complete checkered area only should be painted argent. This area is chrome plated under the paint. The rest of the horn ring is plated chrome and left as is. The words powersteering had the same kind of gold plating thats on the ford crest emblems. The one on my low miliage 56 sunliner has some of the gold still on the lettering and my NOS powersteering horn ring has it as well, I'm really astonished at the detail ford put into some of this stuff!!!!  

  All of the low miliage 55 and 56 fords i've seen that are original have had the COMPLETE gravel shields painted argent. There may be some that were painted a different color but the only ones I've seen like that were redo's by later owners.

-Gary Burnette-

Must say i agree totally with Gary,s points, the gravel tray ends were allways same as rest of the gravel tray, argent, despite individuals painting the ends same color to blend into lower fender .

Merry Xmas to all you great blokes.  Regards, Aussie Bill.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

I'll post the VIN's a little later.Right now the 4 doors are under tarps that are covered with half inch of ice which is covered with a half inch of sleet which is covered with 3 inches of snow.It'll be a while before I see them again.One of the 2 doors is stored in a shop that's off the road a good ways and would require a long cold walk to get to it.The other,the one I drive has a data tag from a different car.

 

Paul,

Boonville,MO

Guys,

Thanks all VERY much!  Now I need to figure out the best way to paint the horn ring and do the gold lettering (!!).... oh well, ill figure something out.

Also, Im assuming the oil bath is the same argent silver as the splash pan?

Thanks again, and a very merry christmas to all!!!!!!

Ron Grove

Wauconda, IL