55/56 Ford headlite trim

[Grumpy Rick]

Talking here about the chrome 'eyebrows' seen on Headlight doors (bezels) of certain '55 and '56 Fords.

I found four of these chrome eyebrows at, of all places, a thrift shop. I have seen them in pictures, but don't remember ever seeing them in person, and I have some questions.

1: Were they options or did they come on a certain model?

2: Do they fit on a special headlight door? I ask because the shop also had several doors, and they don't seem to fit. It looks like they need doors with holes for the mounting screws and flat front edges.

3: Did they come on T-birds? I am wondering about my black bird.

4: Is there a left side and a right side? All four of mine have the same number.

5: Are they worth anything? I picked them up on spec.

By the way, the shop also had a good 55/56 T-bird dashboard (bare shell) if anyone needs one.

Rick

 

[mercman from oz]

Grumpy Rick, These "eye brows" you are referring to only came standard on the 1955 Ford Fairlane. The lesser cars like the Customline and Mainline never had them. Check out the cover of the original sales brochure. The 1956 Ford Fairlanes did not have them, only the 1955 Fairlanes.

 

[dmsfrr]

Grumpy Rick (black text) (dmsfrr in blue)
Talking here about the chrome 'eyebrows' seen on Headlight doors (bezels) of certain '55 and '56 Fords.

I found four of these chrome eyebrows at, of all places, a thrift shop. I have seen them in pictures, but don't remember ever seeing them in person, and I have some questions.

1: Were they options or did they come on a certain model?
Mercman had this answer for you.

2: Do they fit on a special headlight door? I ask because the shop also had several doors, and they don't seem to fit. It looks like they need doors with holes for the mounting screws and flat front edges.
Yes, the upper inside is open for the trim piece and there are mounting holes & tabs for attaching it.

3: Did they come on T-birds? I am wondering about my black bird.
A very few of the earliest '55 Birds may have had them but they weren't officially an option.
They could have been dealer installed 'back in the day' and are still a popular owner add-on for cars that didn't originally come with them. They are a bolt-on fit on a '55/'57 Bird.

4: Is there a left side and a right side? All four of mine have the same number.
No and yes. The same parts fit both sides.

5: Are they worth anything? I picked them up on spec.
Yes, here's an ebay search page. The asking prices seem high to me, I've seen them for less.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=1955+ford%20+headlight+door+eyebrow&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_o%20sacat=0&_odkw=1955+ford+headlight+eyebrow&LH_Title%20Desc=0

If you look for some headlight doors to mount them to, there is an alignment pin at the top rear that holds the door casting in place. (photo #4) This pin should be on any of the '55/'56 (& '57 Bird) headlight doors.
They are easily broken off, presumably from pulling outward instead of pushing upward when removing the 'door' casting from the fender. There is a $12 repair kit available that has to be epoxied on.

 

[56sedandelivery]

Cool, I have a set of them laying around somewhere.

 

[Jwawhite]

Since we're discussing the HL doors, I have a question about the upper stainless arrow point piece.

One trim piece is off center, looks like heck. Has anyone repositioned one to match the fender piece? Were my doors interchanged somewhere along its' history?

 

[mercman from oz]

Having said that this piece was only available on the 1955 Ford Fairlane, I have a correction to make. Ford in Australia added it to the "all new" 1958 Fords which used the carry-over 1956 bodies. To make the cars look fresh, the grille they chose was from the 1955 Canadian Meteor and the side and rear trim was from the 1956 Meteor. Ford Australia chose not to release the "true" 1957 and 1958 Fords in Australia. These 1958 Fords were the first and only model to offer these "eye-brows" in Australia. The above picture shows the cover of the original sales brochure, and show these "eye-brows". These Australian 1958 Fords which sold into 1959 prior to the release of the "true" 1959 Fords are very collectible these days, but unfortunately, not too many remain.

 

[darrell]

56 meteor rideau used them

 

[mercman from oz]

Darrell is correct. Here is the Canadian 1956 Meteor Rideau Sedan from the original sales brochure. Ford Australia didn't like the grille on the 1956 Meteor, so chose to use the grille from the 1955 Meteor. As you can see by comparing these two pictures, the side trim is what Ford Australia used on their 1958 Fords.

 

[Grumpy Rick]

Wow, what a fount of info this site is. Thanks for the answers guys.

Interesting prices on e-bay. Seem way too high. I guess I should fess up. I ended up with four chrome eyebrows, but no doors. Two of the eyebrows will polish up good enough to use, the other two have pits, and need rechroming. I paid $6 each for them.

The also had three good, and one bad headlight doors, but not the type for the brows. Same price. I think I will go back and get those also.

There are misc. chrome pieces, shifters, the T-bird dash, etc. Someone must have owned a junk yard. Various 50's and 60's stuff, but none is marked what year, etc.. You need to know what you are looking at.

I think I will spend a little time there.

 

[darrell]

i checked out the headlight doors on you post. im sure its a mistake the car must come with them.

 

[dmsfrr]

Since we're discussing the HL doors, I have a question about the upper stainless arrow point piece.
One trim piece is off center, looks like heck. Has anyone repositioned one to match the fender piece? Were my doors interchanged somewhere along its' history?

IIRC there are two small threaded studs that clip into the underside of the arrow tip piece and fasten underneath with a lock washer & nut. One of them may be off-center for some reason (broken spring clip?) or just got bumped out of position. Maybe the chrome strip on top of the fender is also slightly out of position?
Have you tried swapping both headlight doors from side to side? They may line up better that way...

 

[dmsfrr]

. . .
I paid $6 each for them.

The also had three good, and one bad headlight doors, but not the type for the brows. Same price. I think I will go back and get those also.
. . .

$6 each? That's a good score!
Just so you'll know, if it matters to you... here's a difference between '55 and '56/'57.
The '55 version is smooth underneath the top lip and the '56/'57 version has an added ridge, for added style I guess. My '55 Bird has one of each, until I get replacements painted.

 

[Grumpy Rick]

Hi Darrell.

I am not sure what it is you are referring to. Could you clarify, please?

 

[Daves55Sedan]

The '55 Ford Fairlane series cars had the two-piece headlight shrouds; The main shell made of pot-metal, painted to match base color of car and the chrome-plated half-ring with flat black painted recesses. All other '55 car models (mainline series and Customlines) had one-piece pot-metal shrouds. I believe Fomoco planned to use the one-piece shrouds on T-Birds, but a few may have gotten the Fairlane shrouds due to shortages of the one-piece type or whatever.
All the '56 Fords used a different shroud completely. The shroud was the same for all cars, except the Fairlane series models had a chrome spear to mate with the front fender trim.
Some time back, I saw one of the repro parts suppliers selling a repro of the chrome trim piece for '55 Fairlane shrouds for $78.00 each. Whew!
Mine are pitted pretty badly, but I decided to pass on their pricey offer.
That was the Fomoco design for the USA made Ford cars. I don't know about Canada and Australia

 

[Grumpy Rick]

Well, I went back to get those three good Headlight doors, and they were GONE!

I suspect someone behind be in line the other day might have gotten them. Oh well, they were for spares anyway.

PS: Thanks to dmsfrr, today I could identify the remaining broken one as a '56.

 

[darrell]

just a mixup forget it.

 

[Daves55Sedan]

Here's a photo that shows the headlight shrouds that were used on the '55 cheap models (Customlines & Mainline series)

 

[Daves55Sedan]

Between '55 and '56, there were a total of four different headlight shrouds used:
Two-piece; painted pot-metal with chromed trim brow for '55 Fairlane models.
One-piece painted pot-metal having a fairly sharp brow edge for '55 cheaper models.
Two-piece; painted pot-metal with a bright metal spear to mate with fender trim for '56 Fairlane models. The pot metal molding brow had a less sharp brow edge flowing into a slight eve under the brow.
One-piece painted pot-metal for '56 cheaper models, same as the '56 Fairlane shroud without the bright metal trim piece.