57 Engine, transmission & bell housing color questions

I am restoring a 57 whose body was origionally bronze with a white top. It was painted maroon at some point. I can not find any guidance on the interior color so I'm not sure what to do there. I saw on this site where someone said the 57s came from the factory with the bell housing and the transmission unpainted. Will they not rust if not painted, since they are steel. Mine was painted red like the engine. Also, what about the harmonic balancer and front pulley? Is it Red, black or what?

We are about ready to paint the engine the standard Ford Red from the parts shop. Is this okay?

Thanks for any help.

Hi Jim, you need to give us some more information to answer your questions. Is your car an automatic or manual transmission model? That affects whether the bell housing should be painted. It would help if you would copy the information from the patent plate on the right side of the firewall and post it here. It has a lot of useful information for you as you restore your car and will help us know the way your car was when it left the factory. Regards,

Thanks for the reply.

The transmission is automatic.

Info from the patent plate:

Serial # D7FH224884*

Body Color Trim Production Code

40 QE XJ 20B64O147P

Jim

Hi Jim,

Your codes break out as follows:

D = 312 CID 4 Barrel V8

7 = 1957

F = Assembly Plant (Dearborn)

H= Body Style (Thunderbird)

224884 = Consecutive Number

40 = Body Type

QE = Body Color (Thunderbird Bronze body, Colonial White top)

XJ = Interior (Pleated Bronze Vinyl)

20 = Day of Month

B = Month (February)

64 = Dealer Code (New Orleans)

0147 = Scheduled Item number (the 147th car scheduled to be built that day at Dearborn)

As for the rest I sent an answer to your personal email to me.

Regards,