History Restoration Ethics (Your Thoughts)

I'd take it where it's never been. Pan American or Pikes Peak. Create your own history.

 

Here's some pictures I've got with me:


This picture shows the giant wheel arch one of the last guys made. It's the same way on the other side.


This is a close up of the arch.


The mystery door handle.


This is my favorite picture. This tells the whole life story. Factory red furthest below. Candy red from the custom days. Bondo and the silver gray on top with a hint of Lubbock dirt to top it off. I really like that candy color...

 

The only thing that would make a 55 Bird significant would be if it was owned by someone famous. A friend had one that was reportedly owned by Clark Gable. However, he didn't have enough information to prove that it had been.

Have you contacted any T-Bird forums? There are at least 2 dedicated to the little Birds. I was a member of CTCI (Classic Thunderbirds Club International) for many years. If it is a significant car, someone there would probably know. https://www.ctci.org/

 

Someone will recognize the door handle...but you could pull it off and see what numbers are one the back, to give you a clue....usually FoMoCo handles fit on Fords, and their part numbers are very informative for year/model.

Can't wait to see the rest of the body mods. Looks like a decent car.

 

My thought on how I'd build it is... I would ditch all the power/ original stuff and build it bare bones with the hottest FE/ C6 combo I could afford. No fancy wheels or anything, just basic go fast stuff, like a SPORTS car should be. Thats just ME though, a cheapskate. Mitch

 

One word : "Battlebird".

 

Pfffffft. I'd LOVE to have one of those! I'd do it as a very mild street car with just a little road racing influence with Halibran slotted wheels and low stance. And it wouldn't have Ford power either.
I had a little experience with this when I bought this shell of a 32 ford coupe sitting on a model A chassis. It had a number on the side from it's jalopy racing days and when I brought it home I swung by my neighbor's house to show him. The guy was "Dirt Car" here on the HAMB and he said he used to play in that car when he was a kid.....he knew the car because our local dirt racing hero who won races very regularly with the car, was his dad"s boss! I told him I was planning to build the car as a street car and if I changed my mind, I'd let him know.
Welp, I searched for better quarters and a back window section with no luck and made a decision to sell it. Long story short, he bought it and put it back to the condition is was in back in it's racing days. He thought it was important to bring it back a racer while I didn't....glad he got it.
The car in my avatar was also a jalopy racer [#72} and I know the guy's name who raced it but I'll be damned if I intend to bring it back as a dirt racer. Point being.......build it as you want to.

 

Door handle looks like 64-5-6 T-bird, or something else in that Priceline that had a deluxe door trim option.

But my 1st thought was 67 Mustang.

 

It's interesting, and unusual, that someone went to the trouble to arch the rear wheel wells to match a piece of stainless. Nice touch. Maybe keep that? Might be hard to come up with the sheetmetal to put back the factory opening...I don't think it's repopped.....so may as well.

Pretty sure that interior door handle is 64/65-ish Thunderbird/65-66 Mustang the pony interior (same handle used for both I think).

 

oh, they've been making the wheel well sheet metal for decades....

 

A barely street legal cleaned up version, street pounding circle track inspired beast.


since the qtrs are already cut

 

This makes sense considering all of the muscle car upgrades. The manual transmission that came with the car is a Toploader from a 1964 1/2 Mustang. Makes sense that the handle would be from a Mustang as well.

 

If it's not OG numbers matching the resto route will be a frustrating experience.

I like what @anthony myrick is putting out there.
Agree with @squirrel, if it was significant there would be history on it.

Build it to drive - hard, and keep whatever custom touches you like. Those cars look amazing with arched wheelwells, and every corner stuffed with rubber. Those wheel arches look like clearance for slicks or rust "repair" make them any shape you prefer.

 

After all that that puppy has been through, make it something you want and love.
You are a hero no matter.
Some won't care or approve, neither should you.
(yes I have read every post so far )

 

I’ll admit I don’t give a rats rectum what happens.I’m sue that takes all the pressure off.
I’d like to see more pics
And maybe some big ole cheesy grin pics whilst you enjoy that bird

Probably not gonna get a lot of votes to resto something on a custom/hot rod forum anyway.

 

It sounds like it's been a stripped down hulk sitting in a garage longer than it was ever a custom. Unless you can tie it to someone significant, go ahead and build it the way you want to.

 

Rectum???
Just about killed 'm!

 

Dang near killed bothovum

 

Looks like the door handles that were in my Mom's '65 T-Bird. Now that, was a shapeless barge.

 

^^^ Bob is right, door handle is 64-66 T Bird.

 

I'm late to the identification party as usual, but I can confirm that interior handle is 64-66 Thunderbird.

 

Use the word rectum in a sentence.

"I had two Cadillacs and my wife rectum both."

Seriously though, I have always liked '55-'57 T-Birds and thought it would be a neat car to own. All the talk about this T-Birds and what to do has me REALLY wanting one now. Just a quick look brought up some "project cars" well under $20K

Lynn

 

I don't hate the wheel arches near as much as I thought I would. I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures, but I feel like based on what I've seen so far, I'd put this car together with the drivetrain and power stuff you have already collected, with the cut out wheel arches and '60 Dodge tail lights and filled gas filler door pretty much just the way it is. Paint it red like it used to be. Use a wheel that works equally well on customs and hot rods (chromed OE steel wheels would be my choice).

You could always change the quarters and tail lights back and open up the gas filler door again later if you wanted to, although I doubt you'd ever want to. Photoshop would be very helpful in getting a picture in your head what it'll look like.

They're not worth a ton restored to stock anyway, so I see no reason not to work with what's there.

 

@54delray post the pic`s of the T bird from Witchita with the dodge tail lights. It was a dragcar with a nailhead.

 

I'd love to see that one.

 

It depends on what magazines you're reading. Custom Cars (little books) had a lot of stuff that wouldn't have been in print in Hot Rod. It was a target audience.

 

Here's what it looked like when I got it:

 

No fence for me.
Customize that thing anyway you see fit with a full clear conscious.