Projects My 1959 squarebird mild custom build thread

Looks great, Can't wait to see it!

 

Yeah, your shackles are just flipped.

 

Mark I will give you a call, I need a few things for sure. Thanks a bunch

 

Yeah ive been looking online this morning, you guys are right...shackle is flipped. Thanks

 

Great thread--thanks for sharing Brent. I grew up in a 59--it was my mother's car from 61-73, and was supposed to be my first car....but Mom sold it just before my 16th birthday . I found it 40 miles away, in a junkyard, in the late 80s. It was too far gone to rebuild(even for me). I still get squarebird fever every few years....and your build has got me worked up again

 

I love square birds! You have a nice one...

 

just curious if he would have any hardtop parts i have squarebird convert parts for sale or trade for hardtop parts

 

Cool build. I just sold my '59 to a Canadian. Just flat black with a flaked roof. Almost wish I didn't cause I love these things. Hated the wheels - wanted steelies and skinny whites.

I dig the Watson-esque paint scheme. Going to be a cool ride.

 

This is great. I've got a 60 I just listed for sale on the classifieds. I may hang onto it now after reading this. Great thread.

 

Sorry: no pictures, The Car us in Michigan & I'm in Oregon. I'll try to have my son take some pictures. I bored the hole about 1.4 inches and welded in some 1" ID DOM. I also plated both sides of the frame since the car is unibody and the framerails are thin metal. Shackles are 3/8 X 2" flat stock and have a few holes to adjust height.

In doing so I also moved the axle back about an inch and a half to center it in the wheel well. I did that by just drilling a new center hole and all of the leafs indexed off that.

 

praise the lowered!

you guys were spot on, flipped shackles. Much better now

 

A lot better!

 

Hey brother....I can ask and see what he has in "stock".

 

quick little update...got the rocker welded in this past weekend which I dont have pics of yet. But we rolled it back outside and hung the doors back on. Its starting to look like a car again. Im pushing to get the passenger fender and rocker all finished up next week end so I can start blocking out the body. Ive also started to work on the interior, which is something i can work on during the week while im away from the shop. I'll be posting the interior process in detail as I start to go. The dash pad that was in the car was a replacement at some point and in very good condition, so I dyed it to match the synthetic leather which will be used throughout the interior. Thanks for all the comments guys

profile shot- Still a decent rake to the car, with the other wheels and tires I gain about and inch of ground clearance but I have a feeling I will need to bring the front up 1"






a better shot of the work Matt did on the doors (shaved handles,trim,emblem and lock)


dash

 

So I had a few minutes of free time last night and started working on some interior bits. Here are the first few covered in white synthetic leather

 

I'll give you guys an idea of where Im going with the interior

The upper portion of the door panel will be white synthetic leather, the arm rest will be metallic gold vinyl, and the lower portion will be pearl white vinyl button tufted with bronze buttons.



The tufting will carry into the rear panel and the rear arm rest will also be metallic gold


The best thing about this interior is the plastic door panels, I wish every car was like this...no messing around with water warped pressed cardboard.


Im using a few of the cast emblems I took off the exterior on the interior, a couple on the door panels and one on the package shelf. The teal painted area on the emblems will be repainted bronze to match the car.

 

I did a little more work on the interior last night, didn't have much time but I covered the upper rear passenger panel in white synthetic leather and got out the brushes to lay a little paint down. Im using a few of these emblems throughout the interior...I painted them copper as its close to the body colour but in the pictures it looks gold. Little detail stuff.

 

Very cool, I have a 60.

Glad you got the shackle position straightened out.




My car

 

Great work and I am pleased to see that you are doing it all yourself. I am nine months into a full custom on my 1960 t bird. Unfortunately I dont have the time or the skill set for that matter to do the body and suspension work. They are just completing chopping of the top and I couldnt be more pleased with the work being done. When complete there will not be a panel on the car that has not been extensively though subtley reworked.

I do have the stock gauges from the 60 if they will work in your car. Also most all of the stock parts are being remade so if you need anything let me know.

Keep up the fine work.

 

looking great! keep the pictures rolling!

 

thanks fellas

The progress has been a little slow over the past couple weeks, I had to fly out to Denver last weekend for work, so not much work got done. This weekend I completed the bodywork on the passenger fender and rocker and my buddy Ryan shot some primer on it for me. I've got a few areas requiring some spot putty but I can now start blocking this beast out. Slowly getting closer to heading to the paint booth.

 

a small update for those following along...

I've spent the past 2 weekends block sanding away, covering myself head to toe in grey dust. A few areas to spot putty and then another coat of primer, and then block it out again next weekend. I pushed it outside yesterday to blow all the dust off and take some pictures. Slowly starting to look like a car again.







decked




shaved door handles


shaved side trim and emblems


shaved mirrors and antenna




shaved fender emblems




shaved sail panel emblem

 

Thanks Jeff!

Squarebirds are definitely killer custom material, and considering they out sold the baby birds its a shame we don't see more of them around. Plus they are pretty affordable in project form

 

Brent
You got that old girl looking great, the stance rocks , looks like it may be quicker than you first thought.. (sleeper),.. best on your build JT

 

just a quick update...

Been block sanding away...getting close to the finish line. I really do hate doing bodywork...its god damn torture sometimes, but atleast I'll feel like I've earned this car when its done. A few touch up of spot putty, and another coat of primer, and she should be off to paint soon. I have also been working away on the interior, and will have some pics to show withing the next week or so.






Also since I have come to grips with the fact it isn't going to see the road this season, Im yanking the 352 next week to repaint and reseal it, and clean up under the hood. Similar to what me and Ian did to his bird...simple and clean and somewhat factory looking. (pic below)

 

Subscribed. This is a great build thread. I love your plans for this car. A Squarebird is on my short list of cars I must own before I die. I love those things.

Mike

PS is there a build thread for your buddies Bulletbird or just a bunch more pics/details? It is so well done (tasteful and simple).

 

Thanks man. I haven't had too much time to work on it lately, but I'm aiming to get it to paint by November.

As for the bulletbird no build thread...we kept a lot of pictures when we built it but I lost a ton that I had on my phone and didn't think I had enough to do a thread properly. We wanted to keep it simple...less is more on these birds. We chose to keep the door handles because they are a brilliant design, and chose to keep the front and rear emblems to let people know its a tbird (since most people think only of the baby bird) But heres a few more shots...there's still a few more things we want to do on it, but we've been having too good of a time driving it.

 

Man this car looks killer!

I agree that less is definitely more on these cars and most customs in general

Great job man



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