Projects BIGREDTODD'S 1961 STARLINER THREAD

Just replaced the tank in my '60 Sunliner. The factory vent line is 5/16" hard line, uses a short piece of hose to connect to the tank. The hard line runs towards the rear along the frame, turns in towards the center of the car then loops up into the channel where the filler neck is. The loop ends after turning down at roughly a bit below the top of the filler neck. There should be a spot-welded retaining clip to secure the vent line in there.

This is going to be very hard to install with the tank in place. I had to drop the tank back out on mine to install the line because the filler neck is in your way, but luckily I hadn't put any gas into it yet.

If you don't want to drop the tank, you could install the line in pieces and splice them together with hose.

 

@BIGREDTODD
Pretty impressive progress, on every aspect of this kick *** ride !
I hope you decide to keep this cool car and never sell it!
But you know how that goes, you never really own them, you are just the fortunate caretaker of it, till something else becomes available !

 

thanks I appreciate the help

 

Didn't get a whole lot done on the Starliner during the past couple of weeks, as I was playing Mr. Mom due to a sick wife & daughter at home (not to mention 3 birthdays in our home in April). Nonetheless, I was able to fashion a method for rear seatbelt mounts. In my previous career, I was a project manager in charge of major commercial gl***/door/window wall design-builds. When the corporation shut our location down, I was able to procure a lot of structural steel channel lengths.

I bolted a steel channel through a couple of pre-existing holes in the trunk firewall panel, with structural steel channel backing it up, with 1/4" steel in front to sandwich and strengthen the connection. Many applications suggest bolting through the wheel well...I was not going to drill a hole there. I drilled through the channel (further inboard) for the latch side of the seat belts.



Here's a picture of the belts after the rest of the seat was installed.



I did encounter a couple of issues.

1. The keen-eyed reader will likely notice that the upholstered inserts on the seat are misaligned. I will need to loosen the seat back and re-tighten the fasteners after I cheat the seat over to align better.
2. These seat belts are from Retro Belt, and are the 60" aviation-style lap belts in the bright red color. I purchased them from Summit Racing. Summit only had the 60" length, and I thought the length would be good. Long story short, I re-ordered the longer (75") belts direct from Retro Belt. The additional length is all added to the lift-latch side, so I will only have to R&R two of the belts (inboard) to make it right. I mocked up the front belts with the pre-existing holes for the old seat belts, and it was the same story. Just one of those things.

Even with the slight hiccough, I am feeling really good about progress. I also just received another good-sized box from Dennis Carpenter, so more to come as time allows. But for now, here is a picture of encouragement of really good things to come. If anyone needs some red lift-latch belts, let me know, I'll make you a deal before I try to return them.

 

Such a bad *** car

 

60 & 61 Ford Starliners such cool roof line . the 60 Edsel 2 drs aren't to bad either .. my friend had a 1960 he didn't finish.. he sold it to someone in Oregon .. going to be cool.. congrats

 

I did my rear belts right to the floor pan. I re-purposed some big thick front end washers and sandwiched the belt tabs between them. The fronts are 3-point and mounted to the B pillar.

 

Todd, if we could back up a bit... why did you choose to powder coat the seat frames?

I love this project. There's a neat balance between keeping it simple and stepping it up a notch.

 

Upholstery = Awesome

 

Thanks Brent!

I've gone about this car differently than others I have had, for sure. I personally don't think that the interior of the high trim level '61-'64 Galaxie can be improved upon much over stock., so I really want to make the interior the best I can. There are also a few other areas that will be getting some additional attention to improve the overall quality of the car without going overboard, such as rechromed bumpers, sail panel trim, and much of the other "jewelry"

Regarding the seat frames, it wasn't even something I had been considering. The front seat frame needed quite a bit of repair, and they were both crusty enough that I felt the $250 add to my upholstery install would be worth it. I wish I had taken better pictures, because it was TOTALLY worth it. Handling fresh and clean seat frames vs. crusty ones meant I didn't have to be nearly as careful with what else I was handling during the multiple install/removal cycles I had. The powedercoat also holds up so much better than paint. In the case of the garnish moldings, I'm certain that not even a quality paint would have survived the install process without scars.

 

I got marked down at an indoor roadster show for that exact issue. I took the car to the upholsterer with the judging sheet, he opened the door and slapped the seat bottom one way with a couple good whacks and did the same the opposite way to the back and it was perfect. I wish I had known that before the show.

 

That means a lot, Jeff!

By the way, the '62 Bird 390 donated one of the sets of valve covers that went your way

 

I swear, I am so bad about keeping up with threads...Some of these will be out of sequence, but I'll do my best.

While the plastic trim panels haven't been installed yet at the base of the front seat, I do have them...and they are nice. Really thankful that I don't have to find a set. I have to admit also, that spending the time (and money) on ALLLLL the weatherstrip, window fuzzies, rollers, windlacing, NOS door lock ***y's, and countless other parts to make this interior pop has been worth it. I hope I don't have to do it again very soon on another car.

Front seat finally all in:


As crusty as the Starliner is, and as quickly as it gathers dust, the time I spent on cleaning the original gl*** (only the windshield and vents are new) really made a difference. Also, it "feels" cleaner now that the countless boxes of interior parts have been installed.

 

...also, these are finally in. Fresh jewelry (window cranks & door handles) really makes a difference.




The keen-eyed stickler for originality will notice the obviously incorrect chrome door lock ****ons. Ever since I was a kid, I thought my dad's (RIP) '62 Continental had the BEST lock ****ons. I had to bend the rules for the upscale chrome pieces instead of the black plastic originals. You're welcome...

 

Initially, and all along, my "plan" was to get the interior dialed in, and THEN get the dash up to snuff by paint matching the powder coated garnish, and cleaning up all the little bits. However, a few things have happened. The heater core started to leak, and while I was under the dash getting a feel for THAT job, I realized that the under dash wiring is the only area I hadn't replaced with a reproduction harness. Probably not a good move. And, the thought of sanding, taping and spending the time on my back to achieve all of this made me ill.



So here's the plan. I bought another complete dash, and a much nicer cluster. I also have a NOS speedometer, temp & fuel gauges, and I will be using NOS radio delete. I will have the extra dash powdercoated to match, restore the cluster with the NOS gauges, and will build the new dash on the work bench so it can be installed as close to "plug & play" as possible. I will only need to switch the chrome trim onto the new dash, if all goes well. I'll be able to get to the heater core MUCH easier while the dash is out, also.

Also, although it needs to be dyed, I broke down and bought a new padded dash from Just Dashes. The reproduction dash harness came from Bauer (VIA Concours Parts). It's only money, right?






Just in case anyone wants to know what red powdercoat I am using, here ya go. Not exactly original, but it matches all the interior parts nicely. It was quite a chore to find the right sheen and shade...

 

Where are you taking you stuff for powder coat?
Or are you doing it yourself?

Car is coming along nicely “neighbor “.

 

nice progress were did you get a new heater core if so let us know how it fits

 

Thanks! I use Crown Powdercoating in Hughson. They are a small shop, and I have been very happy with them.

I stumbled across a reconditioned original, with a restored valve ***y. I paid dearly for it, but it was an extra for someone, and now I will still have my original as an extra.

High praise, my friend...always appreciate your encouragement.

 

Any updates? I got to come over there and see this car.

 

I am overdue for some updates. It has been a busy season for us. All is well at Casa de BIGREDTODD, but I am always family first, and my family has needed us a lot this year.

Earlier, I shared the new dash pad from JustDashes. I ultimately had to get a second pad due to a few issues, but I can't recommend them enough as a company. They made it RIGHT, and did so without dispute and in a timely manner. Somehow I don't have a picture of the pad installed, but will fix that shortly.

As I mentioned, I found a decent shell (Ebay) and smoothed out a few crusty areas before sending it off to powder coat:


Years back, I had bought another cluster that was in MUCH better shape than mine. The main dash bezels are FAMOUS for pitting, and there are a lot of nooks & crannies to deal with. Honestly, the main reason I had grabbed this dash panel was because it also had a clock delete (not original, but I am also installing a radio delete). The pictures below show the comparison of the original to the amateur restoration I applied to the "better" bezel.

OLD:






"RESTORED":






...and, sitting in the powder coated dash (with a spare set of stainless trim I procured):

 

One other thing I was pretty excited to find was this period Sun Tach, cup, and mount. I'll have to decide where to mount it that makes sense.

 

Killin it Todd.

 

Any progress ?

 

Haven’t been around here much, but enough to finally see this thread…..
My favorite Ford of the day, can’t beat a 61 Starliner. Congrats. Great work as usual.
FNBad***

 

Sometimes I feel like the drunk uncle when it comes to keeping this thread updated. Social Media has taken over so much of how I share progress with my projects, and that includes a lot of friends that I made here. Thanks to friends like @Royalshifter (and others) who periodically break my balls about updating this thread, I'll try to be better.

Before getting back to the Starliner, let's just say I am an equal opportunity car enthusiast. That includes cars that don't fall under the HAMBrella, but still make my pants tight (as my dad used to say). I am also still a working stiff, balancing family and fun adventures with my wife & daughters first an foremost. Mixed in with slow progress on the Starliner, the following fun (and not so fun) things have gone down in the world of BIGREDTODD:

Sold a beautiful '63 Riviera to get my hands on a pretty nice '67 Olds 442 (a bucket list car):


Lost my '67 442 to an engine fire:


Bought & personalized a VERY nice restored '51 Ford Convertible, gave it my personal touches, and did more shows in a year than I ever have:


Sold the '51 Ford, because I REALLY missed the '67 442:


Bought another '67 Olds 442 that is way too nice for me:


One week before hooking up my trailer to go get the above 442, I totaled my daily driver & tow rig on my way to work...the first new vehicle I'd ever bought for myself. Embarr***ed (at-fault,), banged up (but fully insured), and it really just messed up my ability (and motivation) to work on anything. And, I had to have the 442 transported down to me.


I replaced my truck, did my best to thank God for getting me through relatively un****hed, and have spent the most part of the last 6 months getting my head back on straight and taking it easy.


Please forgive the non-HAMB story time...back to the regularly scheduled Starliner stuff

 

I had previously mentioned that I had bought a replacement padded dash. Honestly, I was going back and forth about leaving it black, painting it red, or even using it at all. I decided that after all the effort I had taken to make things "right" inside, that anything other than correct would be a regrettable concession.

EVERYONE, including Just Dashes, recommends the SEM line of products for coloring vinyl to match. The Ford guys said that "Portola Red" was the right shade, while there was another shade that I bought for comparison's sake. I went ahead and bought the entire line of goods, as I didn't want to take any shortcuts with this.


I've used SEM Color Coat before, but I highly recommend using the supporting products (particularly the vinyl prep and adhesion promoter), as they really do make a difference. I did one "dry" light coat, and 3 more medium/wet coats and am very happy with the results. To reduce the amount of handling the dash pad had to endure, I did fit/mount it to the powder coated dash shell before coloring it. I had to tape off the stainless trim, but overall it was a better plan of attack:

 

I let the fresh Color Coat on the dash rest for several weeks. Not because it needed it. Quite frankly, I was dreading the next steps. I took this time to carefully label and route the wires, and connections throughout the back of the dashboard to the new/NOS switches, gauges, and install new lights in EVERYTHING. This is where one of those Ebay laminated wiring diagrams comes in handy. Between the NORS wiring harness one-line, and the Ebay diagram, I was able to make pretty good sense of things. Also sourced from Ebay was a complete light bulb kit


Even though I had sourced virtually everything needed to install as close to a NOS-quality dash into my car, I was not looking forward to the wiring, cables, heater core, etc. etc. But, it had to be done.

I carefully unplugged the dash to firewall harness (the last section of wiring to be replaced in the entire car), unhooked ALL seven of the control cables, speedometer cable, and pulled out the dash. Oh my, what have I done?!


It was at this point, I was questioning all my life decisions to date...and then proceeded with replacing the easily accessible heater core.

 

It's a great looking car, black with a red interior that really pops. I thought Just Dashes could supply new pads in colors, but was yours only available in black?