I've been working on getting this rustbucket rolling. I pieced together a rear axle for it and scabbed together the spring hangers that had been torched on half. It's good enough for now, to drag it out of the yard at least. Other than the missing transmission and rear end the car is complete and all original. It's a factory black car, 352FE, power steering, 3spd standard with overdrive. I'd like to rebuild the drivetrain and ch***is to some kind of 1960 Holman Moody specs. If anyone has any pictures of '60 HM cars or specs please share if you can. I've been going through the HM history thread on here, but seems like most info is relevant to the '61 and up cars. I'm bad at keeping up with posting about my cars, but for those that were recently wondering, yes there are still cool old field cars waiting to be found.
Go google 352 360 hp ford. Build yourself a clone, or as close as you can get. The air cleaner and exhaust are probably unobtainable (or horribly pricey), but you can get close. Cool car, have fun. The air cleaner photo won’t upload for some reason.
Too bad the OEM trans is gone, it would be a T85/R11 which will take some power. That early block will take a much larger overbore than the later thinwall cast ones also. Those are pretty decent heads too with a bit of work. Add a stroker crank for big inches. Ford Powertrain Applications makes tri-y headers for these, and all of the side trim from the doors back is being reproduced, and some in the back. NOS or good used trim for elsewhere seems to show up if you watch, the only unobtainium bits seem to be the three grill shell pieces for the hood and the taillight bezels for some reason, so don't throw yours away if damaged; you may be repairing them. I've got a '60 Sunliner and have always loved the styling of these cars. Not much in the way of patch panels however. Yours looks more complete than most I see, ya done good.
I got it from a friend who bought it from Harry Bowlby several years ago, I was told that it had sat on jackstands in Harry's field for so long that the stands had sunk completely into the ground. I'm not sure where it came from before that. It has a Stoddard Ford dealer badge on it so it's been in Idaho Falls it's whole life.
Thanks! My friend gave me a pile of extra trim, nos taillights, etc with the car. The trans might be floating around somewhere, I keep giving him **** about it so hopefully he'll find it eventually. The original engine will be a project, it's complete but it's one big mouse nest internally. I like the Sunliners!
For a car parked under trees and sunk in mud with no rearend and covered in leaves, it looks shockingly solid.
I've had three '60's and each one was progressively worse with rust. That's a fabulous looking one in comparison.
I dunno, 60 Plymouths have grown on me over the years Ted. Must be those fins, or maybe that front fender chrome.
Hands down one of my favorite cars of all time. The Holman Moody idea sounds awesome, and a great way to customize it without ruining it. Good score, have fun with it!
It's not terrible but it looks better than it is. The rockers and trunk floor are paper thin, but at least they're still there enough to use as patterns.
Been there, done that, lost the t-shirt. Pity about the p*** side tail fin. They are tough to find and weak as hell. A better LOOKING car is hard to imagine but Ford didn't do it justice in build quality. I bleed Ford blue but hate the sheet metal of the era.
Is it the sheet metal or the lack of rust protection on the inside? I ask because on my 59, it was mostly bare metal on the inside of the body. Fortunately its still pretty solid and I’ve been treating it for rust from the inside out. I don’t mean to hijack the thread, just a quick question lol.
I think a lot of it also has to do with panel design and clogged or lack of drain holes. IE rotted eyebrows on late 50s cars because road grime would get flung up there and have nowhere to go. I think the metal itself was still pretty good. In the 70s when they thinned out body panels for more MPG and used more and more recycled metal, they would rust on the dealer lot...
Lots of one year only parts on that girl.I just sold my 61 Starliner a short time ago 60’s and 61’s are hard to find in any condition.
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