what do you think of converting my 1960 T-Bird hardtop into a Ranchero? I am thinking about cutting a section from the roof and moving the reart window right behind the front seat. Then making a metal floor and sides where the rear seat was. No tailgate. Am I nuts?? ( I guess that is already apparant)
Sounds like a great idea, the Bird has good lines for something like this. I have seen several conversions of various cars, most look right. Good luck.
would i do it to either one of my t-birds NO would i do it to a good saveable t-bird NO if a tree fell on your t-bird and crushed the top and quarters MAYBE but if you do it id be interested in the parts your not gonna be needing and that red one^ is hideous
I'm not a big fan of El Camino/Ranchero conversions. I've seen a few done well, but I think I'd rather have a coupe. However, I have dreamed of mating a '58 Fairlane hardtop roof to a Squarebird and I think it'd look fantastic.
Sounds like a neat idea . A set of early American mags. two tone paint, and a pleated tonneau cover should finish it off.Take your time and do it right you could end up with a cool ride.
Go for it. I'm a big Ranchero fan. I've had Ranchero's since 71. Current one is a 79. The pic Squirrel put up is a good start, tho I'm with lowered crowd on this one. Tailgate needs a little more thought too.
The lines of the T-Bird are classically elegant, I'm not sure how you would mate the bodies together. I like the idea but I can imagine that it will be hard to keep the beautiful flow of the Birds.
I have seen several and they very seldom look right. The flanks of the square bird are too thick. It is already boxy the Ranchero mod would already make it worse.
I see you also posted this message in the Vintage Thunderbird Club International's Forum (http://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net). I suggest you study how first-generation Falcon Rancheros were constructed before even thinking about hacking on a '60 'Bird like you propose. Both are unibodies, but their basic understructure is different. Moving the cross-body support from where it currently is under the rear window to behind the front seats will change the structure of the body and allow for more torsional twist in the rear - not a good thing. Convertible 'Birds have a bulkhead forward of the rear wheelwells that is more substantial than a hardtop's in part to counter this cross-body flexing, and in addition have additional support in the form of heavier-gauge sheet metal and some extra stiffeners in the rockers/underbody to keep the body from folding in half. The T-bird/Ranchero conversions that are out there more often than not rely on placing the T-bird body on a frame from a donor car in order to support the body. I've also seen conversions that relied on the chassis/body of a '57-'59 Ranchero with T-bird roof/doors/front clip hung on them (no small feat in itself). I think there's enough T-bird body shells out there to contemplate this kind of work rather than taking a complete, running example and expending time, effort and money to gut/modify it for the same result. Personally, I'd sell the 'Bird and get a Falcon Ranchero, or find a T-bird body that's already clapped out and modify it instead of turning a perfectly good '60 T-bird into a basket case.
Regarding the Fairlane roof T Bird in post number 6: a couple of years ago, my friend built this combo as a model car, combining an AMT 57 Ford roof with a Monogram 58 T Bird. He has taken it to a number of model car shows and NEVER had anybody say a comment about it. It looks so right and is done as a replica stock model, and everyone just walks right by it. Amazing!
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