Projects '55 T-Bird "Wild Bird" Ayala Custom - Restoration

its my pleasure to start this thread! the original Gil Ayala Thunderbird known as Wild Bird is at my shop, Yaril's Customs, for a full restoration back to its little book days. ill try my best to document the process as i go and chime in with info on what ive found and is going on in the project. we are always looking for more info on this car, either of the 2 versions so that we can restore it more accurately.

we are also looking for a donor 55 Tbird, we need things such as seats, motor, glass and a lot of misc parts so a rusty car is not a bad thing so long as it is complete! let me know if you have something we can use.

so ill start off with the first batch of pics showing how we received the car in a red primer. first things first was to strip it down to bare metal so that we can find out what the condition of the original metal is. ill let the pics do the talking and chime in on the next post.

thanks!
Yaril

 

Signed up, Yaril!

 

......damn. It's seen some living, ain't it ? Good luck!

 

Is it going to be a frame-off? How are you stripping the underside?

 

I love 5-6-7 T-Bird customs...

 

That's a nicely styled custom!

 

I sure hope the owner doesn't decide to redo the headlights in order to put it back to the first version. It would be a shame to cut off Gil's work to accomplish that. That would defeat the purpose of restoring an Ayala custom in my eyes. If one wants a version of the first car build one but don't remove original work to back track.

 

I agree that it would be a shame to cut off Gil's work. It's not an easy task, since there is so few pics out there, especially of the second version, but also of the interior and details... Hopefully everybody that has additionally pics would be so kind to help out with the retoration by sending them to Yaril or post them here.

 

I knew your work on that Ford would pay off for you big time.

It is a shame that car has been mistreated like it was. All that bondo is not a good sign but I know you will do it right and bring back the glory that was Gils workmanship. Will definitely be watching this one.

 

Yaril, I will keep an eye out for a donor car in my travels.

 

Classic Auto Trader has a rusty 55 Bird listed at $5500


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Cool project.

 

Even "donor" quality cars are getting ridiculous in price, I remember seeing a burned out shell go for 2 grand on ebay.
Depending on what you are trying to find for the car, your best bet might be to buy each part you need, or you can buy alot in the aftermarket for these. Mac's carries alot for baby birds:
http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_thunderbird/

 

I like the screw in top of the left quarter.

 

There were lots of famous customs in Southern California, but usually you saw them only at car shows...This is the only famous SoCal custom I actually saw driving on the street...one of those fleeting moments you never forget. So I am eagerly awaiting its restoration!....glad it is in your hands

 

Do you remember when you saw this one on the street? I'm curious if you saw the first or second version!


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Taking notice of all the body filler on the front fenders, was it in an accident at some point? What year was the second version constructed?

 

We have talked to Walter Leeman about this El Hueso, who pinstriped the first version of the car. Walter went into the US Air Force in the early 1960s, and the second version was done sometime after he left. That's all we know for now. The big question is..did the second version have fins as well?

As mentioned earlier, I think it would be a crime to redo the front of the car as well, as you then remove original custom bodywork by Gil Ayala! The new owner is really found of those fins, so I hope the second version had fins as well

 

looking forward to this, its in the right hands!

 

It was a long time ago, but I'm guessing maybe '57 or '58...this was the version that I saw, really remember the expanded metal tail fins...I could be wrong about the date, though.

 

Man......to be flush enough to get a fairly new car kustomized......it's unreal that car went under the knife so much to just be driven. Don't get me wrong....that's awesome. I'm just in awe of the financials necessary for such an endeavor then.

This car and the Gene Winfield 56 custom Vette for Mike Sparrow exudes wallet oblivion for the day. Frekn' kaboom !! Pretty cool to spend it to get it......spend it to slice it....and ultimately.....spend it to wheel it.

I can't wait to see what happens with this one. Still can't believe it exists.

 

I am sure it was a used car when Gil started it and when you are doing all the work yourself it was probably not that costly.

 

Bought new by Gil Ayala in 55 brother man.
Sweat equity or not.....it takes big sudsy hairy friggin' swinging balls to chop suey what was then....Ford's brand new answer to Corvette.

w

 

Where did you get the info that he bought it new I have never seen that?

 

Just hit search. Its easy to find. Made magazine covers three years in a row. 56, 57, and 58. Quite the splash.....

I am not an expert....merely a fan.

 

I'm certain to step on some toes here, but in the photo 6 0r 7 posts back, that is an ugly freakin' car.
Sure, some of the styling exercises back in the day were a little "iffy", but that sumbitch is truly nasty!

 

I liked it better without the striping......realistically though the car was stretched a bit more so then Tbird dimensions....Olds' wheel well treatments. Does throw the eye a bit, and yes.....some of the custom guys did more re-styling then styling.....but the car was a big splash in its day. These shots are more complimentary I think.....I'm sure better will come.

 

thank you everyone for the comments! well time for another update. i have gone over every square inch of the exterior body sanding and cleaning and exposing. got to carefully block some of the original lead work and prep the body for its first coat of protection. look at all the pictures and you can see some the rust issues, old repair issues (especially on the passenger front quarter and driver rear rocker area).

 

Imagine how close to the scrapper this original Ayala car was, as some San Fernando Valley guys were dividing up the parts to sell. Luckily Dan Cuellar of The East L.A. Auto Butchers Car Club recognized it, and saved the car, and got most of the parts to, including the bumpers, taillights and dash. Somebody up there must have been watching...