Projects '59 Thunderbird Radical Custom build.

I don't know that you'd need the V in the middle. That was added more as a way of showing the shape of the curve I was thinking of and because I couldn't find a bit of mesh big enough. Just ignore that bit!

 

If you can photoshop it, I can build it ;-$


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Got to throw my vote(Not that I have one) behind the mesh grill as well Brian.
With the bumper being painted the shiny mesh will do more for the front end than the horizontal grill bars.IMHO.
And besides. What's a custom with out a custom grill?
Torchie.

 

My wife said, "It looks like an angry bug." I think it's a winner.

Brian

 

Now that sounds like a challenge right there! Hmmmmm.....

 

Man thats cool! Just one question, where the heck are you going to find mesh like that?

 

Seems to be available...

http://www.lockwoodinternational.co...-inches-part-no-316-a-more-details-i1603.html

I dare say they´d do you a bigger chunk of it if you need it.

 

Well, let's not get too carried away…

Brian

 

Didn't do much on the 'Bird today. Went for a nice winter walk, got a roof drag and pulled a bunch of snow off the valley's of the house anticipating a big melt and rain later this week. LOTS of people around have ice dams and resultant leaks, we don't' have any ice build up at all at the eves, but I don't want to have 2 feet of snow up there settle, melt, and then freeze.

Anyway, I DID get a little done. I shaved the rear bumper bolts, put all the pieces together, the brackets back on, and got the bumper hung on the car. No big progress, but something that had to get done.

I also cut up a couple of the '49 Pontiac Sombrero hubcaps I bought for the '48 Pontiac 'vert, since there was no way to attach them to the Chevy pickup rally wheels. I took a small 15" trim ring, cut it down a little and crimped it onto the back of the full cap. It worked very well, but I need a couple more trim rings. I'm happy with how they look, although they're not perfect, they're fine for a "driver".

 

Work on the 'bird has to a screeching halt lately between the latest Polar Vortex, getting the Diamond T and camper ready for Cobo, and the shop roof collapsing under the snow. Hopefully in a week or so the weather will break, the car show thrash will be over and builders will be swarming on the shop roof. Let's hope.


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What? Damn, sorry to hear that. Sounded like you had headed that snow off at the pass.

 

Nothing new on the 'Bird, what with Autorama last weekend and the roof on the shop issue. Little update on that, the demo is done, the roof cut up an lifted off the Caddy and Speedster and stacked up outside. The result: NO damage (other than a couple minor paint scratches) to either one. Amazing I dodged the bullet on that one
. Now waiting on estimates from a couple contractors to turn in for insurance, and we can get the project going.

 

Glad to hear that there was little to no damage done to the cars.
We have had a couple of significant roof collapses on commercial buildings up here this winter. I think that we are at or over 16 feet of snow so far this winter.
How was the Autorama this year?
Looking forward to you getting back to the Bird build.
Torchie.

 

We had a GREAT time! I got over my irritation about the heavy "Rat Rod" showing in the basement, and had a good time. Got to shake hands once again with Gene Winfield, saw lots of my HAMB friends, and the roads were clean and dry both on the way over and back. A great weekend! Check out my blog for a my view on the show, just click on the link here...http://flynbrian48.wordpress.com

Brian

 

This thing is going to be sick! Can't wait to see it done.

 

Enjoyed the blog Brian. Very nice pictures too!

Was sorry to read about your roof issues (glad the toys escaped relatively unscathed) and hope you can get back to the T-bird real soon.

-Dave

 

Thanks Dave. Now that Autorama is past, my work week is done, and the snow is finally starting to melt, I'm going to hit the T'bird a bit this afternoon. Meanwhile, here are some pics of the shop now that the roof has been lifted off the cars. I think you'll agree that I must have some good Karma (Carma?) going on. This is the sum total of the damage (other than a couple of smashed tool chests and broken table saw beds and hand tools scattered about in the snow!!

 

Good luck indeed.

My grandfather had a '37 Cord Phaeton stored in the corner of a friend's professional building. First floor parking, second floor offices. A tornado struck the building and dropped the concrete floor on the car. The overall structure of the building remained intact, but the car appeared buried.

After clearing the debris, it turned out that the slab had landed on some ledge or something behind the car and the only damage was a small dent in the upper quarter panel the size of a small plate. We had feared that the car would have been a complete loss.

 

That sucks. At least when we have an act of God our stuff disappears in the hurricane so we don't have to see the damage ha ha


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Wow. Now that's a project setback you could not figure for. How do you prevent it in the future, steeper pitch? Or stouter framing?

Or is this just something you Yankees live with, clearing the snow off the roof? Jeesh . . .

 

So, yesterday I spent all day working on the dash and steering column mount. When the windshield got sunk into the cowl, the dash mount went down with it of course, which meant nothing fit any more. I had already cut the dash pods out of the panel and had them roughed in, raised and moved forward. The gauge cluster and matching glove box door I moved back into the dashes original location, tunneled deep into the pods. Before, they'd been mounted further out, even with the mount for dash pad "eyebrow'.

Here is my dilemma:

I like the machine finish on the panels, and I like the gauge cluster, full gauges, tach, courtesy of the Mustang 5.0 GT donor car I used. My door panels, console, and the tonneau cover trim are all machine finish aluminum to match the dash. Not a problem.

The problem is the hideous, mid 80's Mustang column and wheel. The column has the ignition switch, blinker stalk and the wheel has the cruise control switches. The column needs a huge "jacket" fabricated to conceal it, the clunky switchgear, tilt gizmo, and wiring harness. The wheel itself is flat, no dish, and incorporates the cruise control switches in the spokes. The thick foam padding is starting to look it's age, and I nicked the cover chopping the frame. It's awful.

I have the dashes original cluster and glove box door, ribbed chromed die-cast, and I could make the gauges work with the Mustang wiring harness, and I'm sure I could drive an electronic tach (in the gauge pod which now has a clock) with the pulse output for the Mustang tach, but then the dash doesn't match the rest of interior's machine finish pieces. I'd like to use an original column and wheel, or maybe a different column with a flat sprint car style wheel, which would look good with the machine finish thing going on, and fit the Bonneville, or racey-car theme I have for it.

I don't mind losing the cruise control, since we rarely used it anyway, and w/s wipers got lost when w/s was sunken, so I don't need that either. The column and wheel can go away.

So, what to do? Options, from easy, to more difficult…

1) Keep the Mustang column and clunky, thick jacket, and just use a sprint car wheel?

2) Keep the gauge panels that match the interior trim and re-work the wiring harness for an in-dash ignition switch, ditching the hideous Mustang column and wheel in favor of a slim, original style column and sprint car style wheel?

3) Replace the dash panel and glove box door with the originals, use a different, original style column and wheel, and then have to completely re-design the rest of the interior?

Of course, I didn't save the original column and wheel, when I originally built the car. BTW, I used the Mustang wiring harness in it's entirety when I built the car, hence the different gauges, column and wheel.

Brian

 

Could you build some engine-turned sheets to surround the ugly bits on the wheel and column? Hard to tell exactly how big the 'Stang column is, but if anyone could de-uglify something like that, it's you.

(Cruise is nice to have! )

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Can you make some engine turned pieces to apply to the ribbed parts of the original dash panels? If so, I'd vote for going back to the original dash, column & wheel. Even if you can't, I think the turned pieces and the ribbed would look good together.

 

I'd go with this option. Use a mid-late 60s Ford column, preferably something out a floor-shift car to eliminate the column shifter although it isn't that hard to 'convert' one to ditch the shifter. Don't know that I'd use a flat wheel, something with a dish would be a better match IMO (stock type wheel with some minor mods to match the aluminum?). The biggest hassle will be the ignition switch, a in-dash switch won't have enough contacts for the late Mustang harness and you'll need to use some relays to cover that.

Or possibly a early version Ford locking column, a bit bulkier but not too bad and you may be able to adapt the late Mustang switch to fit that.

 

Door #2! That Mustang column and wheel don't deserve to be in the same garage with the rest of the car.

 

LOL, I was afraid you guys were going to go with Door #2. The ignition switch, as mentioned, does a lot of things, and will require quite a bit of work to replace, which is why when I originally built it, I used the Mustang column and wheel. In '91, it didn't look so bad. Now, it's a non-starter. Well, it's a starter, 'cause the car starts and runs like an '88 'Stang GT, but visually, it's not good.

 

OK. I found a wheel. Custom made, no dish, 'Vette style wheel in these colors. Traditional looking, aircraft inspired, racy looking, but sorta custom looking too. I think it's a winner!

 

Hi Brian

Neat looking bird , how about the special Ford Racing GT 3 spoke dished wheel that has leather with foam you could by at the dealer parts dept

Have one on my 78' Ranchero and they look and feel great

BTW I had a tricked up 63' bird that was a cool date nite car too - Met blue - Cragers - black Landau top with twice pipes

G Don

 

You guys win. Ordering a shorty column, no key, floor shift, along with the wheel. Figured out the wiring, and may end up using the original cluster and glove box too.

You're making me work too hard...


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Brian,
Looking awesome! Just getting caught up with this build. Looking forward to the end result!