Did you sink the windshield? cut it? use one from something else? My only exposure to this era of bird was using a '61 bullet bird as a parts car for my '60 F100 (another "orphan") I used the complete motor/trans, parts of the wiring harness and exhaust system, cooling system etc - it was crude but fun - the t-bird was nice, but had no title and a buddy was going to use the shell to build a restomod speedster with a custom chassis - never happened
I'm really glad you are back on the Bird. I've always loved the work you have done on this and think it's going to be a great looking car. I'd agree with you on the gold over the hirohata-ish paint scheme....I think the gold will compliment it much better. I have no problem with white interiors...especially pearl. Lots of people say they are hard to keep clean, blah blah blah. I've run white interiors on most all my cars since the 80's....all of them in regular daily driver use. This is as far as I ever got with the interior on my '64 Pontiac in the 80's before getting buried with school. This was my only car at the time and I flat wore this interior out before the car got creamed and has been sitting ever since waiting to be finished (30 year wait so far LOL). I'll redo it in all white pearl this time rather than the plain white I did last time. Of course, here's the current white interior I'm running now..... The black piping does lend a bit of contrast against the pearl white, so maybe that will be enough to convince the Mrs?
I like the Cadillac headlight bezels. Are the salt flat wheels a permanent choice, or just a placeholder to fit over the new brakes?
The white interior is a sign of custom commitment, elegance over practicality. I vote for no contrasting piping unless it’s light gold or maybe a light freize (sp?) of some kind. Just my humble opinion. I’ve seen some cream colored and pearl white interiors that were so luxurious and inviting that they made me want to drive around naked in them.
Yes, the windshield is sunken into the cowl as far as the dog-leg would allow, roughly 2". Tricky, as the dash went down with it, but it works. I'd seen a couple of cars a guy from West Michigan did in the 80's that way, one a '56 Crown Vic that was stunning. John Kow was the guy. That was the inspiration to cut this car up.
I'm probably not gonna use them, the rear 17's as it's out of true by almost 3/4". I didn't have tires mounted until had them a couple years, so too late to go back to American for a refund. I've always like them though.
Very Kool project! I Love square birds and definitely will be watching the thread. Good luck with the progress and please keep us updated.
The windshield gasket finally arrived, so I can get the w/s back in. May seem like a small step, but one that will be a big inspiration to continue. Tomorrow I hope to get the gas tank in and plumbed, and we'll see if the 302 will still run...
Got lots done today. The new gas tank is back in, lines plumbed and pump replaced. I had put the "J" bolts that hold the tanks straps somewhere safe. So safe I couldn't find them so I made some from a stick of All-thread. I also had some new straps somewhere, but those too were AWOL, the old ones weren't rusted so they went back on. I did a quick clean up of the trunk, swept up the cherry pits and walnuts mice had dragged and wiped the dust off the trim panels just for some inspiration. When I (finally) got the trunk lid to open (the contacts for the release switch must have been corroded 'cause it took about a dozen tries for the lid to pop open), I discovered the 80's era Mustang stereo and booster, with a Chris Issac tape still in it! Just for fun, I plugged it in to the wiring harness, and, like the trunk release, after a few times pushing the tape in, hitting the "Reverse" and "Forward" buttons, it still works. I'm going to replace it with a hidden Bluetooth unit, but that cassette (and a ZZ Top one) were what I listened to while building it 30 years ago.
Perish the thought. Although, I admit to thinking about it. I like the idea of having cars with engines from the parent company, although I stray from that pretty often. I'm not averse to modern engines and fuel delivery, but I didn't want to reinvent the wheel with this, and I didn't want to further complicate the (re)build. It's been long enough. It's funny you ask about the engine, some guy on that Face-Page spent 3 paragraphs chastising me for not putting an FE back in it, and lectured me on the power to weight ratio. He was cranked up about the small block Ford, which, in truth is rather shy on bottom end torque for the car, but it's a comfortable cruiser. I have fast cars, this isn't one but it didn't hold up traffic either. I pointed out that Ford put 289's in Galaxies and 240 sixes in base model full size cars, so they weren't all stop light terrors.
It's not slow, but it's no fire-breathing monster. Not every car, especially customs, need to be race cars.
Someone pointed out (Amishmike?) that the left skirt looked too low, the body lines didn't match. I don't react well to unsolicited criticism, but looking at it on the lift, in the harsh light of day, he wasn't wrong. I was a bit prickish in my overly sarcastic reply to him. So, I fixed the fit, and I hope I can fix the rudeness.. First, the lower half of the skirt (they're in 2 pieces) wasn't fastened tightly to the upper, which made it drop about 1/4" below the character line. Secondly, the shape of the skirt at the top, didn't quite fit the wheel opening. I tightened up the two halves, which helped, but made the fit at the top look even worse. I used a tiny bit of glass reinforced filler to tighten up the gap, using the (masked off skirt) as a mold. Much better, and, I'm sorry I was such a dick in my response to Mike...
We have probably all snapped back at one point in our lives. It's the honest men and women among us who stop, reconsider and apologize. Well played. As for the wife nixing White, perhaps try to find a lime gold vinyl, then paint match. Might be a bit much monochromatic, run it by her. I'd lean strongly toward a light color in FLA and something that won't get messed up if a few rain drops fall. The guy that wanted an FE back, ask him how many exhaust manifold bolts he's pulled out of a bird.
The "before" skirt shot was nice, sort of like a cheerleader getting out of the back seat, a bit shuffled but sweet. Your fix is spot on as normal though man. Pleats are straight and tidy.
I finished up (well, almost finished, the hoses sent with the Borgeson box were for a Chevy ps pump, so the correct ones are on the way) the Borgeson power steering box in the T'bird. It was a difficult job, as the forward end of the box hit the frame, not letting it drop down enough to get the bolts through. I ended up heating the top of the frame and dimpling it (tough when there's no room to swing hammer) and clearanced the end of the box a tiny bit. Having the lift was a lifesaver for this job, I had the thing up and down at least a couple dozen times. I swiped the U-joint I'd ordered for the DeSoto steering column swap, which isn't here yet so it's OK. I'd forgotten the steering column in the 'bird is a double D, not splined, end, so it's all together. Once I get the hoses I can get a battery in it and get the car started with it's new fuel tank, pump and lines. It's been a long time...
Hmmmm…. I’ve had the idea that the ‘bird would look good in Lime Gold. I dug my Kirker color chart out and, lo and behold, I can get there without breaking the retirement account.
The Jalopy Journal
