Projects BIGREDTODD'S 1961 STARLINER THREAD

Not going to lie, it too a few sittings to get to this point, but the new dash is in. Wiring is connected & garnish moldings are installed at the base of the windshield (not shown). I am currently in the middle of reinstalling the heater controls, as well as new dash bezels, knobs, cables, etc. But more to come on that soon




I hope this video posts, because there has been no better feeling than seeing this:

 

When I ordered mine, they had just started to reproduce the pads for the 1960-62 Galaxie. They said that black was the color they molded them in, and that was all they offered. I thought that they would offer to color it, but not the case (at that point, at least). The photos online showed a white dash pad, so not really sure what the deal is. Was not a big deal, at the end of the day...

 

What an extremely cool car .Call me late to the party. Sorry to hear about your backsteps.You are doing this car justice ,what an interior.

 

Late to the party too but well worth the time spent to read. Love the car, the story and all the work you've done. Thanks for posting!

 

Looking fab. Interestingly your right hand blinker light is in a better position than my Merc which is at the far corner of the panel. At least thats my excuse for constantly leaving it on.

 

I had mentioned that this was a "real" hi-po car, and was special ordered by my uncle. Many people put all the "Z" code (5th digit of the VIN) cars into the hi-po category, which is false. "Z" = 390 engine, of which there were 3 choices. Lots of other identifiers that I won't go into, because I don't need to. when I took the interior apart, I had found remnants of the build sheet in the rear seat springs. Much of it had turned to dust, but it had a readable VIN & the info that I already knew. WELL, somehow a second build sheet was in the glove box when I emptied everything out. Somehow, mice had not made there way into nesting there.

Had to share it, because I never imagined I would ever find something in this nice of shape:


Yes, it came with a clock and a radio originally, but I decided to delete them both with factory pieces...more on that later.

 

When it comes to Fords, there are typically a lot of NOS parts available, as well as a fair amount of good quality reproductions. For the dash, I was able to source NOS temp gauge, fuel gauge, speedometer, light switch (actually bought 3 different ones), ignition switch, and radio delete. I was also able to find a total of 7 windshield wiper dash nuts (chrome trim). I'll explain that soon, but stumbling onto them saved my ***, as far as the dash jewelry goes.






I was also able to find a better heater control ***embly with more well-preserved plastic trim and characters.

From the repop world I was able to source knobs, a cigarette lighter body/element, and ignition switch dash nut (chrome trim). I ad to re-use the parking brake cable, vent cable

 

Kind of a side note, but I am trying to ID the side mirrors (non-Fomoco) that were on the car...I started a separate discussion for those here:
https://jalopyjournal.com/forum/thr...view-side-view-mirrors.1350008/#post-15868688

Thanks

 

Outside rear-view mirrors weren't federally required at the time so unless the dealer ordered them, they didn't come with them. And they didn't come installed even when they did, so where they were positioned on the car depended on where the dealer put them. But more than a few dealers bought less-expensive aftermarket mirrors or offered 'DeLuxe' options.

 

Wow! Awesome find.