Vintage Thunderbird Club International

I staretd this restoration about a year or so ago, but have not taken the time to post the progress. This is a D Code with the basic options. The original color is Gunmetal Grey with full red interior. It has the original factory white porthole hard top as well.

The previous owner had started the restoration and decided it was too much and put it up for sale.

Basically, this is a basket case that has spent most of its life in Florida.

There was some poorly thought out attempts to repair the inner fender well. They used galvanized tin cut every couple of inches to make the turn. Most of the trunk floor and the rear quarters were gone.

The previous owner removed the outer door skin and I guess gave up on the door, this was probably the beginning of the end of his restoration progress. The inner frame of the door is basically gone. I could only find a couple of replacment doors and both were about $2000 each. Based on this I decided to repair the door, it is doable but time consuming.

Some of the previous work is a little suspect. I had to repair some of the welds and make some adjustments.

Some time in the past the transmission tunnel was butchered.

Have to figure out the right way to load pictures so they are in the proper order.

Had to build a frame to hold body so I could mount it to the rotisserie.

You're a better man than I, Gunga Din.

Looks like you have the shop and tools to do the job, way over my head. I thought replacing the clutch was a big job on mine, you gotta be dedicated to take on a job like that good luck.

Thanks guys, I enjoy working on cars, it is an exercise in patience. Generally I have all the tools I need, but you can always use more. I decided when I retired I wanted to restore cars. I just finished a 51 Ford F1. It is an exact duplicate of my Grandfather's truck I grew up with. His truck was scrapped in the mid-sixties, however my mother keeps all the paperwork so I knew actually what I was look for.

The rear wheel wells were in pretty bad shape. I had to do it in pieces to get the angles right.

The welds from the previous owner were a little suspect, so it had to grind and re-weld most of them.
The shifter area was butchered. There must have been a transmission swap sometime in the past. I had to make it in several pieces to match the contours.

The rear wheel well body mounts were pretty much gone. They have two layers so had to cut them
Had to do the same thing with the convertible anchor mounts.

Save those "Before" photos, so we can compare them to the "After" photos. Gunmetal Gray over red is a great combination, but you might consider painting the top gray as well (less paint to buy).

Happy Thanksgiving!

That was my next question if you were retired, a lot of time involved to do what your doing. Just curious why you took this project on compared to finding one in better shape.

55blacktie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 23, 2020 6:55 pm Save those "Before" photos, so we can compare them to the "After" photos. Gunmetal Gray over red is a great combination, but you might consider painting the top gray as well (less paint to buy).

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will post all of the progress here. I have a lot more that I keep for when I put it back together. I have a friend that does my painting so the paint is not an issue.

Amazing work. I love seeing these 'lost causes' come back to life.

ranchbird wrote: ↑Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:59 pm That was my next question if you were retired, a lot of time involved to do what your doing. Just curious why you took this project on compared to finding one in better shape.

Actually, I looked for a basket case. I like metalworking and figuring out how make the pieces work. I get extremely good deals on projects that other people get burnout on. I do all the work myself with the exception of the paint.