One summer I noticed a red 1959 Thunderbird convertible sitting in a field behind what appeared to be a rental property several miles from our home. I built up the nerve one afternoon to stop by the residence and inquire as to the car's owner. They allowed me the opportunity to investigate the car and provided me with the owner�s name. Unfortunately the car was in such poor shape that it would have been good for only a few salvageable parts.
My lead to the owner was more fruitful though. When I contacted him, we had a long conversation about old cars and restoration projects. He told me that he was in a bit of a quandary. As the story has it, the owner had another 1959 Thunderbird convertible that he had released to a local Lincoln-Mercury dealership to be restored. Apparently the body shop had disassembled all of the interior, dash, electrical, convertible top, and trim car and then pulled the car into the back lot never to be worked on again. The car was not in a running condition and many of the parts once removed were missing. Jack was really in a bind since he did not know how he was ever going to have his car returned to drivable condition, let alone restored.
Looking for a challenge, I told him I may be interested in the project as a way to help with college expenses, but that I would only be able to work on it part-time while attending classes. This was not a problem with him and he would also offer to let me set up shop in a garage behind his office to work on his, and other cars if I would like. What a shop! A mechanical contractor had used the shop before he bought the office and garage. The space turned out to be capable of holding 7 cars comfortably, steam heat in the floor, industrial air compressor, and a high bay area with chain hoist.
The goal of the owner was not to embark on a total ground-up restoration, but to reassemble the Thunderbird with new paint, interior, and top. I also had to get the car running again and make sure it would be reliable driver. I was able to located may of the parts that were missing from various parts vendors. Reinstallation of a new dash pad and rewiring of the dash was challenging. The shop that worked on the car previously had removed EVERYTHING. All I had to work from were parts and wires thrown haphazardly into boxes. An original copy of the Ford shop manual helped - luckily I am not colorblind since the key was to follow the correctly colored wires from point to point.
After some minor engine work the car started and ran very well, but a considerable amount of work was needed on the braking system. I did not remove the engine when detailing the engine, but worked around many of the components to produce a presentable engine compartment. All of the under hood work and detailing before I sent the car out to have the paint-work completed. I did not have enough time with school and other projects to do the body work myself and expected that a shop would finish this task before I could. The bodywork was completed within a short period of time since there was not a great deal of bodywork needed. From there I sent the car to the upholstery shop for a new interior. All of the original carpets and vinyl were gone and only the springs remained. I was able to provide detailed photos for the upholsterers to work from, which they were able to closely match all of the colors, patterns, and stitching well beyond my expectation.
The owner was so elated when I showed up at his home on a warm summer afternoon to present him with the keys to his Thunderbird. He never thought he would have the car back together again. I surely miss his heated garage! |
