1959 Ford Thunderbird Original Restoration (Part 1)
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- Picked up this gem that had been sitting in a guys back yard for approx. 47 years. Now is the time for the forgotten to rise again. 1959 Ford Thunderbird original restoration. Going all out on this one guys...
0:00 Intro
0:39 New Project Reveal
2:25 Shop Tour
4:30 Walk Around
10:20 Interior
12:50 Junk in the Trunk
15:04 Engine Compartment
16:45 What's the Plan, Man?
19:02 I Need Your Help!!!
19:49 Outro 
Авто/Мото
Poll is over and we can crown a winner! Thank you to @AngellsGarage for the winning submission for this project that will now be known by the official name "Thunderstruck". If you folks don't know, @AngellsGarage is currently working on restoring an awesome 1963 and 1964 Thunderbird. He does an amazing job at detailing the difficulties of a complete restoration, so take a moment and go check out his channel. Thank you to everyone who submitted a name for the project and a special thanks to everyone who cast a vote!
Good luck with your 1959 Thunderbird project.
Mine is a 1960 THUNDERBIRD, "Rosie". Original color is Palm Springs Rose. Larry Gunnell Wichita Falls. Tx.
Hey thanks! I bet she's beautiful!
@@walkercustomgarage She will be.
Beautiful car just as it is! Try to stay with it! It'll be a very valuable car!
Oh I'm definitely staying with it! Make it a point to work on her every day, soon enough I'll have her on the road again. More beautiful than she's ever been!
Not a FORD guy. Not much of a T-Bird guy. But this is the one I like !! The BIG Bird ! I'll be watching , best of luck !
Awesome to have you along for the ride! I'll make you proud.
Awesome classic bird!
It really is! Quickly becoming my favorite!
I love your optimism. I'll think of you often grinding away at this soon-to-be beautiful bird. Thanks for giving it a new life
Well thank you! I promise, I will do everything in my power to make her beautiful once again! She deserves it.
What a nice ride lookin forward to see this one back on the road.
You and me both man! I'm really looking forward to the challenge of doing the body work and paint. That's the moment it will all come together.
Thanks for wanting to keep it original. Just don't put huge wheels on it. Great video. 😊
Of course! Mostly all original. I would like nice wheels but they will be fairly standard.
i just found your channel and subscribed
It's great to have you along for the ride!
That car looks like a "Winnie" or "Snow White" if the paint stays white. What a cool project! I'm excited to see what you do!
Thank you! I'll get this noted for the names. I'm eager to get started on this and take it to it's limit. Good luck!
It's going to be more work than anything you can imagine. She will be sweet, though, when finished. Have a '58 myself, and I am glad I found her. Great things await you with your endeavors. "Fresh Flight" sounds good!
Lol, it's already a bit overwhelming! But, I find that if I spend a couple hours a night and put in a good weekend, it starts to come together real quick. I'm shocked at the progress I've already made. Love the name! I'll get it noted! Thank you
Nice shop to work in. Love the wood heater. Money saver. Love the project. Name how about Fabulous Thunderbird.
Oh man! That wood stove is a life saver! Heats up the shop real well. Thanks for the name suggestion, I'll get it in!!
So if your looking for some body work and painting tips .... I'm sure you've seen the Weird Beard videos ! ? The Coronet ones are the best for painting tips . He's in Blanchard Oklahoma , OK like you , maybe you can get together with him for some painting tips for the DIY guy who's going to paint in his garage. Maybe some equipment tips too ! Best yet .... if you can show up on his channel it'll help your channel out too ! Good Luck !
I haven't seen his channel but I will certainly check it out! It would be awesome to be able to do a collaboration with someone like this. I definitely could use some help when it comes to the body work and paint. Something I will look into for sure. Thanks for the heads up man!
Very nice t Bird , it’ll look awesome when is restored .
Thank you! I can't wait to get it finished and show you guys the results!
Just subscribed.
Awesome man! Great to have you along for the journey.
Sweet, i have a 58 thunderbird with a coyote swap.
Oh wow! I bet that's awesome!! Would love a coyote
Not really a 50s Ford man..but like 60s 70s ford. But the Thunderbird always had the style. Cool old car. Good luck with your resto. Be a great fun car to drive. Maybe a modern running gear. I'll watch p2. See what the plan is.
I hear ya... but these 50's cars got my attention! Big time!
I am the lucky 100th subscriber! Great project, excited to watch as the resto proceeds. I just learned these "square bodies" are unibodies where the support is built into the body from the firewall back. Take a look at the bottom to know what's ahead before jumping in too far. There are lots of aftermarket parts available and you can do a complete stock interior redo without a sewing machine. Sheet metal should all be available as well.
How about "Bye Bye Resto Birdie".
Square Birds not Square bodies
Congrats on being the 100th sub! It means a lot to me that you're here following the restoration. I am certainly planning on getting underneath this thing to take a solid look at what I'm getting into. Going to need to in order to get the seats out. I have a sneaking suspicion that there is a can of worms under there that I haven't seen yet. Thank you for the name suggestion, I will get that noted!
The wood burning stove to heat the shop, I hope you have ALL the petroleum distillates KEPT clear away from the stove. Gasoline is one of the most Dangerous things to keep around. My dad was a Volunteer Fireman, he used to work at an oil refinery. I am glad I was educated on the Dangers of Fire and Gasoline
I appreciate the concern for my safety! All the flammable and combustible materials are put up and safe from any heat and flames. Unfortunately, I've witnessed just what fire can do to the human body and I can assure you I have the necessary precautions in place to make sure there are no accidents. Cheers!
Thunder
Thank you for the suggestion! I'll get it on the list
That is an excellent project car. Good bones, and it's all there. Just be careful! Invest in lots of freezer strength zip lick bags, and labels. Parts bins too. You will need them. Buy the service and parts manuals. Disassemble the car very carefully, and take tons of good photos, with detail. You will need them, trust me. Take notes. Good luck, and have fun! Don't be in too much of a rush or hurry. That's how mistakes are made.
Some trivia. All TBirds from 58 to 76 were built on the Continental platform, in the Lincoln plant, on the same line with the Lincolns. It is more Lincoln than Ford, which helps explain why they were such nice high quality cars. Your car should have a 9 inch rear axle under it too.
Excellent advice for sure, thank you! I'm blessed to have a great job that likes to throwing things away that are still able to be used, like zip lock baggies!! So I have a ton of those at my disposal and I learned that lesson with my last project. Like I was saying, I am going to take my time on this one. I'm in no hurry. I made that mistake of getting into a rush on my rat rod and you're absolutely right, I made a lot of mistakes in the process... I'm not sure about the axle, but I'll definitely take a close look when I take it out.
How about sCARlette? 😉
or Ruby! I can’t wait to know the final name!
Almost like you can read my mind! lol I've got them on the list. Thank you!
Very nice project, looks like a good straight body! If you can't get behind that dent on your quarter panel, I would highly recommend getting yourself a nice stud welder, it really makes pulling out dents so much easier! Best of luck on your Tbird, it's always great seeing another one being saved 👍
Also I am terrible with names, but I'll suggest Thunderstruck, I may or may not be ripping off the AC/DC song lol
You may not believe this but, you are the reason I decided to pick up this Tbird in the first place. It's been a pleasure watching you restore your '63 and a huge inspiration. I've got a lot of tools still to collect and a stud welder is definitely on the list. Thanks for the name suggestion! I love it and it fits so well!!
@@walkercustomgarage Awesome! I am so glad I was able to serve as inspiration 👍🏻 The restoration journey will be a long one, but when you’re done you’ll be left with one of the best automobiles to have ever left Michigan!
´Nice bird :)
Many thanks!
Thunder down under
Got it noted! Thanks for the suggestion! I like it!!
I would call it the Money Pit
Ooh, now that's clever!
Subscribed. “Thunderturd”
Lol, I appreciate the sub, but I'm going to have to pass on the suggestion. You can do better.
You don't need to hop it up, that engine moved that car just fine. I built a 60 bird with GT 390 3 speed overdrive but it got hit in the front corner so just got a 59 with 85k original miles. Its 352 pulls near as good as the 390 but soon going to swap all the running gear and interior from the un rusted 60. I have lots of parts from other square birds including new dash pad, bumpers, radiator, windshield, brightwork, interior, wiring, instruments etc. Not looking for bux, just too good to scrap.
Hell of a lot of work but well worth it. 60 is the last easy to restore and maintain bird. With front disk brakes and rear sway bar they are very comfy rides, best driver in my collection. Rear drums are hardest parts to find, I won't use the Chinese drums. If you change to front disk brakes do not throw the originals, Ford guys seek them.
Let me know if you want some parts. I'm in Seattle.
Wow! Thank you for this! I may definitely hit you up if/when I discover that I need some parts. I'd rather pay a fellow enthusiast than a company, but I'll likely need both. I've been researching the engine a bit and it seems you're right, these engines are beasts. I'm looking forward to tearing into it to see just how bad the wear is on it. Like I was saying though, it's going to be a FULL rebuild. Definitely worth it!!
Separate attached heater in the trunk? Never ever heard of one in any Ford.
I recall one head bolt in each top row is different length, map the holes. Except dash pad can rebuild 59 bird blind folded. New ball joints are too stiff, steers better after 5K miles, we seek NOS ball joints for all old Fords. Only buy new hyd steering ram. Replace steer box seals and refill with STP. or rebuild at Red-head steering, Auburn Washington.
Replace starter with John Mummerts , far better than stock and specific to 58-64 FE. Replace motorcraft carb with edelbrock, wedge carb spacer is important. Replace points with pertronix and blaster coil. Toss stupid exhaust header heat valve. Best power gain headers from Ford Power Train. 2.5" pipes with 16" glass packs at rear bumper, best sound in the world. Composite exhaust gaskets need bolt tighten couple of times, over tighten can crack manifolds, best is sheet metal exhaust gaskets per instructions if you can find them. I build exhaust with mandrel bends from Summit.
Pressure check heater core and get a Porter Engineering wiper motor during dash board process, KEEP ORIGINAL wiper arms. I toss heater core heat valve and use inline unit other side of firewall with longer cable. Some had 5/8 and 3/4 heat hoses. Use (tested) 165 thermostat and electric fan with sensor. Square Bird club site has good dash pad instructions. I have pad new in box, NOS side chrome, windshields, radiators etc. What state are you in?
Real lucky you don't have electric windows. My upholstery guy sez new headliners and seat foams still available. Keep my connect, not gonna take the 60 apart until spring. 59 bird is an excellent car. @@walkercustomgarage
All excellent advice, thank you for sharing all your knowledge!! It's people like you who are priceless in this community. I'm going to need to lean on anyone and everyone I can to get this done right. I'm in Oklahoma. Feel free to hit me up at my gmail @walkercustomgarage anytime. Thanks again!
Just subscribed to your channel
Awesome man! Great to have you along for the ride! I hope you enjoy, cheers!
Forgot to add a name, my blue 60 was known in our car community as the tanker, I named my 59 Snowbird cause its white with Diamondback full white walls.
BTW move side mirrors aft of the wing window so the wing opens all the way. I use late 60s Bronco mirrors cause traffic here is dense. When, not if, you put disk brakes on the front you'll need later model 15" rims which are better anyway. Original 14" rims worth bux.
Don't restore to pure stock, boring and waste garage space. All my pals and I that built them our way keep and drive them in all weather all the time but we also don't hack them up. Late 50s Fords don't need much to make them good drivers even by todays standards.
Thank you, I'll take note of these names. If I hop anything up at all, it will definitely be the brake system along with the wheels. Unfortunately, the original wheels where rusted through on the bottom of the rims after sitting for so long, they are shot!
Back in the day there nick name was big bird 🤔
Lol, I hadn't heard that, but I like it!!
The thunderbird people call them square birds, we called the early birds "little birds".
your looking at 3 to 500 hs and 7 to 15,000 dollars. just sayin
Well, I'm keeping track so I'll definitely let you know!