1963 ‘Bullet’ T-Bird
We brought a 1963 Ford Thunderbird to the shop, not for restoration, but to get her cleaned up and made roadworthy for a little top-down Summer fun. It was built September 18, 1963 - the 5,331st unit built that year and 1 of 5,895 convertibles.
She's been sitting for quite some and has no brakes so we'll be going through all the mechanical systems as well as the electrics to make sure everything works as it should and is safe.
We get started by power washing under the hood so we can see what we're working on....
She's been fully repainted at least once in her life and the seat inserts have been reupholstered with velour inserts. The data tag indicates it was supposed to be 'Diamond Blue', which is a light blue, on the outside but so far we've not been able to find any evidence it was ever blue.
The rear deck lid and and tray open where the convertible top is stowed. It is a complicated system of locks, solenoids, relays, limit switches, and hydraulic cylinders that all work in concert.
It's pretty grungy back there, and this is after we vacuumed up a lot of mouse poo and debris.
We've got to replace some leaking hydraulic hoses and get some fresh mats in place.
Stay tuned as we get this old bird in shape to fly again.