1956 Thunderbird barn find sitting since 1981

Description

If you are looking for a baby bird UNDER 20K please keep looking.What a terrific find! We are a restoration shop in Corpus Christi, Texas and when contacted about this car we immediately went to look. The owner had passed away and his widow wanted to bring this car back up to a daily driver and that was the route that we took.We never thought that this car would be for sale until the widow passed but her needs have changed and NOW it is for sale!

This car was purchased by its' second owner in the spring of 1958. As he was in the military and mved around a lot! When finally he was stationed in Florida in 1969 he put down the top and really was able to enjoy his car. Then, in 1977 he decided that the normal maintenance was getting pretty heavy so into the shop she went for a TOTAL MAKEOVER! At that time the car showed a little over 77K miles. The 312 was gone thru completely as was the automatic transmission. A new color was done and painted with that "NEW" aircraft paint ( known as IMRON). This is how the story was told to me by his wife, now the owner. She complained about the high cost of the paint job etc. but enjoyed the car still the same! This is where this car was saved and why it is in the condition it is in TODAY!

What we picked was a tired old car. What is here now is almost beyond words and it came BACK easy! As this car was parked for good in 1981 he drained everything. He was gonna,gonna,gonna do something. To date nobody knows what. The next 35 years she sat, alone in the cover of darknes, by its self in his garage. He would visit from time to time and bought a few new parts, but NEVER got to his "project". That's OK because we have done it up RIGHT and she is once again on the road and BETTER THAN EVER!

Here is what WE did. Remove engine and transmission. Disassemble both. Rebuild BOTH all new with top line materials Engine runs at 60 lbs oil pressure and trans shifts perfect!. Of coarse the "tea kettle" Holley 4 barrel was rebuild and new water and fuel pumps. It is all new. A G.M. "one wire" alternator was added for reliability factor. Pertronics ignition was added along with a hotter coil. SO NO MORE POINTS ignition! This car starts right up, idles well cold or warm and performs flawlessly! Radiator was gone thru, cleaned and 2 small holes ( that we most likely caused) repaired. Naturally all belts and hoses are new. It is ALL new. The Front and rear suspension got all new bushings, tie rods and ends and ball joints as well. Shocks on all 4 corners are new as well. Rear end was removed, cleane, disassembled and new axle bearings installed as well as front pinion seal and sleeve.Power steering components were all gone thru with new seals etc.and new hoses. The list could go on forever, new battery, cables, starter, solenoidetc. etc. etc...it is all new!

Remember, this car was being built back so that an 80 year old lady could drive it at will!!! That's saying something!

The single chambered master cylinder was replaced with a duel master cylinder an FRONT DISC BRAKES were added. All rear components are also NEW. It stops 100 times better than it EVER did before. Tires were replaced and put on NEW aftermarket, period correct wheels due to factory wheels beingbent and not wanting to seal on the bead. New steel wheels cost MORE than aftermarket alloys! Go figure that! We do NOT have the fender skirts.

The exhaust was repaired and comes out of the correct location in the rear bumper. It is very quiet.(too quiet for me)

Now on to the body and interior. This car was originally the light green that ford had back then The RED conversion was a good one. It is very difficult to find the green anywhere! We had the engine OUT so she got a complete steam cleaning and engine compartment refinish.

Aftermarket engine gauges were added years ago and are in good working order. Speedometer and mechanical tachometer work well also. Window tracks were all cleaned and greased and work well. Wipers.....well they are still vacuum and work like they did. Seat covers are in pretty good shape. The drivers side has one small hole that I took a picture of. The windshield has one star and I attempted to photograph it as well. We installed new door panel backings and they look good. Carpet is slightly discolored but in good shape. The convertible top frame has been gone thru and all joints and clamps are in good shape. IT DOES NOT HAVE a cloth top installed at this time. Also the hard top is in need of slight exterior repair and has no liner in it at the present time. Thepassenger compartment"boot" is original and in good shape. It is missing 2 or 3 snaps on the body of the car for this cover. NOW the paint.

For a near 40 year old paint job this car scores 90+ out of a possible 100! It has a deep, rich shine that looks great! Over 60 hours was taken to sand and buff this car back to this condition. We are professionals and know how to do this without having to paint.It is still a driver condition paint job if youunderstand it is a ten footeru have to be right up on this car to see ANY flaws. The bright metal is also in GREAT condition as well. It needs nothing to win at the local cars shows. It CAN NOT be considered a "survivor" due to the color change.

As a whol, this car is ready,willing and able to be driven anywhere, anytime you want and does as well if not better than the day is was purchased NEW!

We are able to do any further repairs or additions that you may want done for an additional charge. Feel free to call and ask! 361-331-3322

This car has NO RUST issues and shows to have NEVER had any previous body damage or rust repairs of ANY KIND!

Now for the hard part. IF you need to ASK YOUR WIFE, or your HUSBAND or don't have the money to pay me, or ZERO feedback PLEASE DO NOT BID and waste my time. I sell car, here at ebay for a living and do not play games. My feedback is perfect for a reason! You are free to call me with ANY QUESTIONS that you may have!!! Scott 361-331-3322. I reserve the right to cancel this ad and any bids as it is for sale locally!

We can/do ship world wide to any country that does NOT hate us! Ship from zip code is 78414, in the event you are looking for shipping costs. I can haul to Port of Houston or Galveston for $200.00 and we are located at the Port of Corpus Christi,Texas if this helps.

Again, this car has not been painted in over 4 decades and is as near new as can be done without a COMPLETE restoration. Thousands have been spent to bring it back to this level and now it is time for a new owner. If you EVER have thought about a BABY BIRD, here is one that will NOT cost you an arm and a leg to own and keep.

On Jun-27-16 at 11:03:02 PDT, seller added the following information:

Also the old style paper filter and canister was replaced with a spin on adapter and now it takes the very common FL1-A Ford filter.