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Greetings! I'm Kirk, along time classic car fanatic/owner, but first time T-Bird owner. I'm the Editor for the Goodguys Gazette so I'm around old cars for a living and have had more than I'd like to count. I just sold my last project and it was time for a family friendly ride. I kept digging around and kept coming back, as always, to a Ford. I have had LOTS of early '60s Fords, from '60 Starliner (May Cause Dangerous) to a '64 Galaxie convertible (my first car), but only one '50s Ford, a '57 sedan and a '47 coupe. I wanted something that would hold the three of us, that was presentable, but not so nice that I was afraid to drive it. I looked at several Galaxies, Falcons and T-Birds over the past month or so. None of them lived up to their descriptions, unfortunately.
This '58 T-Bird was on eBay. The guy listed his number so I called. It ended up being the builder who was selling it for the owner. The owner had it built as a driver for his 14-year-old son. His son ended up not wanting it and wants a vintage MG or Austin-Healey instead (still good taste). I talked with the owner too and both seemed honest so I bought a plane ticket to Portland, Oregon to check it out and hopefully drive it home.
The owner picked me up in it at the airport and we headed out for the test drive. It drove great and pretty much met the description. New paint that was even nicer than described, new 352 with 390 heads, new interior bits like seat covers, headliner, carpet and door panels (the rest will clean up nicely). Sold!
We went to his house to do the paperwork and meet his son. We finished up and I headed for home.
She drove great, with just a couple minor issues on the way home, like vapor locking in the 95-degree heat climbing the mountains. The trans also doesn't kick down and won't manually go into L, but those should just be linkage adjustments. The vapor lock issue should be an easy fix with an electric pump and fuel line reroute. Oil is also spitting out of the breather.
I stopped to help out another rodder just south of Redding on Sunday morning. I saw him on the northbound side with his hood and trunk up. I turned around at the next exit and pulled over to see what I could do. After about an hour he was back on the road. What was cool was that he and his wife had flown to San Jose to buy the car and were driving home to Vancouver, Washington.
Plans? For now I just plan on 15" Supremes, skinny whites, front disc brakes and lower the front 2". I'll replace the little chrome bits here and there that the PO didn't do.
A few pics rom this morning in front of my work. Still bug carnage everywhere!
This '58 T-Bird was on eBay. The guy listed his number so I called. It ended up being the builder who was selling it for the owner. The owner had it built as a driver for his 14-year-old son. His son ended up not wanting it and wants a vintage MG or Austin-Healey instead (still good taste). I talked with the owner too and both seemed honest so I bought a plane ticket to Portland, Oregon to check it out and hopefully drive it home.
The owner picked me up in it at the airport and we headed out for the test drive. It drove great and pretty much met the description. New paint that was even nicer than described, new 352 with 390 heads, new interior bits like seat covers, headliner, carpet and door panels (the rest will clean up nicely). Sold!
We went to his house to do the paperwork and meet his son. We finished up and I headed for home.
She drove great, with just a couple minor issues on the way home, like vapor locking in the 95-degree heat climbing the mountains. The trans also doesn't kick down and won't manually go into L, but those should just be linkage adjustments. The vapor lock issue should be an easy fix with an electric pump and fuel line reroute. Oil is also spitting out of the breather.
I stopped to help out another rodder just south of Redding on Sunday morning. I saw him on the northbound side with his hood and trunk up. I turned around at the next exit and pulled over to see what I could do. After about an hour he was back on the road. What was cool was that he and his wife had flown to San Jose to buy the car and were driving home to Vancouver, Washington.
Plans? For now I just plan on 15" Supremes, skinny whites, front disc brakes and lower the front 2". I'll replace the little chrome bits here and there that the PO didn't do.
A few pics rom this morning in front of my work. Still bug carnage everywhere!
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