Continental Kit emblems

[Buckaroo]

My new continental kit will be shipping this Monday. It does not come with instructions on where to place the emblems. Where can I find this information?

[YellowRose]

Continental Kit emblems

Dennis, here are a couple of pix that should show you where the Tbird emblem and the Thunderbird script go. These are for a '59, so you may want to go with the '58 Tbird emblem. I will also send you a few larger pix in email that Jim Elijah sent me of his gorgeous '59 Tbird.

[elijahbird7]

I'm pretty sure that years 58/59 used the same emblem, but the 60 used the thinner bird emblem with the more horizontal spread wings that was mounted to the side of the hardtop roof.

[elijahbird7]

Since I have my Continental Kit sitting in the family room, getting it ready to sell, I took some measurements. I have no idea if these are "correct" placement, but this is what was on my 59 Baltic Blue convertible that Ray referenced and in the photo.
From the top of the tire cover to the "head" of the Tbird emblem is 8". From the bottom of the emblem to the centerline of the Thunderbird script is just slightly more than 3".
Hope this helps.

[Buckaroo]

Thanks a bunch. That helps. This car will never be judged but I want it close to correct. This forum is great!

[YellowRose]

Continental Kit emblems

According to the VTCI 1958-1960 Official Factory Specifications (OFS), the "sports spare wheel carriers", as they are called, usually had the '59 Tbird emblem and the Thunderbird door script on it. However, some 1960 owners used the longed wing '60 version of the hood or C column version instead. Here is a pic of a '58 with the '59 emblem and the Thunderbird script.

[Buckaroo]

Thanks Ray. Those are the emblems we ordered. When we get the seats in and the kit installed we will post photos.

[YellowRose]

Continental Kit emblems

Okay, Dennis. According to the OFS, this was an aftermarket add on that the dealerships would add to the car if the buyer desired to have one put on. There is, supposedly, a slight difference between the OEM version and the aftermarket version. As I recall, Jim Elijah's version is the Continental Enterprises version that he is offering for sale locally. He does not want to ship it and risk it getting damaged. Whoever gets it is going to get a really nice kit.

[Buckaroo]

If he would have decided to sell it earlier it could have saved me a couple of dollars.

[elijahbird7]

If you look under Our Rides and elijahbird7's Tbirds, there are some photos of taking off the kit. If you can enlarge the photos where the kit is off, you can see the areas of the rear bumper where the extension was bolted and the damage to the rear bumper in those locations. You may want to come up with some sort of protection material between the bumper and the extension. Other areas to think about are on the back side of the full rear face cover, there are 2 steel straps that fit over the tire that hold the trunk side cover in place. These rub against the back side of the full face cover and should have some kind of protective covering on them. Mine also had some paint rubbed off where the cut off bumper bullets rubbed against the trunk side cover, again something could be placed between these parts and that cover. Mine had a bias ply tire in there which you will likely need to make it fit as well. Same issue I had with my 56, radial tires are too wide to fit. Lastly, that curved gas inlet extension makes a gas fill a very slow process. If you can find a funnel with a long flexible spout that will go far enough in to enter the original fuel inlet, it should work much better at fill up time.

[tmjsong1aolcom]

The original kits came with the holes in the rear cover already punched/drilled.

The emblem used on the 58/59 was the nose bird which is the same for both years.

I have never seen a 60 kit but would assume that the nose bird for the 60 could be used on the rear cover. My guess is the 60 bird was never used by Ford and they continued to used the 58/59 emblem on the 60 conny kits which probably carried a B8S number.

Occasionally one sees a 60 bird with a conny kit and the 60 emblem.

I did have a NOS kit put on my grandmothers 58 during restoration.

Good Luck
Fuz
58's &64's
Sun Prairie, Wi.
tmjsong1@aol.com