"Tweety Bird" Revealed!!

[DKheld]

I knew that chrome would tie it all together - looking great Ray - really great.

Just be sure your insurance or tag hasn't expired while the work has been going on - hate to see a ticket or worse. Check that brake fluid, coolant and oil level before you get it on the road - you never know......

HEY ! either they had some yellow paint left over from Ray's car and painted their tool cabinet .....or...... they had some yellow paint left over from the tool cabinet and painted Ray's car.

Coral - answer - all of them.

Eric
registry 5347

[jackbird60]

Ray, The Car Looks Fantastic. I Really Like What I See Of The Interior. When You Have More Time Could You Send Me Pictures Of Your Car.

It's Really An Eye Dazzler! Wouldn't Sell That For Anything!

Great Car, Nice Paint And Interior. Certainly, The Eyes Of Texas Will Be Upon That Beauty When It Rolls Down The Street!

Jack

[YellowRose]

"Tweety Bird" Revealed!!

Thanks for the comments, ya'll! Much appreciated. We stood around this afternoon, after they got everything back on the car in the way of chrome. We walked around the car and talked about whether or not it needed anything else, like pin striping. These guys do lots of cars week in and week out. Body work, painting, pin striping, etc.. After looking her over they said what Eric said. The chrome ties it all together, and they think adding any color of pin striping would be overkill. They think the style and color combination of the pearl paint job, coupled with new chrome work sets it off very well, and it does not need any pin striping. So I will let that idea go. I agree with them.

Eric, thanks for the reminder regarding insurance, state inspections, etc.. I am aware that my state inspection ran out while she was in one shop or the other. I will take her to an inspection place right away. I also need to check my insurance coverage paperwork to make sure I have a current one in the glove box. I know it is in effect. The state registration is still valid, so I do not have to worry about that. Thanks also for the suggestion to get my fluids checked. There has been no indication of any leakage where ever they had her sitting, so that is a good sign.

That was funny about the yellow paint because their big paint room is painted the same color as Rose is, and also other things, like tool cabinets are also. They like the color! In fact, one of the guys has a Jeep that is the same color!

And yes, it is difficult not to hide your image when you are taking pictures of chrome that shines like that does!

Jack, I will email you the link to the Interior web page so you can see them building the interior and trunk. The others have seen that lots of times, I am sure. Also the one showing the damage to the front end, if you did not see that.

I have just added the rest of the pix I took yesterday to the web page. Here is the link.

http://thunderbirds.fortunecity.com/My59TbirdPaintJob.htm

[bird 60]

Insurance

She's looking really good Ray. With the Insurance, are you having Replacement or Agreed Value?

Chris....From the Land of OZ.

[Coral]

Whew! please thank Danny and the fellas that said pin striping would be over kill, LOL
all I could think of with the turquoise was pp-mobile
I counted 7 reflections of Ray in that close-up of the bumper/license plate ...

[YellowRose]

"Tweety Bird" Revealed!!

Cathie has me counting reflections now! lol.. I am not sure about 7 of them, but I can certainly see at least 3. It was Joe and his crew at the paint and body shop who said she did not need any pin striping. Danny, and his wife, and Joseph have not seen it yet. They will in a few more days.

Chris it is Replacement Value. What it would cost me to obtain another Tbird in the condition this one presently is in.... Certainly not what I paid for it!

I am leaving shortly with the dog dish hubcaps, my beauty rings and my spare tire. We are gonna swap out the rims today and see what she looks like. I put one of the dog dish hubcaps next to the yellow air scoop last night. The centers on the hubcaps is gold. I think it will look okay. I would have rather it was white, but at the time I found these, there were no white ones that were in decent condition available. I sold the set of white ones I had because they were not NOS or show quality. These are.

[YellowRose]

"Tweety Bird" Revealed!!

We dropped off the "new" rims and my spare tire at Discount Tire from them to swap rims. While they are doing that I have been trying to find a better matching set of '59 Tbird roof emblems. I had a long talk with one of the guys at Thunderbird Hqs. It seems that they are the only company who is making these emblems these days and the other parts places buy from them. He said when they started to make them, they sent an original roof emblem, along with samples of theirs (if I understood this right) to Ford to have their product checked and approved. Ford approved their samples and they went into production.

Now, here is the kicker. He told me that the color on the original Tbird roof emblems are the same pale turquoise/gray color back then, that you see today. They matched the color to the original one. They also match the color of the Tbird emblem in the '59 gunsights! He also said what I already know. That the other two don't match each other either and that is the way the original Ford ones were also. If anyone has any original '59 Tbird emblems on their car that have not been replaced, or retouched, look at them and let me know what you see. All three of the new ones I got, hood, trunk and roof emblems, are three different colors. He says they have always been that way..

So I have been complaining about something that has been this way for 50 years. I was going to have mine pin striped but we cant keep the pin striping on. So I am gonna put them on as they are, since they are original copies and be done with it.

[YellowRose]

Almost Done.....

Here is something that I and perhaps ya'll have been waiting to see for a long time! Earlier this afternoon, Joe, the owner of JD's Paint & Body, and I, went to pick up my tires on the "new" rims. We could hardly wait to get them on! We did not even bother to clean the tires. We wanted to get them on and see what we had. As we were doing that, his guys came back from lunch and started helping. Then we all stood around and ooohhh'ed and aaahhhh'ed over what we were seeing! They said it is by far the best paint job, paint combination that they have ever done. Even better than the Corvette that they thought, until now, was the best ever. They think she looks even better with the Dog Dish hubcaps and beauty rings and needs nothing more. They have painted and repaired many, many cars over the years, and they say this is the best yet!

We had some problems getting the rear lights to work, especially the brake lights, but they figured it out. We still have a horn problem, and they are working on that. Then they are going to clean up the interior, the exterior, do some minor detail work on it yet, and polish it. It is almost finished as far as the exterior work goes. Maybe she will be ready tomorrow. The roof Tbird emblems and C pillar chrome has to go back on yet, as does the inside. Danny and Joseph will do that. They have not seen her yet!

See what she looks like now with the Ford Dog Dish hubcaps, beauty rings and fender skirts on... One of the guys is driving her to the next work station so I can get a picture of her styling! I will put these pix up on the web page later on as soon as I can. And yes, Cathie, I see myself in a few of the pix!

[Guest]

Hey Ray,
What a sweetheart!!! She's looking good!
Richard D. Hord

[Coral]

EWE!
can'tcha have those tires white wall or flip them around to all black

the rest looks great though!

[YellowRose]

"Tweety Bird" Revealed!!

Picky! Picky! They will look nicer when they are cleaned and shined. They are nearly new or I would have put white walls on her. They will have to do for the time being. Unless I decide to turn them around and just show the black. Something to think about. I don't want to blow the money on white walls. I still have an electric windshield wiper to put in, and dual MC/dual power booster/disc brakes to go... Then there might be a set of throaty sounding Glasspack mufflers in her future...

[Coral]

I REALLY dislike writing on tires, call me goofy but think it just looks stupid....all my tires here are black, writing is on the inside...the words totally take away from the whole picture....

speaking of which, gonna post that bumper shot of you tomorrow with the reflections marked...

[Gold Bird]

Ray, The car looks great! Love the color combo, very smart looking. I agree though with Coral, turn those white letters to the inside, total blackwall should look awesome. You have spent so much time and effort on the beautiful paint job and interior, dont let anything take away from it! My 2 cents worth. LOL... VERY COOL!!!!

[bird 60]

Yep

Ray,

Coral & Gold Bird beat me to it. (ALL BLACK).

Chris....From the Land of OZ.

[YellowRose]

"Tweety Bird" Revealed!!

I see the consensus here, so far, is that I should have turned the white lettering in and the black side out. To bad I did not think of that while they were mounting the tires! Maybe I can have that done after I get her outta hock and back on the road again.