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Hi Everyone,
Here is some news and some updates on the power sunroof that was posted in the ODDITYS page on this website.
I purchased this whole roof!, Dave and Paul of New Hampshire went out with a power hacksaw and trunk and trailer and got the lot for me.
Once they had it home i then sat about trying to find a way to ship it to England (i must have been mad in the mine at the time)
Then a stroke of luck, we had posted on the For Sale forum here a lovely white 430 Sunroof in Boston MA so i purchased that beast so Bang! went the new kitchen and bathroom for our home.
Dave then drove to Boston and put the roof section in the Trunk of my new Bird before the car was shipped to England. This involve countless phonecalls on where he should cut the metal and not what to cut so it would fit in the Trunk. The day came for me to travel up to London to collect the new T-Bird and drive the 280 mile trip home with the roof section inside the trunk as this was the first time i drove a 430 car it was just the power i needed but the fuel bill i did not.
The roof section was takin out and layed on the floor to see what goe's where and looking at the manual roof there is hardly any difference, even the side rails screw in the same place and all holes match up. The main difference is the front of the opening where the drive section sits but this section can be weld in place same with some other parts its just a case of cleaning then painting afterwards. The new T-Bird will be going to a well established company in London with a Gentleman who has been involve with these old sunroofs for over 45 years. I have spoken with him alot and he did confirm the power roof is genuine! Golde roof and he has the blue prints for this roof and the numbers all match the one i have just purchased.
Golde as we know held the patents on the roof and the power roof has the same opening as the manual one 43x19 inch opening (approx)
looking at the roof and the way it was made and fitted to the car it had to be factory fitted so did Golde visit Wixom to fit it or was the conversion done later but this scrap car did leave wixom in 1960 a Golde top for sure.
I will be posting photos in about 4 weeks on my members site of the whole process from manual to power roof and shots of my other Golde Top.
Dave in NEW Hampshire took some stick from some fellow T-Bird clubs about his fined and that he was a liar and Ford did not make a power roof.
Well to those who did your Right! Ford did no power roof but they did not do the manual roof either, Golde did! and i am glad i made the purchase and now will soon have written confirmation on the parts and the part numbers. But as this roof is from Europe i would have access to more information on them and the company Golde, in fact it will be fitted by a time served Golde sunroof installer at his company.
The moral in the story here is dont slag someone off about there fined until its been fully checked out as i have wiring diagram here for the power trunk release for a 60 T-Bird but i have never seen one but that dont mean it was not avaible same goes for the power locks too.
Thanks for reading and this whole process has made me a good friend in America who just wanted this roof back in a car and not in a breakers yard. Dave is a Ford fan and owns a Fully Loaded and mint condition 59 Retractable, which i do like.
Kevin 60 430 Golde Top
60 352 Golde Top
Thunderbirds of England.
Here is some news and some updates on the power sunroof that was posted in the ODDITYS page on this website.
I purchased this whole roof!, Dave and Paul of New Hampshire went out with a power hacksaw and trunk and trailer and got the lot for me.
Once they had it home i then sat about trying to find a way to ship it to England (i must have been mad in the mine at the time)
Then a stroke of luck, we had posted on the For Sale forum here a lovely white 430 Sunroof in Boston MA so i purchased that beast so Bang! went the new kitchen and bathroom for our home.
Dave then drove to Boston and put the roof section in the Trunk of my new Bird before the car was shipped to England. This involve countless phonecalls on where he should cut the metal and not what to cut so it would fit in the Trunk. The day came for me to travel up to London to collect the new T-Bird and drive the 280 mile trip home with the roof section inside the trunk as this was the first time i drove a 430 car it was just the power i needed but the fuel bill i did not.
The roof section was takin out and layed on the floor to see what goe's where and looking at the manual roof there is hardly any difference, even the side rails screw in the same place and all holes match up. The main difference is the front of the opening where the drive section sits but this section can be weld in place same with some other parts its just a case of cleaning then painting afterwards. The new T-Bird will be going to a well established company in London with a Gentleman who has been involve with these old sunroofs for over 45 years. I have spoken with him alot and he did confirm the power roof is genuine! Golde roof and he has the blue prints for this roof and the numbers all match the one i have just purchased.
Golde as we know held the patents on the roof and the power roof has the same opening as the manual one 43x19 inch opening (approx)
looking at the roof and the way it was made and fitted to the car it had to be factory fitted so did Golde visit Wixom to fit it or was the conversion done later but this scrap car did leave wixom in 1960 a Golde top for sure.
I will be posting photos in about 4 weeks on my members site of the whole process from manual to power roof and shots of my other Golde Top.
Dave in NEW Hampshire took some stick from some fellow T-Bird clubs about his fined and that he was a liar and Ford did not make a power roof.
Well to those who did your Right! Ford did no power roof but they did not do the manual roof either, Golde did! and i am glad i made the purchase and now will soon have written confirmation on the parts and the part numbers. But as this roof is from Europe i would have access to more information on them and the company Golde, in fact it will be fitted by a time served Golde sunroof installer at his company.
The moral in the story here is dont slag someone off about there fined until its been fully checked out as i have wiring diagram here for the power trunk release for a 60 T-Bird but i have never seen one but that dont mean it was not avaible same goes for the power locks too.
Thanks for reading and this whole process has made me a good friend in America who just wanted this roof back in a car and not in a breakers yard. Dave is a Ford fan and owns a Fully Loaded and mint condition 59 Retractable, which i do like.
Kevin 60 430 Golde Top
60 352 Golde Top
Thunderbirds of England.
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