NYsquarebird58' Tbird

[Anders]

The date that it was built, 7 May is the date the shell was scheduled to go on the line.

Cool! My "Ruth" is made the 15:th of May, so yours is 8 days older

[NYsquarebird58]

Cool! My "Ruth" is made the 15:th of May, so yours is 8 days older

Well my ol’ girl says “hello” to its little sister Ruth!

[NYsquarebird58]

The Raven Black and red or red/white, maybe red/black interior really stands out. Especially if you put the external chrome pieces on the curved tail fins, and the "eyebrows" over the tail lights. As for dog dish hupcaps, first you have to make sure that your rims have the nubs on them to pop those dog dishes in place. Mine did not, so I switched rims. I needed to anyway, because the OEM rims I had on mine were not made for disc brakes. I found some 14" rims off of a disc brake equipped Ford that worked. You might not want the gold ones like I have, if you go with black, but the ones with the white centers. You can find them, but they can be a bit pricey. Here is what my "Yellow Rose" looks like with dog dishes and fender skirts.

Regarding a mirror, I would put it on the fender, but not to far up the fender that it gets in the way when you are working on the car. Just on the other side of the break between the fender and the door, so you can see it. I found with it on the door, I had a hard time using it because of the vent window blocking the view. So I had it moved to the fender instead. There are several different OEM mirrors to choose from. You will also want to get a '58 Shop Manual, and other manuals you will need to restore your Tbird. Most of our Tbird parts vendors have them. You will want to look them up in our Advertisements Forum, and call them to ask for one of their free catalogs. Then you can see what the various vendors have and do some price comparison also.

Ray, the “external chrome pieces on the curved tail fins” you mentioned before; I’ve seen these on squarebirds, but I couldn’t peg down whether or not they were specific to a year or if they were an accessory. I do like them, and if they are appropriate for a 58’, I wouldn’t mind sourcing a pair.


The dog dish wheels you have on Yellow Rose are what I’m looking for. I would like the wheel itself to be black or red, with white wall tires. Of course my mind could change the more I’m exposed to different birds.


Regarding the mirror situation: I would also prefer the mirrors to be on the fenders, but I am still looking into the mirrors I’ve seen that were mounted to the top of the vent windows. I found an image of one online earlier, but now I can’t find it. Do you know which mirrors I’m referring too?


I also noticed that the front edge of your hood scoop appears to be chrome. Is that an accessory or did you have it chromed?


Thanks!

[YellowRose]

NYsquarebird58's Tbird

Hi Marcello, the curved tail fin pieces are found just on the '58, '59 and '60 Squarebirds. They are pot metal and are attached to the fins from within the trunk by 2-3 bolts. You have to take the inside trunk side panels off to get to them with a longgg screwdriver. What some people do is take theirs off and have them chromed. What others do, as I did, was to keep my originals, and buy a used set from one of the guys who have parts cars. Then I had them chromed. However, whoever does the chroming has to be careful they don't overheat them, because being pot metal, they can bend easily and not fit back on. One of mine has that problem, but I was able to get it back in place. The external chrome "kit" is recognized for VTCI judging as being acceptable during judging. It consists of those two curved pieces and the two "eyebrows" over the taillights, and the hood air scoop. I did not have a problem with the "eyebrows" bending, but the air scoop sure did and I had to get another one chromed because the first one would not fit back in place. To many, but not all, those chromed pieces really sets a car off, especially if it is black, red, dark blue, etc.. Take a look at some of the pix in Our Rides that have the chrome pieces in place and see what you think.

The 14" dog dish hubcaps are still out there, but good ones, like mine, can bring a pretty penny. Check eBay or Craigslist, or ask here on the Forum. I would think that you would want the ones with the white center and not the gold one though. I would suggest painting the rims red to match the interior. As you can see, I had mine painted yellow to match the paint, and the interior when they painted my Tbird.

As for mirror mounting, most Squarebirds have them on the fenders or the door. On rare occasions, I have seen them mounted up high on the chrome part of the vent windows. Personally, I think you get a better side view if it is mounted on the fender. What you can do is what we did. I sat in the car behind the wheel and had one of the body shop/paint guys move the mirror back and forth on the fender to a point where I thought I could see it best. When I found that place, they marked it and drilled the holes to mount it later on after the paint job. You should be able to find that mirror that you saw through one of our many Tbird parts vendors or any auto parts store. If it does not bother you that it is not OEM, then go for it. It is, after all, your Tbird to make what you want out of it. If I have not said so, call or email the many Tbird parts vendors and ask them to send you their free catalogs. Hope this helps!

[Anders]

Ray, the “external chrome pieces on the curved tail fins” you mentioned before; I’ve seen these on squarebirds, but I couldn’t peg down whether or not they were specific to a year or if they were an accessory. I do like them, and if they are appropriate for a 58’, I wouldn’t mind sourcing a pair.


The dog dish wheels you have on Yellow Rose are what I’m looking for. I would like the wheel itself to be black or red, with white wall tires. Of course my mind could change the more I’m exposed to different birds.


Regarding the mirror situation: I would also prefer the mirrors to be on the fenders, but I am still looking into the mirrors I’ve seen that were mounted to the top of the vent windows. I found an image of one online earlier, but now I can’t find it. Do you know which mirrors I’m referring too?


I also noticed that the front edge of your hood scoop appears to be chrome. Is that an accessory or did you have it chromed?


Thanks!

Could it be these? ( Note: These mirrors are re-chromed, and that´s why they lack the small lines as they have been polished away ). I bought 3 of these on E-bay, so I could pick the ones with the best chrome, but I have not yet put them on my car. The fender is by far the best position. Mounted on the doors makes it more difficult to look in them. Even more on the other side.

The chromed scoop was an option back in the days. There where more chromed parts, in something called " Chrome Engine Dress-Up Kit ($25) & Exterior Chrome Dress-Up Package ($32) My scoop is also chromed, but I don´t think I have any extra chromed parts.

[NYsquarebird58]

Could it be these? ( Note: These mirrors are re-chromed, and that´s why they lack the small lines as they have been polished away ). I bought 3 of these on E-bay, so I could pick the ones with the best chrome, but I have not yet put them on my car. The fender is by far the best position. Mounted on the doors makes it more difficult to look in them. Even more on the other side.

The chromed scoop was an option back in the days. There where more chromed parts, in something called " Chrome Engine Dress-Up Kit ($25) & Exterior Chrome Dress-Up Package ($32) My scoop is also chromed, but I don´t think I have any extra chromed parts.

What I had in mind may be referred to as "peep mirrors". I want to see a close up shot of how they look on a t-bird but I cant find any. I think I'll probably end up with the mirrors on the fenders though.

[Anders]

What I had in mind may be referred to as "peep mirrors". I want to see a close up shot of how they look on a t-bird but I cant find any. I think I'll probably end up with the mirrors on the fenders though.

"Peep mirrors" ?? What´s that? Sounds cool though...
Edit: Found it on Google. I have never seen any on a Squarebird though. Found a pic on a ´58 Chevy. Looks cool!!

[Guest]

The night shot of your car is great. Christine needs to sittin next to it

[NYsquarebird58]

"Peep mirrors" ?? What´s that? Sounds cool though...
Edit: Found it on Google. I have never seen any on a Squarebird though. Found a pic on a ´58 Chevy. Looks cool!!

This is what I'm talkin' about right here! You think this'll work on our cars?

[NYsquarebird58]

The night shot of your car is great. Christine needs to sittin next to it

Thanks! Here's a lighter version of it. BTW, I love that movie and the book!

[Anders]

This is what I'm talkin' about right here! You think this'll work on our cars?

Yeah. Looks very cool, but I doubt he have much use of them...

[Restifier52]

I think they would look cool. Fifties custom vibe. As Anders says, function maybe not so much. Hey, it never bothered Ed Roth...

[NYsquarebird58]

I was digging around a box of parts in the trunk and discovered these two horns. Any idea if either one of these is correct for my 58'?


Horn 1





Horn 2

[YellowRose]

NYsquarebird58's Tbird

Hi Marcello, it looks like you found your horns! Those certainly appear to be the "snail" type horns for your Tbird. Those horns were used from '58-'64. One is a hi pitch horn and the other should be a low pitch horn. You need one of each and it looks like those are them. Here is the link to the Bird Nest so you can see what they show for your '58 and through '64. These look just like yours, so it looks like someone took the OEM ones off and put them in the trunk. If you have not ordered any free catalogs from the vendors yet, you can do so from their website. You should contact all the vendors and ask for one of their free catalogs. It will help you in research and price comparison. If you have not ordered a '58 Shop Manual, you need to snag one also. Look at the other manuals and see what else you will need.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000030b~Z5Z5Z5843~P34.95~~~~S3 FI0P8PW270239189050F~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000030c#

[NYsquarebird58]

Hi Marcello, it looks like you found your horns! Those certainly appear to be the "snail" type horns for your Tbird. Those horns were used from '58-'64. One is a hi pitch horn and the other should be a low pitch horn. You need one of each and it looks like those are them. Here is the link to the Bird Nest so you can see what they show for your '58 and through '64. These look just like yours, so it looks like someone took the OEM ones off and put them in the trunk. If you have not ordered any free catalogs from the vendors yet, you can do so from their website. You should contact all the vendors and ask for one of their free catalogs. It will help you in research and price comparison. If you have not ordered a '58 Shop Manual, you need to snag one also. Look at the other manuals and see what else you will need.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000030b~Z5Z5Z5843~P34.95~~~~S3 FI0P8PW270239189050F~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000030c#

So far I’ve requested parts catalogs from the following businesses:

Larry's Thunderbird & Mustang Parts

CONCOURS PARTS & ACCESSORIES

Bird Nest

Thunderbird Headquarters


I also a have a shop manual for 60 Thunderbirds which will be good for most things, but I'll need to source a 58 manual for certain year-specific things like the rear suspension.