Squarebird Tonneau Covers

[YellowRose]

This subject has come up after WPD asked about the availability of a tonneau cover for his Squarebird. So I did some research last night and today and here is what I have been able to find out.

The only known company that makes tonneau covers for the 1958-1966 Tbirds is Pat Wilson's Thunderbird Parts in New Jersey. I just spoke with Pat directly a few minutes ago. He tells me that he does have the molds and still makes the covers for the Bulletbird and the Flairbird, but not the Squarebird any longer. But he could....

https://www.wilsontbird.com/search_r...covers&button=

He said that IF he were to get 2 or more orders for a Squarebird tonneau cover, he would gear up and make them. The last time he did that, several years ago, he shipped four of them overseas. It is just not economically feasible to gear up for just one to make. Over the years he has made about 30 Squarebird tonneau covers. They are made for an exact fit on the Squarebird body.

The cost for a Squarebird tonneau cover is $799.00, the same price as for the Bulletbirds. All Tonneau Covers include mounting hardware, instructions, and a black, white, or red headrest. The tonneau covers come in a white gel coat and must be prepped and painted to match you car. Tonneau covers are large and must be shipped by trucking company. They come in a crate, the dimensions are 64x41x24, and they weigh between 70 and 85 pounds.

Pat said that the Bulletbird/Flairbird covers are not quite the same width as those for the Squarebird. Sometimes you will see a tonneau cover show up on eBay or CraigsList, but not that often. I do not see anything being offered there now.

Sooo, if anyone has been thinking about adding a tonneau cover to your '58-'60 Squarebird, now is your chance! But it will take "Two To Tango" to gitter done! I have added this information in the Advertisements Forum so that it will be easy to find in the future. You will find it under Tonneau Cover, followed by Pat Wilson's company.

[Howard Prout]

It has been a lot of years since I bought mine. I don't know who made it. I probably bought it from Rick Muck's Thunderbird Parts in Clarence Center, NY before he sold the business. I left it in the original gel white for several years before finally painting it to match the body. I like the look of it. I fly solo these days so seating capacity is not a problem. Due to its size, taking it off and putting it on are two person jobs.The only issue I have is with the recesses for the seat backs - they don't match the shape or location of the seat backs very well. Hopefully the ones offered by Pat Wilson offer a better fit.

[YellowRose]

Squarebird Tonneau Covers

Hi Howard, thanks for the comments! I suspect that many of the tonneau covers out there today go way back in years, like yours does. We know there are 100 of them by Pat Wilson that he has made and sold. Yours seems to have a nice fit on it, except the sections behind the seats are not centered on the seat locations. But I think they still look nice. I probably should ask Pat if he can send me some pix of one of their covers on a Squarebird to see what theirs looks like.

[YellowRose]

Squarebird Tonneau Covers

Walter ~ WPD told me yesterday that Pat Wilson is gearing up for the manufacture of more Squarebird tonneau covers after receiving orders from overseas. I talked with Pat this morning about this and he said in about a month, he will have more in stock. So if you would like to add a tonneu cover to your Squarebird convertible, now is the time to do it while they will still be available...

[YellowRose]

Squarebird Tonneau Covers

Walter ~ WPD just informed me that Pat Wilson has the Squarebird tonneau cover in production again! Walter has ordered his and should have it in a couple of weeks or so. If you have been wanting a Squarebird tonneau cover, you had better get your order into Pat Wilson before he stops production again. I do not know how many covers he is going to make.

[YellowRose]

Squarebird Tonneau Covers

Regarding the Squarebirds tonneau covers that Pat Wilson is manufacturing again, I would like to say this. There has been some additional interest in them from others on here, but there has been a concern regarding proper fitment of the covers on the Squarebird. Here is what I can tell you.

Some people have told me that they have seen pictures of ill fitted tonneau covers on Squarebirds. One of those covers was manufactured by some other company prior to Pat Wilson taking over. There could be several reasons for this. First of all, it is my understanding that there never was an OEM version of the Tonneau Cover for Squarebirds. It is my understanding that Pat created the mold for the Squarebirds by creating a new mold and modifying it to make it fit on the Squarebird. Any pictures that you might have seen with ill fitted covers on Squarebirds might be because that particular cover that was seen was a cover that was for a Bulletbird or Flairbird that someone tried to modify to make it fit a Squarebirds. So that could be an explanation for that. Or it could have been one that was made many years ago before Pat Wilson obtained the molds and put them into production.

Over the years that I have been doing the Squarebirds Calender, I have put a number of Squarebird convertibles in it, that have the tonneau cover in place. Looking at those pictures just recently, I do not see any covers that appear to be bad fits. Now I have no knowledge as to how old those covers are, if they were made pre-Pat Wilson, or are one of his covers. Or if they are covers that someone took off a Bulletbird or Flairbird and modified them to fit a Squarebird. I have no way of knowing that because they never mentioned it.

Pat Wilson told me that any problems that anyone has had in the past in getting the covers to fit properly is because the person doing the installation did not follow the install instructions correctly.

Pretty soon, Walter ~ WPD will have his Squarebird tonneau cover and he will be able to tell us if by following the instructions, he was able to properly fit his cover onto his Squarebird convertible... Hopefully, he will not have any problems...

Here are some pix of past Squarebirds Calendar Squarebirds with tonneau covers that I have featured in the calendar. The one exception is the yellow '59, as I recall.