Peter Lombardo Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 1962 Ford Thunderbird custom coupe & 1960 Pontiac Bonneville custom coupe Here are my two latest projects under construction. The ’62 T-bird is based (based, not a complete copy ) upon John D’Agostino’s 1961 custom T-Bird entitled “Firestarâ€. The biggest customization is the conversion of the ’62 AMT convertible into a chopped top coupe. I found a top at a swap meet a few weeks ago, it was close to what I wanted, but the back sail panels were too long and the angle of the rear slop to the rear deck was wrong. I cut a scale 5 inches out of the rear of the top and reset the rear portion with a greater sloping angle to the rear deck. You can see where the putty fills the front portion of the weld. The top was chopped about 5 or 6 scale inches and the windshield frame was also chopped and the A pillars were reset to reflect the roof chop. I had to fabricate rear wheel opening skirts from scratch. I removed all of the chrome strips on the body, like the Firestar because it looks much cleaner. I will lower the car down to the “Firestars†ride height and use the wheels and tires from the AMT T-Bird kit. The wirewheel spinners will be replaced with chrome bullets. I will paint the car Mopar Gold, tape off the gold accent stripes and finish with Tamiya clear red airbrushed on. I opened the doors and plan on having the two front seats swivel out to the opening, which was the kind of thing that customizers were doing back in the 60’s. I don’t think the real car has that but I like the idea so my model will get the feature. The interior is basically white, so mine will be also. Next is the Trumpeter 1960 Bonneville. I had no intention of building this car, but it just kinda’ happened. While at that swap meet where I found the T-Bird roof, I picked up an AMT 1967 Chevy Impala body. Someone had painted it Candy Apple Red and then tried to color sand (I think) the body and made a real mess of it, but I was only interested in the roof, so I picked it up. Then one day at the local hobby shop just before Christmas I was selecting a kit or two to give to myself for Christmas because I was such a good boy this past year. I saw the 1960 Pontiac Bonneville convertible kit sitting there and I remembered the 1967 Chevy Impala and the roof on it and the light bulb went off in my head. I have a Bonneville coupe kit that I picked up, along with the Nova coupe when they first came out and quite frankly I was not too impressed with the kit’s engineering. I mean, I went through that nonsense of returning the “satin†chrome and I can’t understand why the radio antenna’s, door handles and rear view mirrors were not plated but the entire exhaust system was and then there is that crazy hinge stuff, and the look of the roof, and you get the idea, but since this was a custom, all of that stuff did not matter, so I got the kit for myself. I cut off the roof from the Chevy, and grafted it to the Bonnie (I love the way it looks on the car) and then filled in the side molding and once again increased the side wings in the rear. I know, I just did that to the 58 Impala I just finished and I do not want you guys to think I am in a styling rut, but it was just a natural on this car….I mean, remember, this is a John DeLorean “Wide Trac†Pontiac…I wanted it longer and wider still. I opened the doors (not an easy task as the Trumpeter model plastic is crazy thick) but I won out, then to add a little variety to this, I added lambo hinges to the doors. I am filling in that insane styling nonsense on the hood. Geeze, it looks like the Pontiac stylists were stealing 1960 Japanese styling anomalies and do-dads. Even though I liked the twin mini jet thruster tail light pods, they had to go away. The rear backup lights, which I originally filled in, then frantically re opened will become the tail lights and then I attached the chrome bumpers to the car to be molded into the body. Just a word about the chrome on these Trumpeter kits…this stuff is almost indestructible. They must plate this stuff with kryptonite because I had to use my roughest Dremel sanding drum to grind off the excess to get the rear bumper flush with the car body. Man that stuff is strong. I looks like it is plated with copper before the chrome goes on…very tough and heavy. I will use the stock grill and headlights as they look really good on this. I have not picked wheels and tires yet, I can’t decide if I go with old school wide white walls or big wheels and rubber bands. I am leaning toward the latter as the lambo doors are kind of a new design treatment. Color is also up in the air, but I am thinking a base of pearl white with pearl orange fading and an orange and white accented interior with all custom ( 4 ) bucket seats. I am also kicking around the idea of lighting up the head lights, tail lights, dash and using LED’s under the chassis to light up under the car. I have red, yellow, blue and purple LED’s, so we’ll see…I can drop the battery in the trunk, not a big deal. Oh, yeah, I am also thinking of dropping in a Revell parts pack Pontiac 421 under the newly smoothed hood…we’ll see about that later. Well. If you made it through my long diatribe, congratulations. If not, I can’t say I blame you for not reading my “over the top†overly wordy description, but that is just me and I like you guys to understand why I am doing what I am doing to my builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumnuts Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 pete this thing is looking wild. the roof and doors show you are a true craftsman. I get a kick out of the style of the custom guys of that era. thay must of had some fun nights sitting around the garage all night stairing at these cars comming up with these ideas of what to do with it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzn Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Wow... thpose are goinmg to be cool.. I Like the chop on the t bird.. it look spot on from the 1:1 car Pic.. that Bonnie is even cooler.. Keep us Posted on your progress.. I LIKE 'EM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E St. Kruiser50 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Peter, Peter, Peter These are just so cool. "The BONDO BRIGADE" . I love doin' bondo work and "Re-sculpting" an already classic shape. These are looking so way 50's - 60's retro, with some contemporary up-dates. Very, very nice dave - Another "Bondomeister" happily playing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.