Can-Con Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Seems there's been a lot of Riviera models being built lately. So to paraphrase Ms Joplin, "My friends all build Rivieras, I must make amends". ? To that end I decided to build a Thunderbird as sort of a "call and answer" to all the Riviera builds. Nothing too complicated. I had one of the AMT "Allison in Thunderland" funnycars for a while with plans to build a street car from it so when a pair of pre-built '69s came up on e-bay for a good price I jumped on it. I'll use the funnycar body, which is completely stock , for this build with interior and chassis from one of the builts. I now have the stock funnycar body painted and 1/2 foiled. Tamiya black spray with Testors wet look clear. I'm also picking away at the '62 Chrysler seen in the pic as it's a long term project but right now, this one's really speaking to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Really nice black paint on your T-Bird Steve!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 6 minutes ago, slusher said: Really nice black paint on your T-Bird Steve!!! Thanks Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sledsel Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Sweet... I have 2 on the back burner so I'll be watching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super28 Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Looks good so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 I like this one. That 69 TBird definitely had a different look to it. You hardly see these built. Good choice. Later- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 Great looking paint job. These Thunderbirds had a somewhat custom look in a stock configuration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuces Posted September 12, 2019 Share Posted September 12, 2019 A mechanic I used to work for many years ago bought a '69 4-door bird from a little old lady.... That car was sweeeet.... ?? The back doors would open suicide style.... Nice!.... ☺️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSNJim Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Love these cars. My parents bought a 1969 two door brand new, trading in a 68 Galaxie for it. I got to drive it a bit in the seventies whenever I was home from the Navy - what a blast. The power was very smooth. I've got a couple of the Allison kits, one of which I'm combining with the 71 T-bird to come up with a stockish custom. I also have an original kit I'm going to do as our car in Brittany Blue. The Allison kit and the annual kit do have different bodies - the Allison has the tail lights filled in with some "custom" tail lights. The annual has holes for clear red tail lights to be inserted. I did manage to get a couple of tail lights from Modelhaus for future use. Interesting that neither kit has the T-Bird emblem on the C pillar, even though the 67-68 AMT kits/promos do. Sorry for the rambling, but these are my favorite cars. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Nice work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 Thanks guys, ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 21 hours ago, SSNJim said: Love these cars. My parents bought a 1969 two door brand new, trading in a 68 Galaxie for it. I got to drive it a bit in the seventies whenever I was home from the Navy - what a blast. The power was very smooth. I've got a couple of the Allison kits, one of which I'm combining with the 71 T-bird to come up with a stockish custom. I also have an original kit I'm going to do as our car in Brittany Blue. The Allison kit and the annual kit do have different bodies - the Allison has the tail lights filled in with some "custom" tail lights. The annual has holes for clear red tail lights to be inserted. I did manage to get a couple of tail lights from Modelhaus for future use. Interesting that neither kit has the T-Bird emblem on the C pillar, even though the 67-68 AMT kits/promos do. Sorry for the rambling, but these are my favorite cars. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Nice work so far. 'S OK Jim, ramble away. I tend to do that too when the topic of '69 Rivieras comes up. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 I have most of the trim now on the body. Just have the rocker trim to do. I'm also about 3/4 finished with the interior. I decided to go with dark blue as it was an available color with black body on these cars and it's a bit different. I have to do the area around the gauges and clean it up a bit. I also have the glass installed. I must say, the glass in this 50 year old kit fits incredibly well. Better than a lot newer kits I've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modlbldr Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 12 hours ago, Can-Con said: I have most of the trim now on the body. Just have the rocker trim to do. I'm also about 3/4 finished with the interior. I decided to go with dark blue as it was an available color with black body on these cars and it's a bit different. I have to do the area around the gauges and clean it up a bit. I also have the glass installed. I must say, the glass in this 50 year old kit fits incredibly well. Better than a lot newer kits I've done. Looking good so far. Like the dark blue interior. Later- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Nice! liking the color combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 I am curious. Did the 69 Thunderbird have the bird emblem on the roof sail panels? I have an original kit and a brochure and neither show the bird. The brochure shows a "Thunderbird" script right behind the quarter window on both sides. The car is fairly rare. I have never seen one in the flesh. I have seen nothing but Town Landaus and Four Door Landaus. I'm not sure as to which direction to do mine. I'm enjoying your build, as usual, but you know me. I like replica stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSNJim Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Yes, the 69 Thunderbird had the emblem on the sail panel. It was always a mystery to me why all the other 67-71 Thunderbird models had the emblem except the 69. My dad bought a two door 69 Thunderbird brand new, and it definitely had them. Other than the lack of the emblems, the 1969 model body is accurate. The only place on the car that says THUNDERBIRD is on the panel between the tail lights - no other scripts. I'm trying to dig up some pictures that show the rear end of the car in particular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted October 5, 2019 Author Share Posted October 5, 2019 2 hours ago, SSNJim said: Yes, the 69 Thunderbird had the emblem on the sail panel. It was always a mystery to me why all the other 67-71 Thunderbird models had the emblem except the 69. My dad bought a two door 69 Thunderbird brand new, and it definitely had them. Other than the lack of the emblems, the 1969 model body is accurate. The only place on the car that says THUNDERBIRD is on the panel between the tail lights - no other scripts. I'm trying to dig up some pictures that show the rear end of the car in particular. Like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSNJim Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Yes. That is the standard 69 rear end. The 67 was the only one with a Thunderbird script on the quarter panel at tail light level above where the rear side marker would be. As far as I can tell, the only two doors between 67-69 that did not have the emblems on the sail panels were the ones with a vinyl top. The four doors without a vinyl top still had the Landau bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted October 6, 2019 Author Share Posted October 6, 2019 Finished up the interior today. Did the woodgrain on the dash and wheel, flocked the floor and cleaned up the silver stainless trim. Also spent about an hour grinding on the frame rails with my Dremel. I see why you hardly ever see one of these old Thunderbirds built, the chassis is a real bear to get in there right. Anyway, this is about how I want it to sit when done. AMT parts pack white walls and chrome Kelsy "Strippers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 12 hours ago, Can-Con said: Like this? No, that's a 4 door Landau. Beautiful car though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hamilton Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 1 hour ago, Can-Con said: Finished up the interior today. Did the woodgrain on the dash and wheel, flocked the floor and cleaned up the silver stainless trim. Also spent about an hour grinding on the frame rails with my Dremel. I see why you hardly ever see one of these old Thunderbirds built, the chassis is a real bear to get in there right. Anyway, this is about how I want it to sit when done. AMT parts pack white walls and chrome Kelsy "Strippers". Superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouO Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 Very nice. Interior looks top notch now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt Tuttle Posted October 7, 2019 Share Posted October 7, 2019 Nice and clean, I must say that I like the interiors of this era, often many exciting colours while everything today is grey or black.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSNJim Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Interior looks pretty good. Attached (too late for some, too early for others, but a handy comparison) is the blue dash of our 69 Thunderbird. The white square above the gas pedal is part of the key ring. Sorry for the picture quality, but 110 cameras were not known for their impressive pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Can-Con Posted November 2, 2019 Author Share Posted November 2, 2019 Haven't had a lot of time to work on it lately but it's on it's wheels. Being a bit of a glue bomb underneath, the frame was warped in a couple areas that were hard to spot but with a couple relief cuts in strategic spots, I think I got it pretty strait. Lowered a bit with cut coils in the rear and flipped king pins in the front. The "Allison Thunderland" funnycar kit the body came from also had new king pins and front backing plates in it. Very handy when restoring these old T-bird kits. Wheels are the Kelsey-Hayes "strippers" from the AMT '63 Corvette with AMT parts pack whitewalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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