'69 Thunderbird custom convertible

[Can-Con]

This is a project I've been thinking about for a couple years now. Originally I was going to swap the formal '69 roof with the fastback '71 roof but I see that's been done already and I wanted to do something I hadn't seen before.

SO, I'm doing a convertible in the vein of the '62-'66 where the top hides under the hard panels behind the rear seat instead of just being covers with a boot.

I'm using pieces from a couple kits. The body wasn't too bad but I only have one spare chassis for this generation Thunderbird kit to use and it's a major glue bomb. I do love a challenge.

The custom front and rear ends are from the '68 kit. The front pan is the same as the one in the '69 kit but the rear is quite different as the '69 went from the '67/'68 full width tail lights to more common rectangular units. The '68 custom tail light and front grille features huge Thunderbird crests which I love the look of and is the main reason I wanted to build this.

So, here's what I'm starting with. An original '69 body and interior and the glue bomb chassis. 

 , , and what the custom front and rear ends look like.

The roof cut off, ,

 

I cut the package shelf from the interior bucket and glued it in place in the body then added some sheet plastic to fill some gaps then puttied it all up.

I scribed new panel lines in the deck mimicking those in a '64-'66 convertible. 

and in primer almost ready to start painting.

That was the easy part, now to start on the chassis.

I did get it all cut apart with the help of a X-acto saw blade.

 

, , , to be continued,,,

[Moparman18064]

Cool build coming! I knew a guy that had a black one with dual quads sticking out of the hood years ago.( hardtop)

Edited March 13, 2024 by Moparman18064

[SSNJim]

I'll be watching. I'm a huge fan of this era Thunderbird. We had a 69 my parents bought new.

The car looks really good as a convertible - this is the first one I've heard of. Looking forward to seeing completed.

[customline]

Oh he'll yeah!  I'm on board! 

[espo]

Like the custom grill treatment. Your roof removal and changes to the rear deck area look good. 

[customline]

OK, so.....this is a phantom? From what I can tell, Ford didn't make a convertible T'Bird that year....what a great idea ?

[Maindrian Pace]

Nice job curving and contouring the tops of those 1/4 panels. Without adding that bit of Coke Bottle, they would have seemed droopy.

[Can-Con]

4 hours ago, customline said:

OK, so.....this is a phantom? From what I can tell, Ford didn't make a convertible T'Bird that year....what a great idea ?

Right. No convertible Thunderbirds from the factory from '66 until the "nostalgia" 2 seat birds in the 2000s

[Can-Con]

3 hours ago, Maindrian Pace said:

Nice job curving and contouring the tops of those 1/4 panels. Without adding that bit of Coke Bottle, they would have seemed droopy.

Thanks Mike but I can't take too much credit for that, just following the natural contours of the car.

[Steve H]

Great looking build so far Steve. I’ll be watching sir.

[slusher]

Real interesting build Steve, I like thunderbirds!

[Speedpro]

My mom had one of these brand new in '69. It was diamond blue w/black vinyle top. Had the rear suicide doors. This thing looks awsome with the drop top. Ford should have done this. Looks way better than the hard top. Cool build!

[Paul Payne]

Nice work rescribing the panel lines behind the interior for the convertible top. Chassis work is awesome- looking forward to the shortened wheel base!

[Duddly01]

Looks better than I would have expected as a convertible. Wonder why Ford didn’t make one in the day. 

[LennyB]

Very cool concept, looks like something that should have been at the NY auto show.

[Can-Con]

Cleaned up the ends of the breaks where the previous owned tried to glue it back together with a 1/2 tube of glue. Cut a couple lengths of  "C" channel down the center and used them to reinforce the outer side of the frame. 

Now it's strait and strong enough to work with.

[Sledsel]

Cool concept. Phantom builds are very cool.

You could use the 65 and 66 Galaxie chassis under this also if that chassis is to troublsome.

[Can-Con]

I think my bodywork is good enough to start the candy paint now. I'll wet sand this coat of silver with 4000 grit and spray another coat before the candy though.

[customline]

That thing looks sweet, Steve.  I really love these '60s 'Birds. I think there are plenty of folks that don't realize just how difficult it is to scribe nice clean lines like the ones you did here. Great work!

[Can-Con]

This is supposed to be Duplicolor Metalcast purple but my can is more fuchsia then purple, which is what I wanted for this car. 
This is pretty close to the actual color but a bit lighter.

If you just spray the Duplicolor clear over the Metalcast it will wrinkle up just like enamel but I tempered the stuff by mixing it 50/50 with the clear and had no problems with 2 wet coats of clear. This is over the silver base in the previous pics.

[Bainford]

That's looking really good, Steve. Man, these things look great as a convertible. 

[customline]

LOVE THAT COLOR! Can't wait to see it roll!

[Sam I Am]

Now this is different...in an awesome way.  ? 

[Iraceitall]

On 4/2/2024 at 4:20 PM, Can-Con said:

This is supposed to be Duplicolor Metalcast purple but my can is more fuchsia then purple, which is what I wanted for this car. 
This is pretty close to the actual color but a bit lighter.

If you just spray the Duplicolor clear over the Metalcast it will wrinkle up just like enamel but I tempered the stuff by mixing it 50/50 with the clear and had no problems with 2 wet coats of clear. This is over the silver base in the previous pics.

Reminds me of an old Redline Hot Wheels Custom T-Bird.  Now I'm inspired to find one.

[deuces wild]

Love it!...????