1961 Ford Convertible Nascar version

[MarkJ]

I decided to look at the pictures I have again of the car and in one of them you can see the very top of the drivers seat. It is rounded at the top so it can't be the bench seat that came with the 61 Ford Starliner. I was trying to think of what seat Holman and Moody would use if they did not use the bench seat and I remembered that they used a Thunderbird in 1959. I'm starting to think that they took the bucket seat from the 59 Thunderbird and used it in the 61 Ford Starliner. The 1959 Thunderbird bucket seat is rounded at the top. Just speculation on my part but it kind of makes sense that they would use it. It was also probably used in Joe Weatherley's 1960 Ford that he drove for Holman and Moody in 1960. Again I have no proof just speculation..

[bbowser]

Seems entirely possible that they would have swapped seats (less weight). They were getting much more sophisticated by 1961 .

[MarkJ]

Seems entirely possible that they would have swapped seats (less weight). They were getting much more sophisticated by 1961 .

Bruce, a guy told me on another forum that the police package for the big ford in 1961 came with thunderbird bucket seats covered in fairlane 500 trim which was the cheapo trim by 1961. I'll bet that explains why they had buckets in the car. If you were

Holman and Moody you could probably order any way you wanted to.

[MarkJ]

I googled 61 Ford police package and found an advertisement for it. I had to save it and blow it up . But it showed in the options bucket seats were available to give more head room.

[MarkJ]

I did some more work on the seat and the interior tub.

[Fast Floyd 2]

cool project!!! Looking good

[MarkJ]

Did some sanding on the seat and added some more putty. Will keep shaping and adding putty till the seat some what resembles the refrence picture I found for a 61 Ford Thunderbird.

[MarkJ]

I think its ready for primer and then the final sanding, I need to add a bolster to the right side of the seat that the drivers used to lean against in the turns.

[MarkJ]

Did some more interior work. I find it helpful to put wire inside the 3/32 inch tubing when fabricating the roll cage.

[bbowser]

Mark, is the wire so the tubing doesn't collapse on itself at the bend, or to help hold the bend in place? Do you heat the bend to keep it? The cage looks good so far.

Edited May 5, 2012 by bbowser

[MarkJ]

Some more wips

[MarkJ]

Mark, is the wire so the tubing doesn't collapse on itself at the bend, or to help hold the bend in place? Do you heat the bend to keep it? The cage looks good so far.

Bruce, for both reasons. Also with the wire in place you dont have to heat the bend unless its at an extreme 90 degree angle.

[Badluck 13]

Amazing what you have done with a simple curb side promo kit,I am enjoying watching this one.....

[MarkJ]

Amazing what you have done with a simple curb side promo kit,I am enjoying watching this one.....

Thanks, Mike. It's been fun so far.

[Tony T]

Nice build, Mark...I did a phantom '61 Nascar from a glue-bomb original convertible. I just cut the right seatback off and filled the smaller holes with styrene. They are fun to build the true 'stock' cars. Or at least they sure looked stock on the track!

[MarkJ]

Made the snaps on the tonneau cover thinner and began modifications to the grille and headlights to try to make it look more like the real car.

[bryan_m]

very cool project! the tonneau cover looks great. keep `er goin.

cheers

bryan

[MarkJ]

Primed part of the tub and seat and did some more work fitting the grille to the body.

[Bartster]

This is looking fantastic.

[bbowser]

I love that seat! This is going really well.

[MarkJ]

Thanks Bruce.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Man, this is great. Has everything that appeals to me: unusual subject, experimental techniques, lots of scratch-building, and historical research for accuracy. Really cool project.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, William.

[MarkJ]

Added padding to the roll bars. Used tubing that would fit over the roll bar tubing. Will fix the voids in the tubing with putty. Flat black should make them look like rubber.

[MarkJ]

Some more rollcage pad work. Also working on scratchbuilt seat and shoulder harness buckles. It is very tedious work.