Lee Chambers Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Hi guys, here is another car project and I really do have my work cut out with this one, it’s been in my stash for about 5 years, dug it out last week and took a peek at it, good points are that it has a very nice accurate looking body and all the fenders and details on the outside of the car look good, however inside was very poor, no engine bay, and worst of all very inaccurate seats and dash. Not surprising really as the 66 T-Bird had very elaborate seat and dash detailing, so what to do? Well, looking at YouTube videos I found that the convertible versions looked much better, so I decided to bite the bullet and cut the roof off! Now this committed me to scratch building and modifying the kit interior details, the main objective was to give a fairly good representation of a top down 66 T-Bird that was ready to cruise or had just been fully restored to show winning condition. Here are some photos of a restored 66 T-Bird that I am trying to copy in model form. I decided the body would be painted in blue metallic with white leather and blue interior, with lashings of chrome details. So I hope to update you with progress soon, now where’s that hacksaw? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codger Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Nice original car. Before you invest a lot of work, compare the model to reference to make sure there are no shape and proportion issues. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I didn't know that Hasegawa made a Thunderbird kit. Should be a good one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Chambers Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 2 hours ago, mustang1989 said: I didn't know that Hasegawa made a Thunderbird kit. Should be a good one though. Sorry to say i was not really impressed,yes the body and chrome parts looked good,but the seats and dash were rubbish,and the fit of the wheel covers and lower valance under the front bumber was terrible,not what i was expecting,i was on the verge of binning the kit until i saw how cool the convertible looked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 They are indeed a very nice looking car. You could always build it as a retromod? Something by Chip Foose or one of the recently featured American custom builders on TV, (Kindig for instance). Lowered slightly (air suspension) and retromod gives you the freedom to build the interior as you see fit/as the spares box allows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Chambers Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 14 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: They are indeed a very nice looking car. You could always build it as a retromod? Something by Chip Foose or one of the recently featured American custom builders on TV, (Kindig for instance). Lowered slightly (air suspension) and retromod gives you the freedom to build the interior as you see fit/as the spares box allows. Thanks Pete,good idea about the upgrade mods,but i think that's just taking the easy way out,my work day restoration projects always demands originality as much as possible and so it's kind of ingrained in me to strive for that,so expect the end result to look as close to the real car images as i can get. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Chambers Posted October 27, 2019 Author Share Posted October 27, 2019 14 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: They are indeed a very nice looking car. You could always build it as a retromod? Something by Chip Foose or one of the recently featured American custom builders on TV, (Kindig for instance). Lowered slightly (air suspension) and retromod gives you the freedom to build the interior as you see fit/as the spares box allows. As luck would have it this months Classic bike guide magazine has a 7 page spread on my recently restored 1977 GS750B,if you fancy checking out my full time day work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Chambers Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Hi everyone here are a few photos showing the mods that I have made to the interior as well as scratch building the rear boot which famously opens up to stow the soft roof. I have added a final photo of the painted seat and dash layout ready for installation into the soon to be painted body. Next update will be the final reveal. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Great job on the seats! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Nicely done on the seats. Looking forward to seeing the final reveal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Stunning job on the seats and dashboard 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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