For the love of a Ford!

We are currently restoring a 1965 Thunderbird Convertible for our customer, Dale.  Dale has been a Ford lover since he was a young boy and told us the best Ford story we've ever heard. 

It seems that when Dale was a young boy in Canada  in 1958, he saw the Edsels sitting at the car lot in his town.  He ran home and told his father about the beautiful new cars and asked his dad if he would buy one.  His dad told him that the Edsel was too expensive and that he would not be purchasing it.  Dale, with an enthusiasm he still has, wrote to Henry Ford II asking him to lower the price on the Edsel so that his dad could get one for the family.  Dale said he addressed the envelope "Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan".  Some time passed and Dale received a letter from the Edsel Division of Ford Motor Company, a copy of which is below.  Here are pictures of the model Edsel that he received and still has to this day.  It is interesting that Ford wrote back to him with no address, just his name, town, and city in Canada but the letter came right to him!  How wonderful that a business would care enough to respond to a young boy, they definitely made a life long customer in Dale!

 

1960 Ford Starliner

One of the projects I have been working on the past year is Chris' 1960 Ford Starliner.  Chris saved this car which had belonged to his dad, waiting for the time when he could afford to have it restored.  We started by taking it apart, repairing the rust and doing the body work.  Chris had already had the engine/transmission rebuilt, upholstery done and a few other repairs.  We sent out the door panels to be redone and they came back last month looking beautiful.  We took all the chrome down to Oregon Plating and picked it up a few weeks ago.  They did a beautiful job and I would recommend them if you are looking for chroming.  I have spent the last couple of weeks repairing, buffing and polishing the miles of stainless trim, it' gorgeous and almost done.  The body of the car is currently out for media blasting in preparation for paint in the next couple of weeks.  It's exciting to see all the components coming back all new and beautiful, makes me eager to see the car completed.  Check back, we'll be posting more pictures as we go along.

A life in Ford Cars......

I was walking down to my shop this morning, the sun was shining and the birds were singing, just a great morning.  But the best part is the shop itself.  Inside, in addition to all my tools and toys is a 1960 Ford Starliner that is under restoration, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird just getting its final tweaks before it goes back home, and a 1957 Ford Pickup that will soon be a replacement for the old Ranger I drive everyday.

I fell in love with Thunderbirds when I was in high school and my dad bought me one.  He thought it was a big, safe, car...he had never slammed his foot down on a petal connected to a 390!  I wasn't able to hang onto that car, we wouldn't be car guys if we didn't have the stories of the ones that got away, but I have indulged my passion since that time.  I currently have a 1962 Thunderbird Convertible with a Sports Roadster package, a 1963 Thunderbird Sports Roadster that is under construction, a 1964 Thunderbird Convertible which is destined for a resto-mod restoration and a 1962 Thunderbird hardtop that is going to be really modified. 

Even better, I have other TBird owners who come out every week and bring their cars for repairs, modifications and restoration.  I do just about everything, from convertible tops and shift levers to complete ground up restorations.  I hope that this blog will allow me to post information, pictures and stories about my projects that won't fit on a website, so stay tuned and we'll try to update regularly.