For years, Ford’s luxury coupe, the Thunderbird, garnered respect merely by mention of its name. By the time this 1963 subject came along, the T-bird was ending its third generation and the evolution from its original two-seater configuration was in full progression; lower, wider, faster – the beat went on through the sixties. Hailing from Taylorsville, Utah, this coupe has seen a thorough mechanical refurbishment and is now ready for its next caretaker. Here on eBay is where you’ll find this ‘Bird; it’s available for a BIN price of $11,000, OBO.
While production was down to 63K units in ’63, it had been in the 153K range the year before, it was still a respectable showing for the final year of a series. Body styles were two with a hardtop and a convertible though the hardtop was further delineated into standard and Landau trim levels. This Ford’s listing delves heavily into its mechanical improvements but says nothing regarding exterior aesthetics. No worries, the images do the talkin’ and this T-Bird has its fair share of rust and very faded paint. It looks OK at a distance but the closeups provided tell the story. Knowing what we know, I’d suggest that interested parties take a gander at the underside. One subjective observation: I always thought these, and the follow-on generation T-Bird, looked better sans fender skirts.
The engine room is in possession of a 300 gross HP 390 CI V8 engine and the seller tells us, “Rebuilt engine with new rod bearings, main bearings, cam bearings, new cam, machined crankshaft, new pistons and rings, new oil pump and pickup, new timing chain and gears, rebuilt head cylinders, new fuel pump, brass core plugs and new gaskets all around. Less than 1000 miles on the rebuilt engine. *Professionally rebuilt Autolite 4100 carburetor *New radiator, heater core, heater control valve, thermostat and radiator/heater hoses. *New tires *New shift collar and shifter w/bushing. *Coolant flush, oil change and transmission fluid changed. *New Battery, Starter and Starter Solenoid. *Rebuilt torque converter and new transmission seal.” OK, so that’s a great start and the result, according to the seller is, “Runs, Drives and Stops!” Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but OK. The transmission referenced is a three-speed Cruise-O-Matic automatic unit.
The only thing said about the interior is the inclusion of a new headliner, and that’s good to know, as those old panel/stringer designs can be pesky to fix. Beyond that, well.. the Mexican blanket seat cover gives it away. What can be seen of the underlying upholstery, front and back, tells you that Bird’s interior is cooked and will need an upholstery overhaul. Unfortunately, there are no images of the dash and instrument panel, so an inquiry or additional photos will be required to learn about that aspect of this car’s innards.
So, is it a great start? Absolutely, the mechanical updates are just what the doctor ordered on this project car. The exterior and needed metal work, however, is another matter, and an expensive one at that. Let’s talk price; at $11,000; what’s your thought, priced right or not quite?
I’ve owned a ’63 Bird (and a ’64, and a ’66), and these are complex cars to restore. Hell, they are complex cars to maintain!
The rust on this body would absolutely give me pause; I’d rather have a rust-free body than a rebuilt engine
Agreed – how could you have the engine rebuilt,
but not address the body work?I wonder if the seller
ran out of money,& decided to cut their losses?
Read the description in the original ad. The car was a driver when he bought it but problems came up and he fixed them only one thing failed after another before he could get to the body work.
I agree with both of you. I’ve heard of and seen rust on these ( Lincolns too of the same era) and man what a nightmare to repair. ( not for me but the people who owned them). Why go thru the motor and leave all that rot. If I were going to go into a major project, I’d sit down and calcuate the whole cost as best as I could. I know it’s hard if your buying something you don’t have much time and need to make a decision then and there at times, but still, you need to do some research and try to price things out before pulling the trigger and buying it. But hey, maybe thats just me. Maybe theres a change in circumstances, life happens to us and things get thrown at us in life and we have to cut our losses and lose our restoration project.
Motor first and rust issues 2nd? Well, maybe the owner was never really concerned with the selling price once complete? Wudda ya mean “sell it?” hahaha. Thus the chicken/egg or cart/horse issue was more like “all in good time. And I suspect that eventually the blush was off the bloom of the idea of finishing it. Or, of course money ran out, or a decision to sell this and buy a restored one. Only the shadow knows. I can imagine myself being in the same situation … wondering “can I get this POS running right before I bother with any frame-off resto-type action?”. And after finishing the motor (a few $k) realizing that I bit off more than I could chew. We talk about throwing money at it but also … more time away from family than anticipated and interference with other interests are sometimes the factors that lead any of us to abandon a project. I LOVE that body style. If I was rich I’d like a resto-mod version.
It is a great start for rebuilding engine and replacing torque converter and seal but I didn’t see anything about the brakes. Rear qtrs would be prohibitive to replace e and maybe why he left them alone. A good body and paint guy maybe able to do some weld patches and repair. Interior certainly won’t be easy either. But for $10-$11k it’s not unreasonable. BTW I’m not liking BFs new adds that pop up all over the place and interfere with posting comments.
I’ll second his last comment. Attempting to comment a day ago, I lost my text due to pop ups! Very annoying!
I think you need to log in since you are a member there should be no ads.
Do the mechanicals and leave the body for Pat Ina
I have a 65 Mercury with pretty much the same FE 390 engine, and they aren’t cheap or easy to rebuild. And they are great engines. I don’t blame the seller for getting the mechanicals done first. That along with a new torque converter and seal is big expense. Another $10k and at least $5k for interior, and you’re into to it for what you may get back when you sell it. Only makes sense if you want to keep, and enjoy this Tbird.
I understand mechanical first. Slip of a wrench, hoist issues & your brand new paint is flawed. Brake fluid on new paint is a mini disaster. That being said, I would have addressed the quarter panels first, before dropping $$$ on the mechanical. At 11k, this one is a hard pass
These are great cars the 1963 being the best year of this body style the price is like 5,000 6,000 too much the rust is a real problem probably a lot of worse than what it looks like. needs interior work buckets and back seat and without driving it too many things front end, suspension etc but there will be some dummy willing to take this project on and regret ever buying it!
Sadly, you’re right, Joe. I bought my ’63 back in 2018 for $7,500 (same color and everything). It has an old 20-foot paint job with some iffy bodywork, but it’s one of the most rust-free cars I’ve ever seen underneath. The interior is nice but not perfect, and it too has a rebuilt engine and trans.
After I completely rebuilt the front end and steering (including two rebuilt steering boxes), the rear suspension, fixed some oil leaks in the rebuilt engine, recored the radiator, fixed all the power windows, etc., I’m miles underwater and the air conditioning still doesn’t work. And it still has an old 20-foot paint job and iffy bodywork. There’s sadly just not a lot of value in these things, but they look cool…As they say, buy the nicest one you can!