1959 Thunderbird 430 J code Convertible with A/C

[tp tbird]

Here is some new pictures I posted at potobucket of my 1959 tbird convertible 430 with A/C ,I had the engine and transmission rebuilt ,new paint,and alot more .I have been working on it 3 years .http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l356/tptbird/

[bird 60]

Very, very impressive. My '60 was also Body Off Rotiserie & it took 3 years to complete. I have a Video of it that goes for about 45 minutes. Good work, looks great.

Chris....From the Land of OZ.

[YellowRose]

1959 Thunderbird 430 J code Convertible with A/C

Hi Tom,

Thanks for sharing those fantastic pix with us! What a tremendous job you did on restoring her! I love the external and internal color.. Is that external color '59 Brandywine? That is beautiful and the interior also! I looked at all the pix! Just a great job to be proud of!

[tp tbird]

This what I know about this 1959 Thunderbird 430 convertible with A/C.I saw it on ebay 3 years ago and pretty much site unseen except for a few pictures. Always wanting a convertible I bid on it and got it. Code #J9YJ158023, Body -76A, Color –U,Trim -5Y ,Date -13G it came with a lot extra of parts for other cars. The guy that had it was a collector and had Thunderbirds of different years and retractable hard top Fords he was a member of the Vintage Thunderbird Club The Squarebird Society . He pasted away and his wife gave one car to each child and sold the rest. The one I got belonged to her son that was in the service so it was put in a connex storage unit . He wanted to sell it after a long time in there and his mother said it ran when it was put in there, but not true I guess because the carb was gone and may have had other problems .Got home took the heads off and found the engine was seized up ,so when I found out nothing was going to work without taking the engine and transmission and rebuilding them . Engine, heads, intake all had BF9……. numbers cast on them so I take it is the right engine for the car if not the original one that came with it new don’t know. I had to go threw all must everything on this car each bolt, nut, parts a lot of blood, sweat and did I say blood. The color when I got it was blue outside with black interior under that paint was yellow and under that was cordovan and then cordovan again ,with primer between coats on paint. The interior I cleaned and sprayed it with Sems vinyl dye to match the color of the trim code, but made seats all white. I know the seats, door panels, and paint are not original, but maybe down the line I will change them sometime. Also I put different hub caps on it that I liked
, so it is not modified or customized that much. Hard work and don’t want to do it again, but it does look nice. I still have the vinyl top to install on it and few other little things to do.

[YellowRose]

1959 Thunderbird 430 J code Convertible with A/C

Hi Tom,

Thanks for posting the history of your beautiful Tbird, as you know it. Also for the VIN # and Data Plate info. BTW, you should register it with John Rotella and his Tbird Registry so we have a record of this beautiful Tbird! Here is the link to registering it. http://www.tbirdregistry.com/rat.asp It does not cost a thing to do it and the instructions are there on how to go about it. We are trying to get every surviving Tbird in the register so we know what is left.

I see that there were some changes made to your Bird over the years. It came out of the factory, according to the Data Plate with a Cordovan Metallic paint job and a tan and white vinyl interior. I would say the engine and tranny are probably the original ones. You have put a lot of blood, sweat, tears and money into bringing her where she is today. A thing of beauty! Congratulations on a job well done. Also, thank you for the PM regarding her. I will put those pictures to use. I am going to show her in the Modified section of the SB Gallery.