My '60 Bird

[Greg]

Tomorrow early a.m. my son Brian and I are picking up my '60 Bird. It is totally original including paint and interior, and best of all it is a 3-speed manual with A/C and only 44K miles!
I took these photos last Spring when I first met Mr. Heberer. He has several other birds for sale including a convertible and Golde Top car.
I'm sure I'll have lots of questions going forward...

[YellowRose]

My '60 Bird

Welcome to Squarebirds! She is a nice looking original Squarebird! I see you have some wear and tear on the seats, but if your goal is to restore her to her original glory, the seat covers are available, as are the seat foams. Jed Zimmerman, here on the Forum, makes the seat foams for the various Tbird parts houses. He also can refinish your steering wheel so it will look brand new. You will want to call or email the various Tbird parts houses and ask for their free catalogs. You will want to get a shop manual, if he did not provide one with the car, and a number of other manuals for the car. You will find all the parts houses listed down in the Advertisements Forum. You will also find the link to our Technical Resource Library under my signature element. Welcome aboard!

[Guest]

Hey Greg,
You got a beauty there! Let us know if you need anything. And oh congratulations!
Richard D. Hord

[DKheld]

Wow - what a great looking car in it's black tuxedo!

You'll find this site to be of great help. Let us know how it goes (if you ever get out of the car long enough to get back to the PC and post)

Hey - did you guys notice? A bumper hitch!

Eric
registry 5347

[Greg]

Got 'er home!

Well guys, we pulled into Magnolia, TX at 3:15 a.m. Sunday morning. No issues with the trailer, or trip.

I washed her as soon as I got home and noticed a couple of interesting things. I'm now convinced the car is a totally untouched original.

It was purchased in Virginia by Mr. Heberer in 1974 with 20K miles. He put another 24K on in the intervening years, and also kept in climate controlled storage.

Everything works except the A/C. The compressors runs, and pumps but it appears there is little or no refrigerant. The 25 year old belted tires will need replacement, and incredibly the exhaust systems seems original too but is very fragile.

I think with a little TLC she will be an extremely nice car! More photos soon..
Greg

[dgs]

Interesting car - leather seats, AC, power windows but a 3 speed manual transmission. Also, I don't recall seeing many coupes without a contrasting roof. With the solid color leather interior (as opposed to the two tone vinyl), it's a very black 'Bird.

I also see a trailer hitch. Not too many of those left.

Very nice.

[YellowRose]

My '60 Bird

Congratulations, Greg! I am glad to hear that you had a good trip back with her. Yup, she is one all Raven Black Squarebird for sure! She looks to be a pretty good looking Squarebird that he took good care of for many years. Did he give you have manuals, the Owners Manual, or a copy of the Gate Release (also known as the ROT or Rotation Sheet, and Build Sheet)? If he did, that sheet will also tell you exactly what was on the car when it rolled off the production line. If he did not, if you replace the seat covers, and/or the seat foams, look under them to see if you can find the ROT Sheet. They were often stuck in the springs after installing the seats. Or under the carpeting. I see the trailer hitch and it looks to be an original Draw-Tite hitch. If you were to take it off, you would probably find the words "1958-59-60 Thunderbird" stamped into the cross member like mine was. Also the Draw-Tite name on the neck. If you would like me to check the Thunderbird Registry for you to see if the previous owners have it registered in the Data Base, shoot me the VIN #, and the Data Plate information. I will be able to tell you exactly what she left the factory with some 50 years ago. I can also register it for you in the Database. The website is www.tbirdregistry.com if you would like to check it or register it yourself, if it is not registered. You can also register it from our Forum by going to the Technical Resource Library (TRL) listed under my signature element below, along with my email address.

[DKheld]

As Ray mentioned the build sheet is fun to have and with that few miles I bet it's still there. Mine was tucked between the springs on the upper portion of the back seat. A little work to get to it but worth going after so that it can be saved as part of the history of the car (before it disintegrates). You may find that it was a DSO (Dealer Special Order) car.

The factory service manual is a great help - almost as good as this site

There is a refrigerant sight glass on the drivers side wheel well between two hoses but it sounds like you already found it. Hopefully you have someone that can repair it or use the search function here and look through the archives for what others have done. Mine originally did not have air but I am adding it as if it were added at the dealer. A source for replacement parts (although a bit high) is Classic Auto Air. They have an office in Tampa Fl and Grapevine Tx! Just received my new hoses and service valves from them last week.

Sounds like a well cared for car - great find! Believe it or not mine still has the original exhaust too - at least back to the resonators although they have been replaced 3 times. That was back when exhaust systems were made to last.....

I would recommend some radial tires. I installed Diamond Back Classics on mine but there are also other manufactures that sell the correct width white sidewall if that is what you will be installing - like Coker Tire. The radial tires made a huge difference in driving when I changed from poly's.

Oh yes - more pics please!!!!

Eric
registry 5347

http://www.tbirdregistry.com/ft.asp

Here's what your build (ROT) sheet will look like....well... with your car number and options of course.

[Guest]

Hi Greg
Nice find it's a great looking car
Set it off with wide whites and it will look great

Richard

[Greg]

Hi Greg
Nice find it's a great looking car
Set it off with wide whites and it will look great

Richard

My wife says thumbs-up to the Wide Whites! And yes, I've been driving it everywhere.

[YellowRose]

My '60 Bird

With Greg's permission, I have registered his '60 Tbird for him on the Tbird Registry. He sent me the VIN# and Data Plate information. His Tbird seems to be pretty much original. Except that the AC and the Overdrive might have been added after it left the factory. If he can find the Build Sheet, that might tell him more about that. It left the factory with the black paint job and the leather interior, power accessories, a 3-Speed manual tranny, a 352CI engine, and an Axle code of 9 = 3.70:1. It was scheduled for production on 2 May, 1960, towards the end of production. Greg, when you get a chance, look under the hood and tell us if you have the master cylinder and a single stage power booster under the hood. Or do you have the KH unit under the dash? Towards the end of the production run, they stopped installing the under the dash KH unit and installed the unit under the hood. IF you did not have AC on the car when it left the plant, that means that IF you have the power booster under the hood someone had to obtain the bracket spacer kit to get the whole unit past the AC plenum box. Back in the '60's and '70's, that might have been a lot easier to come by than it is these days.

[tbird430]

Very nice original Bird. It bet she will be a REALLY HOT ride in these TX summers- Better get that AC fixed!!

I noticed the rear hitch too. I also agree WWW radials will improve the SAFETY & handling of this Bird.

I know there are some guys on this site right now who would love some pics of the standard transmission shift linkages.

-Jon in TX.