1955 Restoration Costs- see photos

[CuriousCarl]

Hi everyone,

So back in December, I posted a thread (here) asking about an odd continental kit on a ’55. You all were incredibly helpful and I truly appreciated your responses. Well I found out a whole lot more about this strange bird! It is indeed a 1955 and the dealer it was sold to put it in the Pan-Pacific Auto Show (first iteration of the LA Auto Show) but wanted to make it a bit more “showy” so he custom built the continental attachment into the car. The car was then sold to my great-great grandfather and given to my great-great grandmother who’s had it ever since. Apparently it was in the movie “Introducing Dorothy Dandrige” starring Halle Berry that was released in 1999. It has 40.5K original miles. The car also had a write up in Ford Life magazine which I’ve attached pictures of below. It’s actually a pretty cool piece of Thunderbird history! In the article, I’ve boxed out the names (I know you can easily just look up the article but I still wanted to do it just in case).

I really want to restore it to its former glory. I know my great-great grandmother would get a kick out of seeing it in the condition she used to drive it. The only problem is I’m not all that great at automotive restoration or anything automotive really. So that means I’ll have to take it to a specialty TBird restoration. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the costs of a restoration or even a vague ballpark figure. I know that estimating a restoration cost based on a few pictures and a rough history isn’t exactly an easy task but anything would help me out. I know that it’s been sitting dormant in a garage for the past 25 years. I’ve included the data plate information below. From what I can tell from trying to decipher the data plate, it was built January 12th and was the 40th car shipped to Rockford, Illinois.

Here's the data plate info:

P5FH 13627
40A R B 12AKE40

Thank you all so much for any and all help, insight, comments, advice, etc.

 

[biddle]

I updated your subject "Odd '55 TBird update!" to summarize your post which is about restoration costs.
Please use the four-digit model year as prompted on future posts.

 

[knuckle47]

Wow….beautiful . good luck with your plan.. knowing the background of a car is thrilling and enlightening. Restoration will suit it nicely but be prepared for so many hidden problems. I am doing much of the mechanical rebuilds on my own ‘56 and it could use a nice body off repaint but not really necessary. I am not half done and I have about $6900 worth of parts as of today with wiring, bolts, carb rebuild parts, gaskets, door parts, new upholstery springs, brakes and huge shoe box of correct screws and fittings. I have seen 2 restored cars done professionally in my physical search being sold for near $100000.00 and beyond my wants and wishes. I see runners selling for (approx) $25-35,000 so can I guess a professional restore is $50-70,000 more? I could be way off too….. I live in my own world at times. Knowing what I am doing on my own car… what initially shocked me, seems reasonable now after the aches and pains, cuts and bruises, parts and time I have here so far.

 

[Ward 57]

The only T-Birds that reach close to$1,000,000 are professionally restored 'F' supercharged cars. You are right on with the decent drivers and yes a good restoration could easily go over $50 especially with a body off.
Just how bad is your paint? Is there enough for a good cut & buff?

 

[zeroroadkill]

OMG what a great Bird! This Bird could be worth big bucks to the right collector especially if you restore it back to it's original glory! Red paint with special chrome trim stainless. Since you cannot do the work yourself, it will be expensive, but this is a one-of-a-kind Bird! One of one! Original! It appears it was shipped from the factory to Rockford Illinois and wound up at a LA dealer. Were the double front emblems original? What a gem! Look at the trim package on the attached picture! Was this trim stainless an option?

BTW, if you can send me the part number off of the coil over rear shocks. Thanks.

 

[Critterpainer]

That car with its history may be a candidate for a careful refurb while keeping it as original as possible. Often cars that are original with a history are real attention getters compared to cars that needed to be restored,

 

[Ward 57]

Yah, it's a one off but not a bad job. After it was painted they added the second badge on the front and something I look for is that the louver accents on the fenders are upside down. I finally noticed on mine I had one that same way. Brought it up to Gill, he even wrote a piece in the Earlybird on how common it is but easy to fix.
The other thing I noticed that it had power seats but manual windows. Interesting combination.

 

[knuckle47]

In my opinion, my seat in most cases, will never move unless it’s a service issue. If I had to choose, I’d go with the windows.

 

[Critterpainer]

I believe in 1955 power seat was standard but power windows were optional.

 

[Ward 57]

I believe in 1955 power seat was standard but power windows were optional.

Interesting, From a recent article in the Early Bird, and from the records they could find, Power windows were only 29% of production, power steering 35% power windows 29% power brakes 37%. Even radios and heaters were options. Not mentioned are power seats. I would never have thought power seats would have been standard but could be.

 

[55blacktie]

Carl, check your messages.

Power seat was standard equipment for 1955. Fordomatic, power steering, power windows, and power brakes were not standard.

 

[zeroroadkill]

Yah, it's a one off but not a bad job. After it was painted they added the second badge on the front and something I look for is that the louver accents on the fenders are upside down. I finally noticed on mine I had one that same way. Brought it up to Gill, he even wrote a piece in the Earlybird on how common it is but easy to fix.
The other thing I noticed that it had power seats but manual windows. Interesting combination.

My ‘55 is the same, power seat & manual rollup windows.

 

[55blacktie]

The aftermarket Continental Kits stick out farther than the factory 56 equipment, adding even more weight to the back of the car. That could be why the rear shackles are reversed. Hitting a pot hole/bump could cause them to revert to their proper position, thereby upsetting the handling of the car.

 

[zeroroadkill]

The aftermarket Continental Kits stick out farther than the factory 56 equipment, adding even more weight to the back of the car. That could be why the rear shackles are reversed. Hitting a pot hole/bump could cause them to revert to their proper position, thereby upsetting the handling of the car.

This was a custom extension of the rear fenders and custom conti kit.
Did you notice the coil over rear shocks?
(I’d like to get the part number on those).
Those with the reverse shackles would help hold up the rear end weight and then the skid plate under the spare tire would help prevent the bumper from bottoming out

 

[knuckle47]

The illustration of the car in the ad material show a chrome like strip along the rear quarter, across the door and up towards the hood. I am new but I have not seen that on any t-bird I have looked at since I have been hunting last summer. Is that for illustration or is it an optional trim?

 

[Ward 57]

As great as it is to see, the standard Continental on the '56 was a non starter as it affected the handling and extended the trunk and moved it back inside in'57. With the history and chain of ownership is golden. There is a big market for nicely done conversions. New carpets, polishing the chrome and leaving it as Unmodified as possible. The car is a story in itself

 

[Critterpainer]

The stainless trim referred to by Knuckle47 was a feature that was dropped just before production.

 

[jimntempe]

This was a custom extension of the rear fenders and custom conti kit.
Did you notice the coil over rear shocks?
(I’d like to get the part number on those).
Those with the reverse shackles would help hold up the rear end weight and then the skid plate under the spare tire would help prevent the bumper from bottoming out

I suspect those coil overs are not original. The paint and attaching hardware is too shiny. Most likely they and the shackles flipping someone mentioned were done along the way as the continental kit took it's toll on the springs.

 

[Ward 57]

I suspect those coil overs are not original. The paint and attaching hardware is too shiny. Most likely they and the shackles flipping someone mentioned were done along the way as the continental kit took it's toll on the springs.

The shackles are flipped and that would lower the rear. The springs look a little flat also hence the coil overs to correct. two problems and a simple solution in someone's eye.

 

[jimntempe]

The shackles are flipped and that would lower the rear. The springs look a little flat also hence the coil overs to correct. two problems and a simple solution in someone's eye.

I took another look. The shackles don't look flipped to me. So I'd revise my statement to eliminate the comment about the shackles.. just normal sag of the springs being countered by aftermarket coil over shocks seems the most likely thing.