1957 Thunderbird dash pad reccomendation

[36 conv sedan]

Hi everybody, and merry Christmas.

Santa brought me a one owner 1957 Thunderbird with about 40,000 original miles. A great original car who's biggest sin was that it had a color change, from yellow (Inca gold?) to a bright orange. It is very complete and still has it's original interior, in mostly good shape, except the dash.

I intend to get it back to yellow and restore it sympathetically, if that is the word... I mean redoing whatever is not correct but keeping as much of the original patina as possible.

I am keeping the door panels and upholstery as is, but would love to get a great dash panel. I have seen many vendors. Macs now has a promotion on which it is about $450, but others run much higher than that.

Question here is quality: can anybody tell me if Macs dashboards would play the trick of getting the car back to it's original appearance? Or can you otherwise recomend any other option?

Thanks,
Victor

[paul2748]

I don't know anything about Mac's piece, but I would purchase one from the TBird parts suppliers. I think you would get better quality, assuming they are not all made by the same manufacturer.

I got mine from CASCO, excellent quality and fitment. I had it professionally installed.

[miker98038]

I’ve had excellent interior parts from Larry’s thunderbird in CA, as well as Concours parts in NV. You don’t say where you are, so shipping might be a difference. I would recommend a professional installation. If you’re doing a restoration, pull the dash. You’ll get a much better installation, and the wiring is probably pretty brittle by now. My bird, and every mid 50’s car I’ve worked on, even under the dash, is brittle and cracks when disturbed.

[36 conv sedan]

Thank you guys!

I found this option with dashes direct, apparently made with Ford original tooling and aproved by Ford which seems like a reasonable deal:


https://dashesdirect.com/product/195...ling-dash-pad/

I will also take a look with the other sources you reccomend.

Thanks again,
Victor

[paul2748]

I see they only have black - is that the color you want?

Originally Posted by 36 conv sedan

Thank you guys!

I found this option with dashes direct, apparently made with Ford original tooling and aproved by Ford which seems like a reasonable deal:


https://dashesdirect.com/product/195...ling-dash-pad/

I will also take a look with the other sources you reccomend.

Thanks again,
Victor

[36 conv sedan]

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Yes, my car is a medium yellow color originally with a black and white interior, so dashpad is black.

By the way, it also has the hardtop but covered with vynil (which I have never seen before but I guess it is not common) and it looks very old and correct, so it may have been sold that way.

The car was assembled in Mexico city's factory and has many options, like the overdrive transmission, memory seat, electric windows, town and country radio, heater (not common in Mexico), trunk antenna, so I am guessing it could have been a showroom car or something like that. Unfortnately the prior owner passed away and I don't have the original invoice to mention about the hardtop vynil covering... oh, well...

victor

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by 36 conv sedan

..... By the way, it also has the hardtop but covered with vynil (which I have never seen before but I guess it is not common) and it looks very old and correct, so it may have been sold that way.

The car was assembled in Mexico city's factory .....
I don't have the original invoice to mention about the hardtop vynil covering... oh, well...
victor

Made in Mexico all bets are off but a vinyl covering on the fiberglass top wasn't a normal thing, probably added later. (it has been 60yrs)

If you are a member of CTCI you should be able to get a copy of the original invoice for the car. See this link...
https://www.ctci.org/invoice.php

Or it might be listed in the Thunderbird Registry...
http://www.tbird.info/thunderbird-registry-faq.htm

Would you mind posting (or sending me) a close-up photo of the firewall data plate? Thanks
.

[Oldmics]

Victor

The invoices are availiable from the CTCI Thunderbird club.

You do have to be a member to acquire the invoice. The invoice cost is $30.00

Your car being an export to Mexico would be of special interest to the folks who track such machines.

Oldmics

[36 conv sedan]

Attached is a pic of my plate... and just under it you will see the original yellow color. And by the way, as far as I understand, in the Mexico plant they were not cautious with marking the plates other than the car number. I have other mexican cars with no information on color or any options on the plate.

[36 conv sedan]

And a few more pics of the car...

You will probably notice that the Speedometer is in kilometers, up to 240

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by 36 conv sedan

And a few more pics of the car...
You will probably notice that the Speedometer is in kilometers, up to 240

Very nice, that's a unique T-Bird you've got there.

[36 conv sedan]

Thanks!! I am happy with it and intend to eventually get it back to it's original yellow but trying to maintain as much original patina as possible.

[mercman from oz]

Congratulations, that is one very nice 1957 Ford Thunderbird.

[mercman from oz]

Thought that I would add these two pictures of an unrestored original 1957 Ford Thunderbird in fantastic condition for you to enjoy. This car has never been restored and still wears its original paint.

[36 conv sedan]

Wow! Beautiful car in gorgeous condition! Much better than mine! Congratulations!!