Remove Continental Tire from '56 Bird?

[Anteek29]

Is it an easy job to remove the continental tire 'kit' from a 1956 Bird and make it like the cleaner back end of a 1955 Bird? I know the bumper treatment is different for the '55. What about bumper brackets?
Thanks Guys!

[dmsfrr]

Most of it unbolts. But there is some extra horizontal bodywork just forward of the bumper.
If it's cut off to fit a '55 rear bumper & brackets to the car it may make the car slightly less valuable to a subsequent owner, since it won't be as easy to return to original. If that matters to you... or the next owner.

Maybe you could just remove the center section of the bumper? Like this yellow '56.
.

[flatrod]

Along with the tail pan dmfrr mentioned being shortened, there is a issue with the bottom of the quarter panel where the 56 exh came out, then the licsene plate doesn't fit where the 55 plate went. But once the pan is shortened a 55 bumper and brackets will bolt right on.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by flatrod

.... there is a issue with the bottom of the quarter panel where the 56 exh came out, ....

Here's a photo of the lower rear corner of a '55 Bird fender,
that isn't there on a '56, to make room for the exhaust pipe.
.

[KULTULZ]

SOURCE- http://vintagethunderbirdclub.net/ph...pic.php?t=9912

[Herman Munster]

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The rear end looks a bit too clean without the 55 bumper guards. Would the sedan guards work? Also I've read the the conti-kit helped tame of the handling characteristics of the 55. Taking it off might make it handle in a way you might not like.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by Herman Munster

The rear end looks a bit too clean without the 55 bumper guards. Would the sedan guards work? Also I've read the the conti-kit helped tame of the handling characteristics of the 55. Taking it off might make it handle in a way you might not like.

I've heard some folks say the 56's feel a bit tail-heavy and bottom out more easily.
But they look excellent anyway.
Sedan bumper guards? That could be a very good idea.

"Placing the spare tire at the extreme rear of the car caused some changes to the way the car handled. Drivers soon became familiar with the tendency of the rear to fishtail, and experienced some instability during strong crosswinds. This was a new concern, and one that Ford would need to address before the next model year."
http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird...lections.shtml

[miker98038]

There’s a story about the Connie kit. First one was the 55 wouldn’t holding 2 sets of golf clubs. So they added the Connie to solve that. I found that hard to believe till my buddy bought a Caddy STS, and it had a plaque in the trunk on how to fit 4 sets of clubs. Ha!

The other story is the 55 floated in the rear at high speeds, and the Connie weight and drag kept the rear end down at speed. That’s opposite to the rear heavy wandering story, and I have no clue which one is true.

At one point I had a custom Connie kit on my 55, I used a reduced size spare off an Aerostar van. Had the right bolt pattern, rolling radius, and cleared the front disc. Those are all pretty old now, but I’m pretty sure you can find a light reduced size spare at the junkyard that would take up less trunk space if you want to carry a spare.

I personally like the 56 rear panel (no exhaust openings) and the 55 bumper with pipes turned down under the rear quarters. Clean and light.

[fordrodsteven]

the only issue I was ever told about the addition of the continental kit was that the early '56's had the same frame as a '55. The frame would flex too much with the continental kit hanging off the back. Ford then added some plates to the frame to beef it up to stop the flexing. One of the guys in my Thunderbird club told me of a guy once restoring a '56 who cut those plates off the frame which caused the flexing problem to rear it's ugly head.
The sedan bumper guards sounds like a good idea if you want to add that "dress up" to the area. I don't think the '55 guards would look right.

[KULTULZ]

Or, you could...

Originally Posted by miker98038

I personally like the 56 rear panel (no exhaust openings) and the 55 bumper with pipes turned down under the rear quarters. Clean and light.

The first and second attachments show the rear bumper-ettes with what are called bullets inserted and the exhaust outlets under the rear bumper.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by miker98038

The other story is the 55 floated in the rear at high speeds, and the Connie weight and drag kept the rear end down at speed. That’s opposite to the rear heavy wandering story, and I have no clue which one is true.

I believe both are true. I read an article somewhat recently (didn't save it) describing how the 55/56 rear would float at speed (similar to 59 CHEV). The moving of the fins on the 57 created more down-force, eliminating the problem.

As far as the 56 frame reinf kit, that most likely would have been described in a PRODUCT SERVICE LETTER of the period.

If an owner experiences the 56 malady (CONT KIT), a stronger rear spring, shock and possibly rear sway bar would correct it (while retaining the reinf kit if so equipped).

IMO of course...

[KULTULZ]

Finally got my copy of May-June 03 Early Bird - here is the response to Rich Morrill's question from Gil Baumgarten, CTCI Authenticity Chairman on Page 42 ...

"All 1956 Thunderbirds until mid-February 1956 had a metal strap approx. 1/2 inch thick welded to the bottom of the frame for additional strength. The last known 1956 model with this reinforcement was built the 19th of Feb. 1956; after that all 1956 models had a beefed-up X- member. This information is covered in the Restoration Manual on pages 210 and 211,

SOURCE- http://www.tbirdforum.com/forums/ear...d-chassis.html

Frame reinforcement early 1956 models, page 211

SOURCE- https://www.ctci.org/restoration.php

[miker98038]

I stumbled across these guys selling the bumpers on eBay a while back. No visible bolts. You need to build your own brackets off the frame (or modify the existing). But you might be able to shift the bumper enough to accommodate a filler panel. I don’t own a 56, so I don’t know. Might be worth a call.

http://www.regalroadsters.com/gallery_custom_01.html

[flatrod]

Originally Posted by miker98038

I stumbled across these guys selling the bumpers on eBay a while back. No visible bolts. You need to build your own brackets off the frame (or modify the existing). But you might be able to shift the bumper enough to accommodate a filler panel. I don’t own a 56, so I don’t know. Might be worth a call.

http://www.regalroadsters.com/gallery_custom_01.html

I bought a set of there bumpers about a year ago, haven't even unwrapped them yet! They were good to deal with, and supplied a plans to build new brackets.

[cb]

I removed the continental kit off my 56 a while back, I never liked the look of it myself nothing against the guys that do. I purchased 55 rear brackets from one of the many t-bird vendors and found a very nice 55 rear bumper. I cut off the rear valance down to about an inch and welded on a trimmed down 64 galaxie front bumper to grill filler piece perfect contour to match the bumper, and filled in the bottom rear corners were the exhaust use to go through with pieces of left and right 57 ford lower quarter patch panels another perfect match. For the license plate I made a bracket and mounted to the existing holes from the cont. kit, also used a 55 license plate lite mounted to the existing holes in the deck lid.

[cb]

Tried adding pictures to big ?

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by cb

Tried adding pictures to big ?

Since the server change a few weeks back I haven't had any luck attaching any images 2mb or larger. Have to shrink them first before they'll upload, kind of a pain.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

Since the server change a few weeks back I haven't had any luck attaching any images 2mb or larger. Have to shrink them first before they'll upload, kind of a pain.

Yes, I had to go back to using Flickr to upload pictures.

Someone mentioned car bumper guards. Look into StationWagon or Sedan Delivery bumper guards. They are shorter to clear the open tailgate. I think they would look nice.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

Since the server change a few weeks back I haven't had any luck attaching any images 2mb or larger. Have to shrink them first before they'll upload, kind of a pain.

Yes, I had to go back to using Flickr to upload pictures.

Someone mentioned sedan bumper guards. Look into StationWagon or Sedan Delivery bumper guards. They are shorter to clear the open tailgate. I think they would look nice.

[cb]

If you go over to Vintagethunderbirdclubinternational and click on 1955-1957 modified/custom thunderbirds and go down about 8 threads and click on 56 bird minus continental kit I some pictures of mine.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by cb

If you go over to Vintagethunderbirdclubinternational and click on 1955-1957 modified/custom thunderbirds and go down about 8 threads and click on 56 bird minus continental kit I some pictures of mine.

Here's the link... It looks very nice.

https://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.n...p?f=22&t=15410

[Oldmics]

In my case I originally used a 55 bumper on the rear.


I did not like the look as the ends of the 55 did not wrap around and go up towards the wheel well openings as far as I thought it should when compared to the 56 wraparound.


I acquired off of eBay a 56 kludged together bumper that had been assembled from the right and left sides of the continental but had a filler piece welded into the middle area.


It gives me the exhaust out the bumper. It still looks a little weird but it gives me a longer wrap around than useing a 55 bumper.


And by removing all that weight off of the rear gave me MUCH better steering and handling.


Oldmics

[flatrod]

I guess I better unwrap my new smooth bumpers and see how they fit, I didn't have the lower quarters filled because I didn't know to do it when I sent it to the body shop. I did send a 55 bumper from my daughters car for fitting. I get the feeling I am going to have my new gray paint redone!

[blucar]

I have a '56 Bird of which I am the second owner, I have owned the car since 1983. The car has a very unusual past, it was purchased new for a family friend as a 21st birthday present, it was purchased on Mar. 3, 1956 in Las Vegas, NV. The lady that owned the car was a wannabe actress/model, married several times until she meet a man named Paul Schiefer. Paul was very active in performance cars and racing. He owned a company called Schiefer Engineering that made performance parts in So Cal.
When the '56 had 113k on it, it was getting very tired, Paul took the car to a couple of his contacts in the custom auto industry to rebuild it. A '68 302 and C4 was installed along with a Paxton Blower. The spare tire carrier was removed, replaced with a front bumper to eliminate the exhaust ports. The car had a non-porthole top so the removal of the rear spare tire and special Hurst wheels made the car look very sporty. The addition of Burgundy colored paint really made the car look sharp.
Paul raced the car during the '68-69 season, then lost interest in it so he had the Blower removed, de-tuned the engine and gave Patti back her "tennis car".
From 1970 to the early '80's the car was daily transportation for Patti. Paul had passed away and Patti had trouble getting work done to the car to keep it in good shape. Patti finally gave me the car to sort out the problems that had developed..
I fixed everything that had been neglected on the car, had it repainted it's original red and had the interior redone to a correct black/white. I did not put the spare tire back on the car. Never did like the looks of the '56 Birds.
During the course of my membership with the local chapters of the EFV8 and T-Bird International clubs I met a man named Alex Tremulis. Alex was a very well known auto stylist that was a member and regular attendee at the local car club meetings. Alex worked for Ford Motor during the mid '50's, prior to working for Ford he worked for Tucker, during which he designed the Tucker Automobile.
Alex liked to talk about the redesign of the '56 Birds. Alex told the club that in 1954 prior to the release of the '55 Bird, engineering had discovered that the Birds had a design flaw, it was found that in excess of 105 mph the car became light in the rear due to lift. As I recall the rear axle weight was something like 1,300 lbs., at speed the weight distribution became a negative resulting in lift. Two '55 Birds did end flips on the test track.
Alex and his team in the design department of Ford designed the continental kit for the '56 Birds to offset the weight problem. Ford put out advertising touting the increased trunk space, reputedly calming peoples complaints about the lack of storage room in the trunk.
The redesign of the trunk area and "spoiler" fins on the '57 Birds was also a design that Alex came up with. Alex did not like the term "fins" when describing the '57 Birds. The spoiler was an early use of an 'Air Damn', that kept the air flow on the deck lid, eliminating lift. If you look closely at the rear portion of the '57 deck lid, you will note that it curls into the body, Alex referred to this shape as being "a bustle".
Another interesting feature on my '56 is the heavy metal bar that is welded to the length of the frame. Alex claimed that my Bird has an export chassis under it. Reputedly Ford offered an export chassis in '55, discontinued the option for '56. To use up the export chassis' that they had in stock, Ford fed them into regular production at random.
I had always thought that Paul had added the steel bar to beef up the frame for racing. Of course a racer would usually want the car as light as possible.

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by blucar

..... Alex told the club that in 1954 prior to the release of the '55 Bird, engineering had discovered that the Birds had a design flaw, it was found that in excess of 105 mph the car became light in the rear due to lift. As I recall the rear axle weight was something like 1,300 lbs., at speed the weight distribution became a negative resulting in lift. Two '55 Birds did end flips on the test track......

Dang, gotta keep it under 105.

[blucar]

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A continuation of my earlier story about my '56 Bird.
Many people are of the mistaken believe that the '55-56-57 Birds are performance cars, being Ford's answer to the Vet and some of the British cars that were gaining popularity.
The small birds were never intended by Ford to be performance cars. Ford was after the personal luxury car market. As a general rule performance cars are not built with Auto trans, power windows/seats, fender skirts, etc. For the most part the majority of the small Birds were purchased by or for women. My Mother in-law, my wife and my wife's best friend all had '56-57 Birds.
The only reason I own a '56 Bird is because of it's history and association with the family. My wife passed away in 2016, I sold her '57 last year, she had owned it since '75. It was a very nice car.
I have attached a few pix of my '56 Bird. Some of the pix are of the car when it was white, Paul got tired of the Burgundy color so he had the car repainted white, then he had it repainted British Racing Green, then white. I had it repainted it's original red a few years ago.

[KULTULZ]

A little late in the discussion but I somehow believed the 56 CONT KIT was an option.

...wrong again...

Rear Spare Tire Carrier*

*Designates new standard feature for 1956

SOURCE- http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird...equipment.html

[Anteek29]

Informative responses...thanks guys! I do like the 'after' pics