Bob Jackman's T-Bird

Bob beautiful T-Bird.  You should be proud!

Nice, Bob!

@carsman1958 Thanks John. I have restored quite a few cars over the years but nothing as difficult as the Thunderbird. Being a unibody meant stripping it down and placing it on a rotissierie to do the undercarriage. Luckily the car was a southern rust free car and didn't require any replacement panels.

@bob-jackman, I'm interested in how difficult it was to lay down that paint in your driveway. It looks flawless!

@bob-jackman 

Heavy on the covet!  I generally shy away from the '61 - '63 Birds but yours is gorgeous, the nicest I have ever seem.  You single handedly changed my opinion.  I still don't care for the hardtops but love your roadster.

PS  I don't care for any of the T-birds with hard tops, that is any Bird '55 to'66 after that I don't care for any but one, and that is the '87 & 88 Turbo Coupe

What a gorgeous car Bob; the color is perfect for it.

Perfection!

@jkuvakas John, the base coat is PPG water base paint which was rather new in the mid nineties. Quite a revelation cleaning out a spray gun with soap and water rather than lacquer thinner. Because the water base paint dried so quickly very little trash stuck to the car. The two coats of  lacquer clear coat was another story. While it dried fairly quickly, I was trying to replicate the paint that would have been put on the car from the factory. I sanded  the car first with 1600 grit sandpaper then 2,000 grit and finally, 3,000 grit. Since the door jams were not rubbed out back in the day, I elected not to clear coat them which gives a fairly close resemblance to the factory look. Because the paint is a metallic, I painted the car together so as to avoid the grain being different from panel to panel. Three things are necessary for a good paint job with metallic paint: The right air pressure, keeping the gun at the same distance from the surface of the vehicle and keeping the gun moving at a constant speed.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. Trust me, because of my age and the difficulty this car presented, I would never do another one.

AMAZING Mr. Jackman!  An incredible looking Thunderbird.  You remain my old car hero!  Thanks for sharing both your car and your expertice.  

Nice work Bob, your Bird is beautiful.  I love using water base paint.  It flows out surprisingly well, and the clean up is so easy.  The clear coat is another story...

The 'Bird looks great in 'champagne'!   Those cars have lovely cockpits; sporty and comfortable.   That pink GT Hawk that follows later on is a little hard on the eyes though.

@pete-rovero Pete now you know why I treasure the DM model you did and were so kind to sell to me.

@dave_larsen Dave I agree with you. The guy who owns this car got it from his father who was a Studebaker dealer. The car is an excellent original except for the absurd color. The owner said his father used the car as a demonstrator and I guess he wanted to call attention to the car....no doubt that would have worked.