Portholes Question

[jah86992]

Hello .. My name is Jimmy Hanks and I am building a replica bird of the 2003 007 TBird with my 1960 Bird. This car is a hardtop. I want to add portholes to my bird. I know that Ecklers and MAC's have porthole kits. Would like to know if anyone has ever added port holes to the 58,59 & 60 bird. Any suggestions would really be appreciated. I want to keep close to the 007 theme with the outside and the interior. The drive train is a Mustang 5.0 fuel injection transplant. We are getting ready to apply the Coral base coat. If you have any suggestions or help please let me know.

Thanks
Jimmy

[007Cruiser]

As the owner of a 2003 007, I look forward to seeing your car. Wish I could help you with your porthole question but I can’t. Lots of knowledge here so hopefully someone will chime in. Good luck!

[Frank Dreano]

I don't know about the portholes but that's an interesting twist....

A true classic Thunderbird being modified to resemble a modern retro Thunderbird that was designed to be a tribute to classic Thunderbirds.

If Jimmy completes this project and he should encounter another 60 Thunderbird while driving it, it could lead to a rip in the fabric of space-time!

Its making my head hurt...

[007Cruiser]

I can hear Rod Serling now.

[snowbird]

A 1960 with portholes ;

Also, quite a few years ago I remember seeing a 1966 " town hardtop / landau ' model Thunderbird with a lincoln ' oval ' port hole . Looks quite good if not different .


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[2K2BIRD]

The porthole looks very nice on that '60. To my eye it is just a bit too high, so be reallly careful with your placement in the hardtop.

[007Cruiser]

The porthole looks very nice on that '60. To my eye it is just a bit too high, so be reallly careful with your placement in the hardtop.

Completely agree which may be why someone used the Lincoln porthole. How about using one from the 73-76 Tbird? That one is less tall and has a bird in the glass. Just a thought.

[BLACK BEAUTY]

Porthole is about 2 inches too high

[007Cruiser]

Is the retro porthole the same size as 55-57?

[5bird7]

I've never measured the two portholes of the 56-57 & the retros but they appear to be about the same size.

[jah86992]

I will look into the port holes for the 73-76 birds. Thanks for the input, never thought of that. This is why this forum so good. Thank you for all the feedback and I'll keep all posted of the process. And I really do appreciate all the comments.

[birdfan]

The thickness of the '60 roof side panel might be thicker than the '56-'57 in the fiberglass top. Don't know for sure, just suspecting it might be. So perhaps you might need to fab a spacer for the porthole to work? Certainly must be able to be done based on the picture in the post above.

Also, looking at my '60 shop manual there is support structure in the roof panel, although it appears to be mostly around the perimeter of the panel (picture doesn't show that whole area). Just a guess, but that could be why the one in the picture looks too high, that is where it fit??

The '73-76 window would look good since it does have the t-bird emblem in it, but it has angles that are close to the angles of the side window and rear of the roof so it flows into the design. Maybe you should "photoshop" it on a pic of the '60 (or make a template of one to put in place) to see how the angles would work with the '60 lines.

[jah86992]

I made a template of the 76 Lincoln Mark V porthole. This is actually called an opera window and is oblong. No it is not exactly what I wanted but sometimes when doing a tribute car you have to substitute. I think they will look good and definitely will be different. I will keep you posted on the progress.