Once the interior was finished and the tires and wheels were on, attention shifted to the car's exterior. The tires on the business end of the 'Bird are 10.00-15 Radir slicks mounted on 10-inch-wide Wheel Vintiques steel wheels. The 6.00-15 BFGoodrich Silvertown bias-ply reproductions from Coker were mounted on a set of 15x4.5 ET Vintage V five-spoke wheels. Randy Schmitt created the pleated aluminum dash panel and door panels for a slightly custom flair. Black with white Naugahyde pleats in the factory pattern did the job. The original bench seat was sent to Vos Upholstery in Lansing, Illinois, for a clean, vintage look. Since the car had been repainted some years before, the brown interior just didn't cut it anymore. From its smooth idle to 6,000 rpm, this engine makes 450 hp and torque to spare.

The rest of the engine received the same attention to detail, and the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Due to the Y-block's history of inadequate oiling, the Dortons had to do some major plumbing with stainless steel lines to assure oiling to the cam bearings and valvetrain parts. The original cast-iron Y-block was bored to mate with the 12:1-compression forged pistons and remains one of the few original parts used from the Ford engine. After all that machining, the Dortons fabricated a spacer block between the cylinder heads and the intake to make all surface heights match. After that, Keith Dorton spent hours of TIG welding to fill the void and provide a clean palate to machine the new, bigger ports. This could only be achieved by cutting out the entire area of the intake ports and a portion of the surrounding cylinder head material with a Bridgeport machine. Starting with a set of aluminum cylinder heads, the plan was to convert the horizontal Ford-style ports to a vertical Chevy configuration. The injection unit they chose was an eight-port Hilborn system made for a small-block Chevy engine. The Dortons chose a new electronic fuel-injection system for its dependability, but since they wanted to retain the old-school look of mechanical injection, not just any injection unit would work.

This father-and-son team is always up to a challenge. The decision was made to build a 312 Y-block motor. The next call was to Jard's go-to engine builders, Keith and Jeff Dorton of Automotive Specialists. Jeff Collins of Midwest Muncie supplied the single-disc, 11-inch clutch and built the bulletproof M-23 transmission with a Hurst Super Shifter. Coilover shocks with ladder bars keep everything in place. Torino drum brakes in the rear and 11-inch Wilwood disc brakes in front handle braking. Gussets, fish plates, and a couple of added crossmembers made the frame race-worthy Next came a 9-inch Ford housing with 35-spline axles, heavy 3/8-inch-wall axle tubes, and 4.56 gears with the latest Wave posi unit from John's Industries. Metalwork was done to the bone-stock frame to assure it would hold up to its new role as a powerful gasser. To stay true to 1960s fads, the fiberglass roof got a spray-on 'vinyl' top by Nate Bissey to copy those real vinyl tops pouring out of Detroit at the time. Larry Seabert of Tech-Ni-Kolor AutoCrafters in Dwight, Illinois, painted the frame and related components satin black to help with the period look. After the new framerails were in, the rest of the straight axle components could be added. The rails had to be grafted into the factory frame for a clean, factory look. The first order of business was for the Nickey boys to have custom 2x4-inch front framerails mandrel bent, critical to achieving the correct height of the car when it's completed. Once the Bird arrived at the Nickey shop, the body came off. The car had a solid body with a nice (but not too nice) older paint job and perfect patina that helps turn back the clock to create that authentic look Jard strives for. After a few phone calls a plan was in place, and in just a matter of days Tinberg and Schmitt landed a '55 Thunderbird that was a perfect starting point for the project. Jard and the Nickey guys had worked together on other car builds, so Jard knew they spoke the same language when it comes to what works and what doesn't on a period gasser. In early 2016, Jard, who resides in Texas, contacted John Tinberg and Randy Schmitt at the Nickey Gasser Shop in Illinois to discuss building a first-gen T-bird gasser in the old-school theme.

Ford thunderbird