THE WANDERER

In 1993 Ray was looking for a car to build, a 60's type cruiser. His wife said it had to be comfortable and have AC. He wanted something different, the heavier more luxurious type, with all the bells and whistles. He found a 1965 T -Bird Landau sitting in a field, struck a deal with the owner, and trailered it home. It had been family owned since new, and they had all the paperwork and history of the car.

Thus became a four year project with a multitude of modifications. First the 390 engine was yanked out and sent to Precision Machine Engine for a complete rebuild. It was bored .060 over, hardened valve seats, roller timing chain, TRW pistons and carn, Moly rings, high volume oil pump, and balanced. The engine was shipped to Nugget Classics, where it was painted, all the accessories were chromed or polished, Alta Sierra Auto Parts supplied all the miscellaneous parts. Nugget had an original Cobra intake manifold and breather, with 2 new Carter 600cfm quads, that fit just fine.

Then a visit to his friend Joe "Candy Apple" Bailon for some tips and ideas on design. These were sketched out on paper and sent with the car to Vans' Classic Auto Body where the real sculpturing began. First all the chrome was removed. The fake air scoop on the hood was molded in. It was nosed, decked, door handles smoothed, the antenna was frenched, and the side fender scoops were sculpted then chrome teeth were added. The lake pipe housings were molded into the fenders, two inches and a flare were added to the bottom of the fender skirts. A pair of 69 Buick sport mirrors were installed to blend with the flow of the body lines. Access to the doors and trunk is by solenoids hidden in the gas cap cover.

All of this was sprayed with a blend of PPG paints, from a midnight teal, fading to a Honda sage on the hood and deck. The midnight teal was used on the hood scoop body line to the windshield and down the recessed center section of the deck. The aluminum taillight housings were painted to give them a frenched appearance. Then the complete car was clear coated. When seen in the sunlight, the car radiates the various blended colors.

The grill was fabricated from a '65 Mustang front bumper to give the appearance of a massive chrome front end. The grills teeth were fabricated from the mustangs bumper guards. All the grill and bumpers were sent to Yuba City Plating to be rechromed. The original '65 T-Bird spinner hubcaps were retained and a bullet spinner was added for the 60's cruiser look.

The car was sent to Barron's Upholstery to create a totally custom appearance. The vinyl top and landau arms were discarded. A half inch of foam padding was laid over the complete top then covered with a white elk hide material. A custom inset was made to fit the rear window, padded and covered to give the appearance of a Carson style top.

More photos
[TOP]