The classic first generation Thunderbird.

Fender skirts, full wheel covers and wide whitewalls.

The "little bird" looks pretty good.

The '55 TBirds' exhaust exited from the bumper guards.

A lot of chrome plating was done by a previous owner under the hood.

The dash sports a car show participation plaque from Norway. This car has seen a lot of the world.

The original rear profile.

Faux louvers were on the '55 through '57 TBirds' front fenders.

Another view of the original exhausts.

Nice lines.

The original taillights and their profile.

Crossed checker flags and Ford crest front ornamentation.

This antenna mount will change.

The original front end sported bumper guards and a chrome "eyebrow" integrated into the headlight bezel.

Night Stalker.

Modern disc brakes offer a significant improvement over the stock drum brake performance, especially on the front.

Front disc brakes also were added for safety.

We started the modifications by lowering the front and rear suspensions.

Fresh and clean front suspension and spindles, ready for the new brake system.

A comparison between the original front coil spring and the one from Eaton Detroit Spring.

Significantly lower, even with the tall profile whitewall tires.

A lower stance is the result of new lowered springs, both in front and rear, from Eaton Detroit Spring.

Looks pretty sinister now with the addition of Rocket Ignitor series wheels and low profile radial tires.

Low and lean is the new look.

The TBird has taken on a whole new character with the lowering and new, performance oriented wheels and tires.

As the result of a run-in with an SUV, the right side was damaged. At this point the journey into "Custom Land" got started. The doors were removed for blasting and paint removal.

It was decided to remove all of the paint to see what sins may have been hidden under several layers of black paint.

One of those sins showed up in the form of a patch panel that was brazed at sometime in the past. That's not acceptable practice at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff, and will be rectified.

Also, the lower rear quarter panels had a bout with cancer. We'll go to the operating room and cure this disease.

Ready to get primed and the bodywork performed that'll straighten out all of the sheetmetal.

Out of the media blasting booth. No sins were left hidden, and there were quite a few underneath the old black paint.

The Boss says, "It'll be OK, I promise!"

In primer to keep any surface rust from getting a foothold and causing problems later.

In the body shop for finessing.

A hint of the customizing that'll be done to the 'Bird. The stock headlight bezel is mimicked by the addition of Dodge Polara taillight bezels.

It's eerie how similar the shapes of these two components from different manufacturers were. This is a treatment that Chick remembered from the "little pages" days of car magazines.

This'll give the rear a completely different look.

We're also shaving the bumper guards with their exhaust exits. The rear will be very clean when we're done.

We'll use a '56 Ford backup light bezel (with the chrome removed and painted body color) above the taillight bezel. It's like they were made for each other.

Away go the huge bumper guards with the exhaust exits going thrugh them. Something more svelt will happen here.

A closer shot of the fantastic metalwork that Jason performed on this car.

Old vs. new configurations.

The hood scoop needed to be cleaned up with the removal of the "faux" scoop, and building a swoopy new one from sheet metal.

Jason Moore, our master metalsmith, crafting the hood scoop. Jason expertly handled all of the metal modifications on this TBird. Hes a very talented young professional.

The scoop taking on its' very attractive form. Nothing will look out of place on this car.

A side profile of the hood scoop shows the great looking shape.

A closer view of the hood scoop profile.

The radio antenna will now be sunken into the fender and a subtle bead outlines the opening.

The "faux" fender louvers had to become "real". Instead of trying to stick the fenders into the louver press, Jason created the louvers in a separate panel and welded it into the fenders.

If they're supposed to look like louvers, make 'em real louvers!!

It looks like it came from the factory this way. Another of those touches that'll make this car stand out.