Elvira T-bird

DakotaFury

DakotaFury

New Member
I've been checking out the RPF for years but just recently registered. Figured I post something I have not seen yet on here, building a replica Elvira T-Bird.
The goal: elvira1.jpg Turn a stock T-Bird into an Elvira car clone.
 
Her'e a little background on this build: I've built various props over the years and got hooked on movie car clones. I bought a 94 Ford Explorer to make a Jurassic Park truck, been trying to find a Delorean for a BTTF Time Machine but my most favorite car is a bascially stock appearing 1958 Plymouth called Christine. Gone trough 4 car over the past 17 years trying to build a Christine clone. Anyway I told my GF Tabatha that she should get her own classic car. I told her a good chick car would be Elvira's T-Bird. She watched the movie and agreed that she did like the Gothic T-Bird.

So I was just browsing for T-bird and found one on eBay. While "Square Birds" don't demand the high prices of their 2 seat forerunners, they usually still sell at a decent price. As a joke, YES A JOKE, I put a bid on one telling her jokingly that I was buying her a T-Bird. :facepalm Imagine my shock when I actually won the car, a 1960 Ford Thunderbird. Luckily I was able to pay for it but that put all other projects on hold. We drove halfway across the country to pick it up and bring it back home.

I didn't realize how big of an undertaking this car would be. Lots of custom stuff, mostly made in metal. The original made for the movie was made from a hardtop so I decided to try the same thing. Here's the project so far. I've got to take more WIP photos from now on.
 
Here's what I started with for reference:front.jpg
This one gave a good from view of the car which was very helpful when it came to building the grille. Using a larger photo of this I figured out the scale of the grille and came up with a pattern. Each swoop of the spiderweb I measured with a digital calipers.

- - - Updated - - -

SDC12335.JPGHere was the start of the grille. I thought this would be sooooo simple but to make it look right AND fit the T-Bird bumper took a lot of work.
 
Here's a WIP pic:grill1.JPG
I had to hand bend each spiderweb swoop. To do so you actually have to bend them slightly more than what you need to account for the springiness of the metal. If I was just doing a custom spiderweb grille for a hot rod it would be much easier the web would look more uniform. Trying to match the movie one was a bit tougher.
 
grille2.JPGHere's the grille almost done. What I didn't realize when I started welding it up is that the grill is actually curved. Simply bending to fit wouldn't work because it put too much stress on the swoops and most of the welds were just tack welds. I had to rework most of the swoops after I got the correct bend.
 
Further the original grille is supported in an odd way. There was nothing to support the top of the grille so I had to build a support piece that I could then bolt to the car. Decided it was time to have Tabatha help so I decided to teach her how to weld.
SDC12351.JPG
SDC12352.JPG
 
Here is the first test fitting:grille3.JPG It was looking okay but I needed to bolt it sold to make sure.
Here's the full test fitting:grille4.JPG I noticed that it was rubbing and did not fit properly. Time to do a lot more adjustments.
 
Thanks RBJ. Elvira (aka Cassandra Peterson) had the car on Counting Cars season 1 episode 5 (satanic mechanic) for some restoration work. That episode came out right after we got the car home and started working on it. Great inspiration.
 
I assumed I could just buy the chain steering wheel. At least one item could be sourced at an auto parts store shelf. Here's a screen cap from the film: View attachment 294018
The problem I found was that almost every chain steering wheel was way too small, only 10 to 11 inches in diameter. A standard steering wheel today is roughly 15 inches and the 50's cars most were at least 17 inches or larger. So I (sadly) realized that I was also going to have to make the steering wheel from scratch. First I had to buy chain. I realized that in the summer it would likely get very hot and Tabatha probably would want to put a steering wheel cover (leopard print of course) on it. Unless I wanted to make a custom cover the best size was a standard modern size wheel of roughly 15 inches.
View attachment 294019 First I had to count all the links so that they would line up correctly where the seam would be. Then I had to build a jig to hold the chain in place while I welded it. I first thought about just wrapping it around a bucket but realized it would melt right through a plastic one and a metal one would get too hot. Where each link meets required 4 separate welds. This couldn't just be decorational, it had to be functional and above all SAFE. If the steering wheel came apart it could cause an accident. Lots and LOTS of welding. Plus the chain had to be at the correct angle so it could be welded to the support braces.
 
View attachment 294020 The center supports are actually square tubing turned on point. Once again I had to build a jig for them and weld up 5 matching ones. In the pic above they look too long but the actually steering wheel in dished out. I had to measure the actual T-Bird steering wheel off sets to get the correct back spacing. Please keep in mind that both the grille and the steering wheel were built in steel and will the plan on being sent to a chrome shop as soon as funds allow. Lowest quote for the grille was $800.
 
Counting Car.jpg Here's a photo from Counting Cars show. And yes that beautiful redhead IS Elvira who is 60 years old. Wow.

There is at least one other replica car out there: dash.jpg This one has the smaller steering wheel and the dash is all wrong on comparison to the film. Elvira kept the original car after filming. The film had a skull on the shifter, not an 8 ball plus it had spikes on the dash not skulls.
 
Man, you are one talented guy!

Wow, I wish I had a husband that had the equipment, space, money, talent and experience to do the kind of things that you are doing! A giant project like this is so beyond my abilities and capacity, it wouldn’t even cross my mind to attempt it. My eyes are glazed over.


So kudos and thanks to you for doing it and sharing your progress.

It’s going to be just spectacular when completed!
 
Cool Project! Plus your in my neck of the woods! Where abouts in SD are you?

I saw that episode of Counting Cars and they really made that T-Bird look cool/custom without going over the top.
 
Dear God, you are building my dream car! Every SINGLE time a conversation comes up about hypothetical lottery wins and 'what would you do/what kind of car would you have', I tell people I would have my very own 'Macabre Mobile'!!!!!!! I have been absolutely in love with this car since I first saw it onscreen 26 years ago in her 'Mistress of the Dark' movie.

*drools*
 
Psicorp7 said:
Cool Project! Plus your in my neck of the woods! Where abouts in SD are you?

I saw that episode of Counting Cars and they really made that T-Bird look cool/custom without going over the top.
Click to expand...
I'm in the armpit of South Dakota... or as everyone else calls it Aberdeen. :lol
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words. This has been a big undertaking. Mechanically everything needs to be redone. This will be a long project. These cars used a unibody construction so you can't just pop it off the frame like most cars for restoration. I did invest in an upholstery machine a few years ago so I can do my own seats, door panels etc. We did pick up leopard print seat fabric which was not cheap and took a while to even find.
 
fuzzylover said:
Dear God, you are building my dream car! Every SINGLE time a conversation comes up about hypothetical lottery wins and 'what would you do/what kind of car would you have', I tell people I would have my very own 'Macabre Mobile'!!!!!!! I have been absolutely in love with this car since I first saw it onscreen 26 years ago in her 'Mistress of the Dark' movie.

*drools*
Click to expand...
I always thought the car was neat too and bought and built the plastic model of it after the film came out.

- - - Updated - - -

PotionMistress said:
Man, you are one talented guy!

Wow, I wish I had a husband that had the equipment, space, money, talent and experience to do the kind of things that you are doing! A giant project like this is so beyond my abilities and capacity, it wouldn’t even cross my mind to attempt it. My eyes are glazed over.


So kudos and thanks to you for doing it and sharing your progress.

It’s going to be just spectacular when completed!
Click to expand...

Well thank you very much. Luckily I can do most of the work myself from welding to engine rebuilding to upholstery and of course the parts fabrication. The key is to go slow. Find a T-Bird and work on it little by little. The total minimum cost for a classic vehicle restoration usually runs around the $30,000 mark. Luckily there are plenty of repo parts made for T-Birds but as you can see many of the items are custom so you can actually sell off your unused OEM parts and recoup some money. The film car was a 1959 hardtop but any 1958, 59, or 60 T-Bird will work as the body is the same. Other than the taillights on the 1960 model, the differences were minor things like trim placement and small options. Go for it.
 
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