Hail on the convertible top.

[mrwoods123]

Or should I say hell. Scary sight, seeing it start to hail while your convertible is parked in the middle of it, instead of in the garage. Lucky for me, it was only the miniature version. And not the golf ball size. Anybody had hail damage to their T-Bird?

[Treken]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

You talking hail this time of year???

WHERE???

[islandtime]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

Ask John Bakos why his Bird's name is "Hail Bird".

Steve - hail is a summertime phenomenon. Doesn't normally happen in other seasons, but can happen in fall & spring under certain circumstances. It's a frequent part of thunderstorms!

[bob andersen]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

On the way home from Thunder Fever in 2005 I ran into my only hail storm with my Bird. I couldn't believe the sound it made hitting the windshield. I pulled into the first hotel I came to that had a canopy and the desk clerk let me park under it for the night. After an anxious night I went out in the morning only to find there was no damage at all. That was good news.

[JAB02LHS]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

"HAILBIRD" was damaged while still on the dealers lot in Amarillo, Texas.
They car was a Dealer Demo with about 500 miles on it. After the storm the car was totaled and warranty canceled by Ford. It was then sold at auction to a Ford Re-cycler Yard in Oklahoma that worked a deal with a local collision shop to repair the damage. It appeared on Ebay before the repairs and I bought it on Ebay after the repairs with about 750 miles on it. When I had the bid on Ebay someone on this site dug up the old Ebay listing so I did get to see the car before repairs.

There was a softball size dent in the chrome above the windshield and in the left rear fender, two golf ball size dents in the drivers door, The back glass of the hardtop as well as the left taillight and side marker were all busted that was all I could see in the posted pictures.

The hood , hardtop, rear deck, and front fenders being composite had no damage and now six years later the paint still is intact and looks showroom new.

Talking with the fellow on the phone he said his boss bought the car and had it fixed for his wife for her birthday. But when he gave it to her she said "That's not a Tbird, a Tbird has to be Red or Black". He said his boss was mad and said "Just put it on Ebay and get rid of it". Now the above comments are probably BS and he just bought the car to flip it, but it makes a nice story.

[yelobird2002]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

In June of 04 when we lived in Amarillo, TX, a friend test drove a PCR on Saturday. The dealer locked it up on the lot and on Sunday afternoon came a softball size hail storm. Totalled every car on the lot including the PCR. Looked like a war zone. The storm took about a mile wide path about 15 miles long through town. Total destruction.

[islandtime]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

In June of 04 when we lived in Amarillo, TX, a friend test drove a PCR on Saturday. The dealer locked it up on the lot and on Sunday afternoon came a softball size hail storm. Totalled every car on the lot including the PCR. Looked like a war zone. The storm took about a mile wide path about 15 miles long through town. Total destruction.

Well, Lon - that sure sounds like it's John's PCR! Now you know what happened to it!

[tbird6t4]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

We ran into a large hail storm last July on the way to Bayfield, Ontario for a SOTC All Thunderbird event. The hail was about mothball size, I was sure there was a twister in the area by the looks of the skies, have never seen it so dark at 10:00 a.m. There were several twisters reported within 30 miles that did not touch down.

Fortuntely, no visible damages, we were 4 retro's travelling together. We stopped at a Tim Horton's donut shop to wait out the storm for about a half hour. The day turned out to be beautiful!

Gord

[bwlewis]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

While we getting appraisals on the Trailblazer after the hailstorm in May, a guy came in with a BMW Z4 soft top. He said he was caught in the storm and the rear glass had been broken, but no damage to the soft top even though some of the hail was tennis ball sized.

[00mustng]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

....Our city is picking up the pieces after a hailstorm yesterday...marble sized....that broke windows, dented cars and shredded trees and gardens....I was at home...and our area was spared.....

[AZTB]

Re: Hail on the convertible top.

Got caught in hail coming home from work a couple years back...it came out of nowhere and I kept thinking, "Only when I'm driving my Bird does the weather go bonkers!" No damage, but scary.