Hey guys, I'm new to the forum. I've been getting car advise from here and decided to hop on and say hello. I just picked up a 63 Thunderbird landau for 1500$ I've had a couple of 60-70s era car but this is my first real project. The guy wanted 4k but we found some issues with it and I was amazed when he accepted the offer. So car the car does run and drive but had a lot more problems than he was willing to admit. Now for warning, I am not able to invest heavily into the looks of this car as of yet and some of my methods might make proper car people cringe. I am willing to take advise but don't want constant negativity. So far mechanically I have replaced the waterpump with an aluminum high flow, radiator with aluminum 3 core, new agm battery/ kill switch due to drain, aluminum waterpump pulley, Looks wise, the top was beyond salvage and the paint was strangly peeled up in some areas with spray paint of it and it just looked horrible. There was several holes rusted out after kicking the fenders but the floors are near perfect and the interior, trunk, engine bay we're rust free. The main reason I bought this was because the interior/engine bay is near cherry and I felt I could live with some of the other issues until I have more funds. For the vinyl since it was so decrepit I ended up using caulk to fill in all the holes and cracks, I then put down about 6 cans of blue flex seal to make a false top on it until I can get a new one installed. I am actually extremely happy with the result so far as it has been about 4 months and looks great still. For body I sanded down the whole car until the old paint was even with the peeled layer of paint, cut out all the rust and sanded the inside of the body panels where holes were present, I filled them with metal patches and bondod them as close as I could get them. I did commit a cardinal sin and roller painted the beast with white enamel but the result is much better then the paint that was on it besides the obvious orange peel. For 50$ ish I figured this was a strong temporary solution while my focus is more on the mechanics. There is a uncontrollable pull to the right after about 40 mph unfortunately. Initially I thought it might be the ball joints one of which as been replaced however I noticed that the right wheel is a trailer only tire and is extremely low. Do you think this is the culprit? I will be replacing all tires as well as the ball joints and bushings but need to do them one step at a time due to funds lol. Any advise or guidance would be appreciated fully.
Just a note... I saw a 1957 Ford convertible with a passable BLACK paint job, done with a brush! (You had to look close and hard to tell!) And Bill Hines painted his first custom with a bug sprayer. I hope the rust underneath the vinyl not too bad. It can take the roof away. But I'm sure you'll deal with it, if you have to.
Thank you guys for the support, the headliner is in fantastic shape, hopefully the roof is not too bad under haha. My friend who has been doing a gto and a 75 Vette wants to chop the entire roof off but I don't think I could do something like that to a car like this.
'61-'63 T bird is on my bucket list. My favorite Thunderbird body style. Plenty of time to get the bugs out while you drive it. But first; replace that trailer tire and any others that need replacing!
Yeah, the tire seemed full when I took it out the first time, my thought was having a trailer tire on the front mismatched might also be causing the funny turning. Thanks again
The interior was worth the $1500, getting a running car with it was a bonus! Vinyl tops always make me nervous... I've seen too many cars with rotted roofs even when the rest wasn't bad.
OK, looks like a great project! I don't see any dents on the body so that's a plus. Be prepared for rust/rot under the vinyl top. They're notorious for holding moisture in. You are going about it the right way with your limited budget. Getting the body presentable and then focusing on the mechanicals is the way to go. However, I don't think the aluminum water pump/pulley/radiator were a good choice for a budget build. It would have been much better to save the cash and gone with a standard parts store water pump, junkyard pulley and recored radiator. Maybe you have your reasons but, think it through before dropping cash on blingy items. I see a California plate. Fill out your profile so we know what part of the country/state your in. Makes it easier for us to offer localized advice.
Forget the high-dollar synthetic coolant. Get a couple gallons of distilled water and a couple jugs of new brand-name coolant and put the savings toward a set of new tires. Oh, and when you respond to a quote make sure you type your reply after the "close quote" [/quote] code.
code. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the heads up. I tend to not like to do things twice I was going to go get tires done this week anyway but you might be right better to hold off.
There is one sitting 4 blocks from my house in an old Mercury dealership . It was traded in to the dealer in 65 and never left the building . It is Gold and now has a 410 MEL cube mill in it , installed in 65 also .
Thanks for the heads up. I tend to not like to do things twice I was going to go get tires done this week anyway but you might be right better to hold off.[/QUOTE] You're gettin' the hang of it. Doing it this way you don't have to expand the quoted message and scroll down to find your reply. That Bird looks like a solid project to start with. Does it have the "swing-away" steering column or is it just an optical illusion in the interior shot you posted?
You're gettin' the hang of it. Doing it this way you don't have to expand the quoted message and scroll down to find your reply. That Bird looks like a solid project to start with. Does it have the "swing-away" steering column or is it just an optical illusion in the interior shot you posted?[/QUOTE] Hahaha it does have the swing away steering column. Funny story, before I know that, I had put it into park when I first bought it and was getting out to check for the coolant leak while it was running and it jumped into reverse and scared the crap out of me. I thought my trans was slipping but it does that completely off if you do not swing it away. Lucky it happened when I was still mostly in the car, and not behind it.
Hahaha they probably will never sell it, but hey who knows. I think it's a respectable car for it's day in terms of performance but it is a heavy beast so it's not going to be a muscle car anytime soon. I'm just happy with what it is as a fun cruiser. This one has a newer Holley 4 bbl and highrise intake manifold, the guy claims he had the engine rebuilt while he had it but I tend to doubt it. He was the kind of guy that had everything done for him and didn't seem to know much about cars.
So to update, I just got in a new fuel filter, distrib cap/router, and sparkplugs /8mm wires. Summit racing has sent my entire order in about 8 boxes so far. I do have to be out of my spot by the end of the month so, I am really going to push to get the tires in and have a suspension guy take a look at the alignment. I do realize some of the things I am doing are not necessary right away, but they are parts that are cheap enough that they have just turned into ritual whenever I get an older car. I did appreciate the feedback about running Evans, I have decided to take the advise and I am going to go with a good hoat coolant. It will give me an extra 100$ to put towards it in the near future
This is a slap shot, but given the time line AND the alignment prospect it might be the time to drop 'er down. Somebody....Are AeroStar springs suitable for 'Birds?
That would be awesome, but unless just fixing the issue is damn near the same price as lowering the bird, that is a way down the line goal. I'm adding a new pic of the engine bay since the majority of the work is done.
Just got under the car and took a hard look through the suspension. all ball joints are new, swaybar bushings are good, it is in desprate need of links, the bushings on the tierods are also old. Rear shocks are screwed but I found a new pair in the trunk . Should have this thing cruising in no time.
You have 2 electric pusher fans (not hooked up?) and a steel fan? And a new 4 row aluminum radiator? And a new aluminum water pump? Why is that such a hot runner? Oh, and lose the plastic see thru fuel filter. Love the bird, owned a couple of them. Keep posting.
Hahaha the clutch fan had some mixed bolts on it i whe bought it and it destroyed the original waterpump. I figured that I mine as well get a high flow if I had to go through the trouble. The coolant was so rusty that I figured I mine as well pull the radiator while I was at it. The fans were a promo deal for the radiator but they didn't come with a wiring kit so I haven't made it that far. IIl post a pick of the broken off part of the old pump.
It's been a while since I made any good progress on this. Just put down a gallon of that black peel paint from AutoZone. Endlinks are in, wheels are from 99 mustang but only ran 100$ with 2 practically new tires, the other 2 I had replaced. She is running good, have been learning a lot from working on the suspension. Hahaha
Nice car. You'll enjoy it ! Landaus were top of the line. My brother bought a year-old 63 TBird. It was eggshell white w black interior. Beautiful car. He even let me drive it (I was still in HS) Here it is in '65 IIRC, those came with Goodyear Double Eagle tires...kind of an early "run-flat" tire. Just a couple years ago, I happened to see a 63 TBird for sale in his home town. He followed up on it, and now has one that's very similar to his first one.