Features Ford Thunderbolts Photos Wanted

Most likely DST made the headers as one of the first products they ever made were exhaust systems for early 50's Ford police cars.
Roland

 

Thank you very kindly. Lenny Freeburn confirmed much the same to me.
Thinking about it, headers and the exhaust system was the ultimate engineering hurdle for installing engines made for trucks and Galaxy/Monteray sedans into compacts originally designed around 140 sixes.
Your info about exh for police cars can easily give rise to the possible reason DST was chosen to contract Thundrbolts in the first place and the lack of part #'s for the DST fabricated parts and no use of outside vendors. This all adds up.

I stated earlier, the reason so many of these cars got inner fenders cut out with straight axles and etc, was to gain access to the engine, and not solely just the opportunity to run in higher classes. That's why it happened to the Hagewood car.
Thanx; Tom S. in Tn.

 

Here's a pic of Leal's Tbolt with a good shot of the muffler-Somewhere around Dec. 64.

Len

 

Am i the only one who pulls there hair out wishing they were around in these days??

 

Nope!

 

It's also a good photo of those fabricated ladder bars too.
Those darn things came very close to the diameter of the rim and I have seen sparks fly when a tube pinched or the occasion a rear wheel slipped off the side of the track. But, they were tough, and those cars would track straight as an arrow on practically any surface if it had any decent tire at all.
The rear leafs worked as good as any mopar part. Tom S.

 

I was there in those days but had to ride my bicycle to the track some times. I was a "pusher", the old car I helped with had a magneto and no starter, so we push started it by hand.

These shots of the Strip Teaser at Lloyd's Dragstrip were taken in '65 but not processed until '67. Before someone else corrects me, I know that isn't a T-Bolt but the post was about being there back in those days. I also remember T-Bolt of Emmett "Snake" Austin at the old Double H Drag Strip at Blue Ridge, GA along with the "Strip Teaser" and Platt's T-Bolts.

Sorry not my photo of Emmett

 

Time to bump this thread to the top. Six days is long enough to look at a picture of a butchered Thunderbolt.

 

I was going through this interesting thread but I'm sorry I didn't read all of it so this might be redundant. But it is on topic so I'll take a chance at posting it. I posted this on another forum almost exactly four years ago today:

 

I just heard Butch Leal won Indy in his Thunderbolt ! How can that be don't they run the finals tomorrow on Monday

 

Uh, you need to find another source for your racing news.

 

Sorry Tommy, I was talking smack with this Mopar dude you know Cammer vs Hemi he mentioned about Leal winning Indy but it wasn't this weekend it was a couple of years ago 1964 I think . I'm not up with the NHRA stuff anyhow going to Tasca Ford open house this weekend looking for T-bolts and the elusive 505 Mustang LOL

 

Here is the photo of Butch Leal in the winners circle at Indy after his 1964 win in S/S.

 

Butch Leal from Pixley California, with his 4 speed Ford Thunderbolt, Butch cranked an 11.76-122.78 to win Super/Stock gold. The only other Ford entry worth watching was the Tasca Ford Thunderbolt piloted by "Quick Shift Bill Lawton" from East Providence Rhode Island. The Healey tuned Thunderbolt was one of the top running 427 Fords, till John pulled out his engine in favor of an off the dyno new 7,000 high RPM model. He ran into troubles which eventually knocked the car out of competition.

 

Cammer VS. Hemi.... Should be a short conversation.....

 

I am still looking for pics of the (2) 1964 T-Bolts Downey Ford sponsered in late 1964 and early 1965. In mid 65 they were sitting on the Downey Ford used car lot for the price of $3000 your choice, 1 4-speed, 1 automatic, both lettered up and ready to race. Thanks

 

Since the car hasn't ran since the thunderbolt reunion at Carlisle PA, my dad and I decided to get it running again and detailed.

 

Glad to see the King Ford car out again. Any plans to show it locally in the near future?

By the way, the featured make for the York US 30 show next year is Ford. They are looking for Ford drag cars and I'm sure they'd like to see this car there. It ran at York alot "back in the day"....

 

My dad and I aren't to big on car shows. We both would rather go racing instead. We might just throw the transporter tag on it and cruise it around town

 

MIR's All Ford Race is coming up on 10/20 & 10/21 in Budds Creek (Southern MD.). It's always a good time.

Or you could recreate history at 75-80 Dragaway...
http://jdurand.smugmug.com/Buy-Imag...-Dragstrip/1191395_9Fp4gj#!i=58053677&k=trsX3

 

Yeah, I will be out of the country in October. I'll figure something out and i will let you know.

 

Come on Ford guys, don't let this thread die. T-Bolts are too great to let fade away. I'm working hard on finding out what happened to the #95 Farnham Ford. Bob Balderson raced it at Richmond Dragway and i'm close to getting some info and photos. Will post as soon as i can. Let's ramp it up. Jim

 

What color were they ?

 

Both were Wimblton White, black lettering. I can't be sure that they were lettered "Downey Ford" they may have been from some other dealer and on consignment or something as the dealership was in a high traffic area at the time. That was almost 50 years ago! All I know is that I had just bought a 65 GTO post with a dealer installed 421/376hp tri-power car and didn't have a penny to my name to try and buy one of them. The salesman fired up the 4-speed car, the ground shook all around that car, it took your breath away! Anyway I am about 80% finished with my re-creation T-Bolt of a "Downey Ford" lettered race car that I could have owned in 1965.

 

Will it be a 64 or a 65 Fairlane?

 

I was lucky enough to find (2) 1964 2-door sedan cars, the finished one is a full on show car, was in Poplar Hot Rodding back in 1993 or so, the other is going to be my re-creation race car (brackets and nostaliga drags), hope to be finished this next spring with it. Plan on going to the 50th reunion in 2014.

 

There's a 64 post car down the street from me. The owner's almost got a junkyard started in his backyard these days.

 

The super clean, wicked fast and very beautiful Thunderbolt of Jake King's "Little Henry IV" Atwater Ford sponsored 427 c.i. fairlane 500 runnin' strong at Pocono Drag Lodge in PA....One Sweet Race Car!