First I'll start by telling you what I've done so far... A couple of years ago I pulled the motor and trans and did a full rebuild on both, while they where out I painted the engine compartment and a friend of mine painted the motor and the gloss black parts and last year I had a complete brake system rebuild and now I'm having a air ride system put on, Yes I'm having it done, I'm a cabinet maker and I don't have any welding skills so I called on a friend of mine to do the job. His name is Zane Cullen owner of Cotati Speed shop, so I know he will do a great job! Since I painted fender wells I had to get the shockwaves for the front but the ones we ordered which are for the 63-64 thunderbirds don't really lower the car without heavy modifications, after taking some measurements they talked to ride tech and found that they have a shockwave that will fit. Here's what the car looks like mocked up 2.5" lower in front and with the wrong shock installed I'll post about the back later
Lookin pretty damned good! Keep posting progress pics please. Oh, and there's nothing wrong with knowing your limitations on what you can and cannot do. Better to have it done right than to f*** it up yourself and cost ya more money later.
For the rear suspension I wanted a four link set up. Nobody makes a rear kit set up so we ordered the universal rear kit from ride tech, but when Cotati Speed Shop got the kit they realized without cutting up the back of the car it wouldn't work. So they started looking at different options, they are also building a Starliner which it has the Galaxy kit on the back and they were looking at the kit to compare to and they took some measurements and found that the lower bars are the same size that would be needed on the Thunderbird. Cotati Speed Shop ordered parts from the Galaxy kit that they could use and fabricated what they needed to complete the rear,here are some pic's This is the fabricated cross bar using the stock top shock mounts to bolt to the body Here the hardware mounted in the trunk
I got off 1 shot before my camera's batteries went dead but here she is with new rubber, rims all painted and all aired up.
I love those T-birds, doesn't take much to make them look really good. Yours is looking great. I like the lowering and wheel/tire combo you have.
That body style of T-bird has really grown on me over the years,good looking ride keep up the good work. The car looks to be quite solid. I'll look forward to seeing some more posts on this build.
Here are some more pictures of the work that Cotati Speed Shop did on the suspension. The rear The front As you see in the pic the ride censers are installed, these are from the kit from Accuair. From what I read it this system sound cool and should work great.
Man, I wish my 'bird was in that nice of shape. If I wasn't spending my cash to get my Falcon on the road, then maybe I'd have some to work on my 'bird.
I've had the car back a couple weeks now and let me say that the boys at Cotati Speed Shop did a great job, the car rides great! They gave me some of there pictures of the build I thought i would share. The first two is the custom bar they made which bolts to the body and mounts the two top bars and shocks The rest are everything installed after it was painted.
Nice work, your speed shop does some nice work. We installed a 4-link on a 57 ranchero, its alot easier when you don't have a back seat in the way. I came inches away from buying two bullet birds, but in the midwest you have to be carefull about a 47 year old unibody. I have a cousin in Santa Barbara with an original west coast bird, I am up for first dibs when she sells. Nice ride, Mark
That's awesome! The air ride installation looks VERY nice, as well as the engine compartment. Great looking car. Malcolm
ride sits great-what did you do, if anything to interior? I'm looking for a low priced source for correct foam for '61-'62 seats
Hey, Thanks for all the complements, makes me feel that I'm headed in the right direction. As far as the rest of the car I haven't touched anything else it all original. Can't wait for the day it's painted!
How are you liking it so far? How is the ride quality? Is it easy do drive? I'm doing putting air on my 57 F100 and have had air on a few other cars. There are a lot of people who don't like air because they don't think it's reliable, so I was wondering what you think so far?
It's great, the ride quality is better than it was when it was stock. With the system from Accuair it's so easy, as soon as I turn the key the car rises to ride height and she ready to go! Check out there web site www.accuairsuspension.com It all comes down to how well it's installed if it will be reliable or not and the boys who did mine at Cotati Speed Shop did a top notch job! www.cotatispeedshop.com I don't think I have any thing to worry about. This is my first car on air and I would do it again. Hope this helps you.
I know this thread is close to a decade old but I am in love with this wheel set up! would you be able to tell me your tire size, brand, white wall width?
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