Project Grand Touring 1966 Thunderbird

[1970camaroRS]

Ummm? NO! Not ok! We try to buy them for derby cars... No motor/trans/rear (rear is deal breaker usually) for $6-800 bux! Which is why we do not buy them..

I know of a 64Galaxie wagon in Puyallup for $400 with m/t and title..supposed to run !

I was being sarcastic. No way in hell can you find a rust free car for less than $2,000 around here...let alone 3 for $1,200. No way would I sell a running, driving (ok...not there yet) for less than $1,750. Hell, the 390, C6 and 9" rear is worth more than he was willing to pay.

I will get it cleaned up and sold for my asking price before the summer is over.

[SuperBuickGuy]

6000 lbs = $600 in scrap.... I hate the bottom feeders.

[1970camaroRS]

6000 lbs = $600 in scrap.... I hate the bottom feeders.

Pretty much. Sure, it has some rust issues, but they are readily solved with cheap and available sheet metal. Surely a running and almost complete 1966 Thunderbird is worth more than scrap!

If I get this heap running soon enough I might just drive the pants off of it this summer before I sell it!

[milner351]

That's the best Idea I've heard - get it running and driving and enjoy it a while - with the for sale sign in it.

nothing kills the selling price of a vehicle faster than not being able to take it for a drive.

[SuperBuickGuy]

That's the best Idea I've heard - get it running and driving and enjoy it a while - with the for sale sign in it.

nothing kills the selling price of a vehicle faster than not being able to take it for a drive.

I had a truck that was just the opposite. It had a $1200 seat, a well-built 454, 205 transfer case. SWB 4x4. No one was interested in it at $1500. Pulled the motor, seat and tranfer case.... sold it for $1500, sold the seat for $600, the motor for $2500. It was a 3 lane truck (you need 3 lanes to go 65).... if you couldn't drive it - it was a desireable, black, solid 4x4 SWB chevrolet truck. When told it needed front end work the buyer's response was "oh, I can fix that"....

[Scott Liggett]

I agree with Milner. Get it running and driving. Then just scrub and clean whats there. Then drive it with a For Sale sign in it. A clean polished car, even.in need of a lot of work, will attract more buyers. My junk are perfect examples of that.

[1970camaroRS]

Had a break in the rain today so I worked on the t-bird for a bit today. Got this nasty thing out finally. And I only had to remove the alternator, smog pump and power steering pump along with all the brackets and an idler pulley.



The pump insides sounded just like the outside looked. Crunchy.



The thermostat hole in the intake manifold looked interesting...



As did the water pump holes.



Attacked the engine with a little bit (A LOT) of this and a gasket scraper.



Backyard redneck engine flush. It ran really dark orange for a long while.



And viola. Just before the rain picked up again.



Now I'm sitting here trying to get this into that.

[1970camaroRS]

SUCCESS!



Now I can get it back in the car and start chasing electrons.

[Scott Liggett]

I see you have that super rare glob of grease with valve covers on top. I have flushed my junk the same way. Though, I didn't industrial waste in my engine.

[milner351]

is that atf mixed with water? perhaps the atf cooler in the radiator has sprung a leak?

That engine needs a date with a high temperature pressure washer, that's a poster child for gunk foamy engine brite
(which doesn't work that well unfortunately)

[mrocketscience]

is that atf mixed with water? perhaps the atf cooler in the radiator has sprung a leak?

Speaking from experience, that's a really bad thing....

Anyway, I've had good luck cleaning gunk with that purple Castrol Super Clean type stuff. Much better than the foamy engine brite.

[STINEY]

that's a poster child for E-Z OFF oven cleaner
(which works almost too well, fortunately)

There, fixed it for ya!

Down on the sides of the block are drain plugs, they drain the water jackets all the way. Might consider removing them and flushing the stuff out that's been sitting in the bottom of the jackets. I found and inch or two of crud in the bottom of my 390, taking it out HAS to help cooling some.

[1970camaroRS]

is that atf mixed with water? perhaps the atf cooler in the radiator has sprung a leak?

That engine needs a date with a high temperature pressure washer, that's a poster child for gunk foamy engine brite
(which doesn't work that well unfortunately)

It appeared to be orange coolant and a bunch of rust in the block. The radiator drained out really diluted green coolant. The water pump hadn't been pumping water for some time it looks like. If I hadn't already run the motor I would have guessed it was froze up or had a blown head gasket. But, I runs really nice.

Oh and after the stuff I had ran out I grabbed some Engine Brite Foam and that worked fairly well in conjunction with a gasket scraper. Went from a shapeless mass of 'stuff' to mostly bare metal and paint like materials. Good enough for this round. I'm going to wait and see where the oil is coming from before cleaning any further. I suspect it's just a crappy smog pump and EGR setup...but we shall see. I will probably take the valve covers off this weekend just for fun anyway.

[1970camaroRS]

There, fixed it for ya!

Down on the sides of the block are drain plugs, they drain the water jackets all the way. Might consider removing them and flushing the stuff out that's been sitting in the bottom of the jackets. I found and inch or two of crud in the bottom of my 390, taking it out HAS to help cooling some.

I'm not going to take it that far just yet. If there's a lingering over-heating problem I will, but it's a royal pain to pull the freeze plugs on this car.

[STINEY]

These aren't freeze plugs.....more like square head 3/8 drive size pipe plugs.

Yeah, digging into the freeze plugs is WAY too far at this point. (Though they are likely getting rather thin.)


In this picture the drain plug is inbetween the 2nd and 3rd freeze plugs (going left to right) and just slightly below them.