Project Grand Touring 1966 Thunderbird

[NightShifter]

The only suggestion I can give on the booster is try these guys http://www.classicperform.com/

Car's looking good.

[TheSilverBuick]

Tie rods on these cars seem to be made of gold IIRC.

[mrocketscience]

It seems to run pretty good! Nice..

[1970camaroRS]

Tie rods on these cars seem to be made of gold IIRC.

Tie rods are about $50 a piece, so not bad. Ball joints are $60-$70 each...x4 = ouch. Front end complete rebuild is $495. Not sure I want to go there yet.

It seems to run pretty good! Nice..

Yeah, the one thing going for it is it runs well and doesn't smoke. As soon as I fix the exhaust leaks and give it a good tune up it should sound better and push the car down the road better. I will probably pull the valve covers sometime soon and check the rockers to see if they are the cause of the ticking sound at idle. I think it might just be exhaust leaks from the air injection system on the passenger side manifold.

Here's a better shot of me and my helper.

[hauen]

It's funny, but it seems girls are more interested in cars now than boys. My 12 year old girl is always more interested in car stuff and is constantly pestering me to teach her to drive whereas the 18 year old boy only wants to ride in them...and in the backseat at that.

[1970camaroRS]

Got the final belt on the air pump and took it for a drive. Sounded better, but still slow as hell. Put a timing light on it but was unable to find a timing marker. Plugged in a vacuum pump and the needle was bouncing between 10 and 15. No bueno. Checked the plug wires to see if any were loose and found this:



Guess I will be doing the cap, rotor, plugs and wires this weekend.

[Scott Liggett]

Got the final belt on the air pump and took it for a drive. Sounded better, but still slow as hell. Put a timing light on it but was unable to find a timing marker. Plugged in a vacuum pump and the needle was bouncing between 10 and 15. No bueno. Checked the plug wires to see if any were loose and found this:





Guess I will be doing the cap, rotor, plugs and wires this weekend.

I bet you would still get zapped by that one. Hold the wire in one hand and place other hand on fender. ZZZZZZZAAAPPP!!

[fast Ed]

Have a look at the vacuum advance diaphragm as well ... they are known for being dead when they get to that age. The one in my 66 was NFG.


cheers
Ed

[1970camaroRS]

Have a look at the vacuum advance diaphragm as well ... they are known for being dead when they get to that age. The one in my 66 was NFG.


cheers
Ed

I did the cap, rotor and plug wires last night before a meeting. Drove to the meeting and back and had one new plug wire slip off on the way back. Other than that, ran better than before. Timing seems to be advancing like it should. I will find out more today when I do the plugs and mess with the timing. Upper hose sprung a leak too, so that will be getting the throw away and replace treatment. Still no functioning headlights, tail lights or turn signals. Brake lights stay stuck on occasionally. I suspect the root of my problem will be found with the brake and headlamp switches. These are not easy to access. I will be pulling the driver's seat out this weekend...

[TheSilverBuick]

Brake switches are a pain. Ford engineers should be shot for making an overly complex switch for something that needs nothing more than a threaded momentary switch (aka what GM had done for decades).

For the record, late 80's Rangers (and probably many others) brake switches are the same design as the one on your T-bird with the exception of the plug, which two simple spade connectors can be made to work if you are not concerned with originality. I took the old switch plug on my T-bird and cut the wiring off, added two female spade connectors to it, leaving the car harness intact, and installed the Ranger switch when mine went out.

[mlcraven]

Nice to see this old girl getting some TLC.