Some may consider them ugly but I've always liked them and most of my childhood was spent working on FE engines in my dad's trucks so that's a plus too. Prices are still pretty reasonable too.
Anything I should watch out for?
Some may consider them ugly but I've always liked them and most of my childhood was spent working on FE engines in my dad's trucks so that's a plus too. Prices are still pretty reasonable too.
Anything I should watch out for?
Rust and lots of it.
Are front end parts available for them now? I remember 20-25 years ago they were not, and there were companies who advertised that they could take your old worn out ball joints and inject them with plastic somehow and make them tight again. (IIRC it worked about as well as you'd think it did)
I had a 1965. Hard top. Loved that car!!! It could do burnouts for days!!!
My old neighbor has one. He’s owned it since the 80’s and loves it. I don’t remember him having any issues getting parts. He did replace the 3.00 rear gears to 3.55 or something and did a aftermarket 4bbl set up on it. Besides that his was stock and he drove it in the summer on weekends.
I figured rust would be a problem, some of the very project looking ones are really rusty, plus the age of them
One I've seen recently has the 390 and is in running project shape. From what I read some of the interior "chrome" is actually just stainless steel and easily rehabbed?
We've got a '65 Convertible with the rear seat tonneau and 428 available for purchase.
Yes, lots of stainless, cool "thermometer" style speedo.
Long, low, comfortable mileage disposal unit. What's not to like?
ShawnG said:We've got a '65 Convertible with the rear seat tonneau and 428 available for purchase.
Yes, lots of stainless, cool "thermometer" style speedo.
Long, low, comfortable mileage disposal unit. What's not to like?
Interesting.....although I'm not sure I want a convertible.
I admit, I'm weird and don't really like convertibles at all
I get it. I married the girl that doesn't like convertibles.
On the plus side, she's got a thing for rusty old pickup trucks.
Someone should buy a convertible so they can add this to make it a two seater roadster like ShawnG's.
I would, but I prefer Bullet Birds...
I had a '66 Thunderbird as my only vehicle from about 1998-2005 and I loved it. The front trunk floor likes to rust, and it happens to be where the fuel tank straps are anchored to. The trunk lid is so large that condensation forms on the inside and drips to the floor. The trunk floor is sloped forward, so that is where the water runs to. I just drilled drains into the floor.
They're good cars, they have front disc brakes unlike the earlier Thunderbirds, however they suffer from the same problem as the earlier ones. A single reservoir master cylinder and the rubber line to the rear axle will split because nobody changes it. You then have a 5000 pound car with no brakes. The column shifter is also bound to be loose, and can drop out of Park. I just swung the steering wheel over when I'd park it, it locks the shifter in Park. You'll probably have to get new or re-arched rear leaf springs, most of them flatten out over the years and give them a squatting-dog look.
I never had issues getting parts, there are plenty of Thunderbird-specific parts houses. You could still get Motorcraft (oil filled) shocks among other things. I even kept the points, it was never that big of a deal. The two middle spark plugs on each side of the engine are a little tedious due to the shock towers. The surge tank on the FEs are a weak point, I had to get mine re-soldered more than once. The pressure line on the power steering split down the tube seam, I replaced it with a steel braided line.
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