Vintage Thunderbird Club International

There's always toothpics - something I was taught by an old-timer 40 years ago. I always try to hammer/dolly a worn-out hole first to push metal back into shape if I can, otherwise soft copper or steel wire. I do like the other suggestions, especially the cotter pin one.

Don't forget that big parts that determine success or failure of DIY steering wheel restoration are filing V-grooves in all of the cracks and filling them with a material that has similar expansion/contraction properties to the Tenite or similar plastics used from the mid-'50s-on. Not only that, tho...

I've never been a big fan of aluminum radiators, heads or manifolds because of dielectric activity and/or the proclivity of coolant to turn acidic, along with the damage that can be done when mixing aluminum and cast iron components without a proper barrier between them. Part of the maintenance rout...

I'm surprised Raven hasn't chimed in yet, as he's in suburban Toronto. We did have a chapter in Ontario - Southern Ontario Vintage Thunderbird Club, but the link to chapters from the Regional Director's Officer listing isn't working right now, and it's currently not listed in the Club's magazine, &q...

There were a bunch of years when we couldn't get the big oval air filters for the dual quad air cleaner and now Scott Drake makes them. Perhaps we can get them to make these too. I think Scott Drake would probably be reluctant to reproduce the '64 'Bird filter unless it can also be applied to Musta...

Here is a case where 'Search' can be your friend. Typing into the 'Search' box these words 1961 rear leaf spring came up with these results: https://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.net/phpBB3/search.php?keywords=1961+rear+leaf+spring Take a look through these to see if any of them help with determining h...

Whom was your source for the reconditioned PCM? Cardone? Other? Inquiring minds want to know...and this sure sounds worthy of expanding on for a future tech article for the Scoop.

VTCI is seeking volunteers to serve as Technical Editor and/or Forum moderators to help answer directed questions for the following generations and provide content for the Club's magazine, "Thunderbird Scoop": 1955-1957 - Technical Editor (Forum moderator position is filled for stock &...

Seeing that your license plate is from Missouri, which metro area are you closer to - Kansas City or St. Louis? We have an extremely active chapter in KC, Vintage Thunderbirds of Kansas City, which has people involved in all generations. I suggest if you're in western Missouri that you look into www...

Good evening, everybody. I am currently working on a 1985 T-Bird 302. I have been interested in repainting it. However, in its past garage, the trim on the roof and silver trim all around the back glass was leaked on by water. Over time, it has rusted pretty badly. Does anyone know where i can find...

Shows how long it has been since I've taken time to go through parts catalogs or websites. Good to know they're available.

If you're just wanting to fill the space so that the tire cover parts don't flop around, the 15"x5"-5x4.5" bolt circle wheel was also used on '52-'56 Ford cars, and there's more than likely a MoPar wheel pre-'57 (when most manufacturers switched to 14"-diameter wheels) out there ...

This is starting to look like an article / tutorial on how to adjust generator voltage regulators is needed for the Scoop as this topic would be valid for any pre-'63 'Bird. Any suggestions (other than referring to Gil's Garage from the CTCI website) on what to include, short of copying something fr...

I'm not aware of any. If a person knows the gauge of the sheet metal, has a good pattern and sheet metal fabrication skills, plus the tools to roll the top edge of the shields, form the shape of the shields and press/roll in the reinforcing ribs, one-offs could be made. And if a person could set up ...

If anyone can get a measurement of how many wires per inch in each direction the mesh is, i.e. 10x10 mesh means 10 wires/inch each direction, once that's known it should be a 'simple' matter of sourcing replacement material. I have a few spare original dashes/frames in storage but lack time to measu...