Vintage Thunderbird Club International

I would start way the battery connection and cut out switch connection.
Tom

Mine does the same thing, sometimes rubber mallet . Always two hands. I have lubed it, nothing seems to make it easier. In my case it is what it is.
Good luck, Tom

Just a thought, you do check the tranny with the engine running right ? It matters.
On a side note , don't throw out that 390 the 600 hundred is to big. Just put a 390 on my 56.
Tom

There is a u tube video on how to do it. I watched the video twice shook my head and pulled the motor.
Tom

Yes you can take the pins out and leave the top up. You will need to replace the pins once the swing arm is out, they hold everything together. No it is not difficult.
Tom

Not really understanding the problem. Torque converter sticks out 1/4 from the front of the tranny or is 1/4 shy from the front. If it sticks out, rotate the converter untill the dogs engage the pump and it will slide in. If it's in 1/4 that's good, bolt tranny to engine then slide converter foward ...

Won't hurt to try, but I doubt it will help. I would spend a lot of time diagnosing this before jumping on the differential.
U joints, tranny, ect. Eliminate everything else first , you might find something simple.
Just some thoughts, Tom

This is something very simple but difficult over the Internet. My experience, coils and condenser almost never go bad so let's take them off the table for now. The car was running and you were getting no spark to number one cylinder when you tried to time it. Did you check carefully the condition of...

You didn't mention if it did this hesitation before you laid it up. If it ran fine before you laid it up it will run fine again. I know you started it every now and then, that's good but no where near the same as driving it. Just as an example, warming it up to temp doesn't even use the accelerator ...

I pulled mine to reseal the front leak, now it doesn't leak but after driving it a few months it's starting to slip durring shifts
In hindsight I would have done a total rebuild while it was on the bench. Just my experience.
Tom

If it were mine I would replace the regulator. Maybe a waste of money but I would just do it for a piece of mind.
Tom

Great ingenuity, thanks for sharing.
Tom

Jim
I think it depends on the style pump you use. My first pump you could pull fuel through it when it is turned off, not very high quality pump. The current pump installed, if you turn off the pump it stops the fuel.
Tom

That's actually a good idea. I'm on my second one meaning I threw out my fist one, not in series.
You gave me the idea , leave pump in place and run it parallel. Turn it on to start, then off. Turn it on again in extreme heat when I'm worried about vapor lock, which has happened.
Thanks, Tom

Hi I'm on my second electric pump, not happy with either one. First one cheap cylinder style made all kinds of racket, lesson learned don't buy cheap. Now I have a large one with a motor on it, I bought it because it was supposed to be quiet and the best around. Now I have a never ending high pitche...