Vintage Thunderbird Club International

I bought the under the hood wire harness and spiced the wires to under dash wires. It was much cheaper at the time. I would agree fewer spices the better, but I was careful and haven't had any problems. I used butt spices and then covered the spice with the heat shrink with the glue inside. My kit c...

klogsdonjr, could you post the connect info on the DIY quartz conversion info.

I have a 1956 bird with Wheels Vintiques wire wheels and they have 56 spokes. Their literature states that the wheels have a 3 1/2 in offset but when I measured the wheels I came up with 3 1/4 offset. The fit would have been a lot better if the wheel was 3 1/2 inch. As it was I had to cut down the s...

On my 1956 I used a NAPA # 7280 fit fine

For what it's worth, you mentioned a new fuel pump. I too bought a new fuel pump 2 in fact neither one worked. Had to rebuild my old one now the car runs fine.

The mechanical advance is operated by weights on the rotor shaft. The vacuum advance is done by moving the point plate. Locking down the point plate will not effect the mechanical/contrifugal advance.

Has anyone come up with a good way to run a radial tire tubeless when mounted on wire wheels?

You might be thinking of the oil light sender which does ground out the light to turn it on. The brake switch uses two wires and switches the 12volt to turn on the brake lights

I can't be 100% on this but I converted by 1956 over to the PVC system and I have listed the grommet was a Dorman 42323 which is .718 ID and 1.403 OD You can also find these grommets on Ebay.
Good Luck

I have my answer about if the turbine should locate in the convertor cover. The answer it doesn't. The front pump snout that locates the stator has a internal bushing that then locates the turbine shaft which in turn locates the turbine it's self. So the turbine is free to float located by the bushi...

Convertor balance issue update. It turns out that 17 grams out of balance is a big deal. My vibration at 1700 is completely gone. A quick back of the napkin calculation would suggest that 17 grams at 7 inch radius and 1,700 rpm is equal to 22 lbf. Now why the vibration is strong at only one rpm poin...

Question for the transmission experts: On a 1956 air cooled convertor, checking the fit between the turbine and the convertor cover I find hole in the cover that the turbine shaft fits into is 1.325 dia and the small turbine shaft that locates the thrust bearing is 1.250 dia. So this would mean the ...

Thanks for the suggestions. I found a place in Idaho, Idaho Transmission Warehouse and they balanced the convertor while I waited for $33. It was out of balance by 17 grams. Hope that fixes my vibration at 1700 rpm. It will be about a week before I can test the outcome. Waiting for the convertor O'r...

I'm trying to get my 1956 air cooled torque convertor balanced. Not having any luck here in Utah does anyone know of a place that can balance our convertors?

From the 1956-1957 Fordomatic manual here are the specs that the manual calls out Converter cover to converter impeller bolts 15-28 ft/lbs Converter impeller hub to converter impeller housing bolts 8-10 ft/lbs If it's any help here are a couple of pictures on a way I used to check for leaks after yo...