Vintage Thunderbird Club International

Take the inspection cover off the transmission and stick a screwdriver in one of the holes in the flexplate. Then rotate the crank until the screwdriver handle hits the engine block. That should provide enough resistance to turning to reach the bolt torque.

The vacuum modulator controls the 1-2 shift, and sometimes these are adjustable, and they also fail a lot. Make sure the vacuum hose to the modulator is hooked up properly and not leaking. If it is the adjustable type, you can try adjusting it with a tiny screw driver. If not, then replace it with a...

I would be worried Mustang II would be too weak for these heavy cars.

I think some people have used the last generation Crown Vic / Grand Marquis front axle and suspension to modernize and get rack & pinion steering

I think in 1967 or 1968 you could get a 428 FE or a 429 (same 385 family as 460) in a T-bird, so they both fit in that car and the inner fenders look pretty close to the same as a 1966. You may want to shop around and see some Thunderbird 429 and 428 motor mounts from the next generation T-bird to s...

I think the texture was achieved by bonding the textured vinyl to the metal, kind of like how people wrap cars these days, but with texture.

It is a radiator seal. There are also radiator seals on the sides and they are very important to proper cooling, particularly at low speed.

I bought a new tank and modified it with the Aeromotive "stealth" in-tank pump. On a '66 I had to create a flat spot on top of the tank about 1" lower because the outlet and return lines feed into a puck that mounts to the top of the tank.

Old gas bends pushrods. How old was the gas in it? Do you use gasoline stabilizer when the car is stored?

Set up your multimeter to read ohms. You will need to use the shop manual to know which pin is the input and which pin is the deck raise output. When the plunger is down the ohms should be off scale high. When the plunger is up they should be near zero

When did you try to adjust the deck closed limit switch and which direction did you adjust it in? Did you adjust it before or after the malfunction started? Does the switch move smoothly? If not, maybe squirt a little light oil on the plunger shaft and cycle it a few times by hand until it moves smo...

With a volunteer, have someone pressing the button on the dash to open the deck. Then go to the front passenger side corner of the deck lid. After the deck unlocks, lift up on that corner and see if the deck starts to raise. If that works, adjust the deck closed limit switch down a little bit.

It might be a little bit easier. You have to remove the wipers and cowl panel to get the dash out, and you also have to do that to change the windshield, so you save that 15 minute task. However, the windshield can be removed relatively easily without removing the dash. I recently had a windshield r...

I had a 20 year old tire come apart. It was off balance and out-of-round when driving. Then I took the wheels and tires off to get the tires changed and within a couple days one of the tires just split open

Back when these cars were built there wasn't the standard VIN. Each manufacturer had a numbering system to identify a car, and yes, they put a legal disclaimer on there saying it was for warranty purposes only. This is because there was really nothing to prevent two different car manufacturers from ...

You say that when you apply power to one side, the lights work. What happens if you bridge the fuse connection?