Vintage Thunderbird Club International

Welcome Jim! Your '61 is a beauty! My favorite color. Bought mine for almost the same price in 2005, but I won't tell you how much I've put into it since then. :lol: I wasn't looking for a project car either, but one summer night my boys and I were at the local ice cream shop/classic car hang out wh...

If your pump is running with the key on and there is no fuel at the filter, try detaching the hose just after the the pump and run a longer hose into a jar. Turn on the key for a second, if still no fuel inspect the inlet/outlet hose connections. Because most electric fuel pumps are set up to be mou...

Sounds like 2 problems. 1. If the fuel was spilling out of the vents when you first installed the carb, I suspect that either the needle and seats are bad, or the float levels are set too high. Might be something in the fuel that won't allow the needles to seat correctly also. 2. The regulator shows...

I wired mine to the window relay that is mounted on the firewall just above the engine. It's a short run of wire and keeps everything looking neat. Don't connect the choke wire to the terminal that's always hot. You may have to use a multimeter to find which wire is the ignition hot wire.

Ford put a PCV system on the California cars as far back as 1961. My '61 had one. As stated earlier, the rest of the country had T-Birds with road draft tubes until late '62.

Tom, I had a similar problem with my '61. I found out that small particles of rust had formed in the top half of my "new" fuel tank and were dropping down into the fuel clogging up my fuel filter. It would not restart until the fine particles would settle a bit (15-20 mins). Eventually it ...

The smoke and gas smell makes me think the carb is running waaay too rich. I would check that the floats are adjusted correctly. Also one of the floats may be sinking to the bottom of the bowl due to a pinhole or something. That will also cause a very rich mixture and stalling. One more thing comes ...

Hey Tom, Years ago I installed a set of BFG 70 series radials on my '61, then replaced all the tie rod ends and center link. Being a die-hard DIYer (i.e. cheap) I set the toe-in myself. I centered the steering wheel, set toe-in at 1/8" and drove it that way for several years. Seemed to handle f...

Steve, I have an Edelbrock 1406 carb on my '61, with no problems. I think you found the problem. You stated in an earlier post that the spacer plate you are using has a single large opening rather than the 4 small openings. Your spacer should match the intake. If the intake has 4 openings, so should...

Valvoline VR1 racing oil and Brad Penn racing oil both contain zinc additives, and they are available for less than $6 a quart (around here at least).

I had the engine in my '61 rebuilt in 2008 and I've been using Brad Penn 10w30 semi-synthetic since the rebuild. If your engine has the standard flat tappet type of cam make sure you use an oil with a zinc additive.

Sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about. Is it a fuse or circuit breaker? Is it attached directly to the solenoid; or is it in a wire coming from the solenoid? A photo would help big time.

I've worked in auto parts for many years. Decent batteries have always come with a 5 year or better warranty. I'm presently employed at a small local O'Reilly's and just recently they dropped their 5 year warranty on many batteries- replaced by a 2 year warranty. I assume the manufacturer is to blam...

Rollsman, My '61 went thru a couple of batteries this year. I could not figure out why. I'd go out cruising on a Friday night and the battery would be near dead on Saturday. I jump started it and it ran fine for a while, then the next time I went to start it- nothing. I checked alternator output, it...

Hard to believe both wheels turn one way but not the other!
Has to be either a tie rod end or the center link. Both are attached to the idler arm so I'd check that also.