Vintage Thunderbird Club International

Hi Bill, its difficult to get anywhere near the ignition switch/wiring due to the large shroud holding the fuse block at the bottom of the air vent. Can I assume the other end is the pink wire at the bulkhead connector or did you run a new wire after disconnecting the wire from the switch? T-birds ...

On my 61 the pink resistor wire bullet connector was located just a few inches from the ignition switch. Good luck.

Bill

I’m pretty sure that’s where the flasher light resides for the emergency brake.

Bill

Red Head Steering Gears https://redheadsteeringgears.com/.

Myself and others on this forum have used and liked them. Expensive but good. Best of luck.

Bill

PS - When the resistor wire is bypassed as I noted in my previous post, you should be able to disconnect the brown wire from the starter solenoid. This wire connects to the red wire which was disconnected at the coil. Before the resistor wire was bypassed this brown wire provided 12 volts to the coi...

On my 61 I disconnected the pink resistor wire at the bullet connector near the ignition switch. I then installed a new wire from the ignition to the coil. I just taped up the end of the old red wire to to the coil and left it disconnected. I’ve read that the Ignitor I will work with the resistor wi...

Hi. This video may help. At about 14 minutes into the video, note the conversion to 12 volts from the ignition. The pink resistor wire is under the dashboard, inside the car. In my 61, there was a bullet connector near the ignition switch which was convenient to use for bypassing the resistor wire. ...

Are you sure you have 12 volts to your coil? Some folks forget to bypass the pink resistor wire when converting to Pertronix.
Cheers.

Bill

The numbers on my 61’s carb, which I believed to be original to the car were LSA 1TBK (on the metal tag) 1.12 C1AEAH (on carb base). I expect yours may be the same. These are known as 4100 Autolite carbs. They are not too difficult to rebuild and enjoy an excellent reputation. With parts from Mikes ...

I had similar troubles after replacing the turn signal switch in my 61 with an aftermarket switch from a TBird vendor. I had to hold the switch lever down or up to make it work. Aftermarket switches have a bad rep for quality. I replaced mine with a new old stock switch from eBay. That did the trick...

For engine help/advice you might try Brent Lykins at Lykins Motorsports. Located in Kentucky. For sure he’s an FE engine expert. I’ve jealously poured over many of his posts on the FE Engine forum. He rebuilt/modified a friend’s 61 TBird 390 engine which now makes around 350hp. Seems like a really n...

You'll most likely have to disconnect the rag joint by either removing the steering box or loosen up the steering column and pull it back. The box is 3.75 turns lock to lock and if it's 180 out you'll lose a half of a turn on one side. Turn the the sector shaft of the steering box all the way to on...

Sorry, not to overhaul this thread, just to answer Patrick.

Yes. My wife and I moved to a retirement facility. No enclosed garage here so the car had to go. My car is now in Texas, near Dallas, I think. A nice driver for somebody. Cheers.

Bill

I had a lifter start ticking soon after a rebuild on my 61. #4 intake as I recall. I read that this isn’t unusual with replacement lifters. FWIW, please know that some lifters are removable and replaceable without removing the intake. A pencil magnet inside vinyl tubing (magnet slightly protruding f...

As I recall, hose routings are shown in the Electrical Assembly Manual. By the way, given your efforts to make your car as original as possible, unless I am mistaken there is no gold paint under the hood of the 62 except the hinges. Gold paint came along in 63. Best wishes.

Bill
‘61 Bird (past love)