Vintage Thunderbird Club International

I thought that might be the case, but I don’t know enough about how they work to be sure. I’d like to test the gauges before I put the dash back in the car. Any advice on how to do that? I have a 12v power supply that I can hook up to the cvr, but what would I hook to the other side of each gauge to...

I’m reassembling my dash and want to make sure it’s right before I put the dash back in the car. My question is: on the gauges, does it matter which terminal the constant voltage wire (black-green) is on? I’m having a hard time making it out on the wiring diagram, both in the schematic view and the ...

I had the same problem finding one recently-none of the usual sources had them in stock, and no idea when they would be available. The local shop wanted $300 to recore my old one. Luckily, I was able to get a new core from Bob Jursinski (440-967-7306). He’s a super nice guy, and he’s now the first (...

Surprisingly, it’s not rust. I think it’s a combination of body color overspray and old adhesive.

What a great looking car! Congratulations! What hasn’t yet been mentioned about the vacuum hoses is that replacing them means removing the dash-not an afternoon, or even a weekend job. It’s not hard, but it is time consuming. If you do it take LOTS of pictures and notes. There are threads on the top...

...

Thank you for the compliment, Patrick. A picture is worth 1000 words, so here are some photos. The tape was cut over the numbers with a SHARP X-acto knife. The final step was to go over the outline of the numbers with a silver paint pen from Michael’s. https://s7.postimg.org/lbtc3cdsb/36_DB4327-2_F5...

OK, the top is off, and I’ve been studying the Shop Manual and trim installation guide on the subject. I’ve looked and looked, and think that when the top was last replaced they decided to discard the top cover side retainers instead of reinstalling them. Here are some photos I took of the drivers s...

Thank you for the compliment, Paul. I read those posts about concours correctness and draftiness, but then decided that these cars were built as quickly as possible by hourly workers, not proud works of art created by craftsmen, so there is probably room for improvement in some areas and this is one...

Thanks for the guidance, guys. I guess I’ll work on getting the top off this weekend.

I’m trying to get the car ready for paint, as well as headliner and Landau top replacement. The bumpers and all exterior trim has been removed, the headliner and mouse nests-I mean insulation-has been removed, and the Landau bars are off of the top. The seats have had the foam and covering replaced ...

While the dash is out of the car I’ve been tackling all of the other broken stuff, too. One of them is the right side fresh air vent that was originally rubber, but after 50 years has turned to dust. After reading other posts on the topic, I decided to replace it with a metal duct. After quite a bit...

Awesome trick, Raven, thanks. It worked like a charm.

I thought it should be that easy. How much 'persuasion' does it take? I tried doing that, but it's in there good and I can't seem to make the fat part of the grommet skinny enough to get through the hole. I didn't try very hard because I don't want to destroy things unnecessarily.

Today I set out to remove the front bumper. In the shop manual the 1st step is to "Disconnect the left and right hand parking light wires." For the stupid question of the week, how is that done? The wires pass through a grommeted hole in the under-hood sheet metal and the plug is on the ot...