how often do you drive your bullet baby?

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ornithology
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Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2018 2:38 am

how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by ornithology »

i recently revived a lovely '63 that's in real nice shape but had been resting for some time. she seems to have an appetite for miles these days! it does feel a bit hot from the firewall, even in these 62 degree afternoons, otherwise no complaints other than a front end rattle, and maybe a vacuum leak (slightly rough idle with foot on brake, or pulling the steering wheel). yesterday i replaced all four tires, alas, the beautiful Michelin X's with plenty of tread left had been drying and cracking :-(

we are now honeymooning, we go out for 20 miles or so, every 2 or 3 days. the plan is to not drive much more than that, probably less. right now i'm insured full time, not as a classic, until i can find a proper garage for rent.


How often do you drive your bullet bird?
Cliff Rankin
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by Cliff Rankin »

I try to get mine out every weekend. I live in a small town in the Texas hill country , unless life or weather gets in the way. Every week end. I love taking it to the grocery early in the morning Or breakfast tacos. Drive it, enjoy it!
It will give you less problems.
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by ICON 1956 »

Living in the mid west has put mine in the garage till Spring. Until the weather gets better then it's the weekends good for a couple hundred miles.... Drive like you stole it enjoy the classic. :badgrin:
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MN63Tbird
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by MN63Tbird »

Also here in the frozen midwest I wont see my Tbird until April. When it is out of storage, I also try to drive it once a week and put a little under 1000 miles on during a season. And yes you do feel heat coming up near the firewall and along the transmission hump after driving a while.That seemed to be common for cars from the 60s with the limited insulation compared to todays cars. Enjoy!


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ornithology
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by ornithology »

good to hear, fellers. sorry to hear about the off-season's downtime over there. though perhaps it's a good opportunity to do some maintenance and longer-term diagnoses. as a teenager in the Northeast, i used to drive my 60's or 70's car year round, though i seemed to suffer more breakdowns, tire troubles, and wipeouts during the winter months. of course, it was my only car so i got through it... i'm so glad i don't have to do that here/now in the Southwest. right about now, at 45-65 degrees seems to be a great atmosphere to be bringing the car back out of semi-retirement. not much chance of overheating, and no need to slim the oil viscosity down, just fresh 10w40...

i do smell occasional fluid (engine oil i believe, from the smell) burning off the exhaust. i imagine this could be more of an issue as i get into hotter air temperature (in summer it will be 86-98 degrees and dry most days). my guess is the rear of the intake manifold seal. or maybe rear crankcase seal. but it's pretty slight - i'm not seeing much oil on the ground, maybe a few drip-spots.

so yeah, i feel like i'm easing her back into regular service, so far so good! just want to not push too much - it's definitely an older restoration, and i'm not sure of the history of the internals. though the vital signs look good - compression test comes in at 180 all around except one cylinder at 170.
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Richard
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by Richard »

I drove mine about 2000 miles the first year I got my 65..Now since I have her 7 years and not the novelty it was when first purchased so now I drive about 1000 miles a year..I am in the northeast so she is away for another couple of weeks..Cant wait I am getting cabin fever..LOL
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Karl
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by Karl »

G'day.
My wife and I drive our 63 whenever we can. I have every Monday and Tuesday morning off and once a month I have 4 days off. I drive it all of these times. In Australia we don't have the problem with winter, we can drive the cars all year round. Whenever we go on holidays we take the T'Bird. We did a holiday trip to Tasmania and that was about 4,500 miles. If something breaks or wears out I simply fix or replace the part and keep on motoring.
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63flip
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by 63flip »

Enjoying my Bird’s is also limited to the seasons in
NE Indiana. During the spring, summer, and fall I drive mine just about every week. I average between 1,000-1,500 miles a season on both my Birds. The joy in owning these beautiful cars is enjoying them.
Gagarin
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Re: how often do you drive your bullet baby?

Post by Gagarin »

For good or bad I live on the gulf coast (Texas) and have the reverse issue of it being too bloody hot to go for much of a drive in the heat of summer, even with A/C it can be miserable and your eyes are glued to the temp gauge but I digress.

Car was in the shop when Hurricane Harvey hit almost two years hence so this impacted progress and I have just recently, early Feb, completed all of the drive train build and get out every weekend but never for more than 20 mi. I am planning a road trip to NE Texas (300 Mi) in April. I was out just this past Sunday and was noting to myself how smooth this car is on the road given it's age.
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