New Owner/New Member

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jpd158
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:03 am

New Owner/New Member

Post by jpd158 »

Hi Guys,

I finally got my 64 Thunderbird, that I've been dreaming of owning for years. Now that I have a Thunderbird, I hope to post fairly often with questions.

One question I have has to do with my date of manufacture. The date code on my car is 25K. I understand that is October 25. But, I just want to make sure, that would be October 25, 1963, correct? Does anyone know when the new model year started for Ford?

Just an interesting point, the original owner's manual came with the car and the information about the first owner was written in on the inside cover of the book (as it is supposed to be). The owner purchased the car - or took delivery - on June 6, 1964: Twenty years to the day after D-Day!

I'll post some pictures as soon as I figure out how to do that. Thanks and hope to discuss lots of TBird info in the future!

Jim
Jim Donahue
64 Thunderbird
tbird
Posts: 2586
Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 11:07 pm
Location: Tyndall MB. Canada

Re: New Owner/New Member

Post by tbird »

Welcome to the forum you will find many friendly members here to assist when you are stumped on trouble shooting or repairing something on the car.

Your car would of been manufactured on October 25 1963 as you stated, the new model years varied from year to year 1964 production started on August 12 1963 and ended July 24 1964 with total production of 92,465, this type of information is found in the VTCI OFS publication.

The following literature would be helpful in getting to know you new to you Thunderbird and in trouble shooting and repairs.

Owners Manual (used or Jim Osborne Reproductions)
Thunderbird Shop Manual (used or Jim Osborn Reproductions)
Body Trim and Sealant Assembly Manual (Jim Osborn Reproductions)
Electrical Assembly Manual (Jim Osborn Reproductions)
Wiring Diagram Manual (Jim Osborn Reproductions)
VTCI Original Factory Specifications (VTCI Country Store, available to members only)
These must be for your year of vehicle as there were many changes made from one
model year to the other.
Most of these items should be available from your favorite Thunderbird supply house or
directly from Jim Osborn Reproduction, cost will be about 125.00 plus shipping cost
Jim Mills
VTCI # 8071
VTCI 1964-66 Technical Editor
2002 Thunderbird
1965 Convertible
1962 Convertible (in progress)
1959 Ford Retractable HT
Many parts cars
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sseebart
Posts: 1686
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 1:45 am
Location: Northern California
Contact:

Re: New Owner/New Member

Post by sseebart »

jpd158 wrote:The date code on my car is 25K. I understand that is October 25. But, I just want to make sure, that would be October 25, 1963, correct? . . . The owner purchased the car - or took delivery - on June 6, 1964
Congrats on the new 'Bird!

Sound like your car was on the lot for a long time: built early in the model year and sold, perhaps, at the end-of-year clearance (or close to it). Wondering if you have an unusual color combination or feature selection. How about posting a photo?

~Steve
jpd158
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:03 am

Re: New Owner/New Member

Post by jpd158 »

Turns out the information in the owners manual was for a different car!

As I was doing the research on the first owner's name, I was about to send an email to someone I thought may be related to the original owner. Before I composed the email, I said, let me look at the info in the owner's manual one more time. So I looked at it and it hit me - the data plate codes were different than on my car. Then I looked at the warranty number written into the owner's manual - it looks exactly like a serial number, so I presume that's what they used for a warranty number. The number is different.

So it looks like one of the prior owners got ahold of an owner's manual with the warranty card filled out and thought it would be cool to have it in his car. Or, less likely, the dealer filled out the information, and the wrong info got written in to the owners manual.

So that put an end to my research. But I am purchasing the original invoice from Marti Auto, which should at least document the dealer that originally sold the car. I'll have to start from there.
Jim Donahue
64 Thunderbird
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mnpetri
Posts: 213
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:55 pm
Location: Southern NJ

Re: New Owner/New Member

Post by mnpetri »

Welcome aboard.
Lots of good help and fun discussions on the forum.
... and don't forget to post some pix :smile:
Mark
VTCI # 11024
65 Special Landau #1485
66 Sunbeam Tiger
john6t6
Posts: 437
Joined: Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:42 pm

Re: New Owner/New Member

Post by john6t6 »

Congrats on the purchase & welcome aboard
1966 Hardtop Sauterne Gold
VTCI #4065
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