engine bay questions

[ELTBIRD]

Hi all,
I am in the process of cleaning, repairing and restoring things under the hood of my 66 with AC.
According to Mr. Osborn's electrical assembly manual on page 11, the harness going from the regulator area to the tranny runs across the top of the driver's side valve cover. Note 16 calls for existing clips as part of the engine assy. I don't see these clips but I do have a "weird" center top valve cover bolt (see pic). Can someone shed some light on these clips? Also, most of the original woven heat shield on the harness is gone. I see we can still buy this stuff but how is it installed without cutting the original connectors off first and reattaching which I will not do. Is there a good heat resistant tape to replace the original woven stuff? Thanks, Ed

[ELTBIRD]

FYI...I got the answers. All good!

[Alan H. Tast]

Hi all,
I am in the process of cleaning, repairing and restoring things under the hood of my 66 with AC.
According to Mr. Osborn's electrical assembly manual on page 11, the harness going from the regulator area to the tranny runs across the top of the driver's side valve cover. Note 16 calls for existing clips as part of the engine assy. I don't see these clips but I do have a "weird" center top valve cover bolt (see pic). Can someone shed some light on these clips? Also, most of the original woven heat shield on the harness is gone. I see we can still buy this stuff but how is it installed without cutting the original connectors off first and reattaching which I will not do. Is there a good heat resistant tape to replace the original woven stuff? Thanks, Ed

Scott6T6, care to chime in on the threaded stud/nut? I believe we covered that off-forum but this may be the time to revisit it.

[losendos]

Hi all,
I am in the process of cleaning, repairing and restoring things under the hood of my 66 with AC.
According to Mr. Osborn's electrical assembly manual on page 11, the harness going from the regulator area to the tranny runs across the top of the driver's side valve cover. Note 16 calls for existing clips as part of the engine assy. I don't see these clips but I do have a "weird" center top valve cover bolt (see pic). Can someone shed some light on these clips? Also, most of the original woven heat shield on the harness is gone. I see we can still buy this stuff but how is it installed without cutting the original connectors off first and reattaching which I will not do. Is there a good heat resistant tape to replace the original woven stuff? Thanks, Ed

Ed, what did you find as far as the woven heat shielding?

[jtschug]

Ed, what did you find as far as the woven heat shielding?

If you want the best heat protection, it is aluminum/mylar clad fiberglass sleeve, but it definitely looks out of place under the hood of a 1960's Ford. For something that looks more original, I use woven fiberglass sleeve that has been dyed black. I shop for this stuff on Waytek Wire and Del City. The problem is it comes in 25 or 50 foot rolls and the bigger sizes can be more that $2 / foot, which isn't bad if you only need 6 feet of the stuff, but that 50 foot roll minimum is pretty pricy. I have not found a place that will just cut off a short length of it.

[Scott6T6]

Sure thing, Alan.

Ed, the stud/nut located in the center of the upper left valve cover was used to anchor a 7 1/4" x 3/4" rubber strap (missing on your car) that was used to secure the power steering outlet hose, the windshield wiper motor fluid return hose and on those '66 T-birds equipped with a C6 transmission, the neutral safety switch wiring. The rubber strap wrapped around all of these and held them in place along the upper side of the left valve cover. This was used on Thunderbird's in both 1965 & '66. The stud/nut/rubber strap assembly are typically missing from most cars and few people are even aware of its existence.

A rubber coated metal clip was located at the front of the left valve cover, held in place by the upper front valve cover mounting bolt. This clip secured the wiring loom for the ignition coil and temperature sending unit. On later production '66 models equipped with the C6 transmission; an identical clip was utilized at the rear of the left valve cover to secure the neutral safety switch wiring. A similar rubber coated metal clip was also used to secure the NSS wiring located at the upper left bell housing mounting bolt.

The correct routing of steel power steering line should also be mentioned here. The proper position of this line can be seen in my second photo. It exited the rear of the power steering pump, passed through a clamp on the neck of the power steering pump, made a sharp 90 degree bend and then routed across in front of and around the top of the left valve cover where it connects to the rubber line above the intake manifold. The rubber line passed through the rubber anchoring strap and then rolled up and over the top of the left valve cover (behind the spark plug wire separator) and continued on down to the steering box. This was true on cars with or without A/C in both 1965 & '66.

Hope this helps.

Scott

[Scott6T6]

Here are a couple of shots of the '65/'66 driver's side valve cover - stud/nut/rubber strap assembly.

[jtschug]

Wow, that is a very correct engine bay. I never realized the PS hose was supposed to route like that.

[ELTBIRD]

Hi all ... Thanks so much for your input. A wealth of information! First, on the woven heat shield..The Bird's Nest sells it by the foot in 3 different sizes...3/16", 1/4" and 3/8". I ordered some. They suggest slitting it the entire length required and installing it over your wires. Then seal (close it) with thin strips of heat resistant tape or a thin bead of heat resistant glue the entire length. The wire/hose strap material used on the left upper valve cover bolt looks the same as the material on top of the battery shield. I was told that is actually tire wall material. Has anyone seen these available for sale anywhere? If not, it's time to tear into a tire! Thanks again and the pics are very helpfu! Ed

[Scott6T6]

Ed, the rubber strap at the left valve cover is not available anywhere. You'll have to come up with your own substitute. It does look like the rubber straps may have been sourced from old tires, at least I've always believed that was true. Yes, it is much like the rubber strip stapled to the top of the battery heat shield. You're fortunate the stud/nut assembly are still in place on your engine - those are usually missing too.
Glad the pix were helpful.

By the way, the steel power steering line was also secured to the neck of the power steering pump with an adjustable crimp type clamp, unique to that application. It held the steel line in the correct orientation, so it was routed around the face of the left valve cover and connected to the rubber hose above the intake manifold, along the inboard side of the left valve cover. This clamp is another item that too often was lost or discarded by mechanics and is missing from the vast majority of Thunderbird's today. The clamp was used in both 1965 & '66.

[jtschug]

I've been to a lot of Thunderbird shows, and I take pictures of the underhood areas of every 1966 I can. I've been to shows that have very well preserved examples including the Thunderbird reunions at Ford World headquarters in Dearborn, and a couple of VTCI national meets when they were in Michigan. This is the first time in a very long time I've seen something new about the factory installations. Is this car restored, or a very low mileage original?

[Alan H. Tast]

If you're looking for a source of thin cotton-reinforced rubber sheet goods, take a copy of the picture of the strap and try going through remnants of belting at a local rubber supply store or comb through catalogs of places like Steele Rubber or Metro Rubber. I sourced material for splash shields with the cotton fiber strands coming through the rubber from one of these places when restoring my '63 back in the mid-2000s. I suspect they still carry it in small sheets so that you can cut/punch enough material for straps.

[Scott6T6]

I've been to a lot of Thunderbird shows, and I take pictures of the underhood areas of every 1966 I can. I've been to shows that have very well preserved examples including the Thunderbird reunions at Ford World headquarters in Dearborn, and a couple of VTCI national meets when they were in Michigan. This is the first time in a very long time I've seen something new about the factory installations. Is this car restored, or a very low mileage original?

Thanks for noticing jtschug! I have returned this engine bay to factory correct status down to the smallest detail. A good example would be the spark plugs. When I first bought this car it had Motorcraft spark plugs. A Ford service part to be sure, but certainly not factory correct. I replaced them with the period correct NOS AUTOLITE BF 42 spark plugs. I've included a couple photos of these NOS spark plugs below. The spark plug wires are original and they're the earliest version of AUTOLITE wires (no date codes), which were factory installed in VERY late production - June of '66 - Thunderbirds.
My car is unrestored. It has 22,250 actual miles on it. I am the second owner. Low mile, unrestored original survivors is what I'm all about. I've owned several '66 Thunderbirds since the mid 1970s that would fall into that category. I too have been documenting engine compartment details on these cars for nearly 50 years and I have tons of photos as well. Presently I'm working with Alan on the 1964 - '66 OFS revision.

[jtschug]

A bicycle tire might also be a source for a piece of rubber like that.

[ELTBIRD]

Great sourcing info. Thanks guys!