Vintage Thunderbird Club International

The Shop manual on the 1963 addition section does show you can adjust the screw from the inspection port. If your manual is like mine the photo is not very clear. Karl I dont remember the washer on the end. It was 6 yrs ago. The dirty wiper motor photo is the original as I removed it from the car. T...

I don't think you are going to find any replacement motors easily anywhere. I have never seen them reproduced since I believe this pump is unique to a 63. If yours is bad then the choice is to have it rebuilt. Since the wipers are moving at least your pump is currently somewhat functional. One other...

Jen since you are in the heartland of auto manufacturing there should be a number of local shops that specialize in Antique car restorations and repair that can give you a second opinion. I see there is a Steves Antique auto repair in Wyoming Mi that has good reviews. As far as if you just want to g...

I agree with the previous posts on doing your RESEARCH! The bullet birds typically regardless of year are similar in price with convertibles more expensive than the hard top. You can Google 61-63 Tbirds for sale and get a good idea of what is on the internet and price ranges. Even Kelly Blue book an...

Over the years I tend to get 10-14 MPG. I think that is typical of the 390. I have heard of others getting up to 16 or 17 MPG. That may be on a long cruise downhill! The car wont win any awards for gas economy. In a season I drive less than 1000 miles a year so the total gallons of gas I use is not ...

Ron, a few pumps of the gas and the car fires up cold after sitting a while is what I would call a good day. Generally on the idle screws I have tried a couple approaches. First is to turn them in until the engine starts to die and then back them off a 1/2 turn. The other method is to hook up the va...

Starting your 63 sounds similar to mine. If it sits a week or so it takes a few pumps of gas to get it started. Its a bit rough for about 10 -15 seconds then smooths out. Starting it after it is warm it will start with a quick turn of the key. No extra gas is needed. During warming up there is a cur...

I had my wiper motor rebuilt by Larrys about 6 yrs ago. They had a second party do the rebuild. Whoever it was they did a nice job. I believe these are Trico hydraulic motors. You may want to give Larrys a call to see if they can give you the name of the person who used to rebuilt them. If they are ...

Karl I did a little experimentation that may help out your analysis of the cable. I figured that the cable needs to have enough tensile strength overcome the spring tension of the brake adjusting spring to pull up on the lever when the brake shoes move outward. The spring then pulls down on the leve...

Glad to hear its not just me! With the hood on you cant get your head in there to see. I did try to use some mirrors to no avail . Some day when I decide to take the hood off and do my hinges in the correct cadmium gold color I may find the clamp. Thanks for the tip!

MN63

Its good to see there is a complete assembly now for the plastic PRNDL plate with the horn button already installed. Its a bit of a pain getting the repo button installed properly in an old plate ring plate. kbuhagiar , while you are waiting for the part to arrive a couple more items to check. One i...

I went to check my brake fluid today. I had installed a new dual master that has a jelly jar setup and two clips to hold down the top. I popped one of the clips that is closest to the hood hinge and it fell into what I call the Bermuda Triangle of bullet birds. The area starting at the firewall that...

Karl you will have to post how they work out in your 63. If they work great then how can we in the states purchase "Karl Correct Self Adjusting Brake cables". I am sure we would pay a bit of a premium for a correct cable!

MN63

Steven a couple things about running hot. First to check is your antifreeze with a hydrometer ( can pick up Prestone one at most auto parts dealers cheap- under $10) This will tell you how good your antifreeze is for protection. It should be good for up to 265F. If it is under that changing antifree...

Yes Nice work Karl. I will be interested in seeing how the final product looks and works!

MN63