Vintage Thunderbird Club International

Bring a Trailer recently had a 55 (I think) that was a bitza (bits of this, bits of that) car that had various mismatched parts from 55 thru 57 on it. One of the persons making comments noted that the frame was off a 57. The 57 is the only car I have had off the frame so I have a reasonably fresh me...

I am 98% sure that you will also have to remove the turned alum. strip full left to right.

If your pad is anything like the one I used (I hope not) there is an incredible amount of trimming/sanding/blending/cursing that will be required to Make the dash pad work and look good. I had the dash out of the car and it was still bad. Areas where the foam should have feathered out to nothing lea...

Jimntempe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2024 6:59 pm Most of the 57's I've seen, including mine, have a slight upward tilt at the back edge. My guess is it's from changing tires back in the day with that bumper jack and it's bent things up.

Jim, That makes sense.

Thanks Rusty:

I will try some beveled washers as you suggested. Anything beats the take it off, bend, then repeat!

Thanks Ward!
Sure hope I can get 8 deg. out of it by just rotating the brackets without having to do the dreaded "heat & bend, heat & bend,........."

I have seen 57's with the angle of the rear bumper from pointing up to pointing way down looking from the side of the car. Is the "correct" angle having the bottom/top bumper halves join line being horizontal?

David Tulowitzky keeps a registry of 55-57 T birds that will allow you to estimate (by doing a little math) the approximate number of 56's made with this color combination. He would appreciate it if you would send him your data plate information which he may, or may not, have in his registry. I got ...

Rusty57 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2024 9:07 pm I suggest that you get a copy of the 1955 Thunderbird Body, Trim, and Sealant manual.

The above is a really good idea.

Steering Box in good shape?

Oldguy: That doesn't look like a basket case to me, paint & body look awesome to be 10yrs old! Can't help with a nearby car but the following books/flash drives should help: 1949-1959 Ford car Parts & Accessories (Text & Illustrations), flash drive $21 (about 1,800 pages in total); 1955-...

May be a long shot but is the brown wire that goes to the coil on the "battery" side of the starter solenoid; Red w/ blue stripe on the starter side of the solenoid?

Nice job Splash!

Did you use the zip tie method discussed by MarkR or the near impossible hog ring method to tie the wires together and then tie the sub-assembly to the frame?

I just redid a 57 seat bottom using zip ties and it so much easier.

Icon: Yes, I have watched that video many times and if you look one or two minutes in it shows the install of this seal. In fact, it is the first reassembly work he does. He doesn't mention "lip in" or "lip out" but to my eyes he does install the seal "lip in". The 55 s...

Thanks Hiampen & Paul: There is no double lip on the seal and I do have power steering. I did not know that the needle bearings tend to move at the limits of travel L & R but can check that pretty easily before the re-install of the seal. I did check the sector shaft in the general location ...