Vintage Thunderbird Club International

That far back in time, I wonder if the silver metal flake is simply the same aluminum powder that is still mixed with butyrate dope to provide UV protection for fabric covered airplanes? (called silver) Not sure what they used back in the day, but the places where I went thru the red when I was doi...

55blacktie wrote: ↑Mon Dec 07, 2020 11:56 am Thanks, CS, for the photo and additional info. I'll let you know how it works out.

No worries. Good luck!

What specific color is that red paint? The car was painted by Bear's Custom in Inglewood, CA sometime between 1958 and 1959. It's a multi stage lacquer, based with silver and then red candy on top. I would guess from the time it was painted, it was prob something from House of Kolor, but just a gue...

I got a set from Larry's a few months ago. They're listed as turquoise. They look very dark green in the photos and even in person. I even called them thinking I was sent the wrong color, but as soon as you put them in the car, they look like they go well with the 77 code turquoise interior in my '6...

I think if the rear snaps are on the body itself, to the rear of the deck trim, or on the stainless, it won't be long enough, but if it's anywhere on the vinyl covered part, you should be ok. I just looked at mine and there's a little extra at the front, so there may be some play. Basically, if you ...

I'm late noticing this, but yes, the tonneau covers that are sold thru the vendors are long enough. Just ignore the flap that would normally be glued under the rear deck trim or trim it off..doesnt make any difference. My 55 was set up that way, with the snaps on the rear deck piece....theyre not in...

For the fuses, the newer ones common in auto shops and elsewhere are AGC, which are all the same longer length regardless of rating. Vintage cars use SFE, which vary depending on rating, forcing you to use the correct rated fuse. 20A fuses happen to be the same length on both types. Last time I got ...

Glad it's working now. What ended up being the fix? Were you not feeding it a full 12V before or was it the plug wires? I run the Ignitor II in both my '55 and '63 t-birds. For a few bucks more, I like the safety circuitry if you leave the key on, the adaptive dwell (it made a noticeable difference ...

I just had my distributor completely apart to clean, decrust, lube, and recurve on my Sun machine. Are you talking about the post that the plate the points are on pivots on? Not the post the vacuum advance arm is on, right...that one just as a tiny E clip. If the plug wires are the solid core type (...

The ones that came off my '63 looked like that. They just sat at the bottom of the lower tube. As a gravel shield, no idea what it's shielding...the shock rod isn't exposed. Maybe to keep the lower tube from getting dinged up. I left mine off...it'd be easy to put them back on later, but I honestly ...

What plug wires are you running? If they're not spiral core, it'll kill the electronic modules fast, just like you're experiencing. I assume you installed it per the instructions, with the air gap using the little spacer they provide, made sure the magnet ring was pushed all the way down, and made s...

Got the shocks on the other day...getting the old front ones out was a lot of fun from undercoating and crud. I did a quick wire wheel on the lower bracket but didn't go nuts. The fronts were very similar dimension-wise....compressed, the new ones are just a hair longer and a bit longer extended, bu...

I had zero issues in my '55 front or rear. They're direct replacements, so I can't imagine any problem. I've had KYB's of various types in lots of vehicles for at least 20 years and never had a single fit or quality issue.

Chris

I can do that. I've had them on my 55 for about 6 1/2 years and the fit fine. They're not harsh and ride great. Probably a little stiffer than cheapy shocks but hard to compare since the old ones had been long overdue for replacement, like the ones on my 63.

Thank you for the responses. I was finally able to get specs, cross reference and figure it out. Looks like the KYB Excel-G shocks (their softer, more OEM riding shocks than their super firm gas-a-justs) that will work are 344069 for the fronts and 344052 for the rears. Looks like 343219 is a slight...