Vintage Thunderbird Club International

Hi! 2 times when ive been driving my 65 in warm weather, the engine has begun to stumble and misfire on hard throttle. The engine is rebuilt this winter, and i did a ultra-sonic cleaning on the Edelbrock 1406 at the same time. My theory is that i get too lean when the secondarys open, due to the ru...

Hi Folks, I’ve been tweaking the timing to try and get it to run right and I’ve had sort of odd issue I wanted run by you all. First, I noticed the engine revs accelerate as soon as I put the air cleaner/ filter and lid on. Is this normal? Second, I timed her at about 6-7degrees before TDC with RPM...

Hello from south Florida all! I did not see an introduction section; maybe missed it so my apologies. I recently acquired a nice black 65 bird, 390ci with working factory air, sitting on beautiful Foose wheels; according to title previously a PA car. I believe the car was originally Patrician Green...

Hi Folks, First post here and a nearly new '66 Tbird convertible owner. My Tbird is hard to start but runs sweet when warmed up. Warm starts are no problem. Im in the UK and summer time temps are mild. I think i've identified multiple issues with my 4100 carb. At first i thought it was my starting ...

Hey there Londonbird, please send pictures when you can to chronicle the process.

64ZCODE

Check out auction results for TBirds on bringatrailer.com.

Hi all this is my first post on the forum regarding a 1965 with a 390 that I’ve been slowly tinkering with for a few years now. The engine had been running rich and a little rough since I got the car and I recently sent the carb in (mail order) for a full rebuild. After putting the rebuilt carb bac...

Hey jtschug, welcome to California. Check out the Bay Area Thunderbird Owners Club: https://www.batoc.org/ I'm down in the Santa Cruz which is about 50 miles south of Livermore more or less. Around here there is the Monterey Bay Classic Thunderbird Club: http://montereytbirds.com/ I've been to local...

A vacuum advance can be run off of either ported or manifold vacuum. I've run my '64 both ways and have found that running the vacuum advance off of manifold vacuum provides noticeably better throttle response. An engine needs the most advance when running under lean conditions, i.e. when idling (th...

Youngheuvito, since the problem occurs when you are stopping the car, there are a couple of other possible causes to consider if correcting the vacuum advance hookup doesn't resolve the issue. One possibility is that the brake booster is leaking vacuum when you step on the brakes, possibly due to a ...

Hey guys. The "old school", no cost way to raise the rear end is to flip the rear leaf spring shackles, increasing the distance from the spring to the frame.

Doug

So on my '64, after re-doing the brakes and adjusting them, and with a new single master cylinder which I bled after installing it, the brake pedal depresses less than an inch before the brakes actuate. Before I did all that, the old master cylinder was leaking into the booster, and I wasn't getting...

To eliminate the "notchy" feel when turning the steering wheel, try adding a conditioner to the power steering fluid. Lucas makes a product I've used on older cars and it can work wonders. The steering wheel doesn't come back to center because the suspension has so little castor, like a sh...

Power valves open in response to falling vacuum in the throat of the carb, which is what happens when you step on the gas pedal. My understanding is that a larger number power valve opens sooner (i.e. in response to less of a vacuum decline) but does not deliver a higher flow of gas than a lower num...

What Stubbie said. But also, inspect all four wheels and make sure the brake linings and drums are in good condition and properly adjusted. These old TBirds are heavy cars, and if the brake shoes and drums are glazed or scored, or out of adjustment, it can make a significant difference in the amount...