Old Bird, New Build

[truesteve]

Love the forum, great posts, great group
Motor is out of my 61 getting ready for the rebuild - 81,000 miles. Here's a short list of items stashed in the trunk awaiting assembly;

100 Amp tuff stuff 1 wire alternator, HV Chrome fuel pump, Edelbrock RPM performer manifold, Edelbrock 1406-600 cfm elec choke carb, Edelbrock water pump, FPA headers, ARP intake bolts, ARP Head bolts, Harmonic balancer, Pertronix coil, Pertronix electronic ignition, Melling high volume oil pump, pick up and drive shaft, Milodon windage tray, Keyser Oil cooler and trans-dapt adapter
Comp Cams 275DEH cam & lifters, ford racing valve springs, POP rocker shaft end stands and cam thrust plate, 3000 cfm zirgo pusher rad fan, gaskets, timing set.

Hoping to re-use rotating assembly. Bearings and rings will be purchased after disassembly and measurements. Hoping to limit machining costs and head work. I want to use stock C1AE heads, but may end up with edelbrocks if stocks require machine work. I have a rebuilt set of C8AE-H, but legend has it C1AE's are better (FE Forum)

Still trying to purchase the trans-go shift kit for the rebuilt cruise-o-matic, dealers listed don't carry it. Anyone have a line on a dealer that carries it?

Chassis will get cut front springs, HD sway bars, and disc set up (still weighing options of complete kits) Any suggestions of complete bolt on kits? Will use speed disc covers until brakes are complete and new wheels purchased.

Original Cali car so only rust was rear cowl behind window, minimal dings and ripples.

Interior fried, hard to find med green (code 53) interior carpet and covers. Dash and armrests will end up being a dye job. Love the stock interior...will fit a tach and quad guage into stock locations. Have a stock donor electric seat I might install, Might add AC (have stock donor parts)

Hoping to be on the road by summer 14. Any way to add photos from harddrive, or do I have to go to a web address? Insert image: [img]http://image_url[/img] (alt+p)

Looking for feedback, comments, questions, ideas, warnings and drama[/img]

[60fore]

Welcome! To add pics to your posts you must have them hosted on a site such as Photobucket or Flickr. Instructions on posting them here can be found in the "Forum How-To's" section of the forum.

For the Cruiso shift kit you might try Broader Performance. As for the disc brake conversion kit, if you look in this section of the forum you will find much discussion of this topic. People have tried several brands of kits with varying degrees of success. Good luck with your project!

[novanutcase]

Sounds like you have it pretty much covered.

Are you looking to mod the driveline but keep the aesthetics stock? I ask because I did a tach project a while back that worked out pretty good that you may want to attempt.

I think Ron had worked out some sort of deal with a brake company to sell a bolt on kit for your car. Look through the forum. It shouldn't be to hard to find the thread.

John

[truesteve]

..has chosen to stop stocking anything cruise-o-matic according to an email I got from them this week. I have tried the links for dealerships on the trans-go web site and haven't found an easy order for the parts. I will have to call each, and maybe even try to find a "check" to send through the mail to get one. I haven't used checks or payment by mail in almost 20 years.

I'll search the forum for disc brake kits. I have read quite a few of the post on disc brake installs, it seems that most are either pieced together from later year birds, granadas, or a hodge podge of different manufactures (almost like building a hot rod) It seems the thrill of digging through salage yards, and spending weeks/months trying to locate stuff has left me. Love to build, ain't got the time.

I saw your (John) post on the tach install, have the link saved on my Tbird link page. I allready have my donor clock housing/bezel on the bench. Just looking for the right unit to jam into it. Speedhut has a nice 4 1/2 in blck faced tach and quad guage that I think would squeeze in the space nicely, kinda spendy though.

The rest of the drive line upgrades will have to come after I am rolling. Might want to go to 3.50 or 3.70 gears if the smell of rubber from Pacific Raceway (1.86 miles from my door to the tree) beckons me to try and break things. If this sickness overtakes me, I'll be forced to go with a C6, up the carb cfm, as well as other expensive mods in the quest of a wheelie (every hot wheel I ever owned was able to do it, why not a 4200+ lb Bulletbird)

Exterior looks of a bulletbird are the reason I own one. Can't think of much to improve it. New white paint, maybe ghost pearl scallops, nice 17 or 18 in five spoke rims. Maybe an eyebrow shave on my donor hood and NACA inlet to the scoop...but that wouldn't help my goal of a spectre dual air plenum (with a Tbird emblem on it of course) with 4 in tubes to the inside pair of headlights. And I know it only works over 100 mph, but is RAM AIR on a Bulletbird, and I haven't seen it yet.

I'll try and stick some fotos on a web sight for uploading...

Thanks for the replies

[edpol]

The cam you're going to use may not provide enough vacuum for the brakes. Check out the Hydroboost installation by Ozbird. I'll eventually go with hydroboost, (anc AC) but not until I get to the interior and remove the dash. It'll be easier then.
With all that work to the engine, I'd also go with a 4 piston caliper conversion. I drove two Bulletbirds with single piston conversions. One used metric calipers, and I was surprised at how much better it was than the drums. The other used calipers found on GM's and Chrysler products. IIRC, the guy said the pistons were 2 15/16". It stopped much better than the metrics, but still not as good as I remember my '66 Continental was.

[truesteve]

Edelpol...I have followed the hydroboost install. I get a little nervous when improvements are using words like "touching the exhaust" and "1/4 inch of clearance". I guess I'm hoping for a complete disc brake package that not only stops well, but also is of a reduced size and easily fits into the space available. I have been avoiding alot of research into the task for fear of trying to engineer a solution. I did get a Summit vacuum can to help offset the thump of a better cam, but I'm afraid your predictions are going to manifest themselves when I try to stop at the first corner. I also agree that anything less than 4 pistons squeezing would leave me wanting. It sure would be nice to install a brake solution under the hood while the engine is out on the stand. Would be better than hunched over skinning knuckles and teaching my kids "new" bad words. I'll keep my ear to the ground and share any good news if I run across the easy $1500 braking solution, until then I'll keep using the Fred Flintstone method....

[edpol]

Do some more research into the '65-'66 conversion. I sold the few conversions I experimented with, in order to finance the Tbird conversion. The hubs seemed to be hardest to find, but now I discovered they're available from the vendors used. The spindles are posted on ebay fairly often, but I suspect they're also sold by the vendors.
I do feel a single caliper conversion is adequate for local driving, and would stick with it if I planned to keep the car.
However, I don't plan on keeping this car more than a year after I finish, and feel the bigger brakes are a better selling point, especially since no adapters of any kind are required. It looks bone stock. Finding 15" wheels that fit could pose a problem, but since you're going with 17 or 18" wheels, I suspect there is no problem at all. I'm going to test 15" Camry wheels from the '90's this week. In pics they look like they may fit without interference from the KH calipers. If so, they make for an inexpensive spare tire.
Motor Trend did tests in 1969 for the top 3 luxury cars -Lincoln Continental, Cadillac Coupe DeVille, and Chrysler Imperial. 60-0 distance was 110 ft. for the 4915 lb. Continental with 4 pot KH calipers, 117 ft. for the 4982 lb. Imperial with 4 pot Budd calipers, and 150 ft. for the 4595 lb. Caddies with single piston calipers.
30-0 distances were 19 ft. for the Chrysler, 26 ft. for the Lincoln, and 29.2 ft. for the Caddy.
Not bad for the Lincoln and Chrysler. On all three cars, the rear brakes were drums, and they had bias ply tires.

[truesteve]

I got the heads off last night. Maintenance records from 1964 show that they have never been off. Heat riser valve on the right manifold looks like it has been stuck/rusted partially closed for a while. The last 2 bolts in the manifold on that side twisted right off. Broken bolt boss on the manifold right above the heat riser valve, and it just so happens that the back 2 cylinders on that side were my 2 low compression cylinders. Didn't see any blow by on the head gasket, or between cylinders, exhaust valves look pretty toasted on those 2 cylinders. Guess that stuck heat riser valve was adding some extra heat buildup in that area.
Looks like a dry scorcher here in the Seattle area this weekend (no rain and 40) so maybe I'll get a chance to test out my new pressure washer and get some bench space cleared off for the teardown.

[RedBird64]

"Dry scorcher"
Remember last weekend? It was supposed to be dry so I planned on taking the Bird out. Wrong! It was wet all weekend.

Good luck with your heads Steve. I ended up just getting the Edelbrocks because mine needed everything.

Scott

[truesteve]

I keep leaning toward edelbrocks with every broken bolt and burnt valve I see. T-Bird Headquarters has a pair for $1500 (+ change), Looks like the lowest price on complete heads I've seen (beats Summit by $100). Either that or throw the rebuilt C8AE's I already have, and spend $500 on a nitrous sytem to tickle the old 390's pistons.
I'll say a prayer for that good weather...least we are not in the N/E...Brrrrr

[RedBird64]

The only down side of the Edelbrocks is they want you to use adjustable rockers for some reason. So I got some 1.76 ratio rollers but I really question why this is needed. Those danged rollers are kinda noisy!

Scott

[truesteve]

Old Bird has been sitting way too long. Can't seem to find the time to devote to the resto mod. I found a place in Auburn WA (Scott Performance) that will rebuild my C1AE heads with the new stainless 2.09/1.65 valves from Alex's parts, for about $350 a head. I'll do a little port cleanup/smoothing. I'll take the heads down this week to start. I should be able to have rebuilt, decent flowing heads for under $1000. They will still weigh a bit more than the edelbrocks, but who's counting weight on a 4200+ car with electric seats and A/C. Besides. I think my visions of the Old Bird with the front wheels in the air must remain in my fantasy file. If I can squeeze close to 400 HP out of her off the bottle (maybe a few more on the bottle), I'll be a happy camper!

[novanutcase]

Old Bird has been sitting way too long. Can't seem to find the time to devote to the resto mod. I found a place in Auburn WA (Scott Performance) that will rebuild my C1AE heads with the new stainless 2.09/1.65 valves from Alex's parts, for about $350 a head. I'll do a little port cleanup/smoothing. I'll take the heads down this week to start. I should be able to have rebuilt, decent flowing heads for under $1000. They will still weigh a bit more than the edelbrocks, but who's counting weight on a 4200+ car with electric seats and A/C. Besides. I think my visions of the Old Bird with the front wheels in the air must remain in my fantasy file. If I can squeeze close to 400 HP out of her off the bottle (maybe a few more on the bottle), I'll be a happy camper!

Hopefully there's no "BOOM!" after you press the joy juice button!

John

[truesteve]

It's been WAY TOO LONG since I have worked on the old bird. I got out this weekend and pulled the seats and carpet. (No floorboard rust!) I have new carpet, foam and seat covers waiting. In disassembling the seats I discovered the original build sheets (1 in the front & 1 in the back). I carefully pulled them out and photo copied them and stored them in a safe place. I'm recovering some seats from a 63 parts car I have so I will have the fancy shiny metal trim on the side and lowers. I will install the new sound deadening material (self sticking air duct installation from Home Depot, a LOT cheaper than dyna-mat) and route the wire for the trunk mount battery prior to installing the carpet. The main reason for relocating the battery is...(pause for effect)... RAM AIR! I have a dual outlet low profile Spectre air plenum, aluminum tubes w/inline airfilters, headlight funnels and screens. My extra light buckets will be sacrificed to the gods of forced air and the remaining (outboard) lights will pull double duty high/low beam. I can already hear the purest winding up their "why do you want to do that" arguments... Bring It! For the same reason that Ford put a 429 Boss motor in a Mustang when clearly the 200 CI six was capable of exceeding the national speed limit...BECAUSE WE CAN! It's a THUNDERBIRD...not a whisper-bird, and not a left wing limp wristed Prius. Let the THUNDER be heard! I'm seriously considering a 3 inch exhaust with oval tubing under the pan to keep what little clearance exists. It will have to be a self weld, but if carried through, should add to the THUNDER of my Bird. I'll start posting pics of the build if I'm ever inclined to join an online photo posting site. The saga continues......

[62birdman]

Sounds like you are going beast mode. I use the Spectre system on one of my cars, it looks intimidating and works even better. Hope to see some pictures.