Engine Compartment Detail

[ICON 1956]

Thanks to everyone that gave me advice about the details on what color the Air cleaner, Valve covers and placing decals should be here is a picture of before

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picture after please note I haven't received the Keep "fingers clear" decal yet! according to the Original Factory Spec's vol 4 I will be placing it lower than near the top of the fan shroud

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anything else I need to do?....

[60fore]

Looks very nice ICON! A few suggestions though:

- The previous placement of the "Caution - Fan" decal was correct

- Tower style clamps were used on the radiator hoses rather than worm-gear clamps

- Master cylinder lid and oil filler cap should be semi-gloss black

- Order one of the repro radiator caps from a T-Bird vendor, they look much more authentic than those ones with the lever

- This generation of Bird did not use a hold-down bracket over top of the battery. Repros of the formed sheet metal clamp and carriage bolt that were used on the lower driver's side of the battery are available from the vendors.

Tend to that stuff and you'll be ready for underhood judging at any VTCI event!

[ABQTBird]

ICON,
It is looking much better.

I spy something wrong with your vacuum canister. I do not see the nipples at the top. It looks to me as if it is in upside down.

[redstangbob]

ICON, have you bought the 61-63 OFS? it's available for sale in the country store to VTCI members. With all the money you've spent so far, that seems like a great value for a small price, and you wouldn't have to wait for others to pick apart your pictures. good luck, Bob C

[ICON 1956]

To answer the question YES I have the OFS booklet! Thanks for your input you are correct that the vacuum canister IS mounted upside down, So I quickly went back in the garage to correct it.

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as for the placement of the CAUTION decal the vtci original factory spec shows that it should be placed at a lower area:I have a new one ordered so please tell me were to place it EXACTLY!

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Now for the radiator cap this came with the car:

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ok our vtci factory spec's shows a Rotunda radiator cap just like the one I have:

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[ABQTBird]

Here are a couple of more things I noticed:

I do not see bolts to the rear of the fan shroud cover. Are you missing your fan shroud, or just those two top bolts? They should be 5/16-24 x 1/2 held in with a j-nut on the shroud. That exact bolt is hard to find, but there are substitutions that will work. Jim Wulf covered this in a recent Scoop article. Let me know if you want more details.

Where did you get the Rotunda radiator cap? It's only rated 4lbs. The one you removed was 13lbs. You may want to get the plain zinc ones that are rated 14lbs from a T-Bird supplier. The higher pressure will increase your boiling point and cooling efficiency. You can see the difference with this chart. I looked up Mokena, IL and you are at 700' elevation. A 4lb cap will protect you to about 223ºF whereas a 14lb cap will get you closer to 245ºF, a substantial difference.

[60fore]

Re: Placement of the fan decal. The line in the OFS book points to the general area but you can see the outline of where the decal should be placed on the "hump" of the radiator shield. It would be impossible to place the decal lower down on the shield as the center bolt would be in the way.

As for the radiator cap it wasn't clear from your original picture what brand it was so I assumed it was one of those generic replacements.

[ABQTBird]

I think this is the cap that you want. These are 14psi caps.
http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_thund ... 58-66.html
Here is one from Concours Thunderbird: http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll ... Z50000051d

As for the placement of the fan shroud decal, I had a lot of trouble getting mine on without it wrinkling on the bottom, so bad in fact, that I tore it off and got another one. I had to place it very close to the lip above it. This picture is from a document that Jim Wulf sent me that shows the NOS decal at top and repro below. Notice the difference in height vs. width. Just keep that in mind when installing it.

[eb88]

Looking good ICON! Some great tips here

[Alan H. Tast]

as for the placement of the CAUTION decal the vtci original factory spec shows that it should be placed at a lower area:I have a new one ordered so please tell me were to place it EXACTLY!

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As others have noted, the outline for the decal is shown on the shroud: the line did not get extended all the way to the decal. I prepared these drawings in 1990-1991 and this is the first time I recall someone calling it into question in the nearly 25 years they've been in in the Concours Rules/Original Factory Specifications. That's why there's also photos elsewhere in the section of fan shrouds with the decals in place.

Now for the radiator cap this came with the car:

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ok our vtci factory spec's shows a Rotunda radiator cap just like the one I have:

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The Rotunda cap in the OFS is from my personal collection (I actually had it on a '63 Galaxie I used to drive back in the early '90s), very beat up but still providing an illustration of an original one when no others were available. This is the first time I've seen a picture of a like-new Rotunda pressure cap. Personally, I'd use one of the reproduction two-ear caps and keep the Rotunda one set aside for conversation purposes at a show, but then again I suffer from OCD when it comes to this kind of thing.