1966 Thunderbird Restoration

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Auto Anatomy
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:40 pm

1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Auto Anatomy »

Hey everyone!

So my father has been looking for a 64-66 Thunderbird for a long time, and really wanted to do another Father-Son project. So I've been looking for the last few months for something worthwhile.

I came across a bunch of cars for sale, but for some reason or another, they didn't work out. Either the seller flaked out or they wanted too much, but I found a car listed on Facebook that appeared to fit the bill. I messaged the sender and they responded saying they still had the car for sale, but a couple people were ahead of me in looking at it. Bummed, I accepted that the car was probably gone. But they reached out to me again saying they wanted us to look at the car, so I loaded up the trailer and took off towards Canon City, CO.

The gentleman that originally owned the car used it for his daily driver, and pulled it into the garage in 1988. He subsequently passed away, and the car sat protected for 30+ years. His children wanted to clean up the property, and put the car up for sale. They put new tires on the car but had not tried to start it.

So we got the car, and here's the plan. We want to get it up and running properly, and take it across the country from Colorado Springs, CO to Memphis, TN along Rte 66 (as much as possible). We want to hit as many of the classic Americana places as possible, taking pictures along the way.

If you're interested, here's a little video documentation about the build.

Hope you enjoy,

Sean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtuBsRHghQE
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sseebart
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by sseebart »

I'm impressed with that old 4100--still in pretty good shape. I imagine you've got a pretty long checklist before taking on a long road trip. What's next?

~Steve
Auto Anatomy
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Auto Anatomy »

Steve,

Thanks for the reply. Certainly there are a lot of systems to go through, but now I'm going through the brakes. It looks like the master cylinder is leaking, so It'll get replaced/rebuilt. Then I need to work on suspension and replacing all the miles of vacuum hoses.

Sean
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sseebart
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by sseebart »

Auto Anatomy wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:18 pm Steve,

Thanks for the reply. Certainly there are a lot of systems to go through, but now I'm going through the brakes. It looks like the master cylinder is leaking, so It'll get replaced/rebuilt. Then I need to work on suspension and replacing all the miles of vacuum hoses.

Sean
Sounds about right, though don't forget the steering column. It's a rare bird that doesn't have sloppy shifting and/or fails to stay in park.

~Steve
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Alan H. Tast
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Alan H. Tast »

sseebart wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:34 pm
Auto Anatomy wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:18 pm Steve,

Thanks for the reply. Certainly there are a lot of systems to go through, but now I'm going through the brakes. It looks like the master cylinder is leaking, so It'll get replaced/rebuilt. Then I need to work on suspension and replacing all the miles of vacuum hoses.

Sean
Sounds about right, though don't forget the steering column. It's a rare bird that doesn't have sloppy shifting and/or fails to stay in park.

~Steve
Auto: You've been warned about this on the HAMB. Do a 'Search' in the upper right corner for 'shifter lever detent' and see what turns up.
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
projo198
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Location: Kansas City

Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by projo198 »

Watched your video, sounds great! I also recently got my 65 running from decades of sitting, what a great feeling! I am also feeding it a regular diet of Marvels and will eventually change the oil again before trying my first spin around the block. Need to do the brakes first.
Auto Anatomy
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Auto Anatomy »

Alan H. Tast wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 2:39 pm
sseebart wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:34 pm
Auto Anatomy wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:18 pm Steve,

Thanks for the reply. Certainly there are a lot of systems to go through, but now I'm going through the brakes. It looks like the master cylinder is leaking, so It'll get replaced/rebuilt. Then I need to work on suspension and replacing all the miles of vacuum hoses.

Sean
Sounds about right, though don't forget the steering column. It's a rare bird that doesn't have sloppy shifting and/or fails to stay in park.

~Steve
Auto: You've been warned about this on the HAMB. Do a 'Search' in the upper right corner for 'shifter lever detent' and see what turns up.
I’ll certainly check this out ASAP. Thanks for the good information.

Sean
Last edited by Auto Anatomy on Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Auto Anatomy
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Auto Anatomy »

projo198 wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 3:10 pm Watched your video, sounds great! I also recently got my 65 running from decades of sitting, what a great feeling! I am also feeding it a regular diet of Marvels and will eventually change the oil again before trying my first spin around the block. Need to do the brakes first.
Awesome and congratulations! It is a good feeling to get one back running again!

Sean
Rt.146
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Rt.146 »

I have a 1966 in its third year of repair, my next step was taking it to a car spring outfit, to have the leaf spring bushings replaced and to see if the coil spring insulators need replacing. I got side tracked with a dead starter, the top screw behind the manifold, sad, very sad to remove, the other two are not much better, I found once the starter was loose to undo the brace under it, doing so, if you are not a puzzle master will make the removal, easy. The starter is Ford, original or not I don't know, I will ask the repair shop people what they think.
Auto Anatomy
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Auto Anatomy »

RT.146,

I haven't started on the suspension yet, but that's coming soon. I have a couple of bent pushrods (ugh) and need to replace the brakes next.

Then, it's on to the suspension and hopefully the 1st drive in 30+ years.

Thanks for the encouragement,

Sean
stubbie
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by stubbie »

Fe's are known for bending push rods if they have been sitting for long periods of time. I don't know if you did this but before starting, did you put some oil in the cylinders and crank it over by hand a dozen time first? Looking at your video you didn't appear to.
Auto Anatomy
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Auto Anatomy »

No, I didn't turn it over by hand first...totally slipped my mind.

Anyway, here's the next installment. One step closer to the first drive in 30+ years.

Sean

https://youtu.be/ujiEKDjH2iY
Rt.146
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Rt.146 »

Auto Anatomy wrote: Wed Feb 26, 2020 1:37 pm RT.146,

I haven't started on the suspension yet, but that's coming soon. I have a couple of bent pushrods (ugh) and need to replace the brakes next.

Then, it's on to the suspension and hopefully the 1st drive in 30+ years.

Thanks for the encouragement,

Sean
I'm going to ask a question if a mechanic asked you, you would probably just leave, how do you determine if the push rods are bent?
jtschug
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by jtschug »

Pull the rocker covers and look at them.

If you are rebuilding an engine and want to reuse push rods, roll them across a mirror, even small bends will show up as a wobble in the mirror as it rolls
1966 Thunderbird Convertible (Emberglo / White-Emberglo)
Modified 428 - stroked, rollercam, aluminum top end, headers
Livermore, CA
Rt.146
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Re: 1966 Thunderbird Restoration

Post by Rt.146 »

jtschug wrote: Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:21 am Pull the rocker covers and look at them.

If you are rebuilding an engine and want to reuse push rods, roll them across a mirror, even small bends will show up as a wobble in the mirror as it rolls
I have planned to take off the rocker covers to clean up and paint them, I'm not rebuilding the engine, yet (I have replaced the water-pump, fuel pump,timing chain and gears, belts, had the starter rebuilt and new cables) when taking off the rocker arm, and replacing the push rods if necessary, is it necessary to re-gap the rocker arm?
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