Flight of the Thunderbird

Updates will be coming soon, but this past weekend the Thunderbird Drove around the neighborhood again under it's own power.  We managed to find an error in the Factory Service Manual and Can't help to imagine the countless T-Birds running around there not firing on all cylinders. Probably only applies to those detailed orientated gear heads that read the manual and not just look at the pictures - and goes to show a little common sense and can go a long ways getting cars back on the road.

The clutch plates and torque converter where stuck and not letting us get the car into gear without stalling and I'll tell you about that little trick in an upcoming post.  After a good trip around the town, we were checking to see if the secondary barrels where opening up and a coolant line cut loose and and burned my face and arm pretty good. Luckly I was wearing hat, glasses, and gloves so the injuries where minor, but needless to say the next steps on this project are replaces all the old hoses and vacuum lines.

Following that body work will be getting underway and that is where I hope to have some more insightful post and tutorials being posted here. Along with some other minor maintenance, like suspension/shocks and rebuilding the power steering pump.

Dealing with a car that has been sitting for a while can be a daunting task. The story is always the same- " The car ran fine until it was parked and sat for X years ". You have an old car that reportedly is in good mechanical shape, but doesn't run simply because it has sat too long. Where to start and begin depends on a lot of variables, like exactly how long it sat parked, where it was parked, and the climate. Some times you don't even have the benefit of knowing these factors and your safe bet is to start from the ground up and rebuild.

The steps I am going to be taking on my Thunderbird are the bare minimum needed to give that old engine a fighting chance at being a second chance, with out a complete rebuild.  I've come across these tips and trick over the years from other gear heads, forums, and blogs like this. It is hardly an inclusive list and is not perfect for every situation, but these steps should benefit any vehicle that has sat for a long period of time. I would go ahead and buy the cheapest parts you can for replacements. No sense spending cash on the high end stuff only too find out there is a lot more work that needs to be done than some new wires.

FLUIDS AND FILTERS

1. Drain and replace the gas. Gas can go bad, over time it degrades and is not as combustible and the car will not run well. Given enough time it will oxidize and there will be a varnish film that can gum everything up.  I would take the time to pump it out or drain it and fill her up with a fresh tank of gas.  I like to use SeaFoam time time anyway, and this would be a great time to add it to the tank to help clean up and deposits left from the gas oxidizing. This guys seems to know a lot on the subject

2. Replace the fuel filter. Nobody seems to replace the fuel filter, and I don't know why. It is cheap and easy, and with your gas take empty it is the perfect time to get a new one in there.

3. Drain and replace the oil.  It is undoubtedly gunked up and nasty by now. It was probably due for an oil chance 1000 miles before it sat untouched for all those years anyway.  Once it is drained ad a quart or so of marvel mystery oil in to the crankcase to help clean it out.  You will be replacing the oil again very shortly so go ahead and buy the cheap stuff.

4. Replace the Oil Filter. Goes without saying really. Why would you ever change the oil without the filter too? You wouldn't and shouldn't. They only cost like $5 stop being cheap.

5.  Drain and replace the coolant. I don't actually know  if coolant can go bad, but it is easy enough to do. While your at it take a peak at the thermostat and replace it too.
IGNITION SYSTEM

6. The battery is likely toast. Most all auto parts stores can test and charge your battery - so it is worth a shot. I got luck any the Interstate Battery was still under warranty for the Thunderbird. But you should be prepared to just buy a new one.

7. Cap and Rotor replacement. Chances are really good that Cap has dried up and cracked. Give it a good once over and replace it there is any doubt.

8.  Spark plug wires. These guys might be corroded and dried up. If they feel stiff and hard to bend get new ones.

9. Replace the spark plugs. Probably not necessary as they don't go bad sitting, but you've replaced everything else so why not. Plus you have to take them out for the next step.

MECHANICAL

10.  Pull the spark plugs and squirt a healthy helping of marvel mystery oil in each cylinder.  I used 1/8 quart per cylinder and let that sit over night to work its way into those rings.

11.  Place a towel over the heads and turn the engine over by hand using a breaker bar at the crank pulley. This is just to make sure it is not seized up and moving freely.

12. Now you can turn the car over a 2-3 times for no longer than 10 seconds ( to avoid burning up the starter) this will expel the extra oil and prime the oil.

( some people recommended taking off the valve covers and taking out the dist to prime the oil with a drill - and check to see the oil comes up and is flowing. Not a bad idea at all )

13.  Put the new properly gapped spark plugs in and make sure everything is hooked up.

14. Spray a decent amount of starting fluid into the carb and stand back.  Now you can try to start the motor. It is helpful if you have a remote starting trigger and a fire extinguisher handy, but with any luck the engine will come to life.

15.  Let the engine idle for a bit and make sure to watch the temperature. If you don't have or can't trust the gauge, a laser thermometer pointed at the thermostat housing works well.

16. Tune it up - Article coming soon. Check the timing and idle speed..

17. Coming Soon  - Don't Drive it yet, Few more things to check before it is road worthy.

eBay is pretty much the ultimate source for anything you can't find at wal mart or the grocery store.  It isn't like you can walk into your local Napa and say " Hey, I need that funky peice of sheet metal that is near the front of a 1996 Thunderbird's fender "  Surprisingly, you can find a lot of parts at your neighber autoparts store, but the Ford FE was such a popular engine I imagine it wil be a long time before parts for those get scarce.

I have won about 90% of the parts I need on eBay over the last few days. I am still looking for a bumper and some odds and ends, but over all I am happy with my shopping results.  Some of these parts are in pretty rough shape and will need some work before I can bolt them one, but such is the way with classic cars. There are some companies around that still sell OEM, remanufactored, and NOS parts - but the cost of conviences for picking up the phone and having shiney new parts arive is hard pill to swallow. I have to imainge that if you are the kind of car guy that can order parts through these catalog companies, you are the type that can afford to have someone else call and install the parts for you.  I reserve the right to be completely wrong about that, and feel free to comment here or Tool Kingdom threads if I am miss guided on that.

When the parts arrive I will break down some of the cost and and outline the project a little better here.  The first stage will be to get the motor running so I can move her around a bit. The second will be gettin the front end put back together and all those mangled parts straigtend out. Third stage will be fixing some minor rust spots and prepping the entire body for some fresh paint.  I am sure there will be about 6 or 10 more stages thereafter, and about dozen inbetween stages as I dive in and find other issues and problems.

This build has been slow from the start. I recieved the car in Oct of 08 in a sad state. Flat tires, Wreched front end, and dead as a door nail.

I wish I would have had the presence of mind to start this site from that moment, but I wasn't entirely sure what do or where to start. After all I didn't really know anything about Thunderbirds and never really cared much about Big Blocks of anykind.

I have always wondered how the pros go about rebuilding cars. For me there has to be a love affair with a vehicle to warrent the time and money you can sink into them.  It is really hard to fall in love with a car you've never driven, so my eagerness to start diving into the Thunderbird was non existent.  Not to mention it is cold in Colorado in the winter, and our garage is full of moving boxes so work has to be done outside for now.  Or that we started new jobs and have a baby on the way eating our time.

I have putzed around with the battery as it was the logical place to start with a dead car - but after the guys at interstate battery got it back to life the car was still dead.  I guess it has been sitting for a little longer than I thought.

Fast forward a few months and a new year -

Over the past couple weekends I have diagnosed that the entire ignition system is toasted. Plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor, and coil are all pretty much shot.  These are standard maintainace items so not a big deal, I am cofinident that the motor will run with about $50 of the cheapest parts I can find.  Once we get this motor running and I can move the car around the driveway we can get some more things done and determin where it needs to go from there.

I also tore into the front end. The body is in good condition with only two rotten spots behind the doors, ignoring where the front end hit a light post. More or less the entire drivers side front end needs to be replaced.   I have the entire front end dissasybled and parts orgainzed for repair, paint, and trash.  I get the distinct impression that the Ford engineers never planned for that front end to come appart.  It took me an entire weekend ( spread over about two ) to remove all the bits and bolts.  It didn't help too much I am stuck with hand tools for now. ( I would have killed for an impact and air ratchet )  I mean I only work for the biggest on line tool retailer in the world, ToolKing.com it isn't like I have an excuse here. Actually, I do, but that is a long and boring story.

That is where things are for now, From here on out nothing is getting done without being posted here.  My goal is to entertain and hopeful help other car enthusist by writting and posting videos of a lot of the aspects of auto build ups.  I am not a professional, and this process will take some time - a few parts here and there every paycheck or two - But that is the way most people have to do it. We would all love to drop our cars off with Foose and a briefcase full of money, but where is the fun in that? Blood, sweat, tears, and money are the keys to a real hot rod.

I will also be posting at ToolKingdom, ToolKing.com's community forums. So eventually you might get some good tool advice, reviews, and demostrations. Personally, I can't wait to get to some welding.

Highlighted some of the parts I am still trying to track down

More parts that still need to be found