It’s been over two years since I bought my 1963 Thunderbird, and although an old car owner’s work is never done, I’ve finally reached the point in my ownership tenure where I would call it a “turn key” vehicle. If I feel the pangs of highway withdrawal, I can be assured that the T-Bird will most likely start, run, and get me where I’m going. My dad always comments that it takes me about two years of maintenance and tinkering before I reach that point, and he’s basically correct. He also claims that I buy an old car every two years, which is not statistically accurate, but not wildly exaggerated either. This is a quick update of T-Bird time for 2020.
Winter 2020 brought about the steering box debacle – T-Birds and Continentals shared a steering box that Ford used between 1961 and 1964. My research and discussions with experienced Continental owners exposed the shortcomings of these units as they age; in essence, the steering becomes twitchy and darty, a problem that bench testing does not expose. The first rebuild almost put me into a ditch, a guard rail, and a giant rage. This is also a good time to mention that the steering box on these T-Birds is almost invisible in the engine compartment, and weighs about 40 pounds. Removing and installing one builds character and grows chest hair. People look at you with envy.
I double checked my conclusions with an experienced alignment shop owner, who confirmed that something was amiss in the steering box the first time. The second rebuild is much better, but still a little touchy at higher speeds; it’s acceptable, but the car certainly steered more precisely when new. Until someone builds a new steering gear (unlikely) or I can figure out a way to adapt a different box (expensive and frustrating, with little benefit), it’ll have to do. At the same time I was dealing with all this, I replaced the oil soaked steering box rubber mounts with solid spacers, which are available from Lincoln suppliers, and I rebuilt the rag joint.
Here is a summarized list of what I accomplished in 2020, aside from the steering:
- Rotated tires
- Replaced ignition switch
- Cleaned passenger fenderwell by removing the wheelhouse shield
- Fixed the driver’s side power window, which was sticking – a few bolts were loose on a bracket
- Touched up the drip rails and passenger fender lip with PPG single-stage urethane
- Replaced two heater vacuum servos under the dash after vacuum testing all four
- Cleaned the horn contacts on the steering wheel
- Repaired the blinker self-canceling mechanism, which required shimming a tiny spring
- Replaced the heater core and heater control valve (aftermarket part that didn’t fit very well)
- Rotated a heater hose bracket so the hoses wouldn’t burn on the exhaust manifold
- Adjusted the backup light switch at the base of the steering column
- Replaced the transmission pan gasket (see below)
- Replaced some firewall grommets and seals
- Welded a crack in the inner door caused by the power window motor
- Changed the engine oil, filter, and differential gear oil
The heater core job was more annoying than difficult. First, a portion of the heater box around the blower cage had broken off sometime in the past – I used fiberglass “tiger hair” to reattach it. Second, there are four screws that retain the heater core to the box, and two were unreachable without disconnecting the air box itself from the firewall. If Ford would have used two tabs (think Tab A into Slot B) instead of screws, this could have been an easy two hour job from start to finish. As it was, it took a good part of the day.
Working on cars spreads. Parts and tools find their way from the car and the toolbox until the garage resembles a child’s messy bedroom – “Clean up that mess, Aaron!”
Here is the new heater core attached to the box. Two of the four heater/AC door servos are visible in this picture as well; two of the four no longer held vacuum. As a result, the doors would not open or close correctly, and the driver’s footwell was an inferno on a hot day. In combination with a couple of new firewall seals, my feet are now in far better shape after a long drive.
I also replaced the accessible heater seals. Nobody makes a foam gasket kit for Bullet Birds, so I made a stop at JoAnn Fabric to buy some material to make my own (fabric stores are lifesavers for people who maintain their own old cars). The heater is now more than adequate for cool days; the old heater core had several pieces of rust that would intermittently block the inlet, which was my hypothesis before I disassembled everything. I had tried flushing the core to no avail.
As the summer progressed, the T-Bird started leaving bigger and bigger drops of transmission fluid in the driveway. I’m a firm believer that an old car’s going to leak eventually if you use it as a car, but dime-sized drops (or growing drops) call me to action. The T-Bird was starting to leave silver dollars behind. After adding a little UV dye to the transmission, I found that the pan gasket was bad. This was troubling, because the late previous owner had had the transmission rebuilt (and it certainly was by the looks of things). It’s unfortunate, but the quality of aftermarket parts is not getting better. It’s also possible that someone overtightened the bolts, although I noticed nothing out of the ordinary when loosening the pan.
The rebuilder did seem to use an unnecessary amount of gray goop (RTV?) on the pan gasket. I usually install these dry, with maybe a little chassis grease to hold them in place.
Regarding aftermarket parts: I’m going to include this as an example; this is a tie-rod end from a well-known name brand for my wife’s 2012 Mustang. There’s not much to say when quality control misses this.
I still have work I can and may do on the Thunderbird. The air conditioning needs a complete rebuild, which is not a major priority for me, but as long as it’s there, eventually it will bother me that it doesn’t work. The paint job is third-rate, as is the bodywork, but that kind of thing is what you get in my price range, and I’m not generally bothered by it, so that might be a “someday” job. Problems often pop up with old cars; ownership is akin to playing whack-a-mole. But for now, I hope to see you out on the road. Other than working in the garage, there’s almost no better place to be.
I’ll leave the links to my previous two entries below:
Nice work, Aaron. Looks like it’s been a productive year for you and the T-Bird. A lot of those fixes were things it would be easy to kick the can down the road on, so good for you for knocking them out so that you can enjoy your classic a little bit more.
To be honest, my biggest accomplishment this year (as far as my own old classic goes) has been not spending money on it. Apart from rebuilding the shifter, I’ve done next to nothing. It’s a good feeling when you reach an equilibrium with your old car and feel like you can enjoy it without bleeding more and more money.
Keep enjoying that T-Bird; It’s just going to keep getting older, rarer, and cooler!
Nice work. And thanks for the tip on the fabric store. I never thought of that.
The car is a stunner. May your work pay off in miles of happy driving. Attached is an ad for the 1964 Thunderbird which tells you the message that was being conveyed. Your 1963 reflects this.
1965 – the first year for disc brakes on Thunderbird. We had one back in the day.
I love these cars and Aaron’s Bird is a beauty. Updates are appreciated.
Thanks, Aaron! As a classic car owner and wrencher, I feel your pain!
I too have been disappointed by replacement parts that are of poor quality, don’t fit, or otherwise not a duplicate of the original part (though often not cheap by any means!).
I have been struggling to get the brakes on my 56 Cadillac 60S to stop pulling. I think on that one I have my local mechanic get involved as he enjoys working on the classics when he has time in his shop.
Nice car Aaron! I spent the last half of 2020 doing a front end rebuild/power front disc brake conversion on my Dodge Charger, which, due to unforeseen setbacks took MUCH longer than anticipated! It came to a conclusion and successful first test drive in December (after having stated in July!!) 🙂
As a restorer for over 50 years, I can confirm that the typical fabric store is a great source for more than just upholstery coverings. Another source is a local upholstery shop because even if they only do furniture upholstery, those people not only have lots of remnants on hand, but are familiar with the tricks of the trade, and tools you may have never known existed.
I note you’ve adjusted the back up light switch. If you’re not familiar with the problem of the automatic trans column shifter, this is something to check ASAP. The shifter indent guide that prevent the shift column from moving between selections [park, reverse, neutral, drive, etc] is a cast hard vinyl part that wears with use. The indents that separate the selections, wear to the point that the shifter can SELF SHIFT from park to reverse, WHILE THE ENGINE IS RUNNING.
While this was common to all the full size FoMoCo cars, it’s far more common to the T-Bird and Lincoln cars 1961 to 67. Because of it’s location, this is a time consuming repair.
Anyone who owns or works on these cars should make sure their emergency brake is properly adjusted and capable of preventing the car from moving in reverse, while the engine is at idle and the gear selector is in reverse. The e-brake MUST be used whenever the driver leaves the shifter in Park, with the engine running.
This simple rule can prevent a very costly accident that often causes vehicle damage, garage door replacement, or other vehicle or building damage, from a run-away T-Bird or Lincoln in reverse. I’ve seen what kind of damage can happen when this problem occurs, even the situation where the driver’s door was ripped off it’s hinges when the ’63 Lincoln convertible’s door hit the concrete garage door opening, folding the door 180 degrees before the hinges failed! In that situation, when we picked the car up and brought it to our shop, we realized the driver’s exterior door handle had put a dent in the front fender!
I already rebuilt it, Bill…it was one of the first things I did to the car back in Part I. Thanks for the reminder for anyone with a T-Bird who might read this in the future.
Everyone has their own standards and expectations as to paint quality, and a willingness to go through the effort to upgrade with a repaint. But looking at the photos of your car, the paint is nothing to be embarrassed about, and you can take the car places and not worry about door dings or other small bits of cosmetic damage. Also, have you priced out what a proper metallic blue paint job and bodywork would require for a car such as this one? Ouch!
Over the years, I have realized that when it comes to cosmetics, 95% good with no glaring flaws is generally “good enough”, and all the effort to get it perfect is not worth the time and expense, unless one is entering the car in high-end car shows. The next owner will appreciate your efforts, even as he likely will have had all that work done at a discount to what you put into the car. Mechanicals are another story, and anything less than factory perfect generally justifies the effort, in my opinion.
Pictures make it look better than it does in person, as usual, but it’s a decent 10 footer. If I do the paint, I’ll probably do it myself, but even then, material costs are ridiculous. That will be some years into the future when I have more on-site storage and room to have a car totally disassembled again. Unfortunately, the more cars I buy, the less room I have to do work that is that involved.
Those dashboard shots sure look familiar! I had to do the same repairs on my former ’62 Bird. While easy by todays standards ($2,000 + for a new car to replace a $100 part) It was not a fun job back then.
The Bird’s steering box when in good repair did have a nice progressive feel. IIRC the box had a small torsion bar assembly in it. This twisted with the resistance to turning, varying the power assist.
My car originally came from San Diego and had a University Ford license frame. I bought in Phoenix Az.
A very nice car, and I enjoyed it.
Hope you enjoy yours!
It looks wonderful from here and easily one of the most distinctive and beautiful vehicles to ever roll out of Detroit as far as I’m concerned. This is the car I’d most like to ride in of all of yours, although they are all extremely interesting and I wouldn’t turn any of them down, not even the Dirty Dart. Well, maybe the Focus. Thanks for the update, you’ve been busy!
If you ever make it to Michigan, let me know!
Sweet, fold out the couch, it’s roadtrip time! 🙂 Bummer the schedules didn’t work out during the MichiganMeetup a few years ago. But I’ll be out there again sooner or later.
You make me feel better and better about my decision to give up on my ratty 61. I think that’s really the best description of these cars – it is as much Lincoln as it is Ford.
That heater core replacement is not a job I would want to do. I could always tell that there was not a lot of room behind the dashes on these cars, and this proves it. The addition of air conditioning makes it all the worse.
As a fellow old car lover with five of these creatures I will say good job. Having done lots of work on them I can reliably say, from experience, you should have gotten a 65-68 Mustang. Of all mine it is the easiest one to work on although the 65 F100 isn’t bad. Depends on whether you prefer the front suspension of the F100 or Mustang to rebuild. I would drive either one of them long distances though since there is little to go wrong and little that can’t be fixed. A car, today, not starting is a big deal while the Mustang not starting is a simple problem to diagnose.
Knew someone who had a 64 T-bird which maybe not much easier than yours. His problem is that he bought it as an older car, he liked the design, he liked the idea of classic car cruises, but he knew absolutely nothing on how to work on cars. I would see him now and then and hew would tell me the latest thing that went bad, you or I could fix, but he had to take it in.
Quality of aftermarket parts can be iffy. I decided to replace the power steering hoses on the Park Lane. Well the pressure hose had a double flair that was barely flared and would leak like a sieve if used. Junked it, made my own two hard lines, and took it to a fellow who makes all kinds of hoses for any kind of use.
I already have a ’65 Mustang that’s been in my family since 1968. I’ve been driving it since ’94 and I’ve replaced most of the sheetmetal because it was rusted into the ground – definitely a sentimental job and not an intelligent one. You are correct – it is much easier to work on than the T-Bird, AND parts availability is a thousand times better.
Here’s the car right before I epoxy primed it.
Sort of like my 68 which right right down to bare metal. Difference was I painted every piece separately as all was removed from the car leaving the bare basic shell. Only rust was the battery apron, because of the battery, and the radiator support right in front. Those pieces I removed and put in new ones. Shame I took no pictures of the four year process starting in 1986.
I feel your pain on changing the heater core, pain in the rear. One thing to consider when you change a heater core. A lot of later model vehicles have restrictors in the supply hose to the core. The purpose of the restrictor is to lower the cooling system pressure in the core. The Mustangs and Cougars were no better, probably a little worse. You haven’t had fun until you have done a heater core on the fox platform cars. My first experience was a 78 Futura with A/C. First thing is dump the Freon then drop the steering column and remove the engine dashboard assembly! Now you can remove the HVAC box and open it up to remove the core. If you had a none A/C car it was remove the glove compartment, disconnect the heater hoses, remove about 4-6 screws and you can slip the core out through the glove box opening.
worked on a farm as a teen. Farm work and mechanic work. The farmer had a collection of T-Birds, 57, 61 coupe, 62 roadster, 67 2dr were the nice ones, plenty of others and he had a junk yard of T-Birds and John Deere two cylinder tractors. Also an excellent collection of John Deere twins to get the work done. 520, 730 Diesel, A’s, B’s, a D and a G. The A’s and B’s were a little tricky to use as they were hand start units and it was a skill I never really figured out. I could usually get the B’s going but I don’t recall ever getting a A to go. The 520 and 730 were my favorites for getting the work done.
My cousin just bought my uncle’s JD 730 (I think it’s a 730 – it’s one of the last two-cylinders, a ’60, I believe). My uncle let me drive it once – fun stuff, but the hand clutch took some getting used to.
Looks like you intend to do properly what you can, rather make do and trade on. Good work, good luck and please can I borrow it for an English summer 😉
It’s going to take up a whole English country lane for sure!
This brings to mind the question of which old car (let’s cut the year off at ’80 because vacuum hoses, emission controls and computers) is easiest to work on where all things in general are accessible? Tearing apart a dash to replace a heater core doesn’t appeal to me, not when proper design lets me get to it in the footwell or from the firewall.
Sounds like a QotD, doesn’t it?
Great idea! I’m writing it up now!
1977 through 1979 Thunderbirds had a heater core you could change in 15 minutes.
That is quite a list, lots of little tasks that do add up, and a couple of big ones thrown in for good measure. I’m sure once all was said and done it was very satisfying, even if it required a few choice cuss words along the way.
I remember your post a while back about how the steering was fixed. Out of curiosity I went to the website of the company you said did the second, successful, rebuild, and I saw that their price for that box was $775. That situation would frustrate hell out of me even in a hobby car. I was reminded of why my daily driver is a Honda Civic.
Yeah, but that cost included a core and shipping for the core. I had a couple of boxes lying around, so I think my total ended up being more like $425, which is still a lot of course.
Aaron, re the twitchy steering, what alignment figures are you running? I wonder if more positive caster is required.
I’ve cranked in about as much as the car’s design will allow, which is only about zero degrees. The original specs were 3/4 to 2 degrees negative! Still, it’s got enough not to be twitchy; that’s all the caster I can get in a few of my cars.
Hi Aaron, I have a ’63 T-Bird that I’m presently working on for my son. I have replaced everything from the steering box (Mac’s Auto Parts) to all suspension and steering components. I have also replaced the drum brakes with disc brakes on the front. I just picked up my car (after the front end rebuild) from the alignment shop. The steering is still sloppy and dangerous (IMO) around curves. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. I don’t know what else could be causing the oversteer and slop in the steering. Thanks
Hi Ben,
First, I’ll assume you’re accustomed to the way an old car feels, and that the steering is sloppier than that. Almost all old cars feel exponentially “looser” than a new car does.
Second, did your shop set the front end alignment to factory specifications? Those were OK for bias ply tires, but can be improved for radials. I try to set all old cars with radials at 0* camber, as much positive caster as I can get (with power steering cars), and about 1/16″ toe-in. The toe-in and caster will make the most difference. If they set toe-in to factory specs, you probably have too much.
Assuming everything was done properly and the alignment is set to radial tire specs, I would look at the steering box mounts. They were originally made of rubber and degrade quickly (because of the inevitable oil leaks from everywhere as a car ages). I replaced mine, as I mentioned in the text, with solid spacers I got from Brewer Classic Lincoln in Colorado.
If those are new, I think you have the same problem I have: the steering box. I talked on the phone at length with an older gentleman with a ton of experience with Continentals of this era (same box), and he said that he’s had to throw away more rebuilt steering boxes than I would believe. His hypothesis is that as the spool valve ages, it wears enough to cause indecision and imbalance in the steering. Mine is still a little twitchy with a rebuilt box.
If this is the case with yours, a few places sell rebuilt boxes, but nobody sells a new one. I got mine from Advantage Steering in California. It’s OK but not perfect. I’ve heard good things about RedHead boxes, but they are really expensive – AND it looks like they’re out of stock right now. I wish there was an easier answer!
The strange part is that I see very few references to this problem on the Thunderbird Club forum, but of course, that’s a very low percentage of total ownership.
Thanks Aaron, I did replace the mounts and everything listed on the post. I will check out Red Head and see what I can find. I’m also finding posts about the rag joint being a possible issue. I didn’t replace it as it appeared to be intact. Any speeds above 40 mph and the car drives like a pontoon boat…
Thanks again for the reply.
Your question has me researching whether or not anyone’s tried a rack-and-pinion conversion on one of these. Unfortunately, nobody makes a kit, and I don’t know if I’m game to try fabricating one, although that may be our only choice at some point. Good luck!