1965 Pro-touring thunderbird

[mrg7243]

Hi, My mom has a 1965 thunderbird, its 100% original, when we bought it it was sitting in a garage for 15+ years occasionaly being pulled out of the garage and maybe driven but it has seen better days the drivers side suspension is lower than the passengers, motor has crazy-rust all over it, cant tell what gear the transmission is in, when it is in gear cant feel shift, and loads more. the problem is once we rplace a much needed part the car becomes un-original. So I was wondering has anyone ever done a pro-touring thunderbird. If so please post about(perferribly with pics)

Thanks,
MAtt

[69496]

Can't say that I have seen one myself but I think you could have the beginnings of a great pro-tourer. You don't need someone else to do it before you can.

[BA.]

I've seen them 'hot rodded' plenty of times,....but never really set up with Pro-touring.

I'm a BiG fan of the 64-66 Birds, I think you should PT it.
Originality is over-rated.

[BIGX69]

[blown9746]

wasn't g-force working on one awhile back?

[shmoov69]

I've always seen then customed, but never PT'd..... Sounds killer! They have awesome lines.

Somebody do a photochop!!

[hdesign]

Cool project. I've had a bullet-bird (61-63) PT car in my head for quite a while and I've actually been working with one of the Street Rodder editors on his 66 over the past few months. Very cool cars to begin with and I think, they'd make a great G-Machine with the right combo of parts.

[mrg7243]

were not sure if we want to go the protouring route yet, or what we want to do. Just looking around for good ideas. Also, how much expeirience would it take to build one, as i have only very basic welding, and fabrication skills. Could someone do a photoshop for me???(photos are attached) The color is a chapagne pink

[novanutcase]

I dunno.....Birds are pretty heavy cars so I wouldn't think that they are the best candidates for PTing. I Slo-Toured my '61. It's got a 390/4bbl 300hp motor with a 3 speed auto and it's pretty much a slug but fun to cruise. I replaced all the stock rubber bushings with poly ones and ran a heavier sway bar in front. Handles better but no where near what I would consider worthy of calling Pro-Tour! I also pulled the front drums and replaced them with '65 T-Bird Front Discs!



If the car is 100% original I would just restore it to original spec. You'll get more money for it that way. Once it's done you can sell it or you can sell it as is and take that money and buy a 'Bird thats not 100% original(like mine) and PT it to your hearts content. If you really have your heart set on PTing a 'Bird PM me and I'll sell you mine! All you would have to do is add a few more horses to the motor and install a rear sway and some heavier duty rear leafs!


John

[69496]

My dad owned a burgendy one about ten years ago. I never liked them until he got his. They are actually really cool cars. I love the interior on them. I would just restore the interior with stock components, maybe leather instead of vinyl. Put air ride on it with some 20's and give the drivetrain I slightr boost. Nothing crazy I assume it has the 390 in it. Just fresh rebuild on the drive train, a nice cam and headers and maybe F.A.S.T.'s new EZ-EFI and you have a great cruizer that could still be fun to drive hard.

[mrg7243]

My mom doesnt like the way it handles(so much she is scared to drive it), the rear suspesion is almost complettly rusted out and settled

novanutcase-Hers has the same motor and tranny, how does the tranny work, we cant feel it shift when we put it in overdrive at 65 the motor is whinning pretty heavy. Where did you find your poly bushings and heavier sway bars??? As for selling it we just bought it four-months ago and way over paid- 15,000 is a little ridiculous for it when the car has so many issues(its a long story on why we bought it) so we would lose money by selling it. Would you know where to find heavier leaf-spring for it??

69496-The interoir is is mint condition besides a crack on the drivers side door panel. your performance stuff sounds good, she is not carzy about air, she likes them a constant hiehgt.

[novanutcase]

My mom doesnt like the way it handles(so much she is scared to drive it), the rear suspesion is almost complettly rusted out and settled

novanutcase-Hers has the same motor and tranny, how does the tranny work, we cant feel it shift when we put it in overdrive at 65 the motor is whinning pretty heavy. Where did you find your poly bushings and heavier sway bars??? As for selling it we just bought it four-months ago and way over paid- 15,000 is a little ridiculous for it when the car has so many issues(its a long story on why we bought it) so we would lose money by selling it. Would you know where to find heavier leaf-spring for it??

69496-The interoir is is mint condition besides a crack on the drivers side door panel. your performance stuff sounds good, she is not carzy about air, she likes them a constant hiehgt.

If your moms gonna be driving it or if you are but aren't going to be driving it hard, just cruising for the most part, then I would stick with the stock bushings. One problem area on those front ends is the upper cross shaft. The stock ones are kind of weak and, usually, when your bushings need to be replaced so does the upper shaft.

When you say "rusted out" do you mean that the pan in the rear is rusted out or just that everything underneath has surface rust? If the spring shackle mounts are rusted out you're going to need to address that first before moving on to getting springs. I would talk to Hotchkis for HD rear leafs and sway. I'm pretty sure they're the same as the Galaxie rears. I got my front sway from Ford but I'm not sure if they still offer them.

The cruis-o-matic trannies are kind of crappy so you need to install a better shift kit for it. I don't mess with trannies so I had my tranny guy install it for me. Shifts are much crisper.

If she's whinning on the freeway you may have it in the wrong gear. I think for your year it's supposed to be in D2. Otherwise, the seals got hard and aren't sealing properly which means your tranny guy needs to go through it and replace them. If you're gonna install the shift kit you might as well have him go through the tranny and replace all the seals too.

Might want to hit these guys up for any T-Bird specific questions you may have.

http://www.vintagethunderbirdclub.org/phpBB2/index.php

John

[mrg7243]

Thanks John you have been alot of help. Not sure exactly what is rusted as the car is stored at my grandpas house. I do know for sure that the springs themselves have rust on them. I am going to ask you one more question for today what bushings did you replace, as I know there are rear, front motor and so forth. and would they improve the sway.

[novanutcase]

Thanks John you have been alot of help. Not sure exactly what is rusted as the car is stored at my grandpas house. I do know for sure that the springs themselves have rust on them. I am going to ask you one more question for today what bushings did you replace, as I know there are rear, front motor and so forth. and would they improve the sway.

No worries! Always open to helping out another "Birder"! LOL!

Depending on what area you live in I would imagine it looks much worse than it actually is. I know when I got mine it was like that but once I got in there and cleaned it all up and painted it it looked much better but then again I'm in Cali so we usually don't have floor pan issues like the back east guys do. Open the trunk and lift the carpet and see if there are any areas that are rusted through. If so then you will need to drop the gas tank and get in there and weld in some new floor pan patches. If there are some holes in the floor I would do a complete floor pan check to make sure you don't have any other areas that will need to be replaced. I don't think they make any aftermarket floor pan sheetmetal for our birds so you will need to find a donor car. John Draxler has a big "Bird" graveyard so he would be a good source to find that kind of stuff.

http://www.tbirdranch.com/

Let's see......control arm bushings, sway bar bushings, idler arm bushing, ball joints,etc. for the front. If I remember correctly the rear only has one real bushing and that goes on the front leaf spring perch but then again my year('61) had a different setup from yours so you may not need it. My suggestion is to spend a little money and get a shop manual. They have exploded views of all the parts on your car along with how to tear it apart and put it back together instructions. Well worth the $40.

BTW I was wrong! On my car it's supposed to drive in D1!

John

[mrg7243]

I will check check on the floor pan issues but i am pretty sure that there are none, i had to to check when i was fighting the oil pan bolt, the mechanic who previously put a plastic gasket on it making it a PIA to get it off. I will go an get a shop manuel for it. The car has been out east its whole life, in fact its stored in pennsylvania and i dont think it has left pennsylvania. I am not sure as of not what transmission is, I have to replace then detent plate.