CARS and GUITARS

[Dennisthe Menace]

Come on, tell me that one DOESN'T go with the OTHER! And I'll tell you that
you didn't grow up in the 60s. Now I was only about 5 or 6 in the mid 60s, BUT I had older cousins that "saturated" me with all this . That's probably why my Wife and I
wanted and ended up buying an old Ford in the 80's. All our neighbors at that time kept asking, "Why would we spend $4,000 on an old car? You should be investing in Gold and the Stock Market.".....Yeah....right. Well, this past year, we had to "up" our value on the car..........
1966 Thunderbird Sports Roadster-
Purchase Price $4,000.00........
Insured for: $30,000
Stock Market: Value -"ZIP"
Gold: Value of Gold---Who cares?
Picture of Someone DROOLING out the side of their mouth in their new car when you pull
up to a stop at a Traffic Light in "your old car?"............PRICELESS!!

Dennis, I'll do you one better. I used to own this black 'bird. 1958 with a 1963 390 cu in motor. Ran like a charm until it would overheat

Yeah, it sure was a beauty. I wasn't in the market for an old car when I happened upon this. It belonged to the mayor of my town who bought it in 1963. I got it from his son. It hadn't run in about two years. With a friend's help I got it running. All it needed to be a driver was new tires and a new fuel filter. With that and some safety belts I was on the road. Then the overheating started. These things are notorious for cooling problems; it's a low hood with a big motor. So after driving about thirty minutes it would start to boil over. I started carrying gallons of coolant in the trunk. Nothing got it fixed - I replaced the themostat, I installed a seven blade flex fan, and eventually spent four full weekends fitting custom brackets to get a four row aluminum radiator in there, and it still overheated. At that point I knew I was in over my head and as I didn't want to drop lots of dough taking it to someone who actually knew what they were doing, I sold it to someone who is doing a restoration. Of course, as I look back on it, the overheating was probably caused by leaky vacuum lines to the carb but there were so many little fixes that the car needed (replace the wiper motor, update brakes to dual master cylinder, install new heater core, fix rear power windows, replace the seating foam, new window seals) I couldn't justify keeping it and the time it was taking away from my family to work on it. I have to say, driving a car with a wrap around windshield is a really great experience, especially when the car isn't blowing coolant steam out the hood scoop!

OK, so anybody else have this addiction as well as their guitar addiction?

[KRamone27]

I'm kinda wondering if you might have had a faulty water pump or a clog in the cooling system. And that is a sweet @$$ ride.

[brutus]

I am a proud owner of a 1960 Corvair 850 sedan 62 thousand miles white and red stirped interior red metal dash auto on the dash trans. The car is white, and the plate says FNADER. The Corvair, the Mosrite of the auto world. I drive it to work,
you should see the looks when i pass people on the DanRyan in the FAST lane!!

[MWaldorf]

K,
I flushed the heck out of the cooling system several times. I didn't check the water pump directly but there were no leaks and the fluid was clearly moving through the evap tank. I know vacuum leaks can cause mysterious ailments and changes in the air/fuel ratio affect operating temperatures. What I did clearly discover was that my mechanic skills are limited, and my time would be better spent on guitar projects.
Mel

[Dennisthe Menace]

K,
I flushed the heck out of the cooling system several times. I didn't check the water pump directly but there were no leaks and the fluid was clearly moving through the evap tank. I know vacuum leaks can cause mysterious ailments and changes in the air/fuel ratio affect operating temperatures. What I did clearly discover was that my mechanic skills are limited, and my time would be better spent on guitar projects.
Mel

Yeah Mel, the BIG BIRDS were notorious for over heating and were a PITA...if you couldn't find the problem.
And it usually was a combination of 1, 2, or all 3 that created the problem. Mine is famous for the Water Pump
and like you said, the infamous Thermostat. I now have developed a "practice" of changing both every 3 years,
whether it needs it or not, therefore by eliminating the question of: "Gee, I wander what's wrong with the Cooling
System. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices if you want to hold on to an old derelict.....and I do
It's another investment that we can enjoy, and it's paid for, and as long as it keeps going up in value, we'll keep her.....

[-90-]

I´m not that into cars, really. As long as mine doesn´t guzzle too much gas, takes me where I want to go and doesn´t hassle me too much when it comes to mechanics, that´s all that matters to me. But I loved VW beetles ever since I was a kid, and I also have fond memories of riding on the family Ford Galaxie LTD in the late 70s / early 80s. That felt like being on a spaceship.

[MWaldorf]

Dennis,
Sounds like you've got the right balance out of your T-bird. So, tell me, with the top down, can you fit anything in the trunk? That T-bird soft top is really something else.
Mel

[Dennisthe Menace]

Dennis,
Sounds like you've got the right balance out of your T-bird. So, tell me, with the top down, can you fit anything in the trunk? That T-bird soft top is really something else.
Mel

Mel, that's what KILLED the T-Bird Convertible. When you put the top down, you HAD NO TRUNK (LOL). I guess after so many years, people got tired of this type of set-up and moved on to regular convertibles that still had a trunk when the top was down.....
This is a VIDEO of the top coming Out of the Trunk on a converted '66 Sports Roadster, which worked the same way on the Lincolns.

And this VID gives you a better description ALL THE WAY FROM
"THE LAND DOWN UNDER."

and one more for us Die-Hard 60s Fans....."the Forgotten Muscle Car"
....and a Really Rare Big Bird......www.tbirdsquare.com

[Dennisthe Menace]

And here are my other toys. I remember watching Motor Week on TV with this episode.
However, it would be another 2 years (1993) before I would get my VR-4.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7xLqntktro

[Vintage Soul]

Hi There, I had a small collection of classic cars. Had a 55 chevy,68 charger,70 cutlass,55 chevy racecar,and my favorite my pro-street 65 GTO that I still have Thanks Tony