The 1961 thunderbird.

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Hey Jon. The ac is not factory but it was installed by ford later in the 60s.

The air unit sits in the trunk under the speaker area behind the seats. It blows in from vents close to the window.

The unit is from a continental Lincoln.
 
GORGEOUS!

I always thought that the '61 T-Bird and the '61 Lincoln were magnificently designed - just beautiful! Hope you enjoy many happy motoring miles!!
 
This was called the 'bullet' style. Thunderbird enthusiasts at the time weren't crazy about it, since it was such a departure. But just look at that dash treatment. It's hard to find anything that exotic today.

I've seen a Chrysler Turbo on the road, more than once. Somehow, I also knew what it was when I saw it. Very handsome car.

Perhaps an engineer could explain why not, but seems to me a turbine-electric hybrid is the way to go. Turbines like to run one speed, and driving a generator they can. The turbine wouldn't have to be sized to run the entire car like Chrysler's did, but only the battery charger.
 
I have read that with all the accessories, fully loaded, a slant six might weigh 450 lbs.

I don't have info on the weight of a similarly loaded 273 V8, but I'm pretty sure it's about 100 lbs more.

For comparison, the 218 flat head six in my '50 Plymouth weighs about 600 lbs, although that might be without the accessories (the generator and starter, being six volt, and cast iron, weigh a LOT).

The Slant Six might look heavy, but it's really not all that heavy when compared to other straight six designs.

A clue that the V8 weighs significantly more than the /6 is that a '64 Valiant with a V8 needs bigger torsion bars up front to carry the extra load.
 
Weights . . .

What a cool little link! I'd love to know where they got their figures. Looks like the slant 6 weighs a bit less than the Chevy 250 but more than the Falcon 170, which was a commendably light engine although not as suited for heavy duty applications as the slant six. The 273 is similar in that it's lighter than the Chevy small block but heavier than the Ford 289/302, which shared the lightweight cast iron technology of the Falcon 6. Nothing lightweight about the big Ford V8s, like the 390 in the Thunderbird above; that's one heavy chunk of cast iron! Durable though. And nobody was brave enough to list a weight for the old Jaguar XK engine, that six weighs more than most V8s even with its' aluminum head.

 

The heaviest engine listed is the Pierce-Arrow V12. Believe it or not, I saw one on the 405 in north Orange County exactly one week ago today. I was surprised to see a prewar car in the right lane about 11:00 in the morning and pulled alongside for a better look, only to spot the trademark Pierce-Arrow headlamps on the fenders. I pulled up a bit and checked out the grille in my right hand mirror, sure enough a Pierce-Arrow grille, then dropped back next to it and saw the "V-12" emblems. It was a gorgeous roadster with the top up, doing about 65 mph with no noise or smoke, an amazing sight for a car that was about 75 years old. Made my day for sure!
 
Speaking of whitewalls:

It seems every time I go to a vintage VW show, some idiot is there with mid 50's type whitewalls(very wide) on a late 60's bug. If you have ever seen this, you'd know what I am talking about. And it's a different idiot each time too.
Yes, I'm an originality freak too.
 
Yup, I hate that although on a Beetle it's not quite as bad as other cars because the basic design is the same from the '40s through the '70s. It's really awful on '60s cars like the otherwise nice '66 or '67 Continental convertible I saw on Tuesday morning with '50s whitewalls, just destroyed the look of the car.
 
Hmm. So are 2 1/4" walls too wide for a 67 beetle? I entered my info on Coker tires site and they suggested them.

I'm thinking the same for the T bird.
 
No, the thin whitewalls would be correct on a 67' Bug. If you want to know what is correct for your car, just look up a brochure for a 67' Beetle from VW. The photos will show what is right. I think the 1" white walls are correct. Here is what they should look like.

whirlcool++6-30-2011-13-15-45.jpg
 
I have the same whitewalls as above on my 70' VW. I bought a set of BF Goodrich Silvertown radials from Coker. They handle very nicely on the bug. You may want to see if Coker still has them as they are the correct size for the car.
 
We are going to ask him when we pick it up tomorrow. Not really sure. We are ok with the hubcaps and rims. The tires just won't work!
 
We are going to ask him when we pick it up tomorrow. Not really sure. We are ok with the hubcaps and rims. The tires just won't work!

I must be dense today.
What are you going to pick up tomorrow? The car?
What exactly are you going to ask "him"?
Why won't the tires work? Wrong size rims, or in appearances.

Thanks
Allen
 
We are picking the car up tomorrow. He put new brakes on and didn't get a chance to bleed them so until then the car is undrivable.

We will ask him if he has the old tires still. The current tires are too wide so the side skirts won't go on.
 
Those chrom "look at me" wheels to me take away from the beauty of the car. The car has a look of elegance. The hot rod wheels seem to take away from that. They don't match the vehicle. Such a beautiful car!

 

Jim
 
OK, that makes a lot more sense to me now.

Do you have a photo of this car? Side skirts on a VW? Has this bug been chopped & dropped & slammed?

As for the brakes be careful, there could be a lot of surprises there waiting for you!
 
So sorry Allen! I thought you were speaking of the t bird.

For the most part my beetle is not too modded. It was upgraded before I got it. Different running boards. New dial dash and wheel. Other than that and a larger motor it's really not modded extensively. Body is not slammed or chopped. Nor does it have side skirts.
 
DUH!

I can't tell you how many times I have read the first post about the T-Bird and somehow it got stuck in my head that Washernoob had a VW bug.

Sorry about that. Now it all makes sense.

[this post was last edited: 7/2/2011-02:33]
 
Its ok. The idea came from when we were all talking about white walls.

I currently drive daily the 1967 beetle. It needs a set of whitewalls and I think th discussion drifted over there. But that's ok. I love cars and love to talk about them :)
 
Well, when you get the brakes sorted out and functioning properly you will have a great time in that car. Prepare for a lot of attention.

I always thought that a classic car would be a chick magnet. Ha! They are guy magnets. Whenever I drive my VW anywhere I usually get a few guys come up and start a conversation about it. They are almost always very nice people so I indulge them happily.
 
Oh my! It's here!!!!!! It's gorgeous!

The breaks are fixed but do need tightening. Takes a long foot stroke to engage fully.

She turns on a dime and is super easy to steer. Like butter it cruises.

I'm in love. And Im ok with it being a guy magnet. It seems to be that way with my Volkswagen. Hehe.

washernoob++7-2-2011-18-15-10.jpg
 
One more front shot.

See my lonely beetle in the street. The thunderbird got to grace the driveway today.

washernoob++7-2-2011-20-43-28.jpg
 
That last photo is great. The lighting is hitting the interior just right. That photo looks straight out of a Ford sales brochure. Great Job!

Those seats are wide enough to be living room lounge chairs!
 
Cruise-O-Matic transmission: Use D1

Great T-Bird! Just a quick tip: Make sure you use the D1 (second drive position) on the transmission as your normal driving range. For some reason, Ford/Lincoln/Mercury as well as some other manufacturers (AMC/Rambler and Studebaker) used a non-intuitive shift pattern from about '58 up until '67 or so. D2 (the first position after Neutral) starts in second gear for starting out on snow/ice and shifts to third. D2 never starts in first gear. D1 (Second drive position after Neutral) is the normal drive range that will shift twice (gears 1-2-3.) You will get much better acceleration using D1 and the transmission will run cooler too.

I never understood why the engineers thought that having the "normal" and "second" drive positions reversed was a good idea. A lot of people drive these cars today and have no idea that they are using the wrong gear because the shift pattern is "backwards" compared to a modern car.

Good luck with it - there is a lot of support for these cars on the Internet so parts and advice should not be a problem.
 

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