Hi Nick, it's always impressive to watch that process. It was quite a sophisticated system when those cars were new as you well know. The Skyliner, Lincoln Continental and Thunderbird Convertibles, will always draw a crowd of awe-struck onlookers when dropping or raising the tops at a car show. Would like to see what you're doing with the Raven Black '66 Convertible you picked up in California a few months back! Of course, with your recent acquisition of the '65 Mustang Convertible for your wife, I realize that's probably been taking up a lot of your time. I've always been a Mustang fan and have owned a number of them over the years, but Thunderbirds have always been my favorite, with the '66 model topping the list! GOD Bless! Scott
Hey Scott, yes the top mechanisms are certainly a show stopper. I will always remember when I first saw one work, I was totally shocked and amazed but I was not intimidated by it and eventually became the master. (master at breaking shit and loosing my tools) Anyway, the Black 66 is now in Colorado and I'm not yet ready to turn my attention to it for exactly the reason you said, the Mustang. Got involved in that in the interim. Totally rebuilt and replaced the steering valve, piston and related parts underneath. Replaced the original Autolite with a Holley street warrior. Runs 500% better and performs like a true 289 should. Im still trying to finish up with this Fairlane and I think I finally did it today. I had to replace the carb just like the Mustang and had issues with that but I think I worked it out. Ill test drive it tomorrow and if all the planets line up correctly, Ill deliver it to the customer, before the thunderstorms roll in. I guess the Thunderbird is the love of my life, except for the wifey of course.
Beautiful Skyliner! I think '58 is my favorite year of all. I've heard that the retractable tops on these cars should be used sparingly (since they are fragile and temperamental.) Have you ever heard that? There's probably a lot of urban myths floating around about these cars. Thanks a bunch for the video!
Hey Kayeninetwo, I think all of these folding tops are fragile and prone to failure. This one and the Lincolns are more complicated than the Thunderbird and a pain in the ass when they fail.
Hey George, well at least the parts were new then. Not like today when you have to deal with 60 plus years of wear and crud and abuse. We should get medals for working out the problems in these Thunderchickens.
Nick, Terrific, my friend. That's such a cool-looking car. Back in the day, Ford really had their styling in one bag. I've always liked the '57 Fairlanes and Skyliners...especially with the continental kits. Have you ever heard of a cheater board? Regards, John
Thanks John. No I do not know what a cheater board is. I thought I was old enough to know all things and be at one with the universe but you proved me wrong. What is a cheater board?
Nick, I first saw a cheater board at a car show in Arizona. A guy who brought a '59 skyliner showed it to me. At the time, he had his roof up and at an angle toward the sky so onlookers, like me, could see the interior and the trunk. It looked really cool like that. Anyway, I got talking to him and he mentioned that the relays that operated the roof were just about impossible to adjust correctly and keep them that way, so he and a few of his other Skyliner friends built "cheater boards", which he demonstrated. From the board was a bundle of wires that somehow plugged into the relay bank. The cheater board was a foot square piece of plywood with a large dial pointer in the middle. In a circle round the dial were letters, A, B, C, etc, written in magic marker. Each letter represented a movement of the Skyliner top. Like "A" would unlock the roof pins, "B" open the trunk lid, "C" lift the top and so on. I don't remember the exact order of that mess, but once the dial was pointed to a letter, he pressed and held a button on the board and the magic would begin. Once each movement of the top was completed, he let up on the button and moved the dial to the next letter, then pressed the button again. The procedure from beginning to end took a while, but he told me it was worth the wait...no more fiddling with those stupid relays. Regards, John
Very rare retractable fords
Excellent design.
Hi Nick, it's always impressive to watch that process. It was quite a sophisticated system when those cars were new as you well know. The Skyliner, Lincoln Continental and Thunderbird Convertibles, will always draw a crowd of awe-struck onlookers when dropping or raising the tops at a car show. Would like to see what you're doing with the Raven Black '66 Convertible you picked up in California a few months back! Of course, with your recent acquisition of the '65 Mustang Convertible for your wife, I realize that's probably been taking up a lot of your time. I've always been a Mustang fan and have owned a number of them over the years, but Thunderbirds have always been my favorite, with the '66 model topping the list! GOD Bless! Scott
Hey Scott, yes the top mechanisms are certainly a show stopper. I will always remember when I first saw one work, I was totally shocked and amazed but I was not intimidated by it and eventually became the master. (master at breaking shit and loosing my tools) Anyway, the Black 66 is now in Colorado and I'm not yet ready to turn my attention to it for exactly the reason you said, the Mustang. Got involved in that in the interim. Totally rebuilt and replaced the steering valve, piston and related parts underneath. Replaced the original Autolite with a Holley street warrior. Runs 500% better and performs like a true 289 should. Im still trying to finish up with this Fairlane and I think I finally did it today. I had to replace the carb just like the Mustang and had issues with that but I think I worked it out. Ill test drive it tomorrow and if all the planets line up correctly, Ill deliver it to the customer, before the thunderstorms roll in. I guess the Thunderbird is the love of my life, except for the wifey of course.
Beautiful Skyliner! I think '58 is my favorite year of all. I've heard that the retractable tops on these cars should be used sparingly (since they are fragile and temperamental.) Have you ever heard that? There's probably a lot of urban myths floating around about these cars. Thanks a bunch for the video!
Hey Kayeninetwo, I think all of these folding tops are fragile and prone to failure. This one and the Lincolns are more complicated than the Thunderbird and a pain in the ass when they fail.
Hello Nick. Such a cool car. You just wonder how many failures the engineers had before getting a reliable system to work.
George B
Hey George, well at least the parts were new then. Not like today when you have to deal with 60 plus years of wear and crud and abuse. We should get medals for working out the problems in these Thunderchickens.
Amazing ❤
Very cool, thanks Nick!
Hey Alvin, I finally delivered the car and the customer is happy, whoooo hoooo!!!!! Now I dont know what to do with myself. Thanks.
@@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426 lol...I'm sure you'll find lots to do!
We are Ford guys for a reason
Aint that the truth. Not using 100 lbs of blue silicone to seal a water pump gasket is one of them. lol
Nick,
Terrific, my friend. That's such a cool-looking car. Back in the day, Ford really had their styling in one bag. I've always liked the '57 Fairlanes and Skyliners...especially with the continental kits. Have you ever heard of a cheater board?
Regards,
John
Thanks John. No I do not know what a cheater board is. I thought I was old enough to know all things and be at one with the universe but you proved me wrong. What is a cheater board?
Nick,
I first saw a cheater board at a car show in Arizona. A guy who brought a '59 skyliner showed it to me. At the time, he had his roof up and at an angle toward the sky so onlookers, like me, could see the interior and the trunk. It looked really cool like that.
Anyway, I got talking to him and he mentioned that the relays that operated the roof were just about impossible to adjust correctly and keep them that way, so he and a few of his other Skyliner friends built "cheater boards", which he demonstrated. From the board was a bundle of wires that somehow plugged into the relay bank.
The cheater board was a foot square piece of plywood with a large dial pointer in the middle. In a circle round the dial were letters, A, B, C, etc, written in magic marker. Each letter represented a movement of the Skyliner top. Like "A" would unlock the roof pins, "B" open the trunk lid, "C" lift the top and so on. I don't remember the exact order of that mess, but once the dial was pointed to a letter, he pressed and held a button on the board and the magic would begin. Once each movement of the top was completed, he let up on the button and moved the dial to the next letter, then pressed the button again. The procedure from beginning to end took a while, but he told me it was worth the wait...no more fiddling with those stupid relays.
Regards,
John