Will A Forgotten 1962 Thunderbird Run Again After Sitting For 46 Years?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 เม.ย. 2023
- I needed a Ford 390 for a project that I have, so I bought a T-bird for cheap. I figured it was worth spending a day seeing if the engine would run before I decided to spend the time removing the engine and trans. I think you guys are gonna enjoy this one!
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The Bullit Bird is greatly under appreciated - the build quality was top notch and the performance set the standard for the day.
I had a white ‘62 in high school back in the ‘70’s. Had a great time with it! Wish I never got rid it.
Man that engine is brand new inside . This is a win .
Dude... Looks like someone went through that engine before it was put away and forgotten with how clean it is!
Always loved those beautiful Thunderbirds from the 60’s. 🇨🇦🇺🇸❤️
If you look up the word "ugly" This car will pop up.
Beautiful work of automotive design.❤️
It's amazing to know these classics are still out there waiting for someone to show them love.
‘A change is as good as a holiday’.
The Thunderbird Ben! Quite satisfying.
Sweet sounding 390
I love the 1961 - 1966 Ford Thunderchickens! After 1966, my interest in them evaporates.
I hope someone gets it and restores it!!💗
Congrats. That engine seemed to run well, and it seemed to like the spare carburetor. Also, it's nice when you happen to have the pieces you need just lying around (the Autolite spark plugs). I hope the body goes to a good home.
There was a local builder that advertised one for sale with a 429CJ and a 5 speed manual conversion. Black on black with old school mags and BFG’s … super clean build that looked like a factory car.
Cyclone? Great fun Ben!
Love the early 60's T-Bird. They have such a smooth slickness to them.
Big fan of the bullet birds. Got one up the road I’ve got my eye on. Good luck.
I had a 61 triple black 390 bird when I was 16. It was low-mileage and beautiful. Yeah, not worth a ton, but a wonderful cruiser. That one has seen better days!
I owned a 61 white with blue , with a 390 in it and did a lot of parts changing on it only to have a teenager destroy it and totaling it out running from the police in downtown Renton ,Wa when he rear ended my parked car and pushed the bumper under the rear glass and the news report said he was doing over a 100 mph.
My first car was a 62. Best cruiser ever. And it would do 135 mph.
Sorry we missed the 'shocking' experience. That's always my favorite part!
Randy
I have a real soft spot for these old Fords. You’re right, it’s really very solid. It reminds me of the Park Lane you worked on a while back. Thanks for posting this project.
this is my favorite version of these thunderbird.... 61-63... beautiful lines
Love the late 50’s through late 60’s T-Birds. 65’ being my favorite. Sold low price projects for sure!
Nice to see a longer video from you Ben doing what you do best 👌love it when an old neglected engine comes back to life and we hear that excitement and pride in your voice, well done
Awesome job, looks like a really good engine
I remember when these Tbirds were very young, when the paint was nice, interior was nice, they ran great and they made you feel like a million bucks. They were thought to be futuristic, stylish.
Looks like that is a 390,U got a good one!!!!
That sound...! So glad it fired up. I don't see many of those around.
Love that body style. It would make a good restomod project.
I enjoy your videos due to the fact that all that you do is simplified and it's easy for anyone to understand.
if you decide to part it out I could use the emblems on the trunk and sail of the car
One of my FAV t-birds and a great way for me to spend some time on a saturday morning !
Hell Yeah, Ben, Great Work!!
Of course it will run, it’s a Ford!!! 👍
Wow that's clean
That bones from the last mechanic ❤. That car has potential, do it rite😊.
No problemo, Ben, I love T-birds, too.... It's a "62.
You can come put that motor in my Monterey. It has a 352 that ran home 600 miles with 3 fouled plugs due to excessive oil consumption. It still ran halfway decent once on the highway. Those FE motors are tough.
Take it from me, I've been turning wrenches since the early sixties. Turning the engine with no lube in the cylinders can cause damage. Then starter carb cooling and fuel systems, if it rolls over it will run and can be rebuilt. Good luck ✌👉
Engine sounds tight!
Old Fords never die, They just melt and run out the tail pipe.
I hope someone saves this car and it doesn't get crushed.
New Channel: "ThunderBen"!!!!
Plz restore this it was my stepfather favorite model..it makes me think of him
Nice video Ben glad to see a little longer video from the channel.thanks John from Arizona
Nice job Ben! POWER!!!!!!!!
Thank you Ben. I like these videos.
Geeze, your shop is looking so great now! Thanks again for another great video. I was supposed to inherite a 65 T-bird and it was also in pretty bad shape, it got sold but I later was able to obtain my dads C3 Vette. I am much more familiar with Ford build than Chevy, as they say, the C3 era was not the best for the Corvette aside from a few special years.
You always do great videos and I am glad to see your input as you help out fellow members of the Facebook group.
Thanks again Ben
nice job man nice car
Sounds good and tight.
Buzz, Notification* corvette ben posted
Me:Oh cool
Thunderbird
Me: Awesome
Will it run?
Me: FLOPS ONTO COUCH* FINALLY
it so wanted to run and did. great vid 👍😎
Gotta say to me the engine sounded like it wasn't missing a beat. At least no stutter or valve funkiness. Smooth. For me that third gen TBird and somewhat the fourth gen were some of the best looking space age influenced cars on the road. Didn't go too crazy with it. But sitting in them felt like you were in a cockpit. It's a shame that even fully restored they might go for $60k or so at best.
You can find very nice ones for 20K, sometimes even less.
That looks like mine!!
It may be nice having the distributor up front to work on, but it is a bad day when you get into a driving rain and it gets it wet and wont run. I will stay with the GM to the rear distributor, and the Corvettes. I like all your videos! Great job!
You got lucky for sure. The rocker shaft assemblies on FE engines are very often badly rusted and bound up after sitting for many years. I've seen lots of bent FE pushrods on YT that could be avoided by checking them first.
It's not just Ford. Engines with shaft mounted rockers seem susceptible to that.
It needs a lot of work but the car wants to live
Love those Bullit Birds, well all from the Baby Birds up through '66. Unique automobiles. Sad that people let them "go to seed" like this one. But someone with a lot of motivation and capital could bring her back to life. Likely being a TBird complete interiors are available and trim pieces. Like you pointed out, the floors are solid as is the trunk plus the rockers. It would take a lot of work but it's doable if someone has the space and capital. No, not a lot of money outcome in the 'Bird market but it would save a classic. Good video, Ben.
I wonder if that was the original 390 engine. Numbers stamped on parts should start with C2. Should have said thunderbird on valve covers. Same block 352's said Ford. "62 T bird would have had a generator not an alternator. I enjoyed the video. I love and have had many old Tbirds, Galaxies and Mercurys. Thanks!
Excellent info as I didn’t know any of that. Where can I find the numbers to check?
@@TheCorvetteBen On the top of the intake manifold, I can't remember if front or back will be a number . should start C2.... other numbers on intake will be firing order. The exhaust manifolds, heads and block will have numbers too. probably not easy to access until engine is out.1963 would start C3, 1964 would start C4 etc. I don't know how to decipher numbers to determine 352 or 390. Shouldn't bee too hard to find out online.
excellent
Put some T4 rotella and oil filter it will be fine
Ben…..this one is awesome…….the underside body looks better than a lot of cars ten years old. The hood is long and low much like a Corvette. This could be the most interesting build you could do.
He's taking out the engine to put it in a Mercury.
Another great installment of what you used to do by seeing if you can bring it back to life after it’s been forgotten.
I would not characterize Thunderbirds in general (particularly the earlier years,
the Gen 2, ‘Square Bird’ or
Gen 3, ‘Rocket Bird’) are not a “dime a dozen” in terms of the finding one in the condition such as this one. Now the Gen 4’s as desirable as they are seem to one of those dime a dozen models and they are everywhere.
I bet the reason the engine isn't all sludged up is because it sat so long that modern oil was never ran thru it. (till now of course) When i got one of my grandfather's cars that sat 40 year's, I expected the same as you..sludge city but like this engine it was very clean. Last year i bought a 2003 F-250 from a friend that sat for only 6 year's. Before its accident, it was his baby and had meticulous servicing up till the accident. It still ran fine, but it was sludged to hell with only 88k miles. It can only be that modern oil doesn't like sitting for a long time and breaks down into its base compounds alot quicker. A few years ago a different friend bought a new unopened 55 gallon drum of quaker state 10w40 from the late 70s at a swap meet for $200. At first i laughed at him then realized he was a genius!!!
it's a really nice car!!!!!
The only problem with the 390 is the oil pump was known for being weak and unreliable. They make a upgrade for it .
Damn! My running 390 rocker arms didn't look even 10% that good! Mine were covered in rust/scale.
Ben...I started with a similar T bird donor car on a project many, many, years ago. The FE is a good engine and will serve you well...but...I would find a mid 60's-70's C-6 auto to put behind it. It is not a difficult changeover, and that old auto in there was the source of more misery for me than I can list here. Unless you are going for absolute year authenticity I would drop it like a hot rock...
Problem is the car that it is going into I don’t believe has room for anything other than what came in it
Think the whole can would have been better hahaha and closing the choke would have done a decent job at starting. Lol
GM put the distributor in the back for aesthetics. It's not like anyone needs to access it often. Why have all that clutter on the front of the engine? USA GM #1
If it smells like burning poop then it HAS to be good......right? Nice video, thanks for sharing.
Is Ferd 👌
I always liked these cars and think they are better looking than any Mercury.
Is that the 390 or 351 engine. I'm not that familiar with Ford engines except for the 69 428 Mach1 I had. 😊
I'd rather see you rehab this thing than any Mercury. 😂😅😂😅😊
You'll have to show me how that steering wheel is supposed to pivot over to the right. A friend of mine had one in the 70s, and we could get it to move.
No TH-cam back then. 😢
Maybe I'll find a video on it.
Love that bodykit, did it come with the other skirt? I would definitely consider a harmonic balancer, it's a 60,000 mile service interval which nobody ever does. Just picked up a suburban 2500 with the 6.5 and I love it so far.
See Ben ford is the best they never rest LOL
I've got a sportroadster that's been in a barn for 30 years.
People love those FEs! They're not without their quirks though.
LONG ago, I had a '64 bird. Question: Why didn't you pull the plugs out first thing and put some oil in the cylinders before scraping them with dry rings? Also you would not have compression to work against.
Last owner spun the engine around and around already. If there was damage to be done it was already done
@@TheCorvetteBen still.. if you were not so bent on instant gratification, the lack of compression and addition of lubrication would have made it easier on all the components. When you are awakened from sleep.. would you rather be gently nudged or kicked out of bed?
Pb blaster was put down each spark plug hole, it just didn’t make the editing cut.
@@TheCorvetteBen I was under the impression that you had tried to turn the crank without first removing the plugs and lubing them.. PB blaster.. WD 40.. 3 in 1 oil.. goose grease.. it doesn't matter just so long as you make a cylinder slippery and seal the rings a bit before cranking it over. Sorry I doubted your prowess.
Does that have a remote reservoir PS pump? Never seen a fender mounted one like that. Must be due to the AC compressor mounted there where normally expect to see the PS pump. I have only some familiarity with the '65 and later FE engines. On those, the fill tube on the PS is different with AC to clear the compressor but its not a separate thing.
So Ben what are you doing with this engine? you talked about putting it in another car. Are you going to rebuild it or just swap it n hope for the best?
A bone???!!! LOL!
Unless the 'Bird is rusted beyond reasonable repair, which it does appear decent, I'd find another engine for your project and fix this one up, even just to flip on- make for great content as they are a fabulous design- futuristic to the point of a custom car yet sold to the public! If they are not worth much then you didn't pay much for this, sort out the basics- maybe find a cheap second hand interior and move it on. Also I miss the early days of your channel- more content and varied, yes, I know you are The Corvette Ben but the Caddy is always a welcome treat!
I had it for sale complete for $2500 for four months, no takers
I’ve had it for sale for $1200 minus engine and transmission for two months and no takers.
Soon I’ll probably part it out. Very little interest in this year t bird. Not worth putting the money into “flipping” it.
Super Kleen
"a little rough"? Bwaaahhh-haaaaaaahhh!
Ya😊
The correct way to do this would be to pour a shot glass worth of Marvel Mystery oil in the cylinders and let it sit for a week when they have been parked that long.sounds like the starter has a bad spot on the armature in the starter and you could bang on the started as you crank it. If you have to remove the starter you will probely have to drop the the tye rod to remove the starter ,ask me how I know,I owned a 61 in 1974 and had to put a starter in it.
Cylinders were lubricated with pb blaster, it just didn’t make the cut
Different things cool.
I use Autolite plugs in my Chevy
almost any old piece of machinery can run again
👍
Did you sell the tbird?
I would be I terested in what is left after the drivetrain is out.
Send me an email
Benjamin.friend56@yahoo.com
No actually it's better than a corvette ha ha ha ha have a fun😂😂😂😂❤
I owned a few t birds. A 57, two 58s, a 64 and a 65. Never liked the looks of the bullet birds. But that's just me.
That is good ford's like to gum up
sad part it out .,
My guess is the engine is not original to the car and was rebuilt or at least had the top end done, I had several Ford cars and trucks with the FE engine 352,360.390's over the years and usually they sludge up under the valve covers, especially if people didn't change the oil every 2000 miles and or used cheap oil that had poor or nonexistent detergent properties. Also I see someone changed it over from the original generator to a later alternator.
Future series?
They were unibody cars and never competitive in NASCAR , as compared with the Galaxie- the 427's domination started in 1963 and was never offered in the 'Bird, oddly neither was the 406(which was strange, because it was marketed and branded on the valve covers as the "Thunderbird Special" ( it ultimately failed in NASCAR as well because the bottom end would not hold up). I've seen T- Birds that age that were many times rustier and bent - why not give it a chance ??And.... you can't beat a 390 for reliability !!
That's a Fhunderbird.
Someone did oil changes
That car is too nice to junk coming from the winter salt mined of the east guys would jump at that car.
Yet I tried to sell for three months complete and no takers. As of now the roller is listed for $1000 and no a single interested person
Pull the starter and rebuild it
$15k for a unrestored in decent/ok shape i'd say after looking for one for months. An older restoration car in good shape is going to cost 20-30k. Yeah, the hood being able to be opened by anyone is not great in todays society. Does the motor spin counterclockwise?