elijahbird7's Tbirds!

[Dan Leavens]

She certainly is a real beauty. Congrats

[YellowRose]

elijahbird7's Tbirds!

Jim was at another S&S today and here are the results!

"Took the 59 to a show in Caledonia, Wisconsin today. It won "People's Choice/Best of Show", my 56 won that same trophy at the same show 2 years ago. About 75 cars, with some very tough competition."

Here is the pic!

[Dan Leavens]

Jim congrats again on the Best in Show selection. You will soon have to build a trophy case if this keeps up

[YellowRose]

elijahbird7's Tbirds!

Jim continues to rack up trophies with his gorgeous '59 Tbird! Here is what he had to say about today. His buddy Andy was showing his '57 also.

"Andy with his blue 57 and I went to a car show in Rochester, Wisconsin today. This is a Judged Show with 3 judges looking at all of 130+ cars. Andy took 2nd place in the class we were both in. (They only give 2 trophies per class) I think it was a 55 Chevy that took 1st in the class. I told him, well, you finally beat me!!. He said he would hold off on celebrating until the "Best of Show" trophy was announced.....and my 59 won it!
The pose of the car is where they photograph the Best of Show car, then next year's Dash Plaques and Trophies have a photo of the winning car on them. You also park in the Winner's circle in the front of the show next year, and at the show will receive a large wooden Plaque with the photo of your car on it stating "Best of Show 2015", which is presented to you at the beginning of the show.
A very nice day after some rain in the early morning."

Here are a couple of pix he sent me.

[YellowRose]

elijahbird7's Tbirds!

Jim was at another car show today! Here is what he had to say followed by a pic of his latest award!

"Just got back from a Thunderbird Club show about an hour and a half away. Had to take the expressway both ways, so was running at 70-75 to keep out the way of traffic. I was in the class 58-66 Thunderbird Convertible. Took first place."

[Dan Leavens]

Jim how is building that trophy case coming along

[YellowRose]

elijahbird7's Tbirds!

Here is an email that I got from Jim Elijah yesterday. This is what he had to say.

"Ray, More old car fun. I had some projects I wanted done on the 56 this fall, camshaft replacement, harmonic balancer replacement, front spring replacement, and change out the Generator for a Power Gen, that looks like a generator, but has an alternator inside.
So, my mechanic was busy this fall, but called the first week of February to see if I could get the car to him. After looking everything over, he concluded that the rear main was leaking, as well as the transmission, so he would pull the engine. He kept pulling the engine further apart, and found some valve and other issues. He ended up with the Pistons and Crank out, and sent the block to one of his friends, and is having a complete rebuild done with all bearings, rings, etc. The transmission is back in place after a complete rebuild, and I painted and detailed that before it went back in. Hopefully the engine will be back in a few days, and it can go back together, and I will paint and detail it before it goes back in as well. He likes me to use his blaster to remove all the paint, while he does other things....still have no idea of what this is going to cost, but oh well. We have been experiencing the old syndrome, "As long as it's apart, we might as well....."

Jim"

Here are a couple of pix he sent me, and also one of his gorgeous '56 Babybird before the work on it was started.

[Joe Johnston]

I too am a victim of "mission creep" and the job list gets longer and longer every time I start working.

Great pictures and a good example of using a dual master with the original style Midland remote fender mounted brake booster to the front brakes (possibly a disk conversion?). Few options for power brakes in a Little Bird without major modifications. Sweet Little Bird!

[elijahbird7]

Yes, we converted to Front Disc Brakes about 7 or 8 years ago. Best decision I ever made as to stopping in a straight line. Stopped by today, and the oil pan, intake manifold and front timing chain cover have been returned and were stripped of paint, so I can start painting those next week. My mechanic had another small list of new parts he wanted me to order, so another hundred bucks! He is hoping the engine rebuild gets finished and the block returned by the middle of next week. There were issues with the rear main seal, and some previous owner work back there that needed some tweaking. He always has a line up of classic cars waiting for his experienced touch.

[elijahbird7]

Another point. The engine was removed without taking the hood off, since he didn't want to crack the paint off of the bolts holding it in place, and these hoods take a lot of work to get aligned properly, and this one fits really well. I made it a point to not be there when the engine came out, and will not be there when it goes back in.... Too much stress to watch that operation.

[elijahbird7]

Tomorrow, it will be 6 weeks since the 56 went in for work. As of now, the engine has still not been returned by the machinist rebuilding it. My mechanic is more than frustrated with this situation, since my car has tied up one of his lifts this whole time, while he has other classic cars waiting in line to get in...oh well, at least mine has had 6 weeks of heated storage!

[simplyconnected]

Elija, if it's any consolation, Y-Blocks need a lot of changes that I hope your machinist is taking his time doing. They are notorious for rear seal leaks.

In short, Y-Blocks were Ford's first attempt at producing an overhead valve engine. They are miles ahead of the old flat heads but sadly deficient in some areas, like oiling.

To exacerbate the situation, since your engine was produced, many changes have happened like modern fuel and oil formulas. They are nowhere near what your engine was designed to use. The machine shop can help this.

We have far better materials and methods today. You can buy a 'true roller' timing chain that was never heard of back then. The rocker shafts need slots on the bottom oil holes (like FEs have) because rocker arms aren't exactly centered. We also pull out the copper tube at the end and plug the hole to raise oil pressure and to ensure each rocker arm gets oil. The cam groove in the center bearing needs to be deepened by a lot so that cam bearing wear will not restrict oil to both rocker shafts.

If you drive this car a lot I would recommend John Mummert's aluminum heads because Ford designed two exhaust ports together in the middle of the Y-Block head which creates excessive heat. They have all the right materials already installed and done. Simply bolt on.

There are more improvements to consider but these are a start. - Dave

[elijahbird7]

As of today, the engine has been back in the car since last week.
We put a lot of stuff on today, including the heater box, blower motor, carb, distributor and radiator. Had some paint issues on the radiator tank, so I ended up using paint stripper to take it down to bare copper, and started over, and finally got it looking good. The plan was to get it running by this afternoon, but the radiator paint issue put us a day behind, so maybe tomorrow it will be running.
My mechanic and the engine rebuilder are both in their mid-70's, so have a lot of experience with these engines. The engine guy specializes in racing engines, and my mechanic has two race cars using his engines...so hopefully all will be well. If all goes well, it should be ready to come home Monday or Tuesday.

[YellowRose]

elijahbird7's Tbirds!

Ray,
Thought I should give you an update on the progress. The engine came back the Wednesday afternoon before Easter... photos show progress.. My job was to do most of the painting and detailing. It should get started for the first time either today or Monday! Jim

Here are the pix he sent me! A beautiful looking engine!

[YellowRose]

elijahbird7's Tbirds!

Jim sent me an email telling me that he has the '56 back home with the new engine in it. Here is a pic.