60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

[Guest]

Ok do we have a solid answer on this topic yet. had a guy come over yesterday to look under the hood. he was in him mid 70's..First thing he says is "your missing the fan shroud" tells me he remembers going to the dealer when the car came out and there were fan shrouds on the cars...

I still have not found proof that there was one for 60..any insights here on this mistery..i know they make a re-po for it.
mark

[Alexander]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

The man you spoke with is recalling something that did not occur.

The history of the shrouds on 1960 Thunderbirds is murky at best. There is no documentation that I am aware of. The VTCI judging book shows two different shrouds for the 1960. As far as I am aware, one of the cars that now has a shroud, did not have it originally. That came from a donor car. No ROT sheet exists to document a shroud. One thing is agreed, that if these shrouds were really put into production, they are rare and only used on A/C car late in production. I have never seen one in an original car, intact or in the junkyard.

The early 1960's Full Size Ford shroud fits well in Squarebird engine compartment. This shroud was only used on Fords with A/C and was not installed in the factory. it was put in the trunk to be dealer installed. A lot of them wound up in the trash rather than on the cars.

The reproduction shrouds are fiberglass not metal. The metal ones are rare, but occasionally show up on eBay. Expect to pay about $150 to $200 for one.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

Ok that is what i thought and my research showed the same., i do think that the man DID see it on the car as it was as you state dealer installed. I know VTCI judging does NOT require one and the truth is murky as you state at best...
mark

[byersmtrco]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

I've seen one that was orig equip. It was years ago (mid 70's) The car belonged to an older lady who bought it new. It was a 352 AC equipped Hardtop. It had a *metal* shroud with a 5-blade fan. You could tell both had been on the car since day one. She said nothing had been changed on the car except for tires, maint etc. The car was spotless. As far as I know her daughter still has it.

As you've probably read on other posts of mine, I have the fiberglass reprod shroud on my 60. IT WORKS !!!! It's not a perfect fit, but it's close enough. That and a 6 or 7 blade fan and if everything else is in proper working order, your Sq/Bird will not overheat again. If you ran a 160 stat . . . It would probably never warm up. You can feel the diff too. Standing by the car w/the hood open, you can feel the warm breeze. It is definently pulling air through.

I know . . . I know . . . My .02 again.

[Guest]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

Yup had it confirmed my self. SOME and I mean ONLY SOME of the cars with Air had the fan shroud!
Mark

[JohnG]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

"SOME"....hmmmm...how about ONE single documented instance of a person with a 1960 with an original equipment shroud? and some photos to go along with it???

That would be of interest!

[byersmtrco]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

I agree. If I ever see one again, I hope I have my camera. Either way, if you find an original off a TBird or Galaxie (Or Mercury) or get one from Dearborn Classics, it's the way to go. The car needs one. With that, you can regulate what temp you want the car to run.
This has worked for me on other cars as well . . . Mopars, Chevy's whatever. Notice how (almost) every car made after the late 60's/early 70's has a shroud (of some kind). It's not rocket science. It makes em run cooler. It allows the fan to pull more air through. Since we know that "some" came with them, it's not hurting the original Concours car or the beater or the Streetrod.

JB

[JohnG]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

I got one on Ebay about a month ago from a '61-2 Galaxie. According to the seller, this is a distinct part from a 63 and later Galaxie.
I don't know if the shroud itself is different or the mounting hardware. Cost me about $125 plus shipping, considerably less than the $200 + $23 that Dearborn wanted.

I did have an idea, that I never followed through on, to email all owners of 1960s that had ACs and were registered on the TBird registry and see if any of them had original shrouds and what evidence they had of originality (there are of course a few original owners or descendents of original owners so there is indeed hope). With John's help I may get to it one of these days.

John
'58 Shroudless Hardtop

[Alexander]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

When it come the authenticity of 1960 Thunderbirds, the shroud issue is important. My 1960 T-Bird was an untouched time-capsule when I found it. It has no shroud. If it existed as a factory installed part, I think it would have been authenticated by now with a ROT sheet. There is a diagram from the 1960 parts book showing a shroud, but it is unclear if this was Thunderbird specific. It may be only for full size Fords.

It may be that dealers put shrouds on from the full-size Fords on the 1960 Thunderbirds due to complaints of overheating. This is my hypothesis.

Meanwhile I am still searching for a real Gold Top, which I saw reported yet again in another new car history book I saw at the Atlantic City Car show. They list 2500 sunroof cars and 2536 gold top Thunderbirds.

http://www.squarebirds.org/images/gold_roof_t-bird.jpg

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[JohnG]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

good software skills, Alexander!!! love that "gold"...


the shroud I got is still on line at Ebay at:

[http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWA%3AIT]. I got the cost wrong, it was only $104 plus shipping.

[Alexander]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

Thanks for the compliment on the graphic. Note the license plate.

Good deal on that shroud.

I am interested in that mounting bracket. How is that used in the installation? It looks like an easy to make piece with a sheet metal brake. Please give me details on how it is constructed when you get the shroud. Thanks.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[Guest]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

>Thanks for the compliment on the graphic. Note the license
>plate.
>
That gold is the most increddible thing i have ever seen. I would love to see a car in that color...with a BLACK top!
mark

[JohnG]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

license plate: nice touch!

shroud bracket: I will take some pictures and send them. I have
had the shroud for awhile. Bear in mind it was for a 61 Galaxie. Basically the top of the shroud mounts to the bracket which in turn attaches to the car somehow... I still need to study this.

Installation: you got me to wondering - were there "Service Bulletins" sent to dealers in the '60s? If so then one of them might have discussed adding shrouds to combat heating problems on AC equipped cars. Are there any car clubs or groups that might have libraries of such information? Along these lines, if there really are any factory equipped cars out there, the VIN should indicate a relatively late production car.

john

[Alexander]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

My Golde Top with A/C has a date code of 29F. That is scheduled for production on June 29, 1960. Usually production ends on the last day of June. I will need to check with the VTCI prints when the last documented 1960 was produced, but with the new 1961 coming out I doubt production ran into July. My 1960 had the original engine, water pump, radiator, etc. when I got it. There is no indication that this car ever had a shroud.

If shrouds were put on cars as purported, they were all done on June 30, 1960 using several different style shrouds. It does not seem believable to me.

Alexander
1959 Hardtop
1960 Golde Top

[dgs]

RE: 60 Fan Shroud Issue again??

My Golde Top with A/C has a date code of 29F. That is scheduled for production on June 29, 1960. Usually production ends on the last day of June. I will need to check with the VTCI prints when the last documented 1960 was produced, but with the new 1961 coming out I doubt production ran into July.

I thought the same as you. My car has a production date of 26G (July 26th) and acording to [link:www.tbirdregistry.com/|the Tbird registry] it wasn't the near the last one. [link:www.tbirdregistry.com/viewdatasheet.asp?RegistryNumber=14845|This one] was scheduled for September 13th and is the last one in the registry, but is beyond the number documented by Ford.

At any rate, there were a bunch of cars after both yours and mine.