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**YellowRose** · April 21, 2013, 08:59 PM

Car dos'nt like park or hot weather.

Tara, if you have A/C on that Tbird, you should have at least a five bladed fan on it. As for your gear shifter being worn out, I am assuming that they are talking about the lever on the steering wheel. But it could also be the shifter lever sticking out at the bottom of the steering wheel, or at the tranny.

Your radiator overheating could be because it needs to be flushed out, or re-cored. Or your temperature gauge is not indicating correctly. Those parts you need are all available from our Tbird parts houses. The gas tank from the Internet, and our parts houses.

As for not being able to find parts for you Tbird, they apparently have no clue that there are a lot of Tbird parts houses across this country who specialize in 1955-1966 Tbird parts, including Rock Auto. You should tell them to look at Squarebirds.org and go to the Advertisements Forum and they will find allll the Tbird Parts places listed there and how to contact them.

The new detent plate for the steering wheel is available right here on our Forum. Check the Home web page!

Please call me on the phone or email me your phone number so I can call you! My number is 210-674-5781.

I just got your email. Okay on calling tomorrow night.

**KULTULZ** · April 22, 2013, 03:30 AM

Originally posted by tara

...saids I might have to loose my nice steering wheel if they can't find replacement and for at lights and drive thru car staying in p temp I might want a power fan with more blades but they can't find it they havnt commented back on detent plate.

{{{{{shudder}}}}}

{{{{{shudder}}}}}

Ray will be able to help you with the shift linkage...

**YellowRose** · April 22, 2013, 04:10 PM

Car dos'nt like park or hot weather.

Tara called me this morning and we spent a long time going over the problems she is experiencing now. I gave her some ideas on determining if she had a radiator or other problem that was causing the overheating problem she is seeing. I forgot to mention to her to have them check the upper and lower hoses to see if either of them is bad. She told me that they have the expansion tank filled to the top and I told her that is not the way it should be. It should only be about one third or so full to allow for expansion. She said she is seeing some overflow on the ground from that tank. I told her that is probably because they have the expansion tank to full.

She said they put a fan shroud on the car to help the cooling and want to put a "power" fan on... I suggested that she just have them put a five bladed, or six bladed flex fan on. The car does not have AC, though it used to. I gather a previous owner had an aftermarket unit in, but it was taken out. I suggested that she have the radiator tested to see if might be in need of a re-core or replacement. Her fuel gauge seems to be working fine, and that indicates to me that perhaps her temp gauge is also indicating correctly too. It goes into the P in Temp when she is idling at a light, or otherwise, and drops back down to around M or so normally. I suggested that perhaps the gauge might be out of adjustment, something else to consider, like a faulty temperature sending unit.

I took her over all the things that can be causing her shifting problems, or failure for the shift lever to lock into park. They said her shift lever was shot. I don't know if they mean the one on the steering column, or the shift selector arm down at the bottom of the steering column. They were looking for a replacement steering column, when they probably only need a few parts, like new shift lever with a good rubber tip on the end, a new Cup, a new detent plate, a new shift selector arm at the bottom of the steering column, and maybe some new rubber bushings at the tranny. I suggested that the Neutral Switch (and where it is) might be out of adjustment. They don't even know how to set or release the emergency brake, apparently. I took her over that procedure and cautioned her to tell them, and remember herself, to pull that out and put it on whenever they have the car out to prevent it from dropping out of park and into another gear... That is the last thing she or they need.

She is concerned that running the car when it overheats could cause engine problems. When it does overheat, the engine sputters, stops and she loose her brakes. It is difficult to stop the car when that happens. She mentioned that one of the shops she took it to put "power brakes" on the car..

She also says that she smells gas a lot now and she did not use to until they worked on the carb, if I have this correct. The problems are that she has had people working on her Tbird who probably don't know what they are doing. The present mechanic is only in his 20's. The Ford company she has been taking it to now does not know where to look for parts for this old of a car. I gave her the link to the TRL and our Advertisements Forum for her to give to them so they can look at our sections of the TRL that deals with the problems she is having with this car, and what Tbird parts houses they can contact for parts.

This is a short overview of things we talked about. I tried to get her in contact with the Tbird club in here area, but no one replied, in hopes they could put her in contact with a reputable Tbird mechanice. Hopefully, the information I provided her will be a help to her, plus anything else ya'll can advise..

**KULTULZ** · April 23, 2013, 12:04 AM

Originally posted by YellowRose

The Ford company she has been taking it to now does not know where to look for parts for this old of a car. I gave her the link to the TRL and our Advertisements Forum for her to give to them so they can look at our sections of the TRL that deals with the problems she is having with this car, and what Tbird parts houses they can contact for parts.

I tried to get her in contact with the Tbird club in here area, but no one replied, in hopes they could put her in contact with a reputable Tbird mechanice.

Hopefully, the information I provided her will be a help to her, plus anything else ya'll can advise..

She definitely has to find a TBIRD club in her area to hopefully find an experienced mechanic.

About where is she located?

You did her good though Ray...

**YellowRose** · April 23, 2013, 12:18 AM

Car dos'nt like park or hot weather.

Thanks, Gary, I am trying. She is in St. Petersburg, Florida and I tried to get in contact with the local Tbird club in her area, to no avail. I never got an answer out of them. She has been through a lot so far with that Tbird. I hope we can help her get the things left to be fixed on it taken care of.

**Joe Johnston** · April 23, 2013, 07:52 AM

Tara's experiences (unfortunately) point out issues everyone who thinks they want a collector car need to be aware of and what they need to be willing to do as part of ownership.

1 - buy and study the owner's manual. Not just for your own knowledge but to give direction to someone else.

2 - join the national clubs and become active in the locals

3 - forum help like this is wonderful, but only so much can be done online

4 - we no longer have mechanics who can diagnose a problem, we have technicians who plug in a computer and follow codes then replace one part.

5 - a bit of common sense and knowledge of basic diagnostics can save a ton of money when working on old cars. They are basic mechanical systems that work well IF components are complete and in reasonable working order. Not knowing how to adjust a neutral safety switch or have the means to learn these cooling systems have an expansion tank, not an overflow tank, is slowing her progress to enjoying her car.

Tara seems to be willing to work through the problems but needs better local hands on help. Hope someone in St Pete can steer her right.

**simplyconnected** · April 23, 2013, 12:08 PM

Well put, Joe. In #1, I might add a Shop Manual to that Owner's Manual. Of course if the owner doesn't understand mechanics or don't have time they could loan the books to the mechanic doing the work.

#4 is compounded by 'code readers' who want to jump straight to the problem without using proper troubleshooting techniques. I truly believe most of them never learned troubleshooting techniques and they don't understand how the mechanicals work together.

This business of skipping all over has appeared in many of our posts and it only serves to confuse the situation. These engines are very simple, straight forward and all mechanical. - Dave

**KULTULZ** · April 23, 2013, 04:16 PM

Originally posted by Joe Johnston

Tara's experiences (unfortunately) point out issues everyone who thinks they want a collector car need to be aware of and what they need to be willing to do as part of ownership.

4 - we no longer have mechanics who can diagnose a problem, we have technicians who plug in a computer and follow codes then replace one part.

I am not in 100% of this view. Today's tech is much more knowledgeable than those of yesterday. The systems are much more complex and that they lack basic understanding of a half century old technology does not warrant demeaning one.

On the other hand, you have knowledgeable techs, good techs, bad techs and down right thieves who give the industry a bad name (has always been like this).

It is much more than scanning for a code. That code only points you to whatever system has seen a failure. The tech still has to diagnose and repair correctly. A comeback is out of their pocket.

**Joe Johnston** · April 23, 2013, 04:23 PM

Thanks for catching that! Shop manual is what I intended to say. I have 2 of every manual for my cars. One set is worn grubby from use in the shop and one in the house. I have worn out a 56 and a 57 shop manual over the years and have found the answers to most problems are there after a bit of reading. Its nice to have them on CD to print out what you need but I'm old school enough (still have points and condensers - no electronic ignitions) that there is something about looking things up in a well worn shop manual that "works" for me!!!

I feel if you have an old car you must learn all you can, it is nothing like the "techs" are used to working on, especially since the car is older than they are.

**simplyconnected** · April 23, 2013, 04:26 PM

Originally posted by KULTULZ

I am not in 100% of this view. Today's tech is much more knowledgeable than those of yesterday. The systems are much more complex and that they lack basic understanding of a half century old technology does not warrant demeaning one.

On the other hand, you have knowledgeable techs, good techs, bad techs and down right thieves who give the industry a bad name (has always been like this).

It is much more than scanning for a code. That code only points you to whatever system has seen a failure. The tech still has to diagnose and repair correctly. A comeback is out of their pocket.

Let's start a new thread regarding this because it pertains to all of our classic cars. - Dave

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