New member with 58

[Astrowing]

Picked up the '58 and drove it home about 25 miles yesterday evening. The brakes have air in them, so rebuilding them is number one on the list as their age is unknown. Also, at a stop when warmed up it seems that the transmission is loading the engine down when in D1 or D2. It is ok before it warms up, but once warmed up I had to go to Neutral at all stops. Does anyone have suggestions on where to start? Cosmetically, the car is a fine driver and got lot's of attention on the way home. Nice interior, but the mechanical has been neglected. Front end is going to need to be rebuilt also.

[GTE427]

Start with a tune-up, set timing, idle speed, check for vacuum leaks. From your description, sounds like the engine was running with the choke, richer mixture and fast idle cam when initially running. Once it warmed up and the choke circuit was gone, the car won't idle in Drive. Not a sympton of the transmission, more so of idle speed being too low which is a reflection of the engine's state of tune.

[DKheld]

I agree with Ken on the low idle speed - espically if you car still has the old Ford 4100 carb - sounds just like mine.

Glad to hear your starting with the brakes - these cars weigh 2 tons and the system needs to be right to stop them. There are quite a few speciality parts houses around that carry the items you'll need but believe it or not most brake parts are still available at places like NAPA, Advance, or O'Riley.

Check out the Thunderbird Registy and list your car when you have time. www.tbirdregistry.com

Eric Taylor
Registry 5347

[tbird430]

Safety 1st. I would recommend you get the brakes and suspension fixed 1st.

Try Kanter Auto up in the N.E. They sell front end kits that will save you some time & money. They offer a lifetime parts warranty too...

-Jon

[Yellowbird]

Glad to see another '58 owner in Texas. I agree, start with the brakes. If needed buy new wheel cylinders, don't waste time with rebuilding. Another thing to do is re-pack the front wheel bearings while the drum is off. You can also add the self adjusting mechanism to the brakes.
Good luck.

[RustyNCa]

Picked up the '58 and drove it home about 25 miles yesterday evening. The brakes have air in them, so rebuilding them is number one on the list as their age is unknown. Also, at a stop when warmed up it seems that the transmission is loading the engine down when in D1 or D2. It is ok before it warms up, but once warmed up I had to go to Neutral at all stops. Does anyone have suggestions on where to start? Cosmetically, the car is a fine driver and got lot's of attention on the way home. Nice interior, but the mechanical has been neglected. Front end is going to need to be rebuilt also.

Welcome to the 58 club, I had to replace all the bushings in the front on mine. It really wasn't that bad a job to do for me at least.

[Astrowing]

Transmission

The transmission seemed to shift fine, it upshifted and downshifted as I expected. D1 and D2 seemed to allow start in 2nd or 1st as desired. It obviously went into 3rd at speed and would run 60+ if I had good brakes and a good front end and I wanted to drive that fast. It was just an adventure at idle as it was. The engine runs pretty good at speed. I could detect some surging at 45 mph, but not too bad. Temperature stabilized at 190 degrees. I think the vacuum leak is very likely from my previous experiences. Much more obvious at idle, than when at speed.

With this low of a car, are ramps or jackstands preferred to work under it?

[Coral]

Stands, most definitely.... I've even used several well placed cinder blocks to hold up Coral while fussing about under-neath

WD-40 the entire carb/throttle linkage... several coats/applications...make SURE everything moves freely - then continue to investigate the above

[RustyNCa]

With this low of a car, are ramps or jackstands preferred to work under it?

Mine lived on jackstands for a long time while I was working on the front end.

I actually had it on 6 stands. two at the front, middle and the back.

[Guest]

Hey Astrowing,
Is she acting up going down the road?
Richard D. Hord

[GTE427]

I've even used several well placed cinder blocks to hold up Coral

Please, NOT cinder blocks! Tell us that's the last time you'll get under a car on blocks. Always jack stands or ramps, blocks can crumble and the car will drop, my HS shop teacher preached this to his students.

[Guest]

Hey Cathie,
I will totally agree with GTE427, I had a 1964 Thunderbird parts car and wanted to get her up off the ground. I jacked her up and put four concrete blocks under her, turned around picked up jack and headed for the garage, heard this big crash. All four blocks had crushed and she was on the ground again. Thank goodness I was not going to get under her to try to remove anything, all I wanted to do was to get her off ground.
These old cars are very heavy! Concrete blocks will not support that much weight by themselves, thats why the use them together and put mortar in between them!
Nether will a jack by itself. ALWAYS USE JACK STANDS!!!
Richard D. Hord

[Astrowing]

It's running good going down the road. May be some surging, but overall not too bad. It did ping from a start when I got it in gear. It may be too much advance, I'll have to check that. 6 deg BTDC for these engines?

Question on the dashpot: On my 70's Fords (i.e 351C), it was an electrical solenoid that kicked up the throttle when needed. How do these on the 352's work?

[Guest]

Hey Astrowing,
It almost sounds like you vacuum advance is not working.
My understanding the dash pod is just a adjustment for setting idle. Christine did not have one on her when I got her so I got one and put it on. When you step on the accelerator does she hesitate?
Richard D. Hord

[Astrowing]

From idle, it hesitated. Going down the road, the throttle seemed to respond as I expected.