elijahbird7's Tbirds!
Jim was checking the underside of his new to him '57 Babybird when he noticed that the shims in the frame had tape on them, holding them in place before the body was mounted onto the frame! Having been under his '56 before, and many other Babybirds, he has never seen tape on those locking shims before. He was thinking that he should take that tape off each of those shim positions but decided not to and started checking into it. What he found was interesting! If he had taken them off, a sharp judge who might have looked under the car could have taken off points in judging because that tape is factory correct and is intentionally put on those shims to make sure they do not move from their location when the body is lowered onto the frame! Here is what he found.
"While the car was on the hoist, I noticed there was some masking tape on the body mounts... I thought maybe someone just forgot to remove it.. But no, I looked in the Thunderbird Restoration Details and Specifications Manual by Gil Baumgartner, and found the 2nd photo that shows that the shims were taped to the frame before the body is lowered onto the frame, to keep the shims from falling off...so it is factory correct. I imagine after years of driving in rain and snow, the tape would just eventually deteriorate. Always something to learn about these cars..
Here is the description of that photo from the Manual.
"Original shims were taped in place with 3/8 inch masking tape". The attached photo I just took under the 57. I think you can see how the body would have been lowered onto the frame pretty quickly, and the tape kept the shims in place while that happened... Jim"
In the pix he sent me, you will see the shims taped into the frame to keep them in place, as shown in the Thunderbird Restoration Details and Specifications Manual by Gil Baumgartner. Then you will see the rear end of the frame show four locking shim sections along the frame, where the body is lowered onto the frame, a locking clip is put in place, locking the body to the frame. I gather that, unlike our unibody Tbirds, these locking pins are what allows a Babybird restorer to do a full frame off restoration of one! It is my understanding that on unibody cars, that body is solidly welded to the frame. In the last pic you will see one of the outboard locking shims. Jim has years of experience with Babybirds and said this is the first time he has ever seen these shims in place with the factory installed tape on them. Probably the only reason why they are still on this Babybird is because it has been a trailer queen after a full restoration to OEM factor specs...
His friend Mike has his red '57 for sale and you can see the tape on his frame also!
Jim sent me another pic of the layout of those locking shims that shows the actual page from the Tbird Restoration Details & Specs Manual, page 13.
Here are the pix.
Jim was checking the underside of his new to him '57 Babybird when he noticed that the shims in the frame had tape on them, holding them in place before the body was mounted onto the frame! Having been under his '56 before, and many other Babybirds, he has never seen tape on those locking shims before. He was thinking that he should take that tape off each of those shim positions but decided not to and started checking into it. What he found was interesting! If he had taken them off, a sharp judge who might have looked under the car could have taken off points in judging because that tape is factory correct and is intentionally put on those shims to make sure they do not move from their location when the body is lowered onto the frame! Here is what he found.
"While the car was on the hoist, I noticed there was some masking tape on the body mounts... I thought maybe someone just forgot to remove it.. But no, I looked in the Thunderbird Restoration Details and Specifications Manual by Gil Baumgartner, and found the 2nd photo that shows that the shims were taped to the frame before the body is lowered onto the frame, to keep the shims from falling off...so it is factory correct. I imagine after years of driving in rain and snow, the tape would just eventually deteriorate. Always something to learn about these cars..
Here is the description of that photo from the Manual.
"Original shims were taped in place with 3/8 inch masking tape". The attached photo I just took under the 57. I think you can see how the body would have been lowered onto the frame pretty quickly, and the tape kept the shims in place while that happened... Jim"
In the pix he sent me, you will see the shims taped into the frame to keep them in place, as shown in the Thunderbird Restoration Details and Specifications Manual by Gil Baumgartner. Then you will see the rear end of the frame show four locking shim sections along the frame, where the body is lowered onto the frame, a locking clip is put in place, locking the body to the frame. I gather that, unlike our unibody Tbirds, these locking pins are what allows a Babybird restorer to do a full frame off restoration of one! It is my understanding that on unibody cars, that body is solidly welded to the frame. In the last pic you will see one of the outboard locking shims. Jim has years of experience with Babybirds and said this is the first time he has ever seen these shims in place with the factory installed tape on them. Probably the only reason why they are still on this Babybird is because it has been a trailer queen after a full restoration to OEM factor specs...
His friend Mike has his red '57 for sale and you can see the tape on his frame also!
Jim sent me another pic of the layout of those locking shims that shows the actual page from the Tbird Restoration Details & Specs Manual, page 13.
Here are the pix.
Comment