Jiri Needs Your Advice

[kuusamon]

true but many of the parts I mentioned as the lights, screws and a set of bolts, hoses and belts, filters and maybe a simple tool kit, your are going to need for sure and are maybe heavy to ship, if they can go with the car 'for free' (sending and duty costs).
regards=ron

ps. I forgot to mention set of spark plugs and a fuel filter. you know some of the parts as belts, plugs and oil filter you might find locally by a U.S.parts auto shop in Czech because so many cars shared the same of those parts. But if not, those parts are so cheap that sending costs from the U.S. are more than the total value of those parts. I do also a lot of shopping on ebay, search words: thunderbird (1958, 1959, 1960) or search words: ford fe (352, 390) .
if you can use the shipping address of your contact/friend in the U.S. put your friends shipping address in there and you can also change your registration address on ebay to that of your friend. A lot of ebay sellers do not ship overseas but in that way you opted your chances. Pay by paypal. most parts and used parts are cheap on ebay and when they do ship together with the car we say 'they don't eat any extra bread' and at some point you will need them for sure. I have good experiences at ebay, check their feedback level!

hope to have been of help.
last but not least, always good to have a spare relay from the relay tray for your top operation.

[newyear]

Jiri needs your advice

Hi
It may be worth having a spare waterpump sent with the car-It is a an expensive item to have shipped and the return postage costs more than the core value.Also you would probably have to pay customs charges if it is sent seperately.I have one that I would love to get overhauled but have not been able to find anyone in the UK so far...
Regards
Peter

[Rock&Roll Firebird]

Hey guys, there was a battery hold down mentioned missing. What is it? Can it be bought somewhere?

[jopizz]

The original battery hold down was for a group 29 battery. That's what I have in my '59. If you have something wider it might not work. I've seen plastic ones from time to time but not the metal ones.

John

[YellowRose]

Jiri Needs Your Advice

Jiri, a battery hold down keeps the battery from moving around and coming out or off the plate it is sitting on. This is what is meant. You should be able to fabricate one if you had to.

[Rock&Roll Firebird]

OK, thanks for explanation - that should be not hard to assemble if needed. But, was it a original car's equipment? I guess?

[jopizz]

Here's the factory hold down on my '59. The only thing non-original are the red rubber spacers. They should be black.

John

[Rock&Roll Firebird]

OK, got it. I have two more things - since I like the rear wheel covers but they do not come with my bird, can you guys advise where to get them, and how are those called officially? Also I like the wire wheels a lot. Any idea where to get those for a reasonable price? And speaking about the wheels - why are those only 14"? They seem very small to me, was it a standard wheel/tire size in the '50s? I'd say a 15" or 16" would suit her better maybe... And there would be definitely more material on the wire wheels also. Not sure, what do you think?

PS: I need to get me the wide stripe tires - they look absolutely stunning on the car...

[YellowRose]

Jiri Needs Your Advice

Jiri, when you say "rear wheel covers" I am assuming you are talking about fender skirts. Here is a set of used ones (metal from the looks of them) for $250.
http://www.fordrestorationandparts.c...-fender-skirts

You can sometimes find them on eBay or Craigslist. Sometimes our Tbird parts houses have them. Those that have parts cars that they can take them off of, like the Bird Nest, and the Bird House, or John Draxler of Thunderbird Ranch. You want to get the metal ones if you can find them.

However, if you are thinking of putting wire wheel rims on the car, you might not want to cover part of the rear wheels up with fender skirts. As for wire wheels, they do not come cheap, and I will let those who own them tell you if they think they are worth the expense and problems of running them on a Tbird. I have heard good and bad things about them. Good in that they look sharp. Bad in that they are difficult to keep clean, and have other problems, not to mention they cost an arm and a leg.

Let me tell you what a good friend of mine had. He had wire wheel covers that looked like wire wheel rims. When he wanted to clean them, he popped them off, and put them in the dishwasher to wash them and they came out looking great again. Don't try that with your wire wheel rims! If married, your wife might not like that!

As to why 14" rims, that is what Ford was running back then. It was a OEM item that came on all Squarebirds when they left the factory. Many have since switched them out for 15", 16" or bigger. There are advantages to doing that, especially if, down the road, you want to add disc brakes to the front. Your OEM 14" rims are not going to work with disc brakes. You will have to find a set of 5 14" vented rims (for tire rotation and a spare) off a Ford disc brake equipped car, like a Granada, or other model.

As to wide white striped tires, yes they look nice but they can be costly also. As to whose to buy, I will let the guys who own them talk about that. You also have the problem of keeping them clean.

[Rock&Roll Firebird]

Thank you for info and for the skirts link Ray. I booked the skirts. As I can not compare, how good is the $250 price?

[YellowRose]

Jiri Needs Your Advice

The price is probably comparable to what it would cost you for a set from someone else, IF you could find a set. That set needs some cleaning up on them, but you would probably have to do that anyway to another set to get them painted the right color. They are not that easy to come by. After looking on eBay, I did not see any being offered for sale for the Squarebird. You will probably need the rubber seals for them, but you can get them from the Bird Nest or other Tbird parts houses. I know the pix of your Tbird did not show any fender skirts, but did you ask the seller if there were any that came with the car? Maybe in the trunk?

[kuusamon]

I bought my skirts of ebay, sometimes you find orig.ones there for arround 150,- I bought retro's fibreglass ones for 125,- they are ok.
I also bought a set of wirewheel covers/hubcaps there, they look nice and can be washed indeed in the dishwasher. One of the problems I heard with real wirewheels rims is that they are loosing air, you might not want to go tubeless then but put an inner tire in. But those wire wheel covers with Tbird emblem I found are usualy only for 14 inch rims but you can then by the more modern 14 inch rims which came from a car that was fitted with disc brakes so the covers/hubcaps will fit.

[Rock&Roll Firebird]

Looks good! Is there a way to add the spinner caps to the wire covers? They look very good on the wheel.

[kuusamon]

usually the wire covers come with spinners, all casted in one if you find the correct ones, so I believe.

do a search on ebay motors and search for: thunderbird hubcaps then add either wire or spinner.
quite a few there either in 14 inch or 15 inch.

[jopizz]

Fender skirts were an option. If your car doesn't have the pins installed then it didn't come with skirts from the factory.

John