Daily driver thoughts?

[franklin]

Hello, Frank here. I have an opportunity to buy my late father in laws 66 hardtop. Great condition throughout, with minor issues. I have worked on cars my whole life, but have my limits.
I would be selling my current car and the bird would become my semi-daily driver. I live in Colorado so I drive my truck when it snows. My current car doesnt see snow, so the situation would remain the same. I dont travel much during work, and not that much on weekends.
Im really struggling with this, as it doesnt seem right to use a classic as a daily driver. Im concerned about the cost and availability of parts. im waiting for a Larrys parts book to see what available. I know if this were a Camaro or Chevelle, I could rebuild it from scratch with new parts.
I have 2 questions: 1) Are very many parts hard to find for these birds?
2) Give me your take on this being a regular driver. I have been struggling for a few weeks and am kind of afraid to do this because of:
parts availability
Overwhelming on going maintenance.
I feel bad using a clean car like this as often as I would.( although all me vehicles we have had for at least 11 years and I keep them in good condition.
This is a good opportunity to get into a nice classic rather cheap and without a lot of work to get it to my standard of what I want a classic to be like.

I appreciate pros and cons that I may not be thinkng about, and value your experience. Thanks!!

[YellowRose]

Daily driver thoughts?

First of, a number of people on here use their Tbirds as daily drivers. Secondly, parts are fairly common. Go to the Advertisements Forum, and check out all the major Tbird parts suppliers we have documented. Click on them and order their free catalogs, by calling or emailing them. You will find that some parts houses have parts that others might not have. You will also be able to shop for the best part price. Rock Auto has a lot of parts for these old Tbirds of ours also. From the sounds of it, much of what the car has needed has been taken care of, which is good.

[Dakota Boy]

Once my car was brought back to being mechanically sound, I dont think twice about taking my car on a three-hour drive somewhere.

But BEFORE I had done all my work, I was nervous about taking it out of city limits!

I've done several motorcycle restorations and then my car came after that... and the same thing seems to hold true: You dont know what you have until you take it apart and inspect. Did I trust my car's brakes before I inspected and then replaced all the crusty brake lines? Heck no.

I have a buddy with a '56 chevy truck that he drives to work every day (until the snow and salt trucks come out in the winter).

[franklin]

I would eventually trust it traveling. Im contemplating thoughts like driving old technology every day. Gas mileage. Keeping it protected from the elements and stupid people. I currently have a 94 3000GT, which would be night and day difference in handling, ect. Which isnt necessarily a bad thing.
To me, I guess there is just something wrong about taking sucha classic and driving it a LOT. It would be my primary driver all summer and part of the winter on nice dry days.
Im probably going to do it, but am really trying to evaluate the cons to see if Im realistic about this.
I appreciate the responses.

[cdhowell]

The 66 has a decent braking system. Upgraded sway bars will improve handling. You should have a C6 tranny. Gear vendors makes an Over drive unit that will go on there to improve mileage. Not cheap but easily returned to stock. Drop the gear ratio a little to help get that heavy car moving and it should be a very comfortable daily driver. What else would you want in a classic?

[scumdog]

To me, I guess there is just something wrong about taking sucha classic and driving it a LOT. It would be my primary driver all summer and part of the winter on nice dry days.
Im probably going to do it, but am really trying to evaluate the cons to see if Im realistic about this.
I appreciate the responses.

Remember, in their day a lot of these cars WERE daily drivers!

[franklin]

Very true, but in the day parts were also readily available,,,
Im getting close to doing this deal. I guess at worst, I will still have a chance at getting my money back as long as I keep it in good shape, which I will if this doesnt work out.

[simplyconnected]

I suggest you use your classic car for recreational purposes. The technology in a fifty year old car cannot compete with modern cars that share the same road. You are in the Rocky Mountains. That means high altitude and steep grades for many miles on end. A carbureted car cannot function nearly as well as one with electronic fuel injection and an engine built for today's fuel. Your engine uses flat tappets that will destroy the cam using modern oil without additives.

I'm all for retrofitting a '66 with components that are compatible with modern fluids but that will require a major overhaul and a lot of money. If you don't do fuel injection, there is no hope for great gas mileage.

The alternative is to buy a good used modern car and use that for your daily driver. Save the '66 for special occasions. I'm in Michigan and I KNOW what car pile-ups are all about. Didn't we just have one with 45 cars, just last week. Your two-ton '66 doesn't stand a chance among small nimble cars in ice and snow. You might get through a year, possibly two, but you're shakin' dice and the odds aren't good.

We depend on bone yards for finding quarter panels, hoods, doors, fenders, bumpers, etc. You might find Asian patch panels for rust areas or bent floor pans at classic car vendors, but that's about it. Nobody has stamped OEM parts out for our classic Thunderbirds in many decades.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do. It's your money, but most classic car owners are passionate about their cars. They treat them with the respect they deserve, and in turn these cars last a very long time because they don't get beat up. If you're looking to invest your money, stay away from classic cars, especially if you drive them daily. - Dave

[RustyNCa]

Hello, Frank here. I have an opportunity to buy my late father in laws 66 hardtop. Great condition throughout, with minor issues. I have worked on cars my whole life, but have my limits.
I would be selling my current car and the bird would become my semi-daily driver. I live in Colorado so I drive my truck when it snows. My current car doesnt see snow, so the situation would remain the same. I dont travel much during work, and not that much on weekends.
Im really struggling with this, as it doesnt seem right to use a classic as a daily driver. Im concerned about the cost and availability of parts. im waiting for a Larrys parts book to see what available. I know if this were a Camaro or Chevelle, I could rebuild it from scratch with new parts.
I have 2 questions: 1) Are very many parts hard to find for these birds?
2) Give me your take on this being a regular driver. I have been struggling for a few weeks and am kind of afraid to do this because of:
parts availability
Overwhelming on going maintenance.
I feel bad using a clean car like this as often as I would.( although all me vehicles we have had for at least 11 years and I keep them in good condition.
This is a good opportunity to get into a nice classic rather cheap and without a lot of work to get it to my standard of what I want a classic to be like.

I appreciate pros and cons that I may not be thinkng about, and value your experience. Thanks!!

Well, my son's first car was a 65 TBird. I picked it up for him as his first car at 17. My thinking, it had good brakes, solid reliable FE motor. The parts for it are very available. He did manage to break the weak point, the transmission, but the 66 would have a better trans.

It now sits in our back yard, but it served him well for at least three years as a daily driver. About the only thing we did with it over those three years was an alternator and a radiator. And I'm pretty sure it had the original unopened motor, etc. So in all the years he used it, it really only let him down a couple times.

The downside as I see it, it's not a very good gas milage car.

[franklin]

Good info guys. Dave, altitude is no problem, as is snow. Its a seasonal driver. And it will get plenty of attention it deserves.
Rusty, mileage is a concern. Its a lot to think about knowing I would be driving it more than I care to. The wife says it would keep me out of her hair with piddling,waxing,detailing,painting, sleeping with it,,,ect.
Another concern is the lack of parts, or needing to search for them, whether it be body or otherwise.
I know this can be a very opinionated topic, but I wanted to throw it out there to see what feedback I get.
I may try to borrow it from my mother in law and drive it for a week or so to possibly help me decide. Thanks for your time, guys.

[RustyNCa]

Daily driver thoughts?

Good info guys. Dave, altitude is no problem, as is snow. Its a seasonal driver. And it will get plenty of attention it deserves.
Rusty, mileage is a concern. Its a lot to think about knowing I would be driving it more than I care to. The wife says it would keep me out of her hair with piddling,waxing,detailing,painting, sleeping with it,,,ect.
Another concern is the lack of parts, or needing to search for them, whether it be body or otherwise.
I know this can be a very opinionated topic, but I wanted to throw it out there to see what feedback I get.
I may try to borrow it from my mother in law and drive it for a week or so to possibly help me decide. Thanks for your time, guys.

Well, I would say, parts availability isn't a big deal. Ford used the FE motor, the C6 trans and the 9" rear end in an awful lot of vehicles over the years. Brake parts, A/C etc. I would say most everything you need for the mechanical side of it is readily available at Napa, AutoZone, O'Reilly's etc.

And most of the rest is out there at the birds nest, Tbird headquarters etc. The heater core is a pain to replace, but I found it also was easy to get hands on. Our 65 Special was a great driving car, smooth and solid. Brakes worked great, you could haul probably three bodies in the trunk.

The A/C work fantastic.

Mileage on the freeway seemed to hover around 15 to 16 mpg for us and around town I would guess we were doing about 12 maybe a bit better. I'd say about the same as our diesel excursion gets around town.

I'd put radial tires on it, like we did and add an aftermarket radio for tunes and call it good.

They make good looking cars. You can even run later model 17" wheels and tires if you want to roll a more modern look.

The one caveat, they aren't fuel injected and have all the smog controls, so they are a bit more temperamental and you will have the "old" car smell.

Which personally I like

[franklin]

Thanks Rusty. That info about parts helps. The first thing it needs is the sequential blinker module, but O`Riellys says they can get that. I will want to change to some nice wheels, but I understand a lot wont fit due to the dick brakes. I also would like to explore swaybars and better shocks. Any problems doing some of these mods?

[RustyNCa]

Thanks Rusty. That info about parts helps. The first thing it needs is the sequential blinker module, but O`Riellys says they can get that. I will want to change to some nice wheels, but I understand a lot wont fit due to the dick brakes. I also would like to explore swaybars and better shocks. Any problems doing some of these mods?

Well, there is no rear sway bar at all, and the front one is really small. Shocks are pretty easy, personally I like kyb gas adjusts, stiffer the better, but I never changed the shocks on our 65. You have to have alot of negative offset to clear the calipers up front, which those Bullit Mustang wheels have.

For sway bars, I would look at the birds nest or one of the other tbird vendors. For example, looks like the heavy duty sway bars will run you around $250 each at the birds nest. You could start with the rear bar and see what it did to your handling. But in theory should you be able to push the car that hard(hard for me to imaging with the big heavy bird), a stiffer rear bar would tend to induce more oversteer into the car(If I remember my handling correctly).