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1962 Ford Thunderbird “The Bird”
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“The Bird”1962 Ford Thunderbird

35 photos documented since 2003 ♡ Follow this build

The story

This was an old 60's custom. It had been parked since 77 when I got it sept 11th 2001. It has been nosed and decked and shaved and slammed. I have added 4 wheel disc brakes and front and rear sway bars from Quickor. — Tom Cherry AKA Hawkrod

Photos

1962 Ford Thunderbird - the day she was dragged out of hibernation september 11th 2001! the car had blown a head gasket in 76 and was pushed into a backyard in San… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - pretty much where we are right now! 16 inch wheels and washed makes a huge difference. i had to put bug bombs in it because i kept getting… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the engine compartment gets detailed! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - much better 1962 Ford Thunderbird - just a little cleaner, new wires and distributor cap to better match the color choices. i still need to route my wiring and spark plug wire… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - next in the wings! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - and now the fun, i've ripped out the old front end for a complete overhaul. you can not imagine the kind of wear a car like this will show! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - here is the steering linkage swap. i used the 1966 steering linkage as it seems to be more stable than the 1962 design. it is a bolt on swa… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - Magilla Gorilla worked on this one last time! it had an upper inner shaft replaced and the Grunt who did it was a bad boy! that hole should… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the replacement arm scrubbed clean and ready for paint! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - all clean and painted, i am not doing the whole car but it sure seems like it! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the new front brakes await! yup, those are kelsey hayes 4 piston units from a 66 tbird. they bolted right on now i am hoping the front end… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - custom modified 66 upper shock tower to firewall brace. the 66 uses a different mount and shock setup so i had to modify it to fit the 62 (… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - master cylinder mounted, just clears! whew! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - now this is a treasure! this is a new old stock set of traction master traction bars made specifically for a 62/3 thunderbird (the box is d… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - yup, they fit! i still have to weld on the front bracket. 1962 Ford Thunderbird - stock brake drums (before shot!) 1962 Ford Thunderbird - out with the old! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - and to really make it go.... a 31 spline ford nine inch rear end with 3.50 gears and a trac-loc. hubba hubba! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - i don't know if you can tell from the picture but the left axle is a stock 28 spline and the right is the 31 spline unit 1962 Ford Thunderbird - fits good, i am a happy camper now.... 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the stock brake assembly, i used the center of this as a spacer for the new setup. 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the wheel bearing spacer made by cutting out the old backing plate center. 1962 Ford Thunderbird - disc brake caliper mounts in the raw! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - and after, the disc brake caliper brackets after an hour on a mill, drill press, and metal saw! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the caliper brackets mounted up, we are close now. 1962 Ford Thunderbird - and now to the back brakes. yeah four wheel discs for an old bird! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - rear brakes assembled (no backing plates yet). 1962 Ford Thunderbird - the Duraspark II ignition conversion. i like these the best as they are great for any street car up to 7000RPM and the have an ignition ret… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - this is the dual belt Cobra Jet front dress as i was putting it together. it has since been cleaned up and detailed. 1962 Ford Thunderbird - this is the Cobra jet setup from the other side. it is interesting to note that the stock sway bar rubbed the bigger Cobra Jet balancer but… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - at the front end shop! took this shot while they were doing the alignment and finally posting it here. i got the front end finished and got… 1962 Ford Thunderbird - here is another shot on the frontend rack. 1962 Ford Thunderbird - here is what i found when i pulled the timing cover. not pretty! 1962 Ford Thunderbird - here are the parts! it was not fun fishing all the parts out of the pan but i was able to reconstruct it all and verify that there were no…

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