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Pale yellow two-door coupe in side profile parked in a dusty yard with crates and trucks behind.
Home/ Registry/ Ford/ Thunderbird/ 1961–1963/ “The Bird” supermotors.net/registry/1809

“The Bird”1962 Ford Thunderbird

documented by Tom Cherry AKA Hawkrod 35 photos documented since ♡ 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… 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… 1962 Ford Thunderbird — the engine compartment gets detailed! Vintage V8 engine bay with finned valve covers and large oval chrome air cleaner 1962 Ford Thunderbird — just a little cleaner, new wires and distributor cap to better match the color choices. i still need to route… 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 w… 1962 Ford Thunderbird — here is the steering linkage swap. i used the 1966 steering linkage as it seems to be more stable than the 19… 1962 Ford Thunderbird — Magilla Gorilla worked on this one last time! it had an upper inner shaft replaced and the Grunt who did it w… 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… 1962 Ford Thunderbird — custom modified 66 upper shock tower to firewall brace. the 66 uses a different mount and shock setup so i ha… 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… 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… 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 7000RP… 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 de… 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… 1962 Ford Thunderbird — at the front end shop! took this shot while they were doing the alignment and finally posting it here. i 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…
See every Ford Thunderbird in the registry The 1961–1963 Ford Thunderbird registry

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