ANGRY BIRD, THE TRI 5 T-BIRD HOT ROD...

Top emblem and fan shroud



I lost track of this thread. Speedo- no loop in my cable, or enough length to make one. Makes me wonder if someone substituted a cable from something else. Maybe to make it fit the C4?

The hard tops are the same, as far as I know, but the hold downs are different. A look at the Thunderbird parts catalogue shows it. If the top had portholes (I think they came available mid 56) it didn’t get the emblem behind the side window. My 55 top had no portholes, so I added them with the “factory licensed kit”. So I’ve got both emblem and portholes. Dead giveaway. Amos Minter is the top of the line in restoration work. You’ll find one for less, but it’ll need work. All of which you can do, if you decide you need one.

You’ll need a shroud, upper and lower for the radiator, no matter what fan you use. The “bird guys sell a molded lower shroud that goes out to the corners of the lower half. Better than the stock ring from the factory.

Mine cools stopped at 90*, with the a/c on.

 

the 55 has a 69 mustang rad... 2 core... so I got a 69 mustang 4 core..a new fan, manifold ,dist. and plug wires..

 

up date, angry bird getting the aluminum manifold, electronic ignition, 4 core rad. and speedway fan... should be done today... my sons doing the'
work...
I think I post already about the disc brakes on front... if not thats done also

 

also, the rad. is a 69 mustang, couple incjhes wider that the stock bird... 180 stat to start... needs to run 190 degrees constant...

 

so this turned into a battle of whit's and I ran out of ammo,.. here's what happened... got it all together.. sitting at idle , with in a few minutes... over heat.....so i think bad head gasket or such... do the block test...checks out ok???? pump the radiator.... holds pressure....flush block twice.... nasty black suff in the anti freeze...more block flush..... still over heats... I say head gasket...motor runs perfect... timing all in at 32 degrees... with it running with the pressure pump still on... pegs the needle...so back to head gasket...while running... I used at temp gun to check exhaust manifold temp..#5 was 200 degrees cooler than the rest... so ah ha....pull the plug start the engine and watch the pressure gauge...still pumping up... so I go the the other side... #1 cylinder... way cold..... so shut it off and pull that plug....sure enough... no pressure build up and sitting at idle... stayed right at the 180 degrees ( same as the stat) so I think.... heads gotta come off.... right....?????... well. not wanting to do that I thought...I'll just pull the valve covers and check the torque.... I set the wrench at 50lbs....the bolt at the very front was less than 50... took a full turn to get to 50 the one next to it took 1/2 a turn... bumped to 60 and all but a couple turnned.... and finished at 70 where they all turned a little...


so... heres my guess...with the water thicker than air it wasn't enough to make it leak with a 15 lbs pump... but would leak a little with the 160 lbs compression.....???

so got everything torqued... and plug back in.... it was 109 degrees out side so I came in... a little latter I'm gonna go back out and put the valve covers back on and runit.... fingers crossed right now.... I think the re torque will seal the heads.....????

 

The question is, is this your lucky day? I’ve had minor leaks seal with a retorque on my y blocks. No experience with the sbf engines. But give it a go. You’ll know soon enough if it damaged the gasket.
Never ceases to amaze me what you can find with someone else’s work. Best of luck.

Look at the bright side. It’s not an FE like the other birds. Won’t need to use the cherry picker to get the intake off.

 

Dumbass me once assembled a SBF without paying attention to the " front" marking on the head gaskets and got one backwards. Instant overheat.

 

thanks for the post, checked that on both sides and they were correct..

 

when I got done with my last post... couldn't wait... went out put the valve covers on and started it up... idle was up about 1500 but I left it....after 30 minutes it was up to 185.... let it run... a couple bubbles came up.... but nothing steady....it's 109 out today...so I decided to put the pressure gauge on the radiator..it was at 5lbs... after awhile more it went to 12 and the temp went to 200 on the gauge.... but it showed 180 at the sending unit...let it set awhile more and it went to 200/210 so I shut it off...once it cools I will be able to disconnect the pressure gauge and take it for a spin..109 degrees is not gonna be much help for cooling.... but I will be able to see if it's drivable in the heat..

 

I’ve got a friend down in Tucson with a 56 bird, still the Yblock. He’s driveable (no a/c) at 110. Barely. But stop and go and freeway. Your combo with the slightly larger radiator and the sbf should do it. He’s running a cut down a/c fan on a Hayden clutch. You may need a shroud (or put it back on, hard to tell when you’re working on it). I can get the particulars if it is a problem.

 

my thought is still the heads need to come off...

 

so that night... my son comes over with some blue devil stop leak.... he says, try this , if this don't fix it,... the heads gotta come off...

So I put the stuff in....you have to run it for 50 minutes... then let it cool till cold...

 

so the next day...run to the store.... all going well... running cool... fill it with fuel... and head home.... on the way home.... pegged the needle and boiled over.... so now.... heads are coming off...

 

up date... heads off..... horrible motor...water jackets plugged with gook mud... ( we ran block cleaner so it was probley loosening it up) #3 piston looks like someone dropped a carb nut ... and it probley took out the valves on that hole so they replaced the head... bore is 40 over...only four of the pistons match... the other four have smaller dish and larger valve relief cuts...so wonder what the balance was like...so I got a 302 ADK long block coming.. 4 yr parts and labor warranty...it's susposed to have 30 more hp.... not needed but the price and warranty is great...

 

motor showed up this after noon...install tomorrow...gonna be cool...

 

motor is out new motor getting dressed to go in... went from a 289, to a 302 that has 30 more hp than stock... what ever that means...

 

looking at this pic you can see all the pistons are different


..

 

try'n to figure the HP... I always thought the 302 4v was 225 hp, but read on the web that it's 250???? so@ 225 +30=255hp or 250hp +30=280... either way plenty of power for my wife to put around...

 

Both are correct. If you have a J-code 302 Mustang it was 225 hp and if you had a 302 in a 1968 Shelby GT-350 it was rated at 250 hp. Holley carb and aluminum intake was the difference on the Shelby.

 

thanks for the info

 

I put a 5.0 in a friend's 57 bird but I had to use a rear sump mustang pan to get it to fit low enough over the cross member.

 

thats what we have... rear sump... 289/302

 

slow process... my youngest is doing the swap...super anal... all new parts and bolts...



putting the stock manifold...she don't need no stink'n headers..

 

well this one is done.....not...the new motor over heats the same as the old one...so my other son put a pusher fan...the fan draws 30 amp.... killed the alt... but it still gets hot... it has a 195 stat... maybe needs a 180????ordered a fan shroud..hope that helps... these radiators have the supply and return on the same side of the radiator...seems it only uses half the radiator??? maybe the 195 stat gets it too hot to cool back down??? going down the road it runs real good... no signs of over heating... but it pegs the gauge @ 250... I think there is also a ground issue...so I need to get it on the lift and add some ground straps...head scratcher...it has a cheep electric sender gauge that is way off... but i could be the body and motor grounds...putting a 1 wire 100 amp alternator in tomorrow...another thing... it does not have over flow system... and it blows past the 19 lb cap when you stop... maybe didn't leave enough room for expansion??? its a 302...the timing is at 30 degrees all in and 10 to start...

 

in this pic you can see the heater delete... the long hose going from the manifold to the water pump... and the short by pass hose going to the pump...could this be causing a problem??? seems like the cool water is going right to the stat... and maybe causing the stat not to open????

 

as you caan see in this pic... they blocked off the heater hose port ,.. in the summer when hot out, there's a valve that blocks tis off, and only open to run the heater...

 

so here's my theory... there's a by pass at the stat..and when you delete the heater.. and just loop the hose, now it has a double by pass..maybe too much and now it causes it to not grab the water from the radiator enough???

 

the water from the manifold is pressurized, having 2 by pass hoses under pressure might make the pump not have enough pull to pull the coolent out of the radiator?????

 

Don'tlook like anyone agrees with my theory... but,... thats the plan today...get 2 pipe thread plugs and get rid of the second by pass hose, like said... having 2 pressurized hose's dumping uncooled water back into the motor can't be good...???I'm thinking more than 1/2 the water never makes it through the radiator....