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I created this site to show off my second great love (next
to my lovely wife of course) my 1972 Ford Thunderbird. |
PHASE I The next phase is to have
the engine rebuilt. After searching far and wide for a good restoration shop
I found someone about 20 miles away. The shop is called “The Auto Hut”. The are located in
Annville Pa. I was originally going to
rebuild the engine but the technician told me they had a crate engine sitting
in the shop. The date code on the block is 1977, well within the range I am
comfortable with. Since I am not going to try to win any shows like Sema I
figured it will be faster and cheaper to swap it rather than rebuild it. He
sold me the engine for $1,200. Not a bad deal and he said the labor and
additional parts should not be more than another $1,800, just under my budget
of $3,500. It is scheduled for March 25th, 2006. I will post photos of the
before and after as soon as the engine work is finished. The
major draw the this shop is they do not cut corners, I was show some of their
work and I will tell you it is out of this world. The
are even going to repaint/restore the engine compartment to factory specs. |
1972 Thunderbird Facts and stats...
Links to great Ford Thunderbird Forums
My Friend Ron’s sites: Links to sites I support Christian Broadcasting
Network – CBN The Bunny People PLEASE SUPPORT ME If you would like to support my site and my hobby and you have a Pay-pal account, please donate here |
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This is the first look I had of my new bird! |
PHASE II / III The body and paint are in fairly good shape but I am still planning to restore it as well. The same shop that is going to do my engine is going to do that as well but this phase is going to have to wait for a few years due the $10,000 price tag. The interior is also in fairly good shape but in need of restoration. The gauges were installed because the previous owner did not like the idiot lights. The interior has the bucket seats with center console (this is a rare option). The seat covers have the T-bird logo embroidered on the headrest. I am having difficulty finding a good upholstery shop, most restoration shops are not able to "restore" the seats but will install the reproduction OEM covers if I can find them, so if you now where I can find them e-mail me. |
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After arranging shipping we waited for the call and
several nights later we received a call from the shipping company that they
were about 10 minutes away. My wife and I could hardly contain our excitement
as the truck came into view. After several minutes of nail biting getting the
car off the lift we were on our way. I can tell you it was great to finally
be behind the wheel of my dream car once again. The next day I finally had a chance to look her over. Although she needed a lot of work she did run great. The first thing I did was call my local mechanic who by the way is the ONLY mechanic I ever trust with my cars. I asked him to give her a thorough going over. By she needed a LOT of work. I first took care of the usual, Fluid change, Tune-up, filter and Lube. I replaced the tires, wiper motor and washer pump and many many bulbs. But once I got her done she ran much better but still needed more work. Here is what she looked like after a bath:
The car arrived with a
dead battery and a broken gas gauge. I found out the hard way on the way home
it had NO steering fluid. And for those who have
tried it, never and I mean never put 89 octane gas in one of these it had
that in it and it ran like s#$t!
So after getting decent gas in it, it ran better. I still had to get the carburetor
rebuilt. My mechanic informed me
that the intake was severely gunked up and would need to be removed and
cleaned or replaced. Boy the list was getting
long already! So after getting it
road-worthy and inspected I started looking around for a good shop to do the
restoration. If any of you have
gone through this you know it was not easy. |
The one thing that makes the 72 stand out is the massive taillight. When I first
started looking for this car I purchased a replacement light in case the car
I found did not have the light intact. The 1972 was the year that Thunderbird produced its 1-millionth unit milestone. It was especially finished with Anniversary Gold paint and wore a white vinyl-clad landau roof. The wheel covers had color-coordinated gold accents. Up front was a gold-finished radiator grille. Commemorative "Millionth Thunderbird" emblems were found on the instrument panel and on the Landau irons on either side of the roof. A gentleman in Iowa now owns the car. The 72 was the first year of the “Big Birds”. Although
considered a Luxury car, with absolutely no options the T-Bird had a curb
weight of 4,503 lbs. Ford based them on the new Lincoln Continental Mark IV
(for those looking for parts check the 72 Lincoln) and had a sticker price
just under $5,000. The car came standard with a 429ci engine but there was an optional 460-cu engine available that offered a slight increase in horsepower. The body was mounted at computer-designated spots for noise and vibration suppression. The Thunderbird brakes had now been accepted as perhaps the best system in the sports/personal car market. ABS brakes were an option. A heavier-duty 9.38 rear axle ring gear was used with this system, as ABS tended to create some rear-axle chattering that could wreck the standard 9-inch rear end. Production for the calendar year was 57,814 units.
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