Thinking about buying a 63 Tbird, any suggestions.

[bradt]

I've got my eye on a 63 hardtop, with a 360 (runs and looks good). The body is straight (at least thats what I can tell just standing in front of it). The vehicle was recently painted, and the hood and trunk lid undersides don't show any rust, nor does the trunk or the bottom of the doors. The interior is in relatively good condition and complete...the front seats have seems that have given way and the carpet is worn out. I'm not sure of the mileage, as with a car of this age...the OD doesn't always tell the whole story.
Before I make an offer, I was wondering if you folks had any suggestions regarding what to look for, watch out for, and based on this limited description give me a window on what I should expect to pay.


Thanx for all your time with this.
Brad

I have pics, but don't know how to post them.

[4-5-6-birdman]

Originally Posted by bradt

I've got my eye on a 63 hardtop, with a 360 (runs and looks good). The body is straight (at least thats what I can tell just standing in front of it). The vehicle was recently painted, and the hood and trunk lid undersides don't show any rust, nor does the trunk or the bottom of the doors. The interior is in relatively good condition and complete...the front seats have seems that have given way and the carpet is worn out. I'm not sure of the mileage, as with a car of this age...the OD doesn't always tell the whole story.
Before I make an offer, I was wondering if you folks had any suggestions regarding what to look for, watch out for, and based on this limited description give me a window on what I should expect to pay.


Thanx for all your time with this.
Brad

I have pics, but don't know how to post them.

Hey Brad - I'll do my best to answer what I can for you, the 63 is not in my flock of birds but its close enough for us guys. The 360 was never used in the Tbirds, that is a truck engine of the same family as the 390 Tbird engine, I figure you probably meant 390.

It's always a little dicey buying a fresh repaint as you never get to see whats really under there. You can probably tell a lot just from the quality of the paint job, look for overspray on the chrome, or areas that were poorly taped off. Look for sanding marks under the paint, usually indicates areas of bondo. It also makes me a little curious why someone paints a car for what today costs thousands of dollars if it's done right and yet they don't spend a hundred dollars and 2 hours to put a carpet kit in. That seems a little odd to me.

You need to get the car up in the air either on jack stands or on a hoist and look over the under carriage for major leaks, and also it will give you a chance to check out the floor boards and frame rails for rust and rot. Also check out the exhaust system and look at the bottom of bellhousing for tranny fluid as the Cruise o matic trannys seem to leak from the front seal quite often, it's a spendy job to repair as the tranny must be removed.

As far as a price goes, hardtop Thunderbirds are still very much an anomily, you can go to nada.com or other old car price guides and see prices for an average 63-66 Hardtop in 6-8K range with high end from 9-12. Yet you can pick up a project driver or near driver for less than $1000.00. It is really hard to state the value without seeing the car, especially with new paint, you can get a $500.00 Earl Schieb job or you can spend $6-8,000.00 for a 2 stage job done by a real professional. The price range for that car could go from $1000.00 to $12,000.00. Look at pictures of similar models on Ebay to get an idea what the same money will buy. You will best serve yourself by buying a Tbird that needs little or no work as the cost of parts and services can be quite high. Be wary of a seller that tells you that some of the small things it may need are cheap to do as that is usually not the case with these cars unless your willing to search and source good used parts and do a lot of the work yourself.

The other option for a novice buyer, collector that is not mechanical or does not understand the Thunderbird is to find a local facility that knows the Tbirds, have them check it out, pay for an hour or so of their time and let them evaluate it for you. I would be interested in seeing the pictures of the car and answer any other quesitons you have. You can email me at [email protected] Good Luck in your Tbird quest!!