65 Thunderbird

[DTCBob]

I recently purchased a 65 Thunderbird and the engine has blue valve covers and blue intake. I was under the impression that only the 66 came in blue and the 65 came in gold. The VIN says it is a 65. Also the interior is white on white code 20 and I also thought they never produced any with this code. Any information would be great. Thanks.
Here is the engine...
http://notpopular.netfirms.com/engine.jpg

 

[Joe Vandatta]

The 66 is blue, the 65 gold--don't know about the interior code but someone with a 65 shop manual could look it up.
Joe

 

[DTCBob]

See that is what I thought, then I guess there has had to be some type of engine swap on mine or somebody got confussed and painted it the wrong color at one point. Sorry the first link didn't work, this one should if you want to take a look at it.
http://notpopular.netfirms.com/engine.html

 

[Joe Vandatta]

It's hard to say what all has been done over the years, but it looks to me like an engine swap. Does the engine still have the ID tag on the front of the intake manifold?
Joe

 

[Joe Vandatta]

PS - Look around the front of the engine, they sometimes put it in different locations

 

[Birdfreak]

Hi I just got a 65 a bit ago too. My engine has a set of painted gold valve covers and it looks like some blue under them. I don't know where to look for engine numbers or if they are supposed to match vins or what. But I do see a lot of engine color discrepencies on 65 birds with a late year build date. Who knows maybe someone liked the Thunderbird logo valvecovers that I think it came with. Or maybe we both have cars with different engines than they came with. I saw your pic and that aircleaner is definetly from a 63 or earlier not 64,65 or up. Good luck with your lets talk and compare problems and solutions. Oh yeah the radiator tank-where is yours?John

[ 09-14-2003: Message edited by: Birdfreak ]

 

[Joe Vandatta]

The engine ID tag is a seperate metal tag. It gives you the date and year of mfg. and engine code. Sadly these tags are usually lost over the years.
Joe

 

[DTCBob]

I was trying to figure out about the radiator tank also. The guy I purchased it from knows very little about the history of the car. I also haven't got a chance to look at it first person yet. Will be doing that this weekend when I go and pick it up. But I think I got a really good deal on it, only $1,700. Thought I would put a few more pictures of it up to see what you guys think.
Added some body and interior pics.
http://notpopular.netfirms.com/engine.html

 

[Birdfreak]

Hey wait a minute thats an Ebay car!! I was looking at that car too!! 1700 is a good deal even if you put 2000 into it your still okay. Its missing the front fender spears and skirts. You gotta love white though for redoing a car especially on these 64-66 birds. Talk soon.

 

[DTCBob]

Yeah I saw those were missing. As for the fenderskirts that was an option and this one might not of ever had them. I figure the only real work I have to put into it right away is rebuild the carb, new fuel line and filter, and tune-up. Hoping everything else is fairly solid

 

[Joe Vandatta]

DTCBob,
This car looks like it warrants a new engine. If you are interested, go to
[email protected]
You can get a rebuilt for around $1200
Joe

 

[DTCBob]

Yeah thats what I figured Joe. I plan on rebuilding it myself once I get back from Japan. Only going to drive it here on base for about 2 months till we leave. Dont want to start rebuilding it then have it sit while we are gone.