Trunk Torsion Bar issues

[Logictwist]

Hey Everyone,

I just purchased a 1964 Thunderbird hard top (soooooo happy with it) but being a car that is 45 years old there are a couple of issues with the car. The issue that I am trying to tackle right now is getting the trunk hinges and torsion bars to operate properly. Unfortunately the shop repair manual for the car does not have a very good image of the hinge assembly where the torsion bars connect (the car came with the torsion bars unattached, lol) and I was hoping someone with a properly operating trunk on a 1964 thunderbird hard top would be willing to post some images of exactly how this assembly goes together?

Thank you.

 

[phjohnso]

Do you have the original repair manual for that car? I do. Let me know if yo uneed me to look up that and maybe scan a picture for you.

 

[Logictwist]

I do indeed have the shop manual for the car but unfortunately the image that they have in the book for the trunk hinges only has one picture of the hinge and it does not show how the torsion bars fit into the hinges. Also the description of how to go about replacing the hinges and torsion bars assumes that they are already in place when you are replacing them so they don't bother to give me better diagrams. If your manual has better instructions or images than mine I would really appreciate any scanned pages that you could provide for me.

 

[66QBird]

I don't have a picture, but can describe how the bars work on my 66. On each rod, the U shape fits into the inside of the hinge in a narrow slot running up and down. THere is a hole on outside of the same hinge the end of the rod will need to go into. Also, on the same hinge, there is a swinging piece that the bottom of the U will fit in to. Reach in the middle of hinge on the bottom side and you'll feel it swinging. Make sense? Once you have the U side done on each, you can easily find the hook where the L side goes in near the top of the hinge on the inside. Do the U side on one, then the L side of the same rod, then go to the second rod, again starting with the U side. When both rods are in place but under no pressure, then you set the spring. Do this by carefully pulling on the end of each rod toward the back of the car and leveraging it until you can drop it into one of the slots on the inside if the hinge. Use a vice grip and pry bar or long, strong screwdriver. I think there are three slots, the one to the front of the car being the least tension, of course. Do this for both sides and you should be done. Be careful setting the springs-lot of pressure there. Hope that makes some sense. Kind of hard to describe in words.

 

[Jsteencken]

Trunk Torsion Bar

I installed a new torsion bar on my 66 T-Bird. After installation the trunk would not close. Applying some pressure I notice the trunk near the hinge on the drivers side was beginning to lift so I stopped applying pressure. I ended up removing the torsion bar in order to close the trunk lid.
Does anyone have any ideas why this happened ? Thanks

 

[65BLUBIRD]

I have a 65, I will take some pics tonight and send. Hopefully they are the same.

 

[65BLUBIRD]

I sent the pic to the email you provided me. Hope it helps.

 

[Jsteencken]

66 Thunderbird trunk torsion bars

Has anybody attempted replacing the torsion bars with a gas or hydraulic cylinder like they use in many new vehicle applications?

 

[rzcrisis]

When I got my 64 hardtop it too had issues with the trunk torsion bars. Previous owner had removed them because trunk would not close with them installed. I discovered that the reason for the issue was worn pivot pins in the trunk hinge causing play that was amplified when the torsion bars were installed. I purchased some good used hinges and this solved the problem. You will need to examine the hinges out of the car to see if the pivot pin holes are elongated. Some guys weld the holes up and re drill the pivot holes if they cannot find good used hinges. Once I installed these and reinstalled my torsion bars ( with some adjustments) the trunk lid stayed up when in upright position and when closing did not require any pressure to close and fit nicely. Hope this helps.

Randy

 

[Jsteencken]

Thank you Randy I will most certainly check the hinges for the condition you indicated. I’ve been doing some engine work and will be reinstalling the head etc this weekend. Once the engine is back up & running I will look into the hinge issue. Have a great day. Jeff

 

[Terry64HT]

Did you ever receive the photos you need?
Terry
64HT

 

[Jsteencken]

Yes, I did. I'm sorry I should have replied that I did. The photos definitely helped me to properly install the torsion bars. After they were installed the back of the trunk started to lift as the trunk was being closed and it just would not close properly no matter what tension was applied. So I removed the one that was out when I started the project. The previous owner no doubt had the same issue. So I was thinking about gas shocks or something along those lines. I never considered the possibility of what Randy describes. What he suggested make sense based on the results I got when installing the 2nd torsion bar. So after my engine is complete I will check those hinges and go from there. Thank you so much for your follow up.