57_chieftain

A friend is looking at a 1960 Thunderbird and he wants more information on the cars history. He has the vin but carfax only goes back to 81 according to him.Is there a service or information source that will cover back as far as 1960? Thanks.

I spent 10yrs in the Navy as a nuke machinist mate and 10yrs as a cryptologic tech(m brancher)and several years as a truck mechanic for a couple of companies and several more as an electrician/leadman in a Ca. steel plant. Now work at a university here back east (in maintenance management)The 57 Chief is more of a chance to spend time with the son and to impart some knowledge and maybe a love for old cars to him.

What is it?

Thanks Dave, I appreciate it! This car is not a restoration, it's more of a project with several aims. I took a managerial job and am not a hands on mechanic anymore. I need something to keep me busy and my skills sharp, and my son (11) wants to learn all about cars and the car will be his at 16. So there are several benefits to this. We picked this car on purpose because it is very solid, a good foundation to work with, so he will get a car that is not only cool, but dependable also, and since it has had several owners who each have modified it so much that I don't feel bad about it not being restored properly. Plus, this quality time with him which has a value in itself. Thanks again Pete

Another view

They have no part numbers and they are broken, but i would like to get 2 good ones. I don't even know where to start looking for 2 new lenses. Thanks in advance.

Look, in 1950, a gallon of regular gasoline sold for about 30 cents; today, it's $3.00. Are today's gasoline prices high compared to 1950? Before answering that question, we have to take into account inflation that has occurred since 1950. Factoring in inflation, what cost 30 cents in 1950 costs $2.80 in 2007. In real terms, that means gasoline prices today are only slightly higher, about 8 percent, than they were in 1950. Up until the recent spike, gasoline prices have been considerably lower than 1950 prices.And the supply problem is partly of our own doing. Large quantities of oil lie below the 20 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The amount of land proposed for oil drilling is less than 2,000 acres, less than one-half of one percent of ANWR. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are about 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil in ANWR. But environmentalists' hold on Congress has prevented us from drilling for it. They've also had success in restricting drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the shore of California. Another part of our energy problem has to do with refining capacity. Again, because of environmentalists' successful efforts, it's been 30 years since we've built a new oil refinery. I don?t want to sound like a tin-foil hat wearer, but I wouldn?t be surprised if the OPEC leaders make "charitable" contributions to environmental groups to assist their efforts to reduce U.S. output. Whew! How?s that for a conspiracy theory? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Is he riding the clutch?

I'm with Randy on this one. Also before you tear everything up searching for a bad ground, try the simple problems first. checking the turn signal switch and associated wiring takes less time and if it's the problem, then you didn't waste all that time on grounds (and possibly causing a ground problem where there wasn't one in the first place). Trying to find a bad ground has been known to cause some forms of insanity.

i was told to use "12 volt" wire for a job i was doing by someone a while back. He couldn't tell me what the difference was, so i checked around to get a definite answer, and the only answer i could get that made any sense was that "12 volt" wire has insulation more suited to the heat environment under the hood and had nothing whatsoever to do with the electrical properties of the wire itself.

9.35" here in va. beach according to the news. There was a brand new BMW about 2 blocks over from me with the passenger side window wide open all day. A couple of rags and some air freshener and it'll be good as new, i bet!

I volunteered to cut a rear leafspring hanger off an old (full) propane truck with an acetylene torch, at an international truck dealership in the 80s in ny. the service mgr sent the guys to lunch while i did it. I'm not sure if that was youth or stupidity at work, but you could not get me to do that now.

I bet that was fun!

car pics?

Pictures?