All of the glass has been replaced with new “tinted” glass and all of the rubber is new as well. All of the trim and chrome are either high-quality replacements or have been nicely restored. The car is straight, has excellent gaps, and like all Minter cars, was a solid car to start with. The base/clear finish is a modern PPG refinish was completed overall new bodywork. The easy startup has been achieved with Minter’s started primer fuel pump which is secretly activated via a factory knob on the dash. The motor sits inside a highly detailed and very correct engine compartment and features the Minter “parade” cooling package, improved lower fan shroud, and smaller water pump pulley. The engine is a rebuilt 312 V8 4bbl that connects to Ford-O-Matic 3 speed transmission. The Thunderbird has been driven very little since it was completed.
I'm hoping I don't need a new radiator.Finished in Turquoise, this 1956 Ford Thunderbird was a frame off restoration by acclaimed Thunderbird guru, Amos Minter.
Tomorrow I'm going to add a bottle of "Water Wetter" and see if that helps.Īll this stuff with the fans running too much started when I put a can of " Stop Leak" in the system back in September. Just want to bring this subject up to see if anybody else's 03 electric fans run an unusual amount of time.? To me - they shouldn't be running when it is 55 degrees outside, 95 - yes, 55-? Temp gauge isn't climbing so they are doing their job keeping temp in check. I've bleed the system exactly as described in book. Now driving around when it is only 55 - they sound like an F15 taxing into the garage. Before last September I never heard the fans come on until I blew the upper radiator hose. Temp gauge is right in the middle, gauge doesn't seem to climb any but fans are running full bore - 55 degrees outside. Think I've got all the leaks fixed but the cooling fans are still running full bore.ĭrove it around tonight for half an hour or so, split between city driving and highway. All the hoses and plastic fittings, coolant inlet pipe have been replaced. Promised myself I would have it on road by opening day of baseball season. It has been basically sitting on sidelines since September when it developed a number of leaks. Well I finally got my bird back on the road. I have an OBD reader - but I don't think it can read temp like the one "Tbird forum moderator" shows. But after trying to find this leak for almost 2 years to no avail - I gave in and added the " stop leak" and now the effing fans are running wide open. I've never used " stop leak" before because I've always been afraid it would stop up something it wasn't suppose to.
Radiator and over flow reservoir are up to mark. Now they came on today after adding radiator stop leak and it was only 70 out there. Like somebody said - they sound like an F15 spooling up. 70 degrees today - drove it for 15 minutes and fans came on, I've only heard the fans come on once and that is when I blew the upper radiator hose. Been adding water all summer, now it is turning back to Fall, so I thought I would add some coolant stop leak.ĭid that today. So I replaced lower radiator hose and thermostat housing, that took care of it for a while then 6 months later started smelling antifreeze again then back to adding 16oz of coolant every week or so. Replace that, then last summer I started smelling anti freeze and I would have to put a 16oz cup of water into system about every week and a half. I blew an upper radiator hose going down interstate 2 summers ago. Have you tried turning running your heater on high, no A/C, to see if it helps any? I did bled the air from the system using the bleeder port right next to the reservoir tank.Īreas of concern are the thermostat is sticking closed the valve that allows coolant to circulate through the heat core is stuck or even the heater core itself. However, the overflow / reservoir tank didn't change and is still at the full level. The only test I performed so far was to unhook the upper radiator hose at the radiator to drain off about 16 - 20 ounces of fluid. Appears to me I'm not get full circulation through the system and will have to wait for the weekend to test further by pulling things apart, haha. I get no warning lights, and i'm not throwing any codes. As long as I am moving down the road, I don't seem to be over heating, however, if i park in the garage (closed area) and let it set for a 15 minutes or so ( it's 90 degrees plus where I live), the gauge will show it is getting hot.