1963 Ford Thunderbird Hard Top Runs Great 42000 Original Miles

Description

This has been a fun car to own and drive. It is licensed as an antique in the state of PA. The guy who owned it before me made it an 11-year labor of love. He said he bought t from the proverbial "little old lady who only drove it to church on Sundays." Since it only has right around 42,000 miles on it, that might be true. He did all the PITA restoration work that nobody enjoys doing. He replaced the engine gaskets so it could run 10% ethanol gas. He replaced a lot of stuff that goes bad on ALL of these early 60's t-birds like: gas tank hangers, heater core, power window motors (front only--the back ones don't work) and much much more, which I mostly have documented. He tried to keep the ca close to original and the only modification he made that I know of was to swap out the front brakes with chevy discs--which is a bolt-on modification and I have good spare discs that go with the car. He was using the original distributor but I replaced that with electronic ignition which makes the car run WAY better. Unfortunately, when I did that, the original air cleaner no longer fit so I had to put on an aftermarket air cleaner. But I have both the original distributor and the original air cleaner. that you will get with this car when you buy it. These old 390's all have warped exhaust manifolds causing leaks at the cylinder head. That has been fixed on this car--the manifolds have been planed flat and reinstalled with fresh gaskets and there are no exhaust leaks. The car runs like a champ and is fun to drive. I run it on a mid-high octane gas from Sunoco and I use a fresh container of lead replacement chemical in every tank of gas. I am not sure why that is necessary but hat is what my mechanic said to do so that is what I do. The interior of the car has not been restored and needs work. The front seats need redone as does the headliner. The back seats and dashboard are good and don't need work. The brakes have only a couple thousand miles on them and will not need replaced for a long, long time. The emergency brake works correctly and the Cooper bias ply tires have lots of tread and grip the road very nicely. The scrapes on the sides of the car are relatively minor. I did those getting into and out of the garage. I wish I hadn't but it's a doggone tight fit and I just didn't get it right. This is obviously not a show car. But it sure is a fun car to own and drive. It has been relaible for me and I have loved it. But at age 66 and on social security I just can't afford to keep the old girl. It's time for someone else to enjoy this fine car. The car is pick-up only in Pittsburgh, PA. I am retired and available to take you for a ride in it anytime. Please look at the pix and ask questions.