Suspension

Had "X" braces tightened today. Took the Four hours later came the call back. Car was now really ready. I know what happened. I would have done it myself. "I don't need no ****ed paper to tell me how to tighten a few bolts!!!" "I been working on cars since before you were born!!!" Knowing that I would have taken the same attitude doesn't make me any happier. They did get it done and seemingly correctly. Thanks Forum Fellows. I needed that.
Bmcn

jboriott,

Loctite makes a special aerasol spray cleaner for cleaning threads which is what I used. They also make a spray primer to apply to the threads of the bolt & the female threads which I also used. Using both of these products before actually using the Loctite makes the thread lock work to its maximum ability.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

Dear TBird Enthusiasts-Although I restored and own a 1963 Falcon Tudor,I still think FoMoCo was WAY too cheap designing the unibody for these new 'Birds!Why have not one,but TWO X braces underneath the car?It's almost like an afterthought after they had finished tooling.Would not comment on this,but you would think they would do a better job of gusseting the unibody with sheetmetal rails or some other design rather than with two flimsy X-Braces.Although I spent $23K on my 1963 Falcon and chased ALL of the parts except for the head and shortblock,I now drive a 1994 Honda-NO MORE FORDS!-Gearhead

the early birds ( 55 56 57 ) all had an X Brace also

Dear Sir-The '55-57,which Ford LOST money on,were all separate frame vehicles.Ford did not turn a profit on T-Birds until Robert McNamara developed it into a unibody 4 seater for 1958.The new T-Birds are UNIBODY!That is,stressed sheet metal construction WITH NO SEPARATE FRAME!That's why when those X-Braces become loose,people are experiencing more flexing!Like I posted earlier,I used to be total FoMoCo,but not anymore!Really ashame considering how INOVATIVE they used to be.later-Gearhead.

Gearhead,

The only reason the T-Bird has the x-bracing is because it is a convertible. Had the vehicle been built as a coupe there would be no need for the x-bracing. On a couple the roof is the main structure bracing the car.

If you think the bracing is bad, you should see what other manufacures have done with convertibles. In the 60's GM's convertible Corvair had a 3lbs coffee can filled with cement and a eye hook stuck into the cement. Four of these were hung, one each, in each corner of the car hidden from view with trim and inner fenders. This was to help the car from flexing in the middle. Nearly every convertible on the road has extra bracing of some sort or another.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

Dear Lou-I realize that the cab area is reinforced on a unibody by the roof.My 1967 Mustang covertible has extra sheetmetal gussetting underneath the front seats and a piece of 1/4 " plate that bolted between the two underneath the driveshaft.This car had so much unibody rust that my father (when I was 16),designed a 1/4" angle iron /plate steel exoskeleton that ran from the torque box area back to the rear leaf springs.I had two buddies weld it on.The torque box was built up with 1/4" plate and the 1/4" angle iron ran back from it underneath the rocker panels,and also ran back from the inside rails to the back.This solved the problem.The new TBird has TWO X braces,so the front end must be pretty tweaky.The head service manager at the local Ford dealership agreed about this.Now,if YOU want to believe that the new TBird is a really well built unibody,go ahead-it's your bucks.It will be interesting to see how well these hold up over time.If you ever chased parts for a 1960-'63 Falcon Tudor,you'd realize what FoMoCo dedication is.Ford sold the tooling to Argentina after 1963 since they were retooling for the as yet unannounced mustang.I would not be so vehement about this,but Ford generally over the years has gotten too cheap and their parts prices have gotten to high.I feel NO remorse for their current fiscal problems.Later-Gearhead

Dear Sir-Almost forgot,but the Corvair was an overengineered POS that Chevrolet gave up on in 1969.It did make Ralph Nader famous,though.The Falcon,with its model T engineering,thoroughly trounced the Corvair.As you probably know,the Falcon was produced until 1970,when it morphed into the Torino.Like I wrote earlier,Ford USED to build cheap decent cars!The don't anymore!Don't know about the trucks,though-GO HONDA!-Gearhead

My first car was a 63 Falcon with a 200 inch six and the Ford Cortina 4 on the floor transmission. My second car, and probably my most favorite was my 64 Falcon Ranchero with 289 & 4 on the floor. But with all of its flaws I'll still take the T-Bird. Both Falcons had no power steering. no power brakes, no air conditioning, no FM or 6 CD changer, and no ooohs & aaaahs from people stareing at my car. Thanks but no thanks, I'll stick with the 02 Thunderbird, the coolest car on the streets right now.

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Yellow/Yellow Prem. 02 Bird w/full accent
1999 F150 Super Cab 4x4 Off Road
1998 Taurus SE Sport 24V

Dear Sir-I will agree-the Falcon was bare bones economy,with no frills!The Thunderbird was ,and is,supposed to be one of Ford's best!The lines are beautiful,and very reminiscent of the '55-'57.But as a salesman said at the dealership,it's rolling eye-candy.For $40,000 ,Ford could have built a higher quality car.It's really sad when you realize that the $2,000 MSRP Falcon was actually built BETTER than many of the early Mustangs,simply because Ford could sell all of the Mustangs they made!And of course this applies to the new T-Bird!I owned a 1965 Mustang Notchback and a 1967 Convertible. The Camaro,albeit a more $ car,was STILL better built-especially the front end.The 60's Ford intermediate front ends are light duty at best,and you must constantly grease them.GO HONDA!-Gearhead