There hasn’t been a lot of time to tend to the motor, but with the damp weather we’ve been having, I was spending a lot of mental energy worried about rust in my newly conditioned block. They arrived a few days ago, and I hope to begin working on them this weekend. Or so I thought! They turned out to be truck parts with the “Powered by FORD” imprint instead of Thunderbird, which is, of course, far classier.Ī decent pair turned up just in time on eBay, and they were little more than the truck units. I did find a good pair from a junkyard used parts supplier for only $50 each. These have some rust and a few dents on the back side, but they should clean up nicely. My originals, which these will replace, were once sandblasted, which left them pitted. Pristine restored covers can be had from Bird Nest for $200, but that seemed a tad excessive to me. Cheap, highly suspect knock-offs are readily available online for less than $50. (Mine were destroyed in the disassembly.) Good originals are getting a little hard to come by, especially the early ones with no PCV vents.
![1964 thunderbird 1964 thunderbird](https://photos.classiccars.com/cc-temp/listing/103/1239/9836736-1964-ford-thunderbird-std.jpg)
![1964 thunderbird 1964 thunderbird](https://dealeraccelerate-all.s3.amazonaws.com/fastlane/images/1/8/3/7/1837/58683_55fa98d1x103ogrs5.jpg)
With the block starting to look like an engine again, I started looking around for new valve covers. The block, of course, was professionally prepped, so no need to worry about the threads there. I ran the head bolts through a wire wheel to ensure the threads were clean. For the second effort, I used a 3M grey pad with acetone, which worked just as well but without all the worry. I wasn’t wild about cleaning up the metal fragments, and a little nervous that I might miss some. On the first head, I used steel wool and acetone to clean up the recessed areas around the valves.
#1964 thunderbird cracked#
The cracked cylinder was cleaner than the rest, probably from the steam. If you drive a lot in high temperatures go for the higher viscosity grade (10W40), if not use the 10W30 as this has less polymer in it which directionally should mean fewer deposits.You can see the carbon build up with half the combustion chamber scraped. The lower number viscosity oils such as 0 W 20 or 5 W30 are designed to give better fuel economy to meet CAFE standards and not necessarily give optimum engine protection. Several of the comments referred to which viscosity grade to use, and I would agree with the suggestion of using a 10w40 or a 10w30 oil.
![1964 thunderbird 1964 thunderbird](https://www.sportscarla.com/imagetag/341/10/l/Used-1964-FORD-Thunderbird.jpg)
![1964 thunderbird 1964 thunderbird](https://photos.classiccars.com/cc-temp/listing/101/6874/9382017-1964-ford-thunderbird-std.jpg)
Buy whatever oil is on sale, (again stick to brand names, not "special" oils and you will be fine. Heavy Duty trucks have much longer oil drain intervals than passenger cars, thus the formula is biased more towards zincs that break down more slowly.Ī passenger car motor oil is more suited to your car, however as mentioned earlier either will work satisfactorily.Ĭhange your oil frequently, (as a minimum follow severe service recommended for your model) this includes both mileage and length of time and you will be fine. Within this family of additives an oil formulator will use a mixture of primary and secondary zinc additives to get the desired level of wear protection both short term and long term. The specific additive is called Zinc dialkyldithiophosphate, commonly referred to as ZDDP. It will work in your car however you can also get zinc additives in any commercial well known brand. Click to expand.The Rotella T oil referred to in this thread is actually designed for use in Heavy Duty trucks.