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Thunderbird Club

#217,844
Engle said:
By today’s standards air cooled VWs are unsafe. In the 70’s/80’s we never thought about it.
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Exactly. I had a '66 beetle with a rusted out floor. The floor is the frame. I never knew exactly where it was going to go and the sides would flex visibly according to friends who saw me drive it. The battery fell through the floor and fried the electrical system, so it was strictly a push-start car. It didn't have seat belts, not that they would have done much in that car anyway. It's a miracle any of us survived to full adulthood.
 
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#217,845
Gaolee said:
Exactly. I had a '66 beetle with a rusted out floor. The floor is the frame. I never knew exactly where it was going to go and the sides would flex visibly according to friends who saw me drive it. The battery fell through the floor and fried the electrical system, so it was strictly a push-start car. It didn't have seat belts, not that they would have done much in that car anyway. It's a miracle any of us survived to full adulthood.
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So basically it was like The Flintstones?
 
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#217,847
JJR58 said:
Yes, beat me to it.
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19FEB65F-80C0-4DBD-A437-22CFA8618843.jpeg
 
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#217,848
Jeez, I thought my old 68 that was 75% Bondo was bad!
Gaolee said:
Exactly. I had a '66 beetle with a rusted out floor. The floor is the frame. I never knew exactly where it was going to go and the sides would flex visibly according to friends who saw me drive it. The battery fell through the floor and fried the electrical system, so it was strictly a push-start car. It didn't have seat belts, not that they would have done much in that car anyway. It's a miracle any of us survived to full adulthood.
Click to expand...
 
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#217,849
5StringBlues said:
Jeez, I thought my old 68 that was 75% Bondo was bad!
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Yours was. Mine was worse. But it would run if you had a way to push it. I could push start it on any level ground. A few steps, jump in, throw it in second and pop the clutch. It would start. Jumping in was an adventure, because it was only a matter of time before the seat fell through.
 
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#217,852
Engle said:
By today’s standards air cooled VWs are unsafe. In the 70’s/80’s we never thought about it.
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Because the cars (all cars, not just VWs) were not as safe, drivers were more careful. Recent data show that since all of the safety innovations, the number of accidents per mile driven have increased, although deaths per mile driven have decreased.
 
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#217,857
ColdEye said:
Quick question to ya'll: From my research it seems Hipshot HB6 are a drop in ultralite tuner replacement. Can I use the 1/2 size or does it have to be 3/8? It seems Y style keys would fit, not sure if the Clover style will touch each other.
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I'm pretty sure you need 3/8. They have a mini-clover that works. The regular size clovers interfere with each other on post-1988 Gibson Thunderbirds. As I recall, Veronica has the full size clovers on one of her basses, and they aren't much of a problem even though they overlap a little.

For what it's worth, I replaced the stock tuners on the Flamingo, which is a 1991 Thunderbird. I used HB6 Ultralites, and as I recall, I thought I ordered 3/8. I must not have, because I ended up drilling the headstock to make them fit. It wasn't a big deal, though. Once you start drilling holes, you lose any concerns about drilling holes. I drilled for covers and pickup rings as well. The only thing the Flamingo still needs is a Hipshot x-tender on the E string. I keep not getting around to dealing with that.
 
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#217,858
PillO said:
Because the cars (all cars, not just VWs) were not as safe, drivers were more careful. Recent data show that since all of the safety innovations, the number of accidents per mile driven have increased, although deaths per mile driven have decreased.
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Yep, there were less cars on the road then as well. So perhaps easier to get home without hitting another car.

We built the Mini Moke here from 66-82. No great safety features in them! They had a second life as rentals in tropical Queensland for a good while. But even that has faded away now. I guess too hard to keep them on the road. Sone years ago there was a new Moke company in the UK, I don’t know if they lasted.

The Moke had a locally built VW competitor in the (60s) VW Country Buggy. Which predates the Thing. But I think VW improved on the Country Buggy when “designing” the Thing.

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#217,859
Gaolee said:
Exactly. I had a '66 beetle with a rusted out floor. The floor is the frame. I never knew exactly where it was going to go and the sides would flex visibly according to friends who saw me drive it. The battery fell through the floor and fried the electrical system, so it was strictly a push-start car. It didn't have seat belts, not that they would have done much in that car anyway. It's a miracle any of us survived to full adulthood.
Click to expand...
My Ghia was pretty rusty. I’ll have to find pics (the old printed out kind)
 
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