Thunderbird Club

[TBird1958]

you had to didn’t you….
the Rs were cool but the Z remains my fave….

that was in my FB feed this AM, fun shot, note the Mig and "100" series to the left.

 

[Nocturnal]

I’m not much of a Facebook person, but Andy @Nocturnal is a moderator of the Thunderbird group there. It’s a pretty good group. Maybe try posting it there.

Thanks Marshall! Yes, please feel free to list the Bird for sale in the Facebook group. Might find a buyer there.

 

[WillyW]

No IPA types allowed!

IPA’s done correctly are quite good, the problem is every single shaging microbrewery missed the entire mark on what an ipa is.

it wasn’t about the bitterest hops it was about beer preservation for a long journey.

again disappointed by peepholes interpretation of what is good.

 

[WillyW]

Thanks Marshall! Yes, please feel free to list the Bird for sale in the Facebook group. Might find a buyer there.

which group is it? Not sure if I found it. For a link?

 

[Gaolee]

unless aftermarket, lotsa hogwash….although AMC (like the big 3) borrowed some stuff like rear ends among other things from the “other” US manufacturers (tyrannys were BW) the engines were always AMC….that confusion I believe comes from the fact that when Chrysler bought AMC (mostly for Jeep) they continued to make the AMC 360 (to put in Jeeps) unchanged for 20 plus years…..the other confusion comes with the Ford FE 390 which was big block instead of the AMC 390 small block….only time a different manufacturer engine would have ended up in an AMC product was a GM two rotor rotary that would have been in the Pacer until GM pulled out last minute forcing AMC to shoehorn an AMC 6…

I'm trying to imagine what kind of insane car a Pacer would have been with a two rotor Wankel motor. Rotary motors have lots of issues, but power to weight isn't one of them.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

304 engines were what they built Penske Javelins they ran in the Trans Am races out of, if memory serves. I was 11 in 1971, so I could be pretty far off.

yep..

 

[JIO]

That brand is ok- better than the original gig bag that came with my black 1985 Aria Pro II ZZB Explorer shaped basses. I bought two of their explorer bass gig bags since the white one didn't come with anything at all.

There is a better alternative but very expensive given it would be a custom fabrication- Glen Cronkite-

Glenn Cronkhite Home Page

I reinforced mine with two layers of foam-sheeting. It would be nice if Mono made one for T-birds.

 

[ectoflanger]

That brand is ok- better than the original gig bag that came with my black 1985 Aria Pro II ZZB Explorer shaped basses. I bought two of their explorer bass gig bags since the white one didn't come with anything at all.

There is a better alternative but very expensive given it would be a custom fabrication- Glen Cronkite-

Glenn Cronkhite Home Page

So, if you don’t mind spending, now I’m guessing, around 800 USD, you could get a custom leather gig bag, somewhat cheaper in cordura for a Thunderbird.

Crossed my mind for the 1985 Explorer bass when it gets refinished given the massive hard case-

Anyhow here’s the link to their custom measurements submission page-

Guitar Sizing Chart

 

[ectoflanger]

that definitely would have been the one….over 500HP even though they advertised 420….

Was researching and come to find that Bob Glidden had one in his - wait for it- Thunderbird!

 

[Gaolee]

yep..
View attachment 5342884View attachment 5342885

My dad took my brother and me to this race. I don't remember what happened to the Jim Hall Camaro. It turned Follmer in the Mustang beat Donohue in the Javelin by just a bit. As I recall, the Mustang was pretty bent up at the end of the race. Follmer was known as Bad George for a reason. His car was always bent up a bit by the end of a race.

Here's one in color from the year earlier. I was probably at that race as a 10 year old as well.

 

[JIO]

At our first HOA meeting at the previous house one lady was complaining about cars being parked in the street. They were not supposed to be parked for longer than a 24 hour period. A number of people did abuse that just because they didn't like having to move their car out of the driveway to switch cars. Anyway, the lady was complaining that because the car is parked in the street, when her son was riding his bicycle, he ran into the back of the car because it was in the street and not in the driveway. My wife and I both looked at each other with astonishment, thinking, did she really just say that? We both had to try to not laugh. I leaned over and said "I don't think I would have told that story. Thankfully it was a parked car. If the kid was that stupid to not see a car--in a street--and ran into it, he probably deserved it and hopefully learned an important lesson about watching for cars....in streets." Who knew cars would be there? One of the problems was that people with young families tended to think the streets were an extension of their front yards. She being one of them. She seemed impressed at making her point with passion and I'm pretty sure it never dawned on her that she looked as foolish as her son. But she was supposed to be the adult. Sadly many adults are children in big bodies. I honestly don't like being that harsh, but many adults never cease to amaze me.

A low % of people in the Bay Area use their garage for a car so in most neighborhoods cars are parked end-to-end on both sides of the street. Street-cleaning keeps them moved around - we live on a wide street and the street-cleaner comes by Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on our side and Tues/Thurs on the other side. A low % have a driveway deep enough to park a vehicle w/o blocking the sidewalk.

 

[Bent77]

Ford had 7 performance models in those years…friggin crazy….the 390 was the GT model as seen in Bullit….

You know they had to work that thing over to run with that fo-fo-oh…

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

My dad took my brother and me to this race. I don't remember what happened to the Jim Hall Camaro. It turned Follmer in the Mustang beat Donohue in the Javelin by just a bit. As I recall, the Mustang was pretty bent up at the end of the race. Follmer was known as Bad George for a reason. His car was always bent up a bit by the end of a race.

Here's one in color from the year earlier. I was probably at that race as a 10 year old as well.

that’s a 69…was this in Columbus?

 

[Bent77]

HOAs have their place like @GBassNorth said

but if you have 10 cars, a burn barrel, park in your yard, and a stack of axles, then you are frowned upon

 

[TBird1958]

I'm trying to imagine what kind of insane car a Pacer would have been with a two rotor Wankel motor. Rotary motors have lots of issues, but power to weight isn't one of them.

You'd still have to fix the ugly - going fast won't cure that!

 

[MCF]

which group is it? Not sure if I found it. For a link?

It is the Thunderbird Bass Players Group.

 

[RedVee]

gotta love orange with black trim….. 340s in those?….
View attachment 5342598

No, we didn’t get the 340 for a couple more years. We got a batch before the US pollution law changes - for a racing special that didn’t happen. Then some after the pollution changes.

The VF series got a choice of a few slant 6’s and a couple of the 318.

The VG series got a few specs of the new Hemi 6 in 245 ci size plus the 318. The VG sedan kept the slant 6 in the base models for a while the they made a 215 version of the Hemi 6 to replace it.

The VH was a new model with all Australian styling and a bit bigger. The VG was a placeholder to get some Hemi 6’s out earlier rather than releasing a new car and a new engine at the same time.

 

[ectoflanger]

IPA’s done correctly are quite good, the problem is every single shaging microbrewery missed the entire mark on what an ipa is.

it wasn’t about the bitterest hops it was about beer preservation for a long journey.

again disappointed by peepholes interpretation of what is good.

One of my dock neighbors was a big IPA fan- kept a 72 qt icebox full that I would alternately pinch from and replenish during the week until he returned for the weekend-

Hazy IPA and Karbach Weekend Warriors were among his favorites- various types of Sculpin as well-

Then there were a few others- some of which I would bring as an alternative-

Torpedo’s away!

 

[ectoflanger]

I reinforced mine with two layers of foam-sheeting. It would be nice if Mono made one for T-birds.

Should do with mine- what type of foam would you recommend?

 

[Gaolee]

that’s a 69…was this in Columbus?

It was in Lexington, Ohio. An hour or so north of Columbus. It was a sleepy little town that got overrun by race fans periodically. In 1976, my dad had a 1972 Fiat spyder. It was orange, so there's another car that looks great in orange. He let me drive it up to Mid Ohio to watch some kind of races up there. I don't remember what the races work, but on the drive home, a train of us got behind some guy in a Corvette who had a radar detector. I don't think we were below 100 more than once or twice, and sure enough, there was a speed trap when we did. That burned an exhaust valve in the Fiat. My dad was not very happy with me.