Production eased to 15,631, but was still five times Corvette's. Porthole hardtops heavily outsold the nonporthole kind in 1956, and virtually all '57 Thunderbirds had them. Changes were limited to a larger 312 V-8 option with 215/225 bhp (nonoverdrive stickshift cars retained the 292, now up to 202 bhp), plus exterior-mounted spare (answering cries for more trunk space), softer suspension (for a smoother ride), and no-cost portholes for the hardtop (a Boyer idea inspired by vintage coachwork). You don't mess with success in Detroit, and Ford didn't with the '56 T-Bird. It whipped the rival Chevy in 1955 production by nearly 24-to-1 - 16,155 for the model year. With European style and American comfort, convenience, and go, the Thunderbird proved well-nigh irresistible at just under $3000 without options. Styling, conceived by Walker lieutenant Hershey and executed by a young Bill Boyer, couldn't have been better: simple and smooth yet clearly Ford, with rakish long-hood/short-deck proportions recalling the classic early-'40s Lincoln Continental. And there was no plodding six-cylinder engine but a burly 292-cubic-inch Mercury V-8 delivering 193 bhp with stickshift or 198 bhp with optional self-shift Ford-O-Matic.īill Burnett supervised the engineering, which relied heavily on passenger-Ford components. Instead of an ill-fitting soft top was a snug convertible top, a detachable hardtop, or both. In place of creaking fiberglass and clumsy side curtains was a sturdy steel body with convenient roll-up windows. It rode the same wheelbase as the first-generation Corvette - 102 inches - but was far more luxurious and practical. Barely a month later, Ford was hard at work on the car that would ultimately be named for the god worshiped by America's Southwest Native Americans as the bringer of rain and prosperity.First displayed as a wood mock-up at the Detroit show in early 1954, the Thunderbird was a "personal" car, not a pure sports car. Is the 3rd the signal wire from the horn ring button.But in January 1953, GM threw down a gauntlet Ford couldn't ignore: the Chevrolet Corvette. The 1st and mid terminal are always hot and 3rd one isn't ever hot. Almost as if the insulation might break if bent too much. I'm unable to see colored tracers on any of the wires. Picture of relay in Ford shop manual shows wires on all 3 terminals. Mine has 2 wires on terminal closest to the front of car nothing on middle terminal and 2 wires on 3rd terminal closest to rear of car. probably isn't the problem but as long as I have it apart you know. Blinkers worked slowly and intermittently at first but now nothing. of disassembly of column, or how to make this type of repair.Īs long as I have steering column apart I should investigate the directional switch. Is any one aware of a description or diagram or utube vid. I don't think there is enough sticking out of steering tube to tie on to, for use as pull wire. Can a new wire be fished through (up or down) the column. Will the button and wire come right out or is there more necessary to be removed to get the wire out to make a repair to it. I'm reluctant to pull on the button as the splice might come apart. Can I assume that the wire goes all the way up to the brass button under the horn ring. The wire that goes up the steering shaft has been spliced and bare wire is visible just as it exits the shaft.
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