Tim S is in a situation we are sure a number of us have been, too many projects and just not enough time. As a result, he has decided to thin the herd and this Thunderbird is one of the cars that needs to go. It’s said to be a rust free California car that already runs and drives great. He’s already done all the major work to get it back on the road and it just needs a little TLC to be a nice driver. This T-Bird is located in Norco, California and is ready to fly off to a new home!
This Landau Coupe was equipped with the 390 V8, Tilt-Away steering wheel, and the SelectAire Conditioner. The A/C will be one of the areas that needs some attention, as Tim states that it needs to be recharged. Chances are it will need more than just a recharge, but it might be worth doing a pressure test to see. Of course, if it does hold a charge that route will involve finding some R12. That won’t be cheap, so it might be better to replace the major components and convert it over to R134.
While most people prefer the early Thunderbirds to these 4th generation Birds, there’s no doubt that these are comfortable and pleasant cars to drive. The interior is quite luxurious and would be a nice place to spend some time. Tim has already installed new seat foams under the original covers, so the seats should feel nice. Get the A/C working and this would be a great daily driver and a nice classic for weekend get-a-ways.
The 300 horsepower 390 V8 is said to run great. Tim installed a new Edelbrock carbuertor and a new K&N air cleaner. He also just replaced the fuel tank and fuel pump just to be on the safe side. Other recent work includes new inner and outer tie rods, new master cylinder, and a set of new whitewall Toyo tires. With just 86k miles on the clock and the recent work, this T-Bird should have lots of life left in it.
With a good detailing, some buffing and a coat of wax, this T-Bird should present well too. The trunk, floorboards and rockers are said to be solid and look to be in photos. Besides the A/C system, it doesn’t sound like there’s much left to do to make this a nice driver. It’s currently registered in California and comes with a clean title. If you have any questions for Tim, feel free to leave a comment below.
Our thanks goes to Tim for listing his Thunderbird with us! If you’d like to make it yours, be sure to bid. And if you have too many projects and need to find homes for a few of them, please consider auctioning them right here on Barn Finds!
Location: Norco, California
Mileage: 86,000
Title Status: Clean
Bid On This Auction
Chuck bid $3,600.00 2017-08-24 14:08:00
GARYBIGDOG bid $3,500.00 2017-08-24 09:37:34- Chuck bid $1,700.00 2017-08-23 21:19:13
- GARYBIGDOG bid $1,600.00 2017-08-23 21:14:02
- Chuck bid $1,500.00 2017-08-23 15:27:34
William bid $1,200.00 2017-08-23 01:29:21- GARYBIGDOG bid $800.00 2017-08-22 21:47:05
JEFF bid $500.00 2017-08-22 18:50:00
Oh baby, come to papa..
I hope your ready nfor bidding war..;)
BL549: I am not much of a ford man but this looks like a really nice car.
It’s a piece of junk. Absolutely worthless! A guy would have to be crazy to even THINK about buying this monstrosity. Get away while you can!!!!!!
(Don’t worry, my little Thunderbird, I’ll do my best to keep those other mean bidders away from you) lol
Ha! Good one,,,,Robert???
I love these cars and they are undervalued. I am amazed they are like 4500 lbs.
One of the greatest interior designs of all time. And how can you not love those tail lights?
After you convert the original mechanical blinker control box over to digital.
No Mike you pull the flasher/motor assembly out, lube the motor bearings and clean the flasher contacts, (all 4 sets), the electronic ones are not the same speed and don’t look right working. Contrary to popular opinion electronics aren’t the bees knees for fixing everything, they have a bad habit of just stopping anytime they feel like it, and you can’t do anything about it !
Just my opinion, did this and they worked fine for 6 more years.
…Especially if it has the optional sequential turn signals like the 1965 Teebird I had back in 1976. 1965 was the first year of the sequential turn signals for Thunderbirds.
There is a company that makes sequential boxes for every ford, merc,mopar that came w seq turn signals. Yes there were a mopar or two that came w seq signals.
These guys are experts in the “nano” business and have made replacement boxes that have all factory plug ins and are much more reliable than any factory seq box.
http://www.cougarsunlimited.com
Link won’t work bcoz 3rd w changes to a 5 when clicked on. Why?
I cant find the link to bid 😡
Oops! All fixed now. Thanks.
No WAIT! You were supposed to send it to me only, Jesse!! What were you thinking??? lol
I just tried to register to bid but the site has an issue and it wouldn’t go through.
Did you give you any kind of error message? We haven’t heard of anyone else having problems.
Wonder if he’d take a trade…..couple motorcycles…boring car…few kids…(lol). This was one of the classiest years IMHO. Love it. Drool.
No need to convert that A/C to R-134. Just charge it with propane. It’s safe,cheap,more efficient than R-12 and compatible with the R-12 refrigerant oil.
And illegal !
boxdin, why would it be illegal? I’ve done itto sevral of my cars and tell fiends to do it all the time. I’ve had some guys say, “No way do I want o drive a car with flammable gas in it”…..to which I laugh and point to the carb and fuel tank.
The only reason I can think of is; its federal law. And Yes I see how gas blows up and I’ve seen rv propane tanks in amazingly bad shape. 134 gas is here only because the patent ran out on R12 and Dow wanted to keep the profitablilty so they got R12 outlawed and their product; 134a is the standard, with dows patents intact.
Don’t trust it, it’ll pretend it’s your friend and then turn you over to the empire when you least suspect it.
Nicest,,,T-bird,,,,EVER!!! Why is this car still here? And don’t make me go into the waning classic car hobby schpiel again. I cant believe I have to say this, but if anybody is teetering on buying this, let me tell you, for a mid 60’s “Gentleperson’s” (politically correct) cruiser, of which there were several, this was one of the best. Best auction car here yet.
Howard, have you ever owned one of these? Just about anything under the hood is a PITA due to the big block 390 crammed into a small, low space, it can all be done but it ain’t easy unless it’s on top of the engine, you have to unbolt the engine and shift it sideways to swap a manifold gasket or even change the plugs. A 65 Landau was my first American car and I had it for 12 years and loved it.
Hi Tony, sadly no, but it won’t stop me from trying one day. Besides, not sure about Australian cars, but that feature, “stuff as much as you can under the hood” was across the board in America. I don’t think these were any harder to work on than any other 60’s car. The 80’s,,,that’s where they lost me.
Tony, Australia…
Did I read you right? Did you say you owned a 1965 Ford Thunderbird for 12 years and loved it,…despite it being a PITA to change out a manifold gasket or the spark plugs, because you have to unbolt the engine and shift it sideways? If yes, dude, you take the prize as the most dedicated vintage car lover that I ever heard of!
If I had known that I’d have to pay a mechanic for the labor of unbolting the engine just to change out the spark plugs back in 1976 when I had mine, I would never have bought it. Fortunately for me, long story short, I only had mine for a couple of months.
Marshall, it was a great car, luckily I only had to change the gaskets a couple of times, they were an ongoing problem with the 390’s, perhaps it was the shape of the manifolds, not sure. In the end I replaced the engine with a recond one and fitted a C6 trans while I was at it, (66 came out with them), lots of subtle differences with the trans swap but it all worked out. Sold the car in 07 and bought a 62 Imperial, now that’s a can of worms but at least it’s bigger and easier to work on most times, you sit on the front fenders to work on the engine, the speedo tops out at 120 but that’s not the end of it, scary stuff with the old 413 just idling along ! A young bloke asked how big the engine was as he had a 2 litre Toyota I told him it was 6.75 litres, — and only milk and fruit juice comes in 2 litres!
Love it – want it!! If only I could find a way of getting it to the UK without having to pay £2,000 in shipping bills… :(
Is there a way to get a picture of the data plate to determine the original color??
Cody, if it’s white it’s called Wimbledon White but it looks a little off white to me, may be the photos. Look up the Thunderbird color chart for 1964,5 and 6 I think they were all the same in those years.
Looks like a Wimbledon Special Landau! Should be in the registry if it isn’t already.
Neil, only 2000 pounds, it cost me five and a half grand US to get my Imperial out of LA in 2007 so your laughing, the only problem I could envisage is trying to drive it through all those narrow English country back roads and lanes while sitting on the ‘wrong side’ of the car.
Wasn’t this auction at $2,500 awhile ago?
Yes, the bid was retracted. He didn’t give us reason why he decided to back out though.
How can I contact the seller to ask for more information?
You can post any questions below in the comments section. We can also forward you his phone number if you wish. Thanks for your interest.
As the current ‘HIGH BIDDER’ 4:16 pm pst 8/24 i have some questions for the seller that I would like to keep private. (Cause I don’t want these others, I’m sure they are all very nice people, to know what I’m looking for)
I’ve emailed you with the seller’s contact info. Thanks Chuck!
Awwww Chuck go on please tell us, you’ve now left us all wondering what you want to know and it’s excruciating !
What type of simulated wood is in the door and IP inserts?
How long did it stay in beach community air (undercarriage rust)
This Tony.
http://automotivemileposts.com/tbird1965speciallandau.html
Chuck, the woodgrain is only vinyl that’s stuck to the steel, if it’s faded it can easily be replaced the same as the woodgrain on the Falcon’s outer panels of the early 60’s station wagons. You can buy it by the yard in a wide range of shades and colors, not expensive.The panels on either side of the center console are the same with vinyl stuck on to match the interior, all easily replaceable.
Tony, thank you. There were two types of siminlated wood inserts. The regular like you would find thruought FoMoCo and then the upgraded burlwood, which set the Thunderbird Soecual Landau apart from the rest of the flock.
I go to a lot of swap meets, and I see lots of r-12 for sale, and the price is trending down. Fact is, not much need for it anymore. Been 20 years since cars used it, and everyone retrofits. Heck, I have three cans in the garage. Not even sure I have a working charge hose anymore!
There have been two high bids pulled out (they were winning at the time). ??? Is there something about this car that I should know about GARYBIGDOG?
Rick didn’t check on shipping until after he had placed his bid.
He can buy it, I’ll show it for him at car shows. ;)
Judging by the condition under the hood and on the firewall, other than the fan shroud, there’s not a lot of rust on this car, it would be showing at all of the seams where panels overlap and hold moisture. The factory undercoating was good on these, mine never had any rust, the torque box construction of these bodies was super strong with heavy gauge steel.
Hey Tim, I live in Corona, would I be able to stop by and have a look? Thanks