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Sept 25, 2008 18:40:00 GMT
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I'm not too worried about having them rechromed. Chances are there would be a lot of work involved, as its likely they have been shot blasted for the paint to key to. Well I'll soon find out when the paint starts coming off. I have the same issue with my Cutlass... Was cheaper to import a pair of freshly rechromed bumpers from the States, around £700 total.
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Sept 26, 2008 3:44:25 GMT
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rechroming is very expensive in the UK, which is why so many cars with big chrome bumpers end up painted over here. The place up by me would probably charge £1500 per bumper or more for a T-Bird. They do a nice job though. HOW MUCH? What do they chrome them with, Kryptonite? Now I don't feel so bad that you guys can get useable cars for £300
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Help! Save me!! | 88 E28 M5 | 97 740iL | 60 PA Velox | 62 PA Velox | 58 356A
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Sept 26, 2008 8:49:14 GMT
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Part of it is the labour. I've seen rechroming which was obviously doen one lunch time in the back of a bathroom fittings factory if you know what I mean. Sanding marks you can see a mile away and then the plating flakes off in a week when it first sees rain. Craftsman work (to do proper prep on a big bumper) is going to be £50 per hour and you migh have 10 hours in getting a big bumper nice. Thats £500 before you start. Then theres the hazardous materials and environmental taxes on chrome, its apparently a really evil material and the proccess of tripple plating involves a load fo quite evil acids. All of these have the be regulated and dealt with and disposed of in an authorised (read expensive) fashion. The the govt. takes 17.5% tax on the top, like it does everything else, and you can see how it gets expensive.
If you can pay a couple of Mexicans $10 an hour to do decent prep and rinse your plating baths out South of The Border then you're going to be able to do it cheap. However I heard on one US forum its getting bad over there too now, and someone was talking about having his bumpers shipped to China, plated and shipped back because it was cheaper!
I had a Buick rear bumper shipped form the US as that was way cheaper than getting mine replated.
There is a guy in Lutterworth area who canget "most" US bumpers for like £400/£450 each inclusive of shipping and taxes in nice fresh chrome but I've not seen them so I don't know if they are show pieces or "bathroom quality"
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Last Edit: Sept 26, 2008 8:50:08 GMT by akku
1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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30psi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,024
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Sept 26, 2008 10:30:41 GMT
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I may one day look into getting decent bumpers shipped from the states, but for now I'm happy. In a way it makes the car look a bit cleaner and simpler with them painted. Well thats my opinion anyway
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1962 Ford Thunderbird 6.4L
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS CA18DET
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS SR20DE
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Sept 26, 2008 20:37:53 GMT
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Plating has absolutely gotten more expensive lately, the environmental costs for wastewater disposal are apparently a big part of it.
But 1500 pounds for a bumper? That's about $2700US. For a rear 63 Thunderbird bumper, as long as it's straight, I'd figure no more than $400. Maybe a huge bumper off of a 59 Caddy might run you as much as $600, but that's about it unless it's all dented up or rusted out.
I had the front and rear overriders on the 356 rechromed a few years back (2004) for $400 and the work was fantastic. Prices haven't gone up that much since then.. friend of mine paid $500 for front and rear bumpers on a Chevy 2 recently.
If you need any chroming, might be worth 100-150 pounds in round trip freight to have em done over here.
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Last Edit: Sept 26, 2008 20:38:43 GMT by veloxbill
Help! Save me!! | 88 E28 M5 | 97 740iL | 60 PA Velox | 62 PA Velox | 58 356A
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Sept 26, 2008 20:52:43 GMT
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Lovely car, congrats on it The yanks sure knew how to do interiors ... fabulous.
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'66 Amazon <-> '94 LS400 <-> '86 Suzuki 1135 EFE
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30psi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,024
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Sept 30, 2008 21:18:53 GMT
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Thought I'd provide an update... On Friday just gone I decided to do some work on the old girl. Sometimes the car has suffered from a cough and splutter either after sitting in traffic for ages or at high rpm with the juice pedal planted. It felt like fueling so I check the carb's float levels and they're fine. Whilst I'm there I checked the ignition and the rotor arm and cap were worn. Also the temp gauge wasn't really coming up much, so I assumed it didn't have a thermostat installed. So Saturday, I did plugs, new cap and rotor arm and changed the thermostat. It did have a thermostat in there but a 160 not a 180 like it should have. Good news was that in ran a bit stronger but the issue was there at the top end. I can now only assume it's down to the float levels dropping on a boot or the secondary jetting is too lean. So might be the fuel pump not supplying the fuel when its on demand. I've ordered a new one, was only £40 and if I'm going to remove it I may as well just replace it with a good one. That was saturday and all seemed good. However Sunday went down hill a little. I decided it was a good time to remove the starter with the view of cleaning up the drive mechanism and maybe get it to shunt further so hopefully it will crank the engine when its hot. Well its really bloody worn out and nothing can be done to save it. A few adjustments didn't see any result and in fact made it worse as its so tired. Funny thing is, it's the wrong starter motor. And then thats because its got the wrong gearbox on it. A bit of digging and IDing has shown that its got a C6 box on it, which is acually a good thing. Ordered a starter yesterday, and got it today. Quite cool how fast and easy parts are to get for this old Ford. Hoping it will be dry sunday to fit the starter motor.
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1962 Ford Thunderbird 6.4L
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS CA18DET
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS SR20DE
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,410
Club RR Member Number: 52
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1962 Ford Thunderbirdqwerty
@qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member 52
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Sept 30, 2008 21:37:34 GMT
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That is a stunning car and I don't think you need to change a thing! I love the look of it!
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Sept 30, 2008 22:42:37 GMT
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Now THAT is unbelievably cool! My favourite shape T-bird too, nice work.
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1986 BMW 635csi coupe - No, I'm not a drug dealer. 1997 Mazda MX-5 1.6i - No, I'm not a hairdresser either.
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C6 is a bonus IMO because its a damn strong box. Its also a more modern piece than the stocker (which would have been the old school Cruise-o-Matic or an FMX?) The down side is that they are not just Ford Truck Tough (TM) but they are Ford Truck Heavy. They make for more transmission losses than many comparible autotrannies, however probably better than the original C-o-M in that respect. Plenty of upgrade parts for the C6 should you want to firm up the shift or do anything like that.
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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30psi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,024
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Well in trying to ID the box, I have come up with 2 leads. One is that it's from a '75 Ford F100 with a 352CI. The other is that it's from a '75 police car.
Before realising this box was different I did notice that it shifts quite late, so it makes full use of the revs, unlike some yanks that always seem to shift too early.
I'll probably leave the box as it is though.
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Last Edit: Oct 1, 2008 8:26:54 GMT by 30psi
1962 Ford Thunderbird 6.4L
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS CA18DET
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS SR20DE
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30psi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,024
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Oct 22, 2008 22:29:59 GMT
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Thought I'd update, and so today I fitted the new starter motor. I've been away in France each weekend so not had a chance, so this morning I decided to take a day off work. The solenoid was clicking like mad so I started it up with another battery and all is good. Hot starts work well too. Have kept the other battery (off my citroen diseasal) on it as it seems that the smaller T Bird battery isn't up to the job if not used very frequently. Also I got a bit legal and bought some number plates. Will need to get hold of some fittings to get the front bumper fitted which has the plate fitting or I might not fit it and make a bracket up for the plate. Something to toy with if the weather is nice at the weekend. Here's the back with the plate, it looks a lot smarter with the vintage plate
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1962 Ford Thunderbird 6.4L
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS CA18DET
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS SR20DE
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Oct 30, 2008 15:24:23 GMT
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looking good.
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1937 Austin Street Rod - 1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1976 Rover V8 - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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30psi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,024
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Nov 14, 2008 21:29:33 GMT
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Had the day off work today so decided to make the T bird more legal with a front number plate. Easiest way was to fit the centre bumper that had previously lived in the boot. Just gotta decide whether I prefer it this way, or without the bumper. What do people think?
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1962 Ford Thunderbird 6.4L
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS CA18DET
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS SR20DE
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Nov 14, 2008 21:53:05 GMT
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OOOOOFFF indeed!
Those tail lights, the stance, the wheels - everything is just SOOOO right!
Want
Want
WANT!!
(Personally prefer the pre-bumper look though!)
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30psi
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,024
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Been a while since I've posted about this car. Looks like I've settled on what to do, I thought it myself and most people have confirmed my thoughts, and so the front bumper will be coming back off... When I was floating about the states at Xmas I bought a hot rod mag in an airport and found a pic of the same year Bird as mine. This pretty much is how I'd like mine to sit, with whitewall tyres, but probably with Radir wheels, not steelies. What are peoples opinions of these wheels?
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1962 Ford Thunderbird 6.4L
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS CA18DET
1981 Datsun Bluebird SSS SR20DE
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Jan 16, 2009 12:32:09 GMT
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Are they the Radirs? Pretty cool imho - with the whitewalls, they look appropriately early '60s custom - would look fantastic on that T-bird in the mag article!
However yours looks pretty hot as it is, and the late '60s muscle car wheels work really well with the body coloured bumpers - very reminiscent imho of the first body coloured bumpers / nose cones as fitted to GTOs etc ;D
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Jan 17, 2009 15:59:48 GMT
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What are peoples opinions of these wheels? yes,yes and yes!!! excellent looking motor.
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Jan 17, 2009 17:21:54 GMT
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Hi martin, lovely car!
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v8chevette
Posted a lot
PROUD TO BE BEIGE!!
Posts: 1,109
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Jan 17, 2009 17:28:46 GMT
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