Vintage Thunderbird Club International

Bulletbird62 · Joined: 03 Jan 2010 Posts: 6 Location: Seattle, Washington

Here is the T-bird I'm going to look at not this Saturday, but next Saturday. I found it on craigslist for $5,600, the lady claimed she had a ton of responses, they must have been tire kickers if she had to relist it a couple of times.

Here are the issues with the car:

Hood latch is stuck (she can't put a new battery in to drive it)
Ornate Thunderbird script is missing from the doors.
Has a small gas leak.
Two of the 4 window switches are missing.
Has some rust (I can only see rust on the front grill/bumper as of now)
There's a small dent on the front drivers fender.

Obviously this is a no AC car, bummer, but I can live with it. It has 68,000 original miles, the owner told me a guy came and looked at it and went over the car with a magnet and couldn't find a spot where it didn't stick. She says it's all original which is believable with the miles it has, but I can tell for sure when I actually see the car in person.

Can anybody tell me how I can get the hood open with the latch being stuck? I would also like to know what a reasonable offer for this car would be. I was thinking around $3,000 with the issues it has and due to the fact that I'm the only serious buyer she's had, combined with the multiple relistings and how long it's been hanging around without many bites.

Alex

tbird430 · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 92 Location: Texas

I think that Bird is really clean/straight. It has leather seats, fender skirts, etc.

In short, IMO- she is worth MORE than $3K.
_________________
The 1960 Ford Thunderbird. Unique in All the World.....

ejm1961Tbird · Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 173

I have a 1961, which has a hood release lever in the car on the driver's side. I am assuming that the 1960 has this too. If the cable breaks, the hood cannot be opened from inside car. Get a flashlight, stick head under car, and look up between front bumper and frame of car. You should see hood release. Flat rectangular piece of metal over a bar. Pull/push bottom of latch toward car. This will do the job the cable was supposed to do, and now you can open hood release from front of car as usual. At least this is how is works on a '61. It is also possible to release the latch by placing a long stiff object through grille and pressing on the latch. However, I would not recommend doing this, because if you slip you could punch a hole in the radiator. Much worse problem to have. BTW - great looking car.

Alan H. Tast · Joined: 20 Aug 2003 Posts: 1168 Location: Omaha, NE

'60 is VERY different from '61 - hood hinges at the front for starters, and latches are bolted to the firewall. Search the Forum archives for posts on how to open a '58-'60 from outside the car.
_________________
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"