1958-1960 Squarebird Youtube Video

[Tbird1044]

Came across this video and found it really interesting. Watch it if you want. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHl93A4vGc

Nyles

[YellowRose]

1958-1960 Squarebird Youtube Video

Thanks, Nyles, for this excellent video on the Squarebirds! Nicely done!

[Deanj]

Fabulous Nyles. I see watching the video brings up other Thunderbird YouTube videos.

I notice the interior door pulls either pointing to 3/9 O'clock or 2/10 O'clock. Even in other videos there is this inconsistency in the same year Thunderbirds. What's the deal?

Dean

[jopizz]

I notice the interior door pulls either pointing to 3/9 O'clock or 2/10 O'clock. Even in other videos there is this inconsistency in the same year Thunderbirds. What's the deal?

Dean

If you look at original publicity photos or sales brochures they are closer to 3:00/9:00 which is parallel to the trim. People take them off and replace them however they feel like.

John

[Dan Leavens]

Nyles thanks for posting this video as there were some exterior colours I hadn't seen before

[Brandon Hord]

Very nice!! Blows my mind how going from a 2 seater to a 4 seater made the sales go through the roof!

[Dan Leavens]

Brandon the popularity of the four seater 58-60 started with the babybird, two seaters 55-57. They were very popular but they weren't conducive to families / going on holidays as they didn't have room for the kids , luggage or any passengers in the back seat.
The 1958 Thunderbird ( known as the Squarebird ) won Car of the Year for its design and now being a full size luxury vehicle.

[simplyconnected]

Oddly enough, the Baby Birds shared the same Y-Block engine and frame as 1955-57 Full-Size Ford cars. A few outriggers were moved but it was the same frame. Baby Birds were built like a tank.

In my opinion, Ford did what they could with the T-bird Y-Block. They even added a supercharger! Regardless, the 'Y' had irreversible design flaws that were engineered into Ford's first attempt at an overhead valve engine. The 'Y' motor was quickly dropped from the T-bird lineup with the introduction of the Squarebird, in favor of Ford's second attempt, the FE engine. - Dave

[pbf777]

I'm not so sure I'd say that the T-Bird & full-size vehicles such as Fairlane "shared the same frame" w/ only "a few outriggers were moved", as I feel this might be an oversimplification when one considers the vehicle specifications:

T-bird - Wheelbase: 102" & Track: 56" (front & rear)

Fairlane - Wheelbase: 115.5" & Track: 58" (front) & 56" (rear).

Yes, upon examination of the frame, it would certainly appear that the engineering is shall we say........"cut of the same cloth", but, the "same"?

Perhaps, someone has the frame width dimensions (outside of channel to outside of channel; front, midships & rear?) of each vehicle, for further comparison of similarities or not? Length would not be necessary as the length is obviously different.

Scott.

[pbf777]

In my opinion,............ the 'Y' had irreversible design flaws that were engineered into Ford's first attempt at an overhead valve engine. The 'Y' motor was quickly dropped from the T-bird lineup with the introduction of the Squarebird, in favor of Ford's second attempt, the FE engine. - Dave

I believe we have been over this territory previously, so I will only state: In my opinion, the "Y"-Block was a fine engine as engineered, in the context of it's time. But it does suffer from design & engineering deficiencies, though a typical ailment of its' era (or others), or most any engineering execution when studied/questioned in hindsight.

And was dropped from the T-Bird line as being inappropriate for the larger, heavier, more luxurious Squarebird; but was retained in the Ford line-up thru 1966 or so in other vehicles; and not to mention, very popular as an industrial power unit as they proved to be very durable even under less then ideal conditions.

Also, was the "Y"-Block Ford's first overhead valve engine attempt? Well, we'll leave out Henry's Quadricycle of 1896 +/- & perhaps the racer 999 of 1902, as these were of limited availability, not produced by the current company, and perhaps not good engineering examples of that which one invisions when one describes a typical O.H.V. engine. Your typical "Ford Y-block" definition would perhaps include the 239 introduced in 1954, followed latter by the 256, 272, 292, and 312 cubic inch engines. But, this leaves out the Ford 215 cubic inch six cylinder introduced in 1952 or the Ford 279 cubic inch truck engine of 1952, or the Lincoln 317 cubic inch also of 1952, all of O.H.V. design.

And, don't forget, Ford also produced a V8 engine of its' own design, with cylinder heads of somewhat "Pent-Roof" (maybe not a term in use at the time?) combustion chamber design, consisting of O.H.V.s, four per cylinder (32 total), dual O.H.C., dual sparkplugs, cast in aluminum (as was the block also)! Sounds like fairly contemporary engineering? Well, (here's the history lesson for those unknowing); how-a-bout during World War II? And, this V8 was of mass-production with somewhere around 28,000 +/- units produced by Ford Motor Co.! It's known as the GAA and later as the GAF engine (google for further information).

So, I think Ford Motor Co. had experienced previous engineering attempts at O.H.V.s before 1954.

Scott.

[simplyconnected]

Maybe I should have said the "Y" was Ford's first attempt at buildin an AUTOMOTIVE overhead valve engine.

GAA, GAF, GAN and GAC were all huge military engines, built to government specifications, delivering over 1,000-ft/lbs of torque for aircraft and tanks.

Our '59 Galaxie came with a 292 "Y". This car is full-size with a real frame, four doors and it is heavier than a Squarebird. At under 300 cubes, the engine is smaller than a Mustang engine so the car is underpowered. By comparison, totally unacceptable for use in a Squarebird which is probably why Ford didn't offer it. Instead, Ford spent big money to design, develop, retool and manufacture the FE with mega-changes over the "Y" design.

Hydraulic lifters cannot fit in the "Y" so lash adjustment is forever a part of my tune-ups.



The oiling system is terrible. Without 'oiling modifications' the "Y" will self-destruct due to rocker arms that load up with dirt that chokes off shaft lubrication and the center cam bearing that wears and closes off all oil to the heads. Those same oil ports that feed the rocker shafts go through a 'Z' between the block and head on both sides. The rear seal tends to leak and 'heat issues' are caused by adjacent center exhaust ports in both heads.



The timing chain is only lubricated by blow-by gasses on their way out the draft tube. All that and more was fixed in the new FE design, then the FE underwent further improvements. The "Y" could not be improved so it stayed the same and was allowed to become obsolete.