Mike - My friend brought the air cleaner base back (minus 5/16 inch) and I took these two photos. Its pretty close in the back but clears enough to try it - the engine should have plenty of room to rock sideways against the steady rests.

 

If the Blue Thunder is the same height as the 9425-B, it doesn't look like there will be any problems installing it as straight swap - even with the taller 60 mm element and the 1/2 spacer. Thanks for the info guys................I'm glad I looked a little closer before I slammed the hood!

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

I use the extra thick rubber valve cover gaskets from best gasket and they work great, and I also ground off a very small portion of the edge of my Blue Thunder Intake and you can't tell anythings ever been done to it. So taking a little off for clearance won't hurt a thing.

-Gary Burnette-

My engine was also out of level about an inch and a half! I didn't even notice it until I installed the headers and got to measuring and leveling. As Steve mentioned, use the steady rests to level it. But before you try that loosen them slightly and try scooting the front of the engine over on the front mount. Check it first to see its condition. You might get some movement there first,(you'll have to manhandle it) then go back and do the steady rest to level. The blue thunder height is supposed to be the same so carbs and air cleaners are the difference I believe. Remember that the bird is a one piece body so there can be alignment issues that show up that could surprise you. In theory you could even shift the whole front clip to one side in small increments. There are only two bolts, which look like radiator frame bolts, that anchor the the front clip to the frame. The next set of two are at the firewall.

       A  L  A  N   F  R  A  K  E  S   ~  Tulsa, OK    

Well .......I cranked on mine (steady rests) till it stood up straight - couldn't imagine why Ford would leave it leaning that way - and besides the motors been out anyway. Considering they painted it truck motor blue with a "special" overspray....after swiping the valve covers, etc., who knows what other evils they did.

When its torquing along moving the car it wants to lean over to the passenger side, so I was thinking if you leave too little clearance - it might hit the hood once in a while. Incidently mine is a little bit higher than yours shows in the pictures - the 1/2 inch spacer jacks it up and the aluminum filter base of the Wysco must be thicker.

I took the filter across the alley to my machinist friend at lunch time and asked him to take 5/16 off the bottom of the base with a little notch for the rear bowl needle adjustment nut. Hopefully that will be end of air cleaner mounting. Until I buy a new manifold.

I have been thinking about making a removable "pan" that mounts off the bottom of the filter base and runs forward enough to create a seal at the hood cross member just ahead of the scoop opening - then along each side to give the carb a chance at some cooler outside air. The original air cleaner did that with a sort of cork flap but I was thinking aluminum sheet and high temp foam. If its made to be removed for showtime no one will be the wiser.  

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

That was my concern as well. I made a cardboard template of the air cleaner before I bought it just to make sure it would clear. Thankfully, the Blue Thunder is about the same height as my stock mani. They advertise it as fitting under the hood of little birds and I can't imagine it being more than 1/8 over the stocker. The thing that really worried me was the air cleaner hitting the leading edge of the scoop. The teapots air cleaner flange seems to be forward of the base and venturis, moving the air cleaner forward an inch or so. Putting the Demon (or Holley, Edelbrock, Carter) moves this back and I have about 1.25" from the front of the scoop. My air cleaner is a billet specialties which they show at 3" above the flange and it just peeks above the bottom of the scoop with the hood closed (see pic). The biggest problem I am having with the air cleaner is the choke linkage hitting the plastic base of the air cleaner. You can also see from the pic that my engine leans to the passenger side. Is it supossed to be like that? I imagine it would be easy enough to fix by loosening the jam nuts on the driver side steady rest and lower them. If yours was like that, as well as mine, there may be a reason Ford did it.



I love that the original color of the car was t-bird green, but am even more thankful that it was in an accident in '58 and re-painted black (i.e. love the value of the color rather than the color itself. Since the car was parked in the garage next to my grandparents Rambler wagon and later their Hornet wagon since '71, it has its fair share or "petina" as well. It's really nice to ba able to go anywhere with it (which I do) and not worry about door dings and scratches.



Did that answer the hood/air cleaner question?

Mike  - I've got a question about the air cleaners.... yours came out pretty nifty I think

Do you know how much vertical height change there is when using the Blue Thunder versus the 9425-B manifold ? I put a half inch Moroso spacer under my Holley to get a thermal break and I've got the plain style short oval aluminum air cleaner. With a two inch paper element the hood closes and the air cleaner fits pretty neatly up into the hood scoop. I had a little problem with the steady rests not holding the engine at dead center but thats fixed. 

I found a 60 mm height K&N oval filter element (K&N #E-9136) to replace the two inch paper part so everything is going up another 3/8's of an inch. There is a little meat on the mounting flange of the air cleaner (its a Wysco) so I can mill it down a bit if I need to - but someday I'd like to get the aluminum intake manifold. Do you think it will work? I couldn't tell from the pictures if you put a spacer under the carb or not. 

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Just to add a bit of confusion to the issues you are having:  New Mallery tach drive distributors set to 57 specs are available from a number of T-bird suppliers.

CASCO #12127M @ $610   (Prices may vary from other suppliers)

Also a small electric tach can be fitted in the pod or housing of a 55/56 Bird.   I have one and can send pictures.   However the tach is small and it is not real effective if you are serious about using a tach, but is OK if its just for looks.  

As usual, always more than one way to solve a problem.  

Yep mine's a greenie too - except the previous owner (since 57) had a nice shade of el cheapo Avacado squirted over the real green somewhere along the way. It has all sorts of chips, ancient orange peel etc. - but no body damage as such - the chrome is awful - front bumper guards are gone. This was a daily driver for many, many years. A Covina, Cal Ford dealer stuck a "new" blue engine in it in 75 according to the records - painted the engine compartment "used car black" and according to what is missing from the old photos - stole the complete dress-up kit. My hotrod buddies say it has "patina".....right.

Ford resurrected the willow(?) green for the T-birds they just discontinued - except in pearl - she may get a re-do in the modern color when I get tired of the patina.....but I kind of like the looks that ensue when you pop the hood of the old girl and its obvious that gremlins have been at work...I just re-engineer one piece at a time until it works like I want. Kind of a stress relief project. Someday she'll be in good enough health to roam over to Columbus and visit the boys in the fall.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Thanks for the input. The VC gaskets are Fel-Pro as well and are about 3/16" thick. I have an extra set and will try to double up using gaska-cinch .



As far as the dist. goes, the pertronics was one of the first things I purchased to get the car moved from storage to my house (my grandmother had it sitting since '71ish). I read the many posts here about the different dist's available for the Y, and am torn between two choices. A Mallory would be fine, but I give up vacuum advance. The other choice is the MSD but then I give up the tach drive. I've been looking for a '57 tach drive on Ebay, but think one of the other two options might be better (if only the MSD had a tach drive). I am currently researching an electric tach (if anyone has any ideas) to fit in the factory location since removal/storage of the original does not bother me. If I can find one, then the MSD is definitely the choice.



So, the plan at the moment is to feed the loadomatic from the two ports on the front of the carb (it's a Demon 525). There is a ported and a non-ported that I can bend some line to and (unless I am mistaken) the dist should work as it did with the teapot.



Just to give everyone an idea, my plan is to make the car a driver. Not trying to go fast, just put around town with it. My only reason for the manifold swap was to facilitate the use of a Carter/Edelbrock/Holley etc. carb. (plus it looks nice). I was originally planning on going the resto-mod route with late model everything (I am sure some here will applaud the decision not to), but after finding out the value of t-bird green '56's (esp. original owner green '56's) I decided not to cut, drill, weld or in any way change the car other than bolt-ons. So, all of the original parts are in the attic, and I can restore to stock if that bug ever bites. Yours looks like a green, also, am I correct, Steve?



Thanks again

Hey Mike;  had the same problem when I put on my Blue Thunder, Mine has the cast T-Bird covers.  I notched the cover just sligthly and you have to look real close to see it.  Check it often while notching it oly takes a little.  hope this helps.   Thank you to all you great helpful guys.   God Bless    Eddie

Eddie

Lake Forest, Ca. 92630