What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
...I mean, I was exaggerating. But to elaborate on my point, I really prefer A. the look of buttons, and B. the tactile feel of pushing a button vs. turning a dial.
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I can’t argue with A but I’m fairly sure the blind would have an easier time operating the knobs, which I’d say makes them pretty tactile . At least in the blower speed and blend settings; clockwise more speed/more heat/counterclockwise less speed/colder. The function selector is the least ergonomic of the trio but ironically it’s the one part shared between manual and SATC
 
That's all great until there's so many damn buttons that you don't remember what they all do without also looking or feeling the number of buttons from the edge. Meanwhile, you're supposed to be driving. Polar opposite ends of the tactile spectrum have the same cognitive net effect.

This is why having your fingers one key off where they're supposed to be on a keyboard without feeling for the nubs on the F and J keys produces the most hilarious nonsense that everyone's done, like "Tjos weel" (This week) or "Facebppl" (Facebook). But at least you're (hopefully) not driving when that happens.

As for cockpits, there are reasons why they are the way that they are and obtaining a private pilot license is a time-consuming endeavor, never mind a commercial pilot license, never mind all the additional training to be more than marginally competent, unlike going to your local DMV to get your comparatively "free candy" personal vehicle driver license.

The right solution for the right job. If a shaped dial on the dashboard with detents eliminates 5-8 buttons representing different modes of the same function, then it makes sense. Out of all the arbitrary solutions for problems that didn't previously exist, buttons and non-detented, positionless levers are the worst offenders of why modern automatic transmission shifters are complete trash.

In other words, 7 buttons on the pre-refresh MN12 HVAC controls kind of suck.
 
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For settings, I prefer knobs. Operating mode can be buttons. Pushbutton volume sux.
Brandon, What are you flying with 6 engines?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
What type of aircraft is this?

I take it you're in the right seat as copilot?

How many hours did you have to do, and studying behind it, to get this far?
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Grog6 said:
Brandon, What are you flying with 6 engines?
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I wish I was the one who took the picture, let alone see the thing fly, or be on the flight deck at all. At the very least I've seen the aircraft a few times, though. :)

That's the XB-70 - '60s prototype Mach 3 bomber. I had a deep fascination with it in high school (and still do, for that matter) - I wrote Dryden for info when I was creating a 3D model of it for MSFS 2k2 (no good ones existed at the time) and they mailed me a Xerox'd copy of the flight manual along with a scrap piece of the wrecked A/V2. Then my brother stole it, and lost it. :bawling: :zbash:

I had to give @XB-70 a bit of a shoutout when he joined for that reason. :)

Irv said:
As for cockpits, there are reasons why they are the way that they are and obtaining a private pilot license is a time-consuming endeavor, never mind a commercial pilot license, never mind all the additional training to be more than marginally competent, unlike going to your local DMV to get your comparatively "free candy" personal vehicle driver license.
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One of the hardest parts of the instrument rating was learning the advanced features of the avionics, and being able to manipulate them to get what I needed out of them quickly and efficiently while copying down and following instructions from ATC... sometimes while being shaken around like a martini. :)
 
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XR7-4.6 said:
I can’t argue with A but I’m fairly sure the blind would have an easier time operating the knobs, which I’d say makes them pretty tactile . At least in the blower speed and blend settings; clockwise more speed/more heat/counterclockwise less speed/colder. The function selector is the least ergonomic of the trio but ironically it’s the one part shared between manual and SATC
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because the blind drive....
 
Zep5.0 said:
Has anyone added carpet to the bottom side of the deck-lid? Could be kind of cool with a logo embossed in it.
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I swear I’ve seen it done before, maybe in the old baggedbird community.

As for me that’s the best paint on the car, I’m not covering it lol
 
Zep5.0 said:
Has anyone added carpet to the bottom side of the deck-lid? Could be kind of cool with a logo embossed in it.
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This would be my kind of mod. I was even thinking about adding nicer carpet to the trunk itself.

Ultimately, I dropped the whole idea. A. I don't want to add weight to the car, especially where it doesn't serve much practical purpose, and B. the exposed deck lid is somewhat period appropriate, if a bit behind its time. Even the Mercedes S-Class still had no liner until its 90s replacement.

I do make use of the inside of the deck lid: I have a luggage net stretched across it, with stuff like paper towels, gloves, etc. I prefer that over having a luggage net across the bottom edge of the trunk opening; those nets always get into the way.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
So this will be the first time for timing chains? So with my 87,000 miles as of now, it's not something I need to worry about anytime soon?
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As long as your not hearing a rhythmic click at idle near front of passenger side valve cover I would say your good. Mine has been doing the click for about 5k miles and I cringe listening to it.
 
I dropped mine off for tint this morning im going 15 all the way around and a banner on the windshield.
 
Took her back to the shop after already having 2 sets of strut rod bushings installed. This time around they were too loose instead of too firm..? They said they were going to try and retorque stuff and shim it worst case.

car is back home, steering feels infinitely better/ no clunk, and im anxious about purchasing my next set lol. Gonna go for some oem replicas the next time around
 
LukesCougar said:
Took her back to the shop after already having 2 sets of strut rod bushings installed. This time around they were too loose instead of too firm..? They said they were going to try and retorque stuff and shim it worst case.

car is back home, steering feels infinitely better/ no clunk, and im anxious about purchasing my next set lol. Gonna go for some oem replicas the next time around
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I have a set of OEMs in thinking of selling. California clean too...

PXL_20250321_235735898.jpg
 
Yesterday was finally warm enough to get my exhaust bolted back up after pulling the transmission, again!
Remember how I mentioned that the clutch fork was hitting the bolt for the slave cylinder bracket I made, and I thought that was the issue of it getting stuck in reverse? Well, that wasn’t it.
I started up the car let it run a bit and threw it in reverse while it’s still on jack stands, and it got stuck on the first try.
I know it’s not an internal issue, I spoke with the guy who rebuilt the transmission and all thoes issues were addressed.
So, I started to do some research on the Chevy S-10 slave cylinders. Many people mentioned having a hard time bleeding them, they would bleed and bleed and bleed and still have air trapped inside.
My suspicions led me to believe that’s my issue. I cracked the bleeder and let it gravity bleed for about 10 mins, the fluid came out nice and steady at first, then after a couple minutes it trickled and came out steady again, this happened a couple times over the 10 mins I let it gravity bleed. I suspect there still some air trapped inside.
I did a little more digging on the interwebs and found this power bleeder on eBay, I ordered it and I’m going to give this a try. Hopefully this is it. Cause, if it’s not, I’m going to push the car off a bridge!

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Very simple way to bleed the S10 setup. Remove the slave cylinder while leaving the line attached. This will allow the slave to fully extend. Now tilt the front of the slave cylinder downward, so that the line is the highest point, and push the piston all the way in, then let it come back out. This will push all the air up, the line and it will bubble out of the reservoir. Repeat the motion several times, then bolt the slave back in place and you have done. No special tools needed, no extra person needed, no brake fluid leaking in your face or on your exhaust.
 
MadMikeyL said:
Very simple way to bleed the S10 setup. Remove the slave cylinder while leaving the line attached. This will allow the slave to fully extend. Now tilt the front of the slave cylinder downward, so that the line is the highest point, and push the piston all the way in, then let it come back out. This will push all the air up, the line and it will bubble out of the reservoir. Repeat the motion several times, then bolt the slave back in place and you have done. No special tools needed, no extra person needed, no brake fluid leaking in your face or on your exhaust.
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I’m wondering if I got the right slave cylinder, there seems to be a difference between the 4 cylinder S10 and the 6 cylinder s10.

I ordered the 4 cylinder s10 one.

I just tried your method and the piston is getting hung up, seems like it’s NFG. So I plan on ordering a new one, but which one?
 
10w30 is generally a light oil, not thick like 20w50 or others. But when I looked at the thick, black oil on the dipstick of my Town Car today, I said it was time to change it. I checked the mileage on the oil filter with the mileage of the car and it had only been 1000+ miles, but over 2 years since the last oil change. At 199141 on the odometer, I didn't think I was burning oil, but you should have seen the oil pan when I was done, thick coat of oil that I had to wash out with soap and water. And it was 60+ day outside, nice day to do some car work. The car only smokes at a slow take off due to the OEM recall on the valve seals. The don't seal at slow speeds and leak a little.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
Yesterday was finally warm enough to get my exhaust bolted back up after pulling the transmission, again!
Remember how I mentioned that the clutch fork was hitting the bolt for the slave cylinder bracket I made, and I thought that was the issue of it getting stuck in reverse? Well, that wasn’t it.
I started up the car let it run a bit and threw it in reverse while it’s still on jack stands, and it got stuck on the first try.
I know it’s not an internal issue, I spoke with the guy who rebuilt the transmission and all thoes issues were addressed.
So, I started to do some research on the Chevy S-10 slave cylinders. Many people mentioned having a hard time bleeding them, they would bleed and bleed and bleed and still have air trapped inside.
My suspicions led me to believe that’s my issue. I cracked the bleeder and let it gravity bleed for about 10 mins, the fluid came out nice and steady at first, then after a couple minutes it trickled and came out steady again, this happened a couple times over the 10 mins I let it gravity bleed. I suspect there still some air trapped inside.
I did a little more digging on the interwebs and found this power bleeder on eBay, I ordered it and I’m going to give this a try. Hopefully this is it. Cause, if it’s not, I’m going to push the car off a bridge!

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Nice write up. Best of luck on your project, hope you resolve it.
 
Kurt K said:
I changed oil and rotated tires on my daily driver 95 xr7.....and yes, i still hate changing oil on this car.
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If it bothers you, you can try using the FL500s filter instead of the FL820s. It is a little thinner and longer than the 820, and much easier to get it in and out of the confined space in the car.
 
Got all the stuff from radiator to the front cover removed (except damn PS pump) including 385k miles of road grime. Toothbrush and gum out foaming degreaser and looks good. The 4 front oil pan bolts didn't need to be that tight. No wonder oil pan has leaked since 1998. Power steering pump won't turn loose w/ 3 out of 4 bolts out and last on hitting hard line. Prying and hammer has not made a difference. Anybody got the right curse word?
 
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