Getting an FE in the family

[jwinkler]

I hope no one minds my posting this here - car craziness is an inherited trait in my family, which means my mother is about to relive a bit of her youth and pick up a 1960 Thunderbird that's got a 352 in it.

I found a forum for the cars at squarebirds.org, and based on what I read there, the motor seems to be pretty solid. However - what should I look out for? The seller sent pictures, and the pictures of the engine bay show some rust spots on the air cleaner and valve covers, and fairly oxidized exhaust manifolds, as well as what looks like the original (!) coil and wires (although the wires may just be skinny and black - I'm used to seeing the standard blue 8mm Taylors or something similar in engine bay pics on this forum!).

Any input is appreciated, and I hope it's OK to ask about the "smallblock" FEs!

Thanks,

JLW

[Woodz428]

Ahh yes,that was my first car and second also, I liked it that much. Since it was over 35 years ago, I can't say what you should look for. The typical things are broken exhaust bolts and studs, the engine is pretty rugged and trouble free if given just a little care. One thing to check or probably do is pull the valve covers and replace the gaskets and while it's open make sure the oil drain back holes aren't starting to get built up with sludge, I've seen many an older FE that would fill up the valve cover after a few minutes and then start smoking terribly because it was over the top of the guides and being drawn in.One odd thing that happened to me and probably other cast iron cruiso owners, one day in traffic I stopped for a light and it never moved again. Turned out one of the oil transfer tubes in the trans had come out and lost important pressure, nothing major except the tow bill. Pushed it back in after swedging the end of it and worked fine until it went down the road.