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Old 09-06-2012, 04:35 PM   #1
RG/NJ
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Default 61 TBIRD Rear

A friend of mine has a 61 Tbird. I was cleaning it up the other day and when i was cleaning the white wall tires, on the pasenger side i could get my hand between the tire and fender skirt. On the drivers side i could hardly get my finger tips between. We put it up on a lift and every thing looked okay and tight. We loosend every thing up but could not move the rear over to the left. Any idea what could be the problem. Thanks to all.
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Old 09-06-2012, 08:16 PM   #2
streetdreams
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Default Re: 61 TBIRD Rear

Do you have the same width or offset rims on each side?
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Old 09-06-2012, 09:41 PM   #3
scicala
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Default Re: 61 TBIRD Rear

Maybe the skirts are slightly different, mounted a little differently or one is slightly bent. Maybe just a stack up of tolerences too.
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Old 09-07-2012, 08:11 AM   #4
Ole Don
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Default Re: 61 TBIRD Rear

During the late 70's, I asked a Ford engineer what the specs were for a frame. After about three days he found the answer. At that time, it was plus or minus 3/8 inch. That means one frame could be 3/4 inch different from the next and be OK. Its just production tolerance.
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Old 09-08-2012, 03:16 AM   #5
pattieB
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Default Re: 61 TBIRD Rear

Interesting. Tell me more about it.
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Old 09-08-2012, 07:01 AM   #6
toby
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Default Re: 61 TBIRD Rear

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The 49-51 Shoebox Fords are the same - closer on one side than the other.
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Old 09-08-2012, 08:35 PM   #7
alt63bird
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Default Re: 61 TBIRD Rear

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ole Don View Post
During the late 70's, I asked a Ford engineer what the specs were for a frame. After about three days he found the answer. At that time, it was plus or minus 3/8 inch. That means one frame could be 3/4 inch different from the next and be OK. Its just production tolerance.
Uh, '58-'66 T-birds didn't use frames, they were unibody construction. Construction tolearnces at Wixom for T-birds and Lincolns were probably a little tighter for the underbody construction. You might want to look for evidence that the car was hit at one time, or maybe the wheel(s) are not original to the car, meaning offset of one may be different than the other. Are the tires the same size/make, and are they 75-series or wider radials? Radials will be fatter than the original bias-plys the car was designed around.
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