67 Thunderbird cruiser. Another GS450H project.

[TheSilverBuick]

This is my 1967 Ford Thunderbird. I've had it since 2006 when I bought it from a pawn shop in Colorado and promptly drove it 850 miles home to Nevada. Its got some minor body rust on the rear fenders and parts of the vinyl roof, but otherwise is a pretty solid full framed car. I put it on a scale several years back and its a hefty 4,850lbs, but between a full framed car and all four corners are big easily replaceable coil springs it wouldn't bother me if it got a couple pounds heavier at the end of the day. The brakes are already massive as well.

The FE engine and C6 transmission are very very tired. I took it off the road and de-registered it about two years ago though it starts right up with a splash of gas. I was doing some adding up, and determined to rebuild the factory engine and transmission, the cheapest it would be is about $6,000, maybe $8,000. For a decent 400-500HP V8 engine, aluminum heads, fuel injections, roller cam, all the stuff I would want to do, probably upwards $12,000. So, since I already have two other big block V8 cars (and a turbo L6), lets make this one electric! $12k would go a long way. The rear track width is about one inch difference from a Tesla S, and that would be a dream conversion, but for cost and perfectly adequate driving, the GS450H ought to do the job!

Here it is, 1967 Ford Thunderbird. Complete with suicide doors, sequential tail light blinkers and dozens of options. Its a fully loaded car I would like to get the A/C functional as well.




I haven't even started down the path of deciding what kind of batteries to use. I'm hoping to end up with miles of space under the hood, then the ~22 gallon gas tank area behind the rear axle and then even if I get into the trunk space I could take up a bunch of trunk space and still have loads of trunk space available! Initially I'm thinking a good 60-100 mile range car. Perhaps even a daily driver to relieve my Bolt.


Few interior shots just because The purist are probably going to lose their minds because it is a high optioned car.

[TheSilverBuick]

And now the recent purchase that showed up this week. I found a salvage yard on e-bay out in Florida that had a decent price on a 450H with free shipping, but no pictures though. Just ones of the car before it was stripped down. Then when I inquired about getting the inverter too, which they didn't have an add for they quoted me a price, then was able to get $100 knocked off since I was getting the transmission and they agreed to put it on the same pallet as the transmission for free shipping. It was just over $1,000 all in. When it finally arrived (10 days late) it looked good. They splashed white paint all over the place to mark it. I was initially concerned it was fire damage, but its just white paint. The parking pawl works flawlessly. Spinning the input and output shafts by hand is smooth and no funny noises. Very similar sound to the MGR on my other project.

It arrived at my work on a pallet, so we loaded it up for the trip home.


I was VERY happy to see it came with the oil pump and a fair bit of the wiring harness attached. Disappointed that the main MG power wires were cut when they dismantled the car, but I got the whole length of them.




With the exception of the MG power connections all the inverter pigtails are MIA, but at least the sockets look to be in good shape.



I'm going to try and go down the Zombie VCU path on this one. Wish me luck and available time to get this drivetrain tested out on the garage floor then dive into the actual install.