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Non Thunderbird pursuits

Hi folks

I was cleaning in my office and I have these creations sitting around that are getting dusty so decided to clean them and photograph them and maybe sell them if the right person likes them more than I do.

My son and I take Wednesday nights to stuff that is not customer related. Either our own projects, our equipment maintenance, or playing with stuff we have in our “wish to try bin”. We might see something on Pinterest that looks like fun, which is where these things came from.

Do not respond to me in this message. Send comments etc to jdrax@tbirdranch.com

Working during lockdown

This quarantine thing is actually doing me good as I have to sit here and do work. I just cleaned out some window motor cores and found three that looked good so we went into rebuilding mode. Just finished up a 58-60 and 2 for the 64-66 doors, a right and a left. Price on these guys is $125.00 exchange and I guarantee my work. I know new are available however they are over twice the price and I am still not sure if they have solved the problems they were having with them. These I know will work.
I have started some serious cleaning here in my parts department. I have all these parts from when I dismantled cars and just stashed everything because I had no time to sort. So now I am purging out the parts that I feel no one would want to put on their cars, just wish scrap prices were higher. I am listing things on ebay that seem a bit special. I am not listing any dirty old or electrical parts that I have not reconditioned…..taken apart, cleaned and tested them.
One thing I have a ton of is relays of all kinds. If you just want a few for spares, these may be just what you are looking for. I take them all apart and totally clean them inside and out, polish the contacts and test them. Selling for half of new, $25.00 each….. lots of convertible ones.
I will be posting a bunch of pics soon.
Stay home and stay safe. God bless you all.

Answers to some questions

First question, regarding the convertible top problem I was having with the supplier insisting that their top was correct when I showed them it was not…………… I sent it back and ordered from a different company. I have found that Electron Tops are one of the best on the market and the boys that run  it are sons of the original owner and founder of the company.

Second question was regarding the convertible top switch for the dash on 1960 Tbirds, I have them in stock and they are $120.00.

Third question was about the address for my ebay store.

https://www.ebay.com/str/draxus1?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

check it out……….. always listing new stuff, some quite unique

Squarebird brake booster Update

OK folks, I have now installed 2 of these new booster and master assemblies with the brackets and all that I have designed and made. They install easily and work great. Very good power assist and feel to the brake pedal. The picture was taken to show the fit.

What I sell includes everything except for the lines. I even include the two fittings that go into the master as they are different from the standard small fittings. You keep the arm that goes inside the car to the brake pedal and the little plate that is between the mounting and the firewall,  everything else is included.

There is a separate set up for cars with air conditioning….. the mounting brackets are longer and move the booster farther away from the firewall so it clears the a/c box. I also include a new arm that connects to the pedal because that has to also be longer than a non a/c arm.

If you have patience you can install this complete and not have to bleed the brakes at the wheels as all the air will rise up through the master and bleed out up top.

Price for this complete set up is $425.00 for non a/c and $475.00 for cars with a/c. Shipping is extra.

email questions to me at    jdrax@tbirdranch.com

Memorial day weekend

I guess summer is here in Wisconsin, we are mid 80’s the past couple days and grass is growing constantly. Sue planted garden and flowers. And I am done with school for a few months.

A lot has gone on around here in the past year. I have my B.A.T. (bad ass thunderbird) on the road again. I have shaped an  extended hood scoop for it and blacked out the trim around the side windows otherwise it still looks pretty rough paint wise. I have been driving it to town and back some and it is running better all the time.

This past semester at school I had a class of 9 seniors for my automotive class and 3 seniors in my drafting class where we learned Fusion 360, a 3D modeling program by Adobe. I bought myself a 3D printer for Christmas so we designed a couple things and the kids got to see a project from idea to production.  A total of 11 students, all seniors (one was in both classes). Here is what I made for each of them. I present to you the Columbus shop classes graduating class of 2018.

I have also added a few items to my inventory of stuff I make here. I will add articles describing them more in detail later but for now just mentioning them. I make hood moulding for the 67-69 Birds. Have improved the making of the armrest frames for these same years. I now make new convertible deck close switches for the 61-63 and the 64-66 cars. Not sure if I mentioned in the blog but also make a new motor for the flip lid on all the convertibles including the Lincoln convertibles.

Relay replacement systems are selling well and i am constantly building some of these on my bench.

Another item I made is the handle for the sunroof on the 1960 birds.

I will be attending the Vintage Thunderbird Club International Regional meet in northern Minn. in a few weeks so may see some of you there.

On the squarebirds brake booster and master conversion I decided to go with the 1″ bore master to start with and see how the brakes feel with that. Can always try a larger bore to see the difference.

OK, may God bless your holidays.

Squarebird brake booster

Some years ago I was approached to find a way to install an aftermarket brake booster with a dual reservoir master cylinder in a Squarebird. I was also asked to design a bracket system to mount an under dash booster on the cars with air conditioning. These both needed a redesigned bracket system. Up until a week ago, I had just put this off as too big of a project for the time I had.

I am now getting ready to have set of brackets water jetted and bent up to try out for fit and functionality.

I have already got a set of brackets, an aftermarket booster and also a dual master ready to mount up on a non air car and all fits well. One question I have is whether to go with a 1″ bore or a 1 1/8″ bore on the master cylinder. If any of you have input on this please let me know your opinions by an email to.    jdrax@tbirdranch.com .

More listings on Ebay store

please go check out the things I have listed. I have lots of stuff on there right now and I need to sell some of these things so I have more room here to drag more out and get it listed as well. I have so much stuff crammed on shelves upstairs and basically hidden from sight and you know…… out of sight, out of mind…… so true with this.
This summer I will be sorting through a lot of the larger stuff I have and will probably list some of those things here on my blog.

New—– Ebay store listings

I have decided that I have to start reaching out to the people who shop on eBay and the only way I could do that was to open a store on their site. I have so many parts that are kind of odd and fairly rare so that is the best way to get them out in front of the buyers. For any of you who want to go see what i all have, go to the advance search and choose sellers, then search the sellers for “draxus1”

I find it hard to operate by their rules because there is no real one to one contact other than going through their messaging system which is a pain however if any of you find me on there you can send me an email through my website at tbirdranch.com

It is just one more way of getting some of these parts I have out in the area where people will see what i all have.

Check it out, please!

God bless