1965 Thunderbird Classic Car Repairs Cruise Control

The speed control on this 65 Thunderbird hasn't worked for over 40 years, in this video, I go thru all of the bit and pieces that make it work, fix the bellows on the servo, and make adjustments to the metering valve.
#thunderbird #classic #cruisecontrol #ford #1965 #speedcontrol

[@steveimhoff5646]

Excellent. You are the only KZbin I’m aware of that walks through how this cruise control functions. Thanks for this.

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you Steve! Yes, videos on these speed control setups are very limited, and I don't think these worked all that well even from new, so I'm not expecting wonderful results on the highway. Lol

[@charlesdalton985]

Excellent diagnostics and repair. Mine didn't have this, so it was fascinating to learn how the system worked. Thank you as always for taking us along. ~ Chuck

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you Chuck, it was interesting to learn how it all works. 🙂

[@servicetechnician3264]

Hello Alvin. Awesome video! The detailed information on how it works will be a great help for those that have this option. George B

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you George! We did a test drive a couple of days ago, and it works...a little touchy on the control wheel, but it works. My wife videoed it, but the wind noise was pretty bad, we will do another recording with the windows up next time.

[@kayeninetwo3585]

Great that you got the cruise cntrl working. It's fun to get this stuff functioning again, when it can happen. My car doesn't have cruise, but I'm sure your video was helpful to many people.

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you, these old cruise control units weren't very reliable, and it was nice to get it working again... however, I'm not expecting it to be very useful without constant maintenance. 🥺

[@SierraJohn]

Nice job. Every speed control unit I've ever seen has been broken. Never saw one working before. I like that you cover some of the unique features like this one or that remote trunk release. Hope to see more.

[@J_R_Shop]

I gather from the comments that these speed control units didn't work so well, but I'll give it try on the highway, and see what we get. 😎 This car has one more not so common feature...the "Perma-Tuned" ignition that I've been wanting to do a video on, It appears to be complete in this T-Bird, I don't think it will be a deep technical video, but more of what each component does, but first I need to get my head around on how it works. Lol

[@joernone]

Alvin, That was very educational, my friend. Pearline doesn't have cruise control, but it was still good to see how the old ones worked. Good show. Regards, John

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you John! It was a good learning on how it all works. I've been looking over the Perma-Tuned ignition, and think I would like to do a video on the components that make it work, it's another one of those early Ford experiments...so why not document it for others to see. 😊

[@jeffsmith846]

Simply amazing. The things that they did before electronics took over. I had a 66 with speed control but back then the bellows was not reproduced so I never tried to make it work. I hope you do a video of it on the road someday.

[@J_R_Shop]

There are a lot of components that all have to work together in order to make these work, and having them all still installed on the car is rare in itself, lets hope it works on the highway! I do plan on doing a short road test video, fingers crossed that it at least sort of works. Lol

[@leescales5216]

Great job! I just drug home a 65 Bird a couple of weeks ago, I haven't started working on it, and I'm not sure exactly what features it has yet. I do have nightmares from working on cruise control on Fords, Lincolns and Mercury's back in the early 70's. Subscribed.

[@J_R_Shop]

Congratulations on your Thunderbird purchase! I could see, that having to make these cruise control units work reliably, would be a nightmare. 🥺 Thank you for subscribing!

[@dougabbott8261]

A nice option that was probably rare . Great job on trouble shooting it , Thx.

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you Doug...it is a cool feature, working or not work, and it was fun to learn how it all works. 😊

[@Exit45Restorations]

I do like a good troubleshooting session. I'm glad it wasn't anything serious and you could get it woring with just the new baffle. I don't have cruise on mine so I get to skip this one. Great video

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you Matt! The bellows has reproduced...that was a surprise, and not pricey either!

[@jbird845]

Awsome video. I always wonder how they worked. Gotta love old technology.

[@J_R_Shop]

Luck for me, everything is still intact, I hoping for it to pass the test test on the highway. 🙄

[@jbird845]

Take a video of the test run..🍻

[@tbirdsteve1]

Just a brilliant video. Well done and thank you!

[@J_R_Shop]

Thank you very much, and thank you for watching my channel. 😊

[@vintagethunderbirdrepair9426]

Hey Alvin, excellent video. I cant believe you got that to work. Ive only ever seen one other work on a 1965 Thunderbird, and that was one I restored back in the mid 90's when they were not quite as old and decrepit as they are today. Ive seen hundreds of these on cars and not one worked. My 66 even had cruise on it but I removed it because its a pain in the ass that I didn't want to deal with. I think your very lucky that the cruise components on your car seem to be in fairly good condition. The fact that the speedometer cables were not broken or seized was a miracle in itself. I was hoping to see you remove and disassemble the sensor pump. Birds Nest used to have the oil for those, maybe they still do??? I think they also have the cruise only speedometer cables new. When testing the one I restored, I was never able to get the speed to stay constant when driving down the road. Once we set the cruise speed, it would either continue to speed up or slow down. Its been so long ago that I don't remember the details exactly, I just remember that it did that. It will be interesting to see what results you get once you test drive the car. Ill be looking forward to that video. Mike Johansson is correct, I always tell people to not waste their time fixing them since there are, for the most part, no parts available and they probably wont get them working. Maybe I was wrong for doing that. If I had convinced you not to fix yours, maybe we would not have gotten this great video. My bad. Your video is very informative and interesting and hopefully it will motivate someone to fix their cruise. It would be nice if the parts were available but there are not enough cars with the option to warrant the investment. FYI, 1964-65 Thunderbirds have the same cruise control components. 1966 is different. Also, at 23:00 in the video when you start the car, see your steering wheel turn to the right? And then every time you raised the idle it turned to the right again. Your power steering gear box is bad. Thanks Alvin.

[@J_R_Shop]

Hey Nick! A highway test will be the tell tale for this speed control, I'm hopeful, but not going to be disappointed if it doesn't work. Knowing how it all works, and how fine the measurements of the metering valve need to be, I can see why you couldn't get a constant speed, just the slightest amount of change will effect the operation and speed of the car, and I don't think you were wrong in your advice, it was how you feel about it, based on experience. Yes, the steering gear box is pulling to the right, good eye Nick! Ever since I watched your video on the steering gear box, I've been think about this one, and that I should fix it. I do have a spare one I could rebuild and install...likely a good thing to do for the next owner. Thank you! 😊

[@mikejohansson6711]

Sweet! My '65 also has the cruse control and since Vintage Thunderbirds said that they were not that good and unreliable, I just took mine out of the car and I have all the parts. I did find that the speedometer is two pieces. my upper one was broken. But after watching this video and since I am redoing all the vacuum lines on mine I just might reinstall it. Please post an update after you test it on the road! Thanks, and God bless.

[@J_R_Shop]

To be honest, I agree with Nick on the unreliability of these speed control setups. Mechanically, the components would all have to be in excellent working condition all of the time, and that isn't likely to be the case most of the time, but it's a cool feature just the same, I feel reinstalling it is worth the effort for you...working or not. 🙂