This page is dedicated to the Stereo  , Electrical Vipers and Cruise Control  & AC

Explanation of a dilemma 

Since I insisted on a stock interior / exterior  this was sort of difficult as it would influence on the interior. This project was also about updating a old car  and the following features are part of modern convinience.

 Stereo

A custom Autosound stereo with 240 watts devided on 4 channels is mounted in the dash in the original holes, and a CD changer will be mounted in the trunk. The front 6x9" speaker is replaced with a stereo speaker, and I'm struggeling to find a good spot for 2 rear speakers. The area behind the seat is room for the soft top when that is down, and I'm not planning driving this car with the top up. The problem is that the sound will be affected of being covered up with canvas and the drop curtain. I need to have the car more  assembled before I can decide where to place the rear speakers.

I hope that the Thunderbird knobs can be used on this radio, anyone knows ? I do currently not have the origianl knobs, but CASCO has them listed as repro parts.

A picture of the stereo in the dash , and of the cd changer in the trunk will soon be posted here.

Electrical Vipers

Electrical vipers from CASCO are installed. The kit mounts in the origianl Viper brackets, and are supplied with a electrical switch that mounts invisibly in the dash in the place of the original mechanical viper switch. The electrical vipers upgrade is in total invisible, except for in rain when passing another car. Then these vipers will continiue to vipe the window, something the originals had problems with as the vacuum were gone when You put the right pedal to the floor.

Cruise Control

The 97 Mark VIII cruise control unit is mounted on a modified original bracket , placed on the left inner fender at the bottom rear fender at the firewall. The cable did not fit the 96 Intake ( What a surprise !) , so a 97 type throttel arm pin had to be fabricated as well as a bracket to support the cable hose at the engine.

I have bought a control handle from Dakota Digital, but the threads are bigger than the No 10-32 threads that the stock turn signal arm has. Another problem is that , even if the dakota digital handle has the functions that I need on the handle, it operates with normally closed contackts , while the Electronics in the Cruise control operates with normally open contackts. I can convert this with some TTL logic driving some small relays, but I would rather find another handle/ switch.

I found it impossible to modify the threads on the column end on the Dakota Digital handle, so I got may hands on a early 1970's Chrysler handle. It also had 1/4" threads on a hollow stud, so it was quite easy to drill a hole using the smaller hole as a guide. Then cut of the 1/4 stud and tap the new hole with 10-32 threads. I found a old 10-32 screw and scred it up in the shaft with locktite, and cut it off just under the head. The new shaft is slightly thicker than the original so the hole in the hub where the handle is screwed in had to be opened up just a little. It can not be seen.

The new handle ( the ribbed chrome on the handle matches the Telescoping nut on the column quite well )

Here is how the wires enters the column.

After again investigating the MARKVIII wiring manual, it appears that the MARKVIII cruise control swithches are all doorbell pulses. These pulses changes the resistance in a particular circuit. Even the ON and OFF are pulses, and there are no way the new switch will be able to do that directly. As electronics are my income, this is possible for me to resolve, but might be hard to resolve for those that are not so familiar with electronics. The solution would then be to use a aftermarket cruise control kit. I'm building a small electronics board that will sit between the Cruise control Unit and the new switch.

The computer is not involved in the Cruise control. It is a stand alone item. ( The computer works without Cruise control, and the cruise control can operate without the computer.

Air conditioning

Since the 55 Thunderbirds got famous for being so warm inside, and since I added 4 cat's under the floor, the AC early become part of the planning. I selected a kit from Classic Auto Air as it is using the stock heater control for operating the AC unit. In addition, the original heater as seen from the engine compartment can remain to keep the stock look in the engine bay.

As being so far from the source of the goodies, I struggled quite a bit before I found a new connector block for the AC compressor.

Check out "Doc's Blocks" for the fittings required to tie in to these AC Compressors.

Sound deadning

I have used Dynamat extreme on the floor and on the firewall, under the dash, and on the rear whell wells. It took quite some clothing to get done, as the edges of the materials glues into Your clothes soon as there is a chance. I have seen in a late Hot Rod Magazine that they suggested to use aluminium tape on the overlapping  edges , to seal it.

The difference can already be noticed as tapping the floors or the dash is no sound. In addition I have used a 1/2" dynamat on the firewall, just to make sure that I NOT will be driving in something like a metallic cookie box. I might add dynamat extreme inside the hardtop also. The only disadvantage using it, is that it can be seen on the floor behind the seat.