1955 - 1957 Thunderbird engines

The Thunder!!
OR - What's Under That hood?

This page is for those of you who only see the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Thunderbirds in parades or the occasional show. As awe struck as you may be when seeing these cars on the road, here's your chance to see what's actually under that hood. Only "stock" is spoken and shown here! I'm actually getting technical - kind'a rubbed off after being around these cars for so many years (28 years and still counting).

This page will evolve as I'm only beginning to collect those under-the-hood 3-D shots so you may feel like you're actually there, looking under that hood. For stereo viewing instructions visit here and use your back button to return to this page or open in another window. For starter's - just the D and F engines for the '57 are shown. Couldn't bring myself to use a black background so Ford Blue will have to do. and the links are Ford Yellow!
If you could care less about viewing in 3-D, then I suggest looking at the "X-eyed" pictures since they are larger and show more detail.

First, for a little bit of techie info:
All engines are V-8 Y-blocks. Check this site out for more Y-Block info - http://www.ford-y-block.com/
Links go to pictures of the engines installed in the cars

Y.ear	Data Plate Code	CID	Compression Ratio	Bore & Stroke	HP	Carb.
1955	P	292	8.5	3.7500 x 3.300	198	4V
1956	M	292	8.4	3.7500 x 3.300	202	4V
.	P	312	8.4	3.800 x 3.440	215	4V
.	P	312	9.7	3.800 x 3.440	225	two 4V - note - not delivered from factory installed - installed by dealers - very late release..
1957	C	292	9.1	3.750 x 3.300	212	2V
.	D	312	9.7	3.800 x 3.440	245	4V
.	E	312	9.7	3.800 x 3.440	270	two 4V - stock cam
..	E	312	9.7	3.800 x 3.440	285	two 4V - sc cam
..	F	312	9.7	3.800 x 3.440	300	4V supercharged!
.	D	312	9.7	3.800 x 3.440	300	supercharged - 12 built; called D-F birds because their data plate reads D, not F. Verified only by their factory invoice.

Most of the above data can be found in Ray Miller's Thunderbird! first published in 1973 & still available. This data is probably found in other sources but those I usually don't read.

Unlike GM products. Ford did not have matching "serial numbers" on their cars and parts like the Corvette has. The most you will find is the serial number which is stamped in two places on the frame of the T-bird - it should correspond with the data plate. The engine should match the code Letter on the data plate but that's all. There are casting numbers that identify the heads and base block to particular years. Info on those can be found on the Ford y-block sites.
The breakdown of the codes on the data plate can be found in old service manuals and on the Thunderbird Cybernest site - www.tbird.org

Transmissions. The stock transmission was a 3-speed manual however 90% of the Thunderbirds were outfitted with the automatic. This was touted as a personal luxuary car and most dealers and owners were looking for something easy to drive. The 3-speed manual could be ordered with an overdrive unit which greatly increased the fuel efficiency of this car at higher speeds.

For more trivia on what's stock and what's not, visit the "trivia" page.
For more detailed info for concours purposes, use C.T.C.I.'s Authenticity guide.

Pictures will be as large as possible
so you may see the detail in stereo
so be aware that they may take a
minute to download if you're on a dialup connection.

The 1955 P code engine - stock engine for all 1955 Thunderbirds

Under Construction

The 1956 M code engine	The 1956 P code engine	The 1956 P code engine with dual 4's
Under Construction	Under Construction	Under Construction

// = parallel and = X-eyed stereo photos

The 1957 C code engine - stock engine but rarely seen in a '57	The 1957 D code engine - normal engine found in most 57 T-Birds.	The 1957 E code engine - dual 4's - rare set up	The 1957 "F" Bird: Highly sought after and very rare.	The 1957 D "F" 'Bird Rarest of the rare.
.Under Construction		.Under Construction		.Under Construction
.	This engine has the "dress-up" kit which you will find on most Thunderbirds.	.	Only 210 ( 211? 212? 214?) were built. Are you hiding one in your garage? Contact CTCI & get on the F-bird registry	.12 were built & 8 are known to exist - a high percentage for a car that old.
.	Click for // viewing or viewing		Click for // viewing or viewing	.

There were some special built race cars by Ford that are even different than these.
Chuck Daigh drove race prepped tbirds in 1956 and 1957. One of those was the BattleBird (or Daytona Bird as it was sometimes called back then). You can view some pictures of it on this site: BattleBird

There are a growing number of owners interested in racing their Thunderbirds, mostly on the drag strip. There are several drag races held annually just for these y-blocked powered cars. Here's a story about one: Phillips/Mummert 'bird. You'll find pictures of the Birdaspalloosa drag race here.

Since one of my hobbies is scale model collecting, I have found several different models on the market depicting some of these early race cars. Rio makes a 1956 Daytona 'Bird and Brooklin has made the '57 Battlebird. Racing Champions even put out a series of 50th Anniversary Nascar models and used the 56 T'bird as the example for convertible classes that debuted in 1956. The early Hot Wheels "redline" model of the '57, made in 1969, has some design cues from the '57 Battlebird.

Mattell's Hot Wheels redline 57 T-bird	Brooklin's Battlebird
Racing Champions' 56 Nascar	Rio's Daytona 56 T-bird (It is a 56 not a 55)
Carrera Evolution slot car Ford Thunderbird "Blown 'Bird" - 1/32 scale

This site not affiliated with Ford Motor Company