Would have replied earlier about the Thunderbird Club feelings about engine transplants into T-Birds but got side tracked - youngest daughter, son-in-law and grandkids came out for a visit and a shooting session. They brought some rifles and a couple of pistols and burned up some ammo. They have gotten pretty good at shooting and I was favorably inpressed by the attention to safety.
I don't know much about the Corvette Club but one of our members, Tom K in Columbia MO, has a Corvette and he may make some observations. The Corvettes are all single seat cars but only the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Thunderbirds (except the modern ones) are single seat. I think the Corvette people like their cars to look nice and are also interested in performance whereas the show car Thunderbird people are only interested in their cars looking nice and don't give a hoot about performance, after all what kind of performance can you get out of a 292 or 312 Y-block without a supercharger???
The thunderbird people are just like any group of car people; there are those people that have restored cars that are so nice and the owners want them to stay that way so they are not driven on the street much, or nice cars that the owners take the chance of a little wear & tear and drive their cars on the street and maybe the strip, and those that have cars that show their age and a history of use. I agree about the show car Thunderbird people. They seem to have as abundance of money and like to get together and show ther cars and talk among themselves about whatever they talk about but not their car's performance or lack of. The thunderbird club that I belong to is the CTCI (Classic Thunderbird Club International) and welcomes people interested in the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Thunderbirds (single seaters). Before I retired and moved to the country I belonged to the St. Louis chapter also. The CTCI has several shows around the US every year. They are held at big hotels and are for the most part attended by the car show thunderbird people. I don't have much in common with these people and the shows are big doller events.
As to the engine transplant tolerance of the thunderbird people, most understand that engine changes took place many years back when a guy wanted more power than the 292/312 could provide. Can't speak for others but I wanted a thunderbird for the looks. I was able to buy mine when it was 10 years old and it was at the lowest value - paid $1500 for it and it had been repainted several times and the old 292 was about on it's last legs. The engine smoked so bad I was embarrassed to drive it. One night after a couple of beers I wondered if the good old 409 that I saved after selling the 1962 Impala would fit in the T-Bird - it fit great with a Torqueflite and a Dodge 8 3/4 rear axle. Been 409 powered since about 1968.
Years ago I drove from St. Louis to Detroit for the CTCI 20th anniversary of the Thunderbirds car show. Car looked prety good back then. The car with the non factory engine was accepted. My car wasn't the only car with a non-factory engine. Also, there were a couple of stock thunderbirds that didn't arrive because of mechanical problems but my 409/Torqueflite/Dodge rear axle car drove there and back home just fine. I believe most people are pleased to see an old car on the road, engine transplant or not. There were only 50,000 single seat classic thunderbirds built and a big number are gone.
Would I do the engine transplant all over again? I think yes. There lots of restored thunderbirds and many thunderbirds with different kinds of engine transplants. I can look back through the years and recall some really fun times with my 409 powered T-Bird. I like the looks of my T-Bird and I like the power of the 409 especally this 409 engine.
