Ford unintended acceleration

Just wanted to report that I was involved in an unintended acceleration incident in a Ford product yesterday.

The throttle jammed open on a customers 1957 Ford Thunderbird.

Fortunately my quick thinking saved the day and I was able to reach over and shut the engine down with the key.

I'm fine but I'm suing Ford.

That is all.

(yes, I'm trolling, I'm stuck home sick and bored.

I was also involved in an unintended acceleration incident yesterday. The lawnmower slipped from my grasp and rolled all the way down the hill to the bottom where it tipped over and spilled gas onto some unsuspecting lilacs.

Is it wrong to want a thunderturd to put all new running gear under to track?

57 + slicks + 300hp V6 = awesome?

Or is my math off?

Grizz wrote: Is it wrong to want a thunderturd to put all new running gear under to track? 57 + slicks + 300hp V6 = awesome? Or is my math off?

Math is off...
57 + slicks + 300hp = wet noodle
57 + slicks + full tube chassis + 600hp = awesome

See, I was thinking double duty street car/track car. Most of my ideas entail use on the street.

What do you reckon a thunderbird with the new v6 would get mileage wise?

I was involved in an unintended acceleration also:

Started AutoX course, realized throttle was stuck at full, did nice full power spin. Start engine back up, finish course by shutting off engine periodically. (I am surprised in retrospect that I did not create some epic back fires)

Probably not the best way to deal with that, but I was a bit of a beginner at that point.

Oh no! my Ford (1987 econoline) did the same thing! class action lawsuit!

I'm also safe, was able to shut off the engine with the key. I have since cleaned the throttle body and the problem hasn't resurfaced.

I always thought using the words Ford and acceleration in the same sentence was an oxymoron.

Add me on to that classless action lawsuit. I once was wearing a Ford Mustang shirt and I had the same thing happen!

My 1988 nissan 300zx turbo has unintended accelerated a few times as well. My throttle cable sticks. I'z still not ded yet.

~Alex

the only unintended accelation I ever did in a ford.. was in a Uhaul van.. I was on a steep slope in the rain.. light turned green and I hit the gas.. rear wheels slipped and I went backwards..

thankfully with no cars behind me

the throttle body on my van had been sticking at idle for, oh, about 3 years. I always had to kick it free and then I could drive. One day I kicked it free, and it stayed there. That was actually during the whole Toyota fiasco, but I bet a runaway Prius is a lot less frightening than a runaway Econoline.

For the record, my van is nearly as fast in accelerating as a prius, so take that Carguy! oh wait... nevermind.

My first Miata - yes, the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe, and Everything (move over, 42) - had an unintended acceleration incident. After a few years of regular autocrosses, unbeknownst to me the gas pedal had cut itself a nice hole in the carpet. When my co-owner began an autocross run, the carpet grabbed the pedal and held it to the floor when she tried to lift for the first turn. She blew the turn, put both feet in, stopped maybe 5 feet from a dumpster while the engine banged off the rev limiter, and finally had the presence of mind to turn the engine off.

After that, I cut a LOT of carpet away from the gas pedal - to ensure that this would NEVER happen again. I did NOT sue Mazda.

Since I may be the only one here who's actually weighed and autocrossed one...a 57 Thunderbird with a 292 2-bbl, 3-speed manual, and both tops weighs 3305 pounds. Weight distribution is 53/47. The engine weighs a ton, so you could get one to 50/50 with no problem. And yeah, the handling kind of sucks...that's not body roll, that's nautical-class listing, even with aftermarket sway bars. The front suspension is just all kinds of awful.

OP: thank you for saving that beautiful Bird.

Grizz: the 9-inch rear will suck up some power and mileage, and the aero is questionable, but the car would weigh less than a new Mustang with the same engine, so I see no reason it couldn't get close to 30 mpg.

This has a 312 Y-block in it, but it also has the lovely Ford-O-Matic which means to start in 1st, you actually have to put it in 1st.

Very nice car though and much nicer to drive than the 1968 Mustang we had in a week before.

The customer would have been a little upset if I had wrecked his recently purchased but not inspected and not insured toy.

For those of you who are wondering, there is a LONG access road that is private property which I was driving the car on.

Shawn

I test drove a Dodge van with unintended deceleration - the throttle pedal broke while we were out on the test drive.

I had to lay on the floor by my wife's legs and pull the throttle cable with my hand when she told me to. We made it back to the dealership. Needless to say we didn't buy a Dodge.

We bought a Ford, it was declared a lemon and we fought Ford to get them take it back for almost 2 years. They pulled the stunt of rotating the area supervisor's every 3 months so you could never get the paperwork completed. Shoulda bought the Dodge.

First drive on my freshly rebuilt AWD turbo Talon with a few mods...leaving the housing area, on a downhill curve towards a stop sign...I lifted, car didn't..once I realized what was happening I turned it off. This was back when I lived on base, so its a very good thing I didn't hit anything.

In reply to Will:

that picture is awesome.

I once had some unintended acceleration with a 1992 Ford F150 I used to have. It was sitting for about a week at my sister's house. I hopped in to drive it back to my place, and the thing just opened up as soon as I hit the road. I threw it in neutral and came to a stop without much drama. The throttle body was corroded a bit (she lived on the ocean) and got stuck. I didn't die, I didn't crash, and I had it fixed with a can of WD40 that was under the seat in under 5 minutes.

Will wrote:

^This^ rocks.

carguy123 wrote: I test drove a Dodge van with unintended deceleration - the throttle pedal broke while we were out on the test drive. I had to lay on the floor by my wife's legs and pull the throttle cable with my hand when she told me to. We made it back to the dealership. Needless to say we didn't buy a Dodge. We bought a Ford, it was declared a lemon and we fought Ford to get them take it back for almost 2 years. They pulled the stunt of rotating the area supervisor's every 3 months so you could never get the paperwork completed. Shoulda bought the Dodge.

Let me guess.....Mid "90s ?

Will wrote: that's not body roll, that's nautical-class listing, even with aftermarket sway bars. The front suspension is just all kinds of awful.

Ive been there, smaller car.

Will wrote: Since I may be the only one here who's actually weighed and autocrossed one...a 57 Thunderbird with a 292 2-bbl, 3-speed manual, and both tops weighs 3305 pounds. Weight distribution is 53/47. The engine weighs a ton, so you could get one to 50/50 with no problem. And yeah, the handling kind of sucks...that's not body roll, that's nautical-class listing, even with aftermarket sway bars. The front suspension is just all kinds of awful .

I owned a C body Chrysler with a stock suspension, that thunderbird doesn't look that bad to me

Will wrote: Grizz: the 9-inch rear will suck up some power and mileage, and the aero is questionable, but the car would weigh less than a new Mustang with the same engine, so I see no reason it couldn't get close to 30 mpg.

So decent mileage and it would look a damn sight better than the Mustang. Not a bad idea, it seems.

Doesn't some company make a repro body for the Bird?

Yes, Regal makes a reproduction 57 body that's actually not bad. If you wanted to to a tube-frame car, that would be the way to go.