The new Thunderbird.

[moneypit]

http://www.euromaxwheel.com/euromax_612.php

I just found a wheel I like, in the gun metal color. These particular wheels are no longer being built, however, the guy that builds wheels in the stock 5x4.25 pattern for T-birds is reproducing them in an 18" wheel in the gun metal color....

Saw those in a post on TCCOA. Those would look kick ass on your 'bird!

[Pirate]

I've officially had it. I installed the rear lowering springs....and yay, I now have what appears to be several degrees of positive camber....I've tried both sets of tricks to get it back to zero (oh joy!)....and now I have to cut slots out and weld in some bracketing in attempt to get the tires straight up and down. I have IRS, I should be able to get a couple of degrees of negative camber in there....I find it amazing that nobody has ever had this problem over at TCCOA....and as I sit here and do some calculating as to what this project is going to cost in 'vague' dollars....I can build three Fox-body mustangs for what it's going to cost to build this car up, and simply fix all of the crap Ford did wrong with it during the design phase. I can't build a 5-speed car, because if I launch too hard, I'll blow the axles out, or destroy the poorly-designed 8.8 carrier, or crack the IRS subframe....nobody's had too many problems with an auto-equipped T-bird and big horsepower, but I'm seriously pining for a 5-speed, and even stock Super Coupe owners are blowing the rears up on even mild launches.

Everything on this car is a compromise. I could build a fairly-cheap 460, and not require a $2000 set of heads or a stroker kit....but of course, it won't fit. I could work with a lesser engine and a low-drag 5-speed, but it it will blow the rearend out if I decide to side-step the clutch some day.

After studying wiring diagrams and the ABS, and where it connects....the ABS has to be shitcanned. The EFI has to be shitcanned, simply because it's a crap computer system with little to no ECM replacements should my existing Car Quest rebuilt ECM ever decide to take a shit....'5.0 T-bird Only'. I can't use cheap Mustang wheels (hey, it only costs a few hundred to switch to a Mustang bolt pattern!)....if I want to use a decent, non-MAC, non-warping set of headers? Yay, I get to either custom-build a set, or relocate the steering column!

Okay, I'm done with my 5,000th rant about working on this car....I'm going back onto craigslist to look for something with a straight-axle rearend.

[1987cp]

Gee. More and more points where a Mustang really does make more and more sense for modding.

Out of curiosity, why not a two-door LTD? They're pretty light, at least, lighter than a lot of Mustangs when they left the line.

[torquelover]

I've officially had it. I installed the rear lowering springs....and yay, I now have what appears to be several degrees of positive camber....I've tried both sets of tricks to get it back to zero (oh joy!)....and now I have to cut slots out and weld in some bracketing in attempt to get the tires straight up and down.

WTH? I've had my old MK8 pretty low in the back, from slammed to 1" lower than stock, and the IRS was inclined towards negative camber, not positive. Only difference in the cars is control arm material, and not geometry, IIRC. So, what the heck is going on with your car?

[Outlaw440]

Gee. More and more points where a Mustang really does make more and more sense for modding.

Out of curiosity, why not a two-door LTD? They're pretty light, at least, lighter than a lot of Mustangs when they left the line.

Indeed indeed, perhaps even a mark 7 which is more fox-like and won't require such a difficult time sourcing suspension parts that will work. I think i remember pirate mentioning mark 7s somewhere..

But even the best setup IRS cars, are quite different when taking off hard, and not in a good way. Mr Norm's newest 9-sec Challenger and Keith Berry's Vette come to mind. Both have quite a bit of uncomforting rear end 'action' when launching out of hole.

[Pirate]

Indeed indeed, perhaps even a mark 7 which is more fox-like and won't require such a difficult time sourcing suspension parts that will work. I think i remember pirate mentioning mark 7s somewhere..

But even the best setup IRS cars, are quite different when taking off hard, and not in a good way. Mr Norm's newest 9-sec Challenger and Keith Berry's Vette come to mind. Both have quite a bit of uncomforting rear end 'action' when launching out of hole.

I used to own a 1989 MK7 LSC, and I think I posted pics of it in here somewhere....I don't fit in those cars, either, lol.

Concerning finding a suitable replacement; I want something that I can find parts falling out of trees for, so at this point, unless I just hold off for some Cobra kit car or something similar and build that, I'm probably going to buy either another Box, or another Mustang.

I've arranged to trade the T-bird off to the sister who didn't have me arrested, I'm trading it for a 1997 Exploder 2-door Sport (loaded, 16" wheels, 6-disc CD changer, etc) that I found for her; she almost pissed her pants when she discovered that I wanted to trade it to her, which resolves another problem....I need a 4x4 for this dump. Too many hills, and too much snow. She was given a 2001 Ford XLT 4x4 by her father, and now the Explorer just sits....so we both get something that we actually want out of the deal.

[Pirate]

I've arranged to trade the T-bird off to the sister who didn't have me arrested, I'm trading it for a 1997 Exploder 2-door Sport (loaded, 16" wheels, 6-disc CD changer, etc) that I found for her; she almost pissed her pants when she discovered that I wanted to trade it to her, which resolves another problem....I need a 4x4 for this dump. Too many hills, and too much snow. She was given a 2001 Ford XLT 4x4 by her father, and now the Explorer just sits....so we both get something that we actually want out of the deal.

Jesus Christ, I give up. The sister is now mentioning some 'shifting problems' with the Explorer....At this point, I'm simply going to shut the garage until after Christmas, and this will more than likely be the last post about this car for a while. I don't even want to know that the damn thing exists. Even though she's been dead for going on two years now, I'm wondering if all of this grief with this car is due to her still being pissed off about me screwing around with one of her BIC lighters and burning off both of her eyebrows when she tried to light a cigarette with it afterwards....oh my God, she was violent-looking after she looked in the rear-view mirror and saw both of her eyebrows singed off....

Alright Mom, I'm sorry.

[89crownlx]

Well I have a suggestion to think over, I used to own an 1970 F250 that I was going to build into a Lightning, I was going to use the first gen lightning emblems, it had a 390 I was going to make a 410ish out of and a fourspeed etc, kind of a "what if ford made one build" I had buckets in it Im 6'3 235 and I had a ton of head room, legs were a lil scrunched but I heard if you take out the in cab tank and go fuel cell or later underneath tank you get back some more leg room, damn I miss that old truck and its rumbity torque curve it had 3.73 and would just go up and down hills like nothing. but even a windsor based motor in an old 2 wheel drive truck would be fun, shit Id build one with the long rod 351w even that one you described in the other thread with 400 ft lbs at 2000 rpm and a stick woul be nice
the truck got stole but thats another story.

[Pirate]

Well I have a suggestion to think over, I used to own an 1970 F250 that I was going to build into a Lightning, I was going to use the first gen lightning emblems, it had a 390 I was going to make a 410ish out of and a fourspeed etc, kind of a "what if ford made one build" I had buckets in it Im 6'3 235 and I had a ton of head room, legs were a lil scrunched but I heard if you take out the in cab tank and go fuel cell or later underneath tank you get back some more leg room, damn I miss that old truck and its rumbity torque curve it had 3.73 and would just go up and down hills like nothing. but even a windsor based motor in an old 2 wheel drive truck would be fun, shit Id build one with the long rod 351w even that one you described in the other thread with 400 ft lbs at 2000 rpm and a stick woul be nice
the truck got stole but thats another story.

I actually posted the car up for sale about three or so weeks ago....then the wife and younger children found out about it....and I had an 'intervention' waiting for me when I got home from work one day, so it's not going anywhere.

The other problem is that I've driven a slightly-modified 1994 SC 5-speed T-bird in the last week (before the snow hit), and I'm hooked back onto this car again. I'm not going to go supercharged, because I'm stuck with shit gasoline while I live in Oregon that won't support a supercharger and the increased cylinder pressures that go with it....so it's going to have to be N/A, and a five-speed; I had a LOT of fun with the '94 I drove, and now think the automatic idea is out the window, but with the wimpy IRS, anything larger than a long-rod 351W is now out.

I've also been watching a shitload of 'Top Gear' recently, and to be honest, I'm liking the thought of having a great all-around car instead of something that's only great in a straight line, or swills down a shitload of gas.

On a side note, I do wonder if I could make a late (2003 or so and up, the later V-10 has some upgrades) Ford Triton 6.8 V10 fit in the car, as I really like the exhaust note of the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggeria or whatever the hell it's called (V-10 powered)....AEM has a EFI system that will work with a V10....however, I think I'd have to move the firewall back to get THAT engine to clear....even though it's never going to happen, it still produces giggles just thinking about it, especially the mental imagery of what it would look like under the hood...

[1987cp]

Isn't Top Gear like one of the greatest TV shows ever?

I was looking in the Summit catalog and noticed that TKO transmissions are "only" around 2 grand, but getting a suitably stout clutch to go with it looks like it could easily add at least another $500-$700, maybe more.

[Pirate]

Update:

I'm tackling the seating issue. I'm still not comfortable in this car, sitting as high as I am in there, even though I've installed shorter SC seats.

So today, I began experimenting with completely removing the power seat rack out from under the seat, in order to install a basic set of low, generic seat tracks, so I can drop the front seats around 4 inches, which gives me a lot more headroom.

I got the seat back out of the car, and somehow, I immediately noticed, by looking in the map pocket in the seat back, that there was a hint of blue in there....these seats had been blue originally, dyed black.

Not happy.

Moving on....

The seat tracks don't 'disconnect' from the seat, like every other goddamned car seat in existence; nope, Ford built the seat tracks integrally into the seat frame, just to piss me off personally. That's right, I just discovered a major conspiracy: Ford built millions of Thunderbirds, in the dumbest manner possible, knowing someday that I, Larry, would unwittingly stumble onto their secret, and get rather annoyed. A multi-million-dollar annoyance, all done for my benefit.

The bastards.

Yep, the seat bottom? There's a separate metal frame, held onto the seat tracks by 4 bolts. And after that, it pops out of the frame like some sort of Satanic couch cushion.

And the net result is that with all of this unnecessary bracing, only put there in order to hopefully piss one man off, these seats weigh around 100 pounds each, but are somehow still flimsy as hell.

I did manage to drive the car up and down my private street, with just the bottom cushion in place, and my oldest son sitting behind me with his knees in my back, acting as the 'seat back', and it was really nice to be able to actually see out of the car for a change.

The long and short of it? I'm in the market for some new seats (I'm thinking Corbeau, as they have a 'wide' seat), as I'm shitcanning the porky SC seats, and I'm also calling my congressman to report this seat conspiracy.

Those Bastards.

Part II.

Headers.

I almost gave this car away to Jon about three nights ago. I've been trying to find a decent long-tube header to fit this car, since no one makes a direct-fit unit. After watching four supposed 'experts' not be able to agree on which header actually fits in this goddamned car, with option 1 being install an Auto-transmission set of MAC fox-body headers, oh yeah, and you have to beat the shit out of the floor pan to make them fit (and I mean beat the shit out of them), and option 2 being you have to order one auto-tranny header for one side, and one manual tranny header for the other....oh, and I still haven't received any clarification as to how a 5-speed header is supposed to fit with an AOD in place....and I freaking lost it.

Screw this, I'm getting a set of headers custom-built for this car, and the idiots can go to hell.

Oh, and of course, I still haven't figured out which engine to go with....

[Pirate]

Update Update!

The ABS just took a dump, and I have no brakes. Yay!

And now, for some reason, the fuel pressure regulator is hanging at 40 psi while at idle, and with the vacuum line disconnected, it goes to 44, so at least the pump is working.

It's running extremely rich, obviously.

Plans: Shitcan the ABS master cylinder, and switch to non-abs brakes. I got the car for Mom at an early mileage count, and the brakes have never felt quite right, but as I went to move it earlier today, the pedal goes straight to the floor, and the ABS pump is no longer working.

Considering others and their futile attempts to get a 18-year-old ABS system working properly....and the inability to find replacement parts....it's going bye bye.

[91grandmarquis]

Plus youll be able to tokyo drift that shit.

[Pirate]

Plus youll be able to tokyo drift that shit.

I'm going to be able to Tokyo Drift that car.....backwards!

[Pirate]

update:
I went and looked at a parts car.

It's a 1994 T-bird, and the owner was about 50-60 percent done with doing a MK8 DOHC motor/5-speed swap into the car, in addition to having quite a few suspension mods performed (Mustang hubs front and rear, for example). The car itself is hammered, but comes with a LOT of parts....and it's cheap.

At any rate, I've been given some time to come up with the money on my own....so it might be coming into my driveway, so I can strip it for everything useful, and then send the hulk to the scrap yard.