1994 Thunderbird 3.8; seen 23DEC23

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Rare to see a V6. Interior is beautiful! Steering wheel looks new.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Meanwhile, playing with junkyard parts...

 

[Rodeo Joe]

Eye candy for you?!

Joe

 

[XR7-4.6]

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I actually don't hate it. But there's an ergonomic issue: the lever sits too low, pinching your fingers between the lever and trim when you release it.

This is a 90s pre-facelift Town Car door release. The facelift ones (I think '95-'97) may fit better.

 

[Irv]

In a car with no tint, no less. The chrome ain't it. It looks out of place and the stark contrast with the door/window switches hammers it home.

Chrome interior trim is not a good idea and I'll never be a fan. There's always opportunity for sun glare at the most unexpected and inconvenient moments.

I rode in a 2022 Mercedes S580 earlier this year on a three-day road trip. Impressive package of technology and the most memorable thing about it was the road noise isolation, but the glossy dashboard, silver/chrome accents, and giant tablet surface for the infotainment were glare factories. I'm not interested in that experience in my own cars. I had to wear sunglasses inside of a car with a black interior and window shades.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I really like the haptic feel of a metal door release. Plus I just enjoy taking advantage of the junkyard environment to try out things.

These particular releases don't really work for various reasons (though they install easily). I'll keep my leather-wrapped door releases.

 

[Zep5.0]

I like the color combo. Most exterior in this color have the dark green interior. But yes the chrome is off in the new interior. In all honesty I never thought about it being the only chrome in my 91's interior.

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

I have early handles in my 96. I love them. And they feel better to me than the phallus like handles from factory.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I have early handles in my 96.

That's actually what gave me this idea: I had seen an old post of yours on the old website.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

So...the more I look at this, the more I like it. I'll pick up some Town Car handles and try it on my car...



@Wile E. Coyote
I found your post from the old site. Is this the Prairie Tan car? With custom black interior? I agree with you: metal handles feel way nicer. I think the Town Car ones actually seem to fit better than pre-facelift MN12 ones; maybe that'd be a nice upgrade for you.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Square peg round hole. In principal I think chrome metal bumpers look better and worked better than body colored plastic covers, but putting a chrome bumper from a random 70s car onto a MN12 would look about as cohesive as those handles in that interior

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Square peg round hole.

In principle...I agree with you. But that also presents an interesting challenge! Can I modify the appearance of the opening in such a way that it'll look factory(-ish)?

The base plate of the Town Car handle already looks close to perfectly fitted in front, above, and below. I also like how the length of the handle sits flush with the trim.
The only issue is the triangular part of the opening aft of the handle.

This space could be filled somehow, which would have to take into account my ambient lighting installation, too.

I think the pre-facelift MN12 handle, due to its small size, throws off the proportions a bit. The Town Car handle doesn't have that issue.


I mean I realize this idea has about the same popularity level as wood trim...go figure.

 

[Zep5.0]

The one above looks much better. I'm wondering if there is a Taurus or crown Vic handle that might appear more cohesive?

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I'm wondering if there is a Taurus or crown Vic handle that might appear more cohesive?

The goal being a made-from-metal handle, I think Town Car is the only one.

Also consider that Town Car and MN12 use the exact same handle hinge/mechanism, so these are a direct fit without modification (other than possible mod to the trim bezel).

 

[XR7-4.6]

I don’t have the phobia towards wood trim and chrome you might assume, I have a chrome Hurst shifter lever and bushed stainless pedal pads for example. A bucket list item I’d like to visit if I find the time and ambition would be carving the pre-production wood trim pieces the 94 Cougars were supposed to have, and likewise I’d love an engraved wood cueball shift knob to top the chrome Hurst stick. Like you see in late 60s mopars.

I just don’t see that handle or the 89-93 one as something particularly fitting for the interior shape, it looks like something for a 70s-80s interior with linear shapes. A filler piece would be just as awkward as the filler piece those awful Bostonian landau tops use to cover the inside of the covered over quarter windows. A better looking retrofit if you’re going to mod anyway would be the 96-98 Mark handles, the shape is wrong for the hole but at least the rounded shape matches the rounded interior.

 

[Derphound01]

Personally I think the black oval handles from a 96-99 Taurus would look better than anything chrome in a 94-97 MN12.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

A better looking retrofit if you’re going to mod anyway would be the 96-98 Mark handles, the shape is wrong for the hole but at least the rounded shape matches the rounded interior.

Those are actually chromed plastic, plus I think they are of the "pull" type, i.e., they pull a cable instead of pushing a rod. Or am I mixing things up?

Either way, I actually like the linear handle among the otherwise roundish interior shapes, as it provides some visual relief, just like different colors or textures.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

the black oval handles from a 96-99 Taurus

Those are of the pull type, too. And again, I do want a metal handle or just keep my leather-wrapped stock unit.

 

[Irv]

I don’t have the phobia towards wood trim and chrome you might assume, I have a chrome Hurst shifter lever and bushed stainless pedal pads for example. A bucket list item I’d like to visit if I find the time and ambition would be carving the pre-production wood trim pieces the 94 Cougars were supposed to have, and likewise I’d love an engraved wood cueball shift knob to top the chrome Hurst stick. Like you see in late 60s mopars.

I just don’t see that handle or the 89-93 one as something particularly fitting for the interior shape, it looks like something for a 70s-80s interior with linear shapes. A filler piece would be just as awkward as the filler piece those awful Bostonian landau tops use to cover the inside of the covered over quarter windows. A better looking retrofit if you’re going to mod anyway would be the 96-98 Mark handles, the shape is wrong for the hole but at least the rounded shape matches the rounded interior.

I'll tangentially add to this. Automotive interior design is one of those things that I could write a thesis on because of my digital design background and interest in home interior design, but it's also interesting to point out the differences between home and automotive interior design.

Home design is much more forgiving towards trinkets that aren't part of the room's main aesthetic. In a car, you have a very limited amount of things you can mess around with such as shift knobs and pedals before your friends who know nothing about cars ask, "Did you add/do that?"

I try to avoid getting that type of question unless it's clearly intentional that I'm breaking from the original aesthetic, but even then, everything needs to go together. There's a fine line between, "That looks cool," and "That doesn't belong there."

If it "doesn't belong there", then I have to put in extra effort with everything else around it so it looks like it does belong there. Using my car as an example, if I had put in custom gauge faces without changing all the door, window, rear defrost, and climate control LEDs, I would have considered that half-assed.

As another example, I recently had local custom woodworkers work on a couple of kitchen cabinet faces. Even though I'm not interested, I'd hire them to really do justice to wood trim if I wanted it. No stick-on crap and no farming wood trim from other cars. My idea would be expensive as hell, but it would look damn good.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

@Irv
I definitely don't disagree with you. My intention is always to create a look which a casual observer could perceive as factory original. Yes, that's a fine line which I may occasionally cross...

Evidently, this is a budget operation. That's part of the fun for me: creating a look that's more than the sum of its (admittedly cheap) parts.

Sometimes I go back to pictures of my car fully stock after I initially bought it, and I feel it's a night and day improvement. Not perfection by any means, but I can live with that.

 

[Irv]

It's more of a general observation than a critique of anything you've done to your interior, but my aesthetic preference is either OEM+ or leave no stone unturned. Being stuck in no man's land is where things don't look or feel right, and that goes beyond interior design.

The easiest way for me to sum up the overall sentiment in the form of a question is, "Who the hell spends $2500 on rims but can't be bothered to upgrade their damn stock brakes with rusty-ass 10" hockey puck rotors?" Or, "Who the hell swaps in a 5.4L 2V and pretends that their car is fast?"

Not that it should matter to them what I think, but I will think less of someone who doesn't recognize (and own) their nonsense versus someone who does nothing.

 

[XR7-4.6]

I plan around a benchmark, I don’t think it looks cohesive just throwing in accessories as they come but finding an interior that you like and finding parallels to fill in the blanks is a nice cheat code to pulling off a change. A SN95 interior is pretty similar to the 94-97 interior, so using the steel pedals and shifter is my taking inspiration from the 03 Cobra or Mach 1 interior.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I went to give this car another look and picked up the steering wheel; it was too pretty to leave there. Interesting observation: the rim is thicker than the one of the '95 wheel I picked up a few weeks ago and installed in my car.

This '94:



My '95 wheel:

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Is there much of a market for these? Getting the front ones would require me to bring a drill to the junkyard to get the rivets out - not sure if it's worth it.

 

[XR7-4.6]

The rear ones are always in demand, the front ones not so much

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Is there a way to wash off this...? Or is it corrosion?

The rear ones are always in demand, the front ones not so much

When you say rear, you mean above/below the rear window? Or also the rear left/right ones?

 

[XR7-4.6]

The left/right ones, the rubber tends to deteriorate on ungaraged cars. People used to seek out NOS ones until the supply dried up

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Something else about this car...

The driver seat has a device that my 97 does not have. Looks like an occupant weight sensor:




It has two wires going to.

Not sure what the point would be (?).

 

[Vicinity]

It's to detect if the driver seat belt is on, especially in the event that nobody is driving