Mods you regret

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Alright...do you ever have car stuff days which are entirely dedicated to fixing what you previously messed up? And if you hadn't touched it, if you had just let it alone, you wouldn't have had to redo it in the first place?

Well...

I love my new front headrests; love the shape, and the color is the next best thing to finding the actual Light Prairie Tan units.

But the rear...first of all, the color over black came out almost greenish, very different from the front:

20241025_100722.jpg

And then I had to ask myself: why are they there in the first place?

When I first installed rear headrests, it was to create more of a big 4-seater look, to make the rear seat more complete. But at this point, all they really did was infringe on rearward visibility.

What to do? There are holes in my seat. So I went to the junkyard, got some fabric of similar fadedness, went to the crafts store, and got a fabric-covered button set. Voilà, holes covered, and I have a little bit of an 80s tufting look. I should never have cut those holes to begin with...but this is an acceptable remedy.

20241025_164338.jpg20241025_164655.jpg
 
Alright...do you ever have car stuff days which are entirely dedicated to fixing what you previously messed up? And if you hadn't touched it, if you had just let it alone, you wouldn't have had to redo it in the first place?

Well...

I love my new front headrests; love the shape, and the color is the next best thing to finding the actual Light Prairie Tan units.

But the rear...first of all, the color over black came out almost greenish, very different from the front:

View attachment 8427

And then I had to ask myself: why are they there in the first place?

When I first installed rear headrests, it was to create more of a big 4-seater look, to make the rear seat more complete. But at this point, all they really did was infringe on rearward visibility.

What to do? There are holes in my seat. So I went to the junkyard, got some fabric of similar fadedness, went to the crafts store, and got a fabric-covered button set. Voilà, holes covered, and I have a little bit of an 80s tufting look. I should never have cut those holes to begin with...but this is an acceptable remedy.

View attachment 8428View attachment 8429

I’ve got big list of mods I’ve undone back to stock(or stockish), losing the blacked out grand Marquis headlights (which were truly one of a kind and I did kind of pioneer the mod) for totally stock down to the plain old amber corners, losing the SC console for the standard one with cupholders/footbrake and I’ve been kicking around moving the battery back to the front. Oh yeah and I change grilles like underwear lol

I tend to do stuff just to get an idea out of my head and once the novelty wears off I start thinking”was that really necessary?” I don’t know what everyone else’s opinion is who’s known the phases of my car over the years but it’s damn near perfect to me right now, and I think it’s because I inadvertently took a two steps forward/one step back approach with so many mods and it ended up just right.
 
The one mod that, in hindsight, was no good... was the fog lights. It was the first thing I did to the car 15 years ago, and I decided to install an SC fog light switch into the cluster surround where the cell phone control panel would normally have been. When I still had halogen headlights I used them pretty consistently, as they did improve visibility markedly.

However, after I installed the HID projectors about a year later, the fog lights became redundant and I've never used them since. The hole in the bezel for the switch was the catalyst for a nasty crack to form, which I've epoxied back together for now, but it's still an eyesore that I can't go back on until I replace the bezel with my spare (or get off my duff and get the reproduction made!).
 
The one mod that, in hindsight, was no good... was the fog lights. It was the first thing I did to the car 15 years ago, and I decided to install an SC fog light switch into the cluster surround where the cell phone control panel would normally have been. When I still had halogen headlights I used them pretty consistently, as they did improve visibility markedly.

However, after I installed the HID projectors about a year later, the fog lights became redundant and I've never used them since. The hole in the bezel for the switch was the catalyst for a nasty crack to form, which I've epoxied back together for now, but it's still an eyesore that I can't go back on until I replace the bezel with my spare (or get off my duff and get the reproduction made!).

I’d put fog lights there on mine as well. I used factory SC fog lights in the unutilized holes the 94-95 cougar bumper has for them… because the inner crash bumper won’t let them fit… and the level of hackery I did to make them fit still makes me cringe. They do look nice from outside but that’s their only function. When I put in LED headlights they looked stupid with halogens so I bought the cheapest most useless LED bulbs for them to match. Then there’s losing the SC console for the 97 one. I had no desire to cut into anything to place the switch so I just simply left it plugged in under the console top on the on position. It’s one of those things nobody who sees it would think is wrong but *I* know how hacked it is
 
Having back seat adult passengers in an MN12 is not about their comfort. It's not Mustang or Camaro bad, but it's not a serious seat for people whose legs can reach the floor. Therefore, they don't need headrests either.

The last time I carried three adult passengers in the Thunderbird was 2004. The last two times I had a back seat adult passenger was 2009 and 2018, and the latter was my friend who I asked to help pinpoint rattles along the interior rear quarter panel. Whenever I drove the Thunderbird to work pre-pandemic, that was my built-in excuse to not be the driver when going to lunch with coworkers that day.

Like Brandon, I used to want fog lights until an HID projector retrofit made them functionally redundant. I'm glad I never got to the point of wanting them bad enough to install them and wherever a switch for them would have gone.

The only mod I truly regretted was one I've mentioned already and didn't leave any permanent damage: HID bulbs back in the mid-aughts that I felt bad about after the first night of use.

After the retrofit, I became one of the most outspoken people in the Facebook group about installing shitty bulbs in the stock reflector housings because the difference between fucking around and doing things the right way is everything, and I saw it firsthand. These days, we have professional headlight retrofitters on YouTube reviewing the $47.88 LED shit found on Amazon and telling you they don't hold a candle to good bulbs by Morimoto, Diode Dynamics, GTR Lighting, and the like, but $47.88ers will $47.88.

I still don't like low beam LED headlights in reflector housings and won't recommend them, but I can admit that the higher end products have teams of designers and engineers who have put in significant effort to make the LED beam pattern more closely resemble halogens. The glare is still a bit of a problem due to the increased brightness and color temperature inside of a reflector, but it's not blinding to the degree that my old HID bulbs were because those also sprayed light forward and didn't have the opaque tip that's on 9007 halogen bulbs.
 
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I’d put fog lights there on mine as well. I used factory SC fog lights in the unutilized holes the 94-95 cougar bumper has for them… because the inner crash bumper won’t let them fit… and the level of hackery I did to make them fit still makes me cringe. They do look nice from outside but that’s their only function. When I put in LED headlights they looked stupid with halogens so I bought the cheapest most useless LED bulbs for them to match. Then there’s losing the SC console for the 97 one. I had no desire to cut into anything to place the switch so I just simply left it plugged in under the console top on the on position. It’s one of those things nobody who sees it would think is wrong but *I* know how hacked it is
I was going to put fog lights on mine, but this has changed my mind.
 
After the retrofit, I became one of the most outspoken people in the Facebook group about installing shitty bulbs in the stock reflector housings because the difference between fucking around and doing things the right way is everything, and I saw it firsthand.

Couldn't agree more. It irks me to no end when I drive at night and these guys have these megalumen bulbs in their factory housings scattering all this extra light into my eyes, not putting it all onto the road where it belongs! :zbash:

I must have spent 4 hours aligning and tweaking my projectors when I got them because I was paranoid I'd be blinding oncoming traffic. To this day, I consider the projectors among the best things I've ever done to the car to make it a better road machine.
 
Couldn't agree more. It irks me to no end when I drive at night and these guys have these megalumen bulbs in their factory housings scattering all this extra the light into my eyes, not putting it all onto the road where it belongs! :zbash:

I must have spent 4 hours aligning and tweaking my projectors when I got them because I was paranoid I'd be blinding oncoming traffic. To this day, I consider the projectors among the best things I've ever done to the car to make it a better road machine.

In fairness the factory projectors on seemingly every new car is as blinding to oncoming traffic as the retrofits used to be!

Since this spun off into its own thread I’ll say a really shocking one; the DOHC swap. Has it given me any real issues? No. Is it quick(ish)? Sure. But honestly I love the SOHC, with cams and a Bullitt intake it would have been just as quick as the DOHC is now but with half the valvetrain, a badass exhaust note and I just love an underdog. Conversely the inferiority complex kicks in where I think I should have just sold this motor when I had the chance and bought a F150 coyote to swap in instead.
 
Funny thing: I actually don't hate the factory halogen headlights. Sure, they are dim by modern standards, but I have seen much worse.
That's because you have a 1997 with the clear lenses. Drive an older one with the prism lenses and you'll hate them. God knows I do.
 
The one car I loved, yet hated it's headlights was a 2015 Buick Regal. It had halogen protectors with a 9012 type bulb, which GM used in tons of cars/trucks. Those lights were extremely dim, and the GM forums were full of complaints.
 
That's because you have a 1997 with the clear lenses. Drive an older one with the prism lenses and you'll hate them. God knows I do.

I never found that much of a difference tbh. 9007s vs 9004s on the other hand, that’s quite the change! 87-88 Foxbodies have twice the headlight housing yet half the output as 9007 91-95 MN12s!
 
I've had Sealight 9006 LEDs in my '89 for several years now and I couldn't love them more. Best bulbs I've had, and the cut off is sharper than the Silverstars I had prior. They're not the super high lumen type, just slightly brighter than halogens but not blinding at all. I can see a lot more detail with them, and the light on the road is much more even.

Mod I regret: the door window glass on my car had a tendency to come unglued from the clips on the regulator. Tired of having it repaired every few years I decided to do something more permanent, drill through the clip and the glass and screw it on. Using a bit made for glass I drilled into the window which instantly shattered into a million little pieces. Oof!

Mod I regret not doing sooner: replacing the door hinge roller. I didn't want to destroy a perfectly good hinge just to fit the new roller in. While researching solutions I came across this foxbody Mustang pic.
How To Replace Fox Mustang Door Hinge Pins ONLY 1 Person Needed For This Job! (1m06s).jpg

I noticed the hole in the hinge bracket (don't know why it's a triangle), but being almost directly over the roller pin gave me an idea. I drilled into the bracket (with much better success than on the window :rolleyes2:). I drilled the top and bottom, so I could knock the old pin through and fit the new roller. Worked a treat.
 
I absolutely hate all of the late model HID or whatever they are headlights. Apparently my eyes are sensitive to light, but I am regularly blinded when driving at night. You guys should come drive my '91 Crown Vic or '85 LTD. Sealed beam halogens baby. I have to laugh when one of the guys I work with tells me his son is afraid to drive his 2014 Explorer at night because the headlights are so dim.

I can't think of any mods that I have regretted except maybe the lowering springs on my old Saturn wagon. It looked much better, but there were no shocks/struts available that could handle the higher rate springs (sound familiar?) so it rode like garb. Oh, I did have a farty cat-back on it, but I mostly installed it because it was 300 series stainless. It was way too loud and it had a big farty tip on it that I hated. I just wanted an exhaust that wouldn't rust out. It's still sitting in my pole barn. I'd have to put a real muffler and take that big tip off to ever consider running it again.
 
I know what you mean. I think a large part of the problem with modern lights is the fact that they're no longer angled down slightly like older designs would be. They're supposed to be "level" from the factory, but uneven roads, suspension loads, manufacturing variance etc. ensures they're often anything but. Add in the fact that most vehicles sold today are trucks/SUVs/crossovers that have higher headlights... that doesn't help either for people with "normal" height cars.
 
I haven't done many mods to my 95 LX. I recently removed the ADDCO rear stabilizer bar replacing it with the original becuase I couldn't find a decent set of replacement 1 1/4 inch bushings. I added OEM fog lights, bought a NOS fog light switch, never installed it, didn't want to drill holes thru the firewall, Instead I purchased a 40 amp "key fob" controlled 400 mhz relay to turn them off and on. The fob hangs on the steering wheel tilt lever. Years ago I bought a K&N filter, ran with it for a month, didn't see any impressive performance changes, read an article on how they let so much dirt into the engine and reinstalled an original filter.
 
Years ago I bought a K&N filter, ran with it for a month, didn't see any impressive performance changes, read an article on how they let so much dirt into the engine and reinstalled an original filter.

Same, though on a previous car. Performance gains are probably only incremental at best.

Related to that, the silencer removal is a good mod, with noticeably better sound at higher rpm on the V6.
 
Not getting a bigger blower.
Buying a short block with high-compression pistons.
Getting a TC with too much stall.
Overall: Just sinking too much money into my money-pit car
 
Not getting a bigger blower.
Buying a short block with high-compression pistons.
Getting a TC with too much stall.
Overall: Just sinking too much money into my money-pit car
If your talking about your SVO, I personally love that thing from what I have seen of it. It isn't my car though, so I don't no.
 
If your talking about your SVO, I personally love that thing from what I have seen of it. It isn't my car though, so I don't no.

Oh, the SVO is a solid little blower no doubt. But it's essentially a "starter" blower that has its limits. For me to get any more out of my car at this point I need to step up to something bigger and inter-cooled.
 
Oh, the SVO is a solid little blower no doubt. But it's essentially a "starter" blower that has its limits. For me to get any more out of my car at this point I need to step up to something bigger and inter-cooled.
Ah, I see. I love that thing I wish they would have produced the SVO in 98. It would have been one of if not the greatest thunderbird ever produced.
 
I have to agree with everyone else about the headlights. Years ago I switched to HID headlight bulbs and everything else to bright white LED. They are a massive improvement at night, but the reason I did it was to try and make the car look newer. These days whenever I see an older car with HIDs or bright white LEDs..... it makes me cringe because it's so out of place.
Easily fixed though as I plan to get replacement headlights and turn signals and go back to running silverstars and standard bulbs. The headlight and turn signal plastics are yellowed beyond polishing out so it needs new ones anyway.

Not so easily fixed I wish I didn't do the exhaust, or lack of. Sounds great, gets compliments, and it's a blast to hoon around with it screaming. But sometimes it gets obnoxious and defiantly makes the car sound way faster than it really is. Maybe that one is an age thing :unsure:
 
I have to agree with everyone else about the headlights. Years ago I switched to HID headlight bulbs and everything else to bright white LED. They are a massive improvement at night, but the reason I did it was to try and make the car look newer. These days whenever I see an older car with HIDs or bright white LEDs..... it makes me cringe because it's so out of place.
Easily fixed though as I plan to get replacement headlights and turn signals and go back to running silverstars and standard bulbs. The headlight and turn signal plastics are yellowed beyond polishing out so it needs new ones anyway.

Not so easily fixed I wish I didn't do the exhaust, or lack of. Sounds great, gets compliments, and it's a blast to hoon around with it screaming. But sometimes it gets obnoxious and defiantly makes the car sound way faster than it really is. Maybe that one is an age thing :unsure:

I hear what you’re saying, I’ve mulled over putting quieter mufflers on and off but the thing that keeps my preferring noisy is it masks a lot of creeks squeaks and rattles I know it has and probably a bunch I don’t know it has.

My transmission transmits a lot of noise through the shifter with the solid brass fork pads and steeda short shifter. I stuffed enough sound deadener fabric over it last year to make it quite enough but I know it’ll be annoying as hell if the exhaust wasn’t there.
 
Having back seat adult passengers in an MN12 is not about their comfort. It's not Mustang or Camaro bad, but it's not a serious seat for people whose legs can reach the floor. Therefore, they don't need headrests either.

The last time I carried three adult passengers in the Thunderbird was 2004. The last two times I had a back seat adult passenger was 2009 and 2018, and the latter was my friend who I asked to help pinpoint rattles along the interior rear quarter panel. Whenever I drove the Thunderbird to work pre-pandemic, that was my built-in excuse to not be the driver when going to lunch with coworkers that day.

I've been thinking about this...

You're right of course. Frankly, when it comes to going anywhere as a group, my friends don't want to take my car. They feel it's difficult to get in and out. Give me a break...

But I really enjoy having passengers. I think it somehow transports me back to childhood. Our grandparents had 2-doors, and we all fit in. And remember that Ironic video by Alanis Morissette in that Mark?

It would be cool to reproduce that video in my Thunderbird!
 

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