New here, but practically life long Thunderbird fan.

S

SG92

Newbie
Joined
Feb 27, 2025
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6
Location
Louisiana
Vehicle Details
1993 Thunderbird LX 3.8l V6
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When I was a kid in the late mid 90's(maybe have been 6 lol) my dad bought a 92 Thunderbird that had the V8 and a sunroof. In hindsight it may have been Sport Coupe, but I was too young to pay attention to smaller details like that. Regardless ever since then I was obsessed with tha 89-93 body style Thunderbirds.

In the early 2010s his health went downhill and as much as it hurt us both we mutually agreed to sell(he made sure I was okay with it since he knew how much I wanted it) the car that was originally meant to become my inheritance to help with medical bills and final expenses.

Fast forward to October 2024 and I am looking to buy a car so on a whim I search a few car sales sites for a Thunderbird and I see a very nice condition green LX V6 Bird with just a broken radio volume knob, and broken door lock actuator and clip f $4900. Only one I was able to find, so I had to make it mine.

Now I am hoping to turn this car into a mostly faithful recreation of the car I never got to inherit, and am looking forward to all the knowledge people here have to share on things like 5.0 swap, what if any manual is relatively affordable and fits the car well among other things.

Also, I'll go ahead upload a few photos of the car.
 

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Welcome! Great story. There’s a lot of expertise here that you won’t find at the Canadian ghost town. We’ll be happy to help you with your plans.
 
Welcome! Nice T-Bird. We will enjoy your stories of what you do to to the car and hopefully answer your questions.
 
Welcome! Looks like you've got a solid starting point for whatever you choose to do. A 5.0 swap is easiest with a donor car; if you can find a 91-93 5.0 car with a body beyond saving you could swap over the electronics, harness and drivetrain on a relative budget.

There are some articles which could be pertinent to ideas you might have had here: https://forum.birdcats.com/categories/technical-articles.4/
 
Welcome!

Nice car you have there, best of luck with your plans. :thumbsup:

Joe
 
Clean car! From what you said I take it you want to swap in a 5.0 and a manual transmission? That is one of the less involved manual trans swaps. Finding the parts needed for it might be the difficult part
 
Easiest way for a manual swap is to use everything from a 5-speed Thunderbird SC. It will bolt right up to the 5.0, you just need to use a clutch, flywheel, and starter for a 90s 5.0 F150, but you can take the trans, driveshaft, rear differential, clutch pedal, interior pieces, etc from a 5-speed SC donor.

For the 5.0 swap, if you can find a 91-93 T-bird or Cougar, that would be the most direct swap. A 94/95 5.0 Mustang would be a good donor for a lot of parts, but would require significantly more wiring work compared to a Tbird donor which would be direct plug and play. Also the 5.0 exhaust manifolds are specific to the MN12, so if you can’t source a donor car, you will need to either modify the steering shaft, or modify some Mustang headers.
 
Kenz said:
Clean car! From what you said I take it you want to swap in a 5.0 and a manual transmission? That is one of the less involved manual trans swaps. Finding the parts needed for it might be the difficult part
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Correct. My father was actually a professional mechanic along with being a car enthusiast, so I was taught a bit when he had the time. Particularly I should have no problem building a 302 starting from a bare block. However the whole "what is needed to and how to place it in the car" and anything transmission related is something he wasn't able to teach me before he died. So alot I'll be learning as I go. Cool to hear that it is one of the less involved ones. I've heard me 2 best options are the M5R2 from a SC or a Magnum XL, is this accurate?
 
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MadMikeyL said:
Easiest way for a manual swap is to use everything from a 5-speed Thunderbird SC. It will bolt right up to the 5.0, you just need to use a clutch, flywheel, and starter for a 90s 5.0 F150, but you can take the trans, driveshaft, rear differential, clutch pedal, interior pieces, etc from a 5-speed SC donor.

For the 5.0 swap, if you can find a 91-93 T-bird or Cougar, that would be the most direct swap. A 94/95 5.0 Mustang would be a good donor for a lot of parts, but would require significantly more wiring work compared to a Tbird donor which would be direct plug and play. Also the 5.0 exhaust manifolds are specific to the MN12, so if you can’t source a donor car, you will need to either modify the steering shaft, or modify some Mustang headers.
Click to expand...
Noted. Thanks.
 
Vicinity said:
Welcome in! Did you purchase it yet?

Quite a name for a transmission HEH
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Yes, started process to buy it and had it shipped from Georgia to me here in La. the day after I found it. Also what do you mean by "quite a name for a transmission?"
 
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Vicinity said:
I had to google Magnum XI, I got condoms and chryslers

Anyway, I rarely see them in person but I like the early 90's body styles
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Oh. I never did a internet search for it, but that does make sense. lol

Edit: Oh crap. Meant the T56 Magnum XL, not XI.
 
Mike’s got a dirty mind and I have an autistic mind, I was thinking mopar Magnum XE or LX Magnum… “those didn’t have manual transmissions”😝

Agreed the M5R2 is the sure fire and probably most affordable choice, its an absolute direct fit with no mods necessary, it’s plenty strong, has decent ratios and at the end of the day the extra overdrive the T56 has to offer is still overdrive. You’re not winning drag races in 5th gear with a T56, it’s at its core a a “4 speed” with two(5th and 6th) economy overdrives to the “4 speed” M5R2(and T5/T45/TR3650/TKO etc)’s single economy overdrive.
 
Great story and beautiful car. If you weren't so far away, I have all of the parts for manual swap, except the F150 parts, and a bunch of 5.0HO parts. But shipping from Iowa would make them very expensive.
 
Agreed that is a cool story... awesome you got into these cars after having one in the family back in the 90s

You came to the right place if you need help with the engine and transmission swap. I put a T45 into mine; would have never attempted it without all the information and help of everyone on this site (and the old site we fled).
I know quite a bit about these cars & like to help when I can, but compared to some members here I am still a newb
 
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