No mistakes, just happy accidents

XR7-4.6 said:
Booster or master? I assure you it’s no myth. However the better way to do is is using the standard 89-92 Thunderbird booster and 4 port master cylinder and simply blocking off the fourth port with a bleeder. If you can get the lines off the stock ABS master without destroying them it’s literally plug and play with some minor rebending. That’s how I’ve done it
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It's that master 4 wheel disc specific? I'm assuming most without ABS had rear drums, but I could be wrong (mine was drum even with 5.0)
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Booster or master? I assure you it’s no myth. However the better way to do is is using the standard 89-92 Thunderbird booster and 4 port master cylinder and simply blocking off the fourth port with a bleeder. If you can get the lines off the stock ABS master without destroying them it’s literally plug and play with some minor rebending. That’s how I’ve done it
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Booster. I'm running a 4 port master now, a long with a booster from a 94 cougar. But it's three studs instead of one, so it's sitting kinda sideways. And the master must have been for drums because it has check valves on one side.
 
What you need is the booster for an 89-92 tbird and the master for a crown Vic, I forget the exact year but I’m thinking it’s 92-94. This is the setup in my XR7 if you want to see/feel it before swapping it out. You will also need a cheap 1/4” drive 7mm shallow socket as a spacer between the booster and the master.
 
If you go to rockauto look under any 89-92 Tbird for master cylinders “without proportioning valves” and that’s the one to get. The crown Vic one you need an obscure prorortiobibg valve for the conversion IIRC but that one is plug and play other than slightly rebending the lines.

The booster always should have been 89-92, the firewall changed in 93 to accommodate the 93-97 one which is quite a bit different
 
Was just on RA. I don't see how running an 89-92 Birds booster makes sense. It's still the three stud, offset layout that I'm running with my 94 booster. The booster for the 92 CV has 4 studs, like the TEVES ABS unit. Screenshot_20241016-224406.pngScreenshot_20241016-224332.png
 
There’s no scenario you should be running a crown Vic booster, only the CV master is what was/is a method to the conversion. But the 89-92 vs 93-97 MN12 booster is substantially different, are you certain what you have is actually a 93-97?
 
XR7-4.6 said:
There’s no scenario you should be running a crown Vic booster, only the CV master is what was/is a method to the conversion. But the 89-92 vs 93-97 MN12 booster is substantially different, are you certain what you have is actually a 93-97?
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100%. Pulled it from a 94 Cougar. Same car my cluster came from. It was red on red
 
XR7-4.6 said:
There’s no scenario you should be running a crown Vic booster, only the CV master is what was/is a method to the conversion. But the 89-92 vs 93-97 MN12 booster is substantially different, are you certain what you have is actually a 93-97?
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It looks identical to what I showed in my screen shots. Three studs, one off-center. I had to rotate my booster, drill an extra hole, and use a huge washer to sandwich the pedal to the firewall using the third stud.
 
The bolt pattern is different on the 89-92 booster and pedal vs the 93-97 one. The firewall and brake pedal cage were the same regardless of whether it had ABS or not. Nobody uses the crown Vic booster, and even if you modified the firewall for it to fit, it won’t clear the shock tower. As I said, 89-92 non-ABS booster, crown Vic master, 7mm socket between them, done.
 
MadMikeyL said:
The bolt pattern is different on the 89-92 booster and pedal vs the 93-97 one. The firewall and brake pedal cage were the same regardless of whether it had ABS or not. Nobody uses the crown Vic booster, and even if you modified the firewall for it to fit, it won’t clear the shock tower. As I said, 89-92 non-ABS booster, crown Vic master, 7mm socket between them, done.
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If you can find me the one I'm supposed to use than I will buy it. But everything I am finding is the exact same to what I'm running, which I know for a fact is a 1994.

I put a 97 booster in the white 89 SC. Which was also a 3 bolt but the lever sat lower.
 
I’m telling you it’s not. Just because they both have 3 studs doesn’t mean they are the same. The pattern is different. Look at the part numbers, they will be different for an 89 than for a 94.
 
If the 89-92s were three stud than I will buy one. Doesn't make sense to me how a 3 bolt is a direct swap for a 4 bolt but I'll take y'all's word.


Why the Vic master then, when I can use a 92 5.0 master?
 
89-92 non-and was a diagonal split system instead of a front/rear split system, so you would have to run all new lines to the rear brakes to use that master. The crown Vic master bolts up to the tbird booster, but is meant for a front/rear split system so you can reuse your existing lines. The 3/4 hole thing is your brake pedal and firewall actually has 5 holes. 2 are shared between both ABS and non-ABS, and then the 3rd stud on the non-ABS booster is out a little further.
 
IMG_20241027_194130_968.jpgSo I've made the decision to continue on with the fiber glass rear idea. It's daunting but I know it's the needed progression in world of drifting.
IMG_20241027_194131_159.jpg I am planning on the car coming home this weekend to begin prepping for the cage. That includes pulling the front damage myself, getting the interior stripped, minimizing wiring, and potentially cutting out the sunroof mechanism. I'm not too sold on that last part because I love the sun roof, but the vibrations and crashes over the years haven't been kind and it has started jamming and getting slower and slower. And I'd rather get rid of it and save the little bit of weight than restore it in a car like this.
IMG_20241028_075322997.jpg
It's usually around a time like this in a project I start to panic
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
So is the fiberglass rear going to mimic the car's original design? Or are you going to shorten the rear overhang?
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Mimic. It's going to be a direct copy of an MN12 rear, but easily replaceable and capable flexing with some hits.

If money was no object I would use Kevlar, as pro cars use. Then I would never need to replace it again.
 
Need opinions.

Pulled the dash on the red car today and found when the firewall was pushed in, it ripped a couple welds between in, the windshield sill, and the A pillar.

Not only that, but there's rust/rot between all those lapped spot welds, and the A pillar. Reminds me a lot of what killed the white car.


With that being found, I'm not sure I want to dump $5k into a cage for this chassis, let alone all the other pieces that was going to go into the car.

Also, found the seat mount on the passenger side floor pan is buckled.

Fix it, run it, or get a new chassis?

Screenshot_20241214-171307.pngScreenshot_20241214-171317.png
 
Wile E. Coyote said:
Need opinions.

Pulled the dash on the red car today and found when the firewall was pushed in, it ripped a couple welds between in, the windshield sill, and the A pillar.

Not only that, but there's rust/rot between all those lapped spot welds, and the A pillar. Reminds me a lot of what killed the white car.


With that being found, I'm not sure I want to dump $5k into a cage for this chassis, let alone all the other pieces that was going to go into the car.

Also, found the seat mount on the passenger side floor pan is buckled.

Fix it, run it, or get a new chassis?

View attachment 9143View attachment 9144
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I’m conflicted really, if you’re building a full blown cage if done correctly the integrity of the factory unibody kind of becomes moot, the cage becomes the structure. Who cares about rust in the stock unibody? Does it really matter?

But I get it, full blown cages are a ton of fab and if you’re doing/paying for that fab maybe a bent rusty car doesn’t seem very logical… on the other hand it’s a known entity and you’re using it in a sport where it’ll probably be crashed again eventually, so do you really want to start over on a NICE car for that inevitably?

Personally love that car, I think from going to a parted out rusty rolling chassis to your photogenic drift car is one of my favorite comeback stories ever, and it also validated a lot of “hack” ideas I had that I encouraged you to try in its resurrection and do what I never had the skill/equipment to do myself so I’m still rooting for it.

TL;DR I understand it if you want to find a different chassis, but I’d ignore these developments
 
Anyone selling a passenger side front seat mount?
 
As for what to do, Matt pretty much said it all, above. The bigger driver that may lead me to a different car is that you have to patch the rear, where on another car you don't have to.

That said I love the story of that car, and selfishly want it to be the phoenix and rise once again.
 
Zep5.0 said:
As for what to do, Matt pretty much said it all, above. The bigger driver that may lead me to a different car is that you have to patch the rear, where on another car you don't have to.

That said I love the story of that car, and selfishly want it to be the phoenix and rise once again.
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I've been talking to drift buddies and they are saying to run the chassis until it literally is falling apart. I'd how safe that is, but we'll see how I feel after I get all the seam sealer off and get a better idea. Might just hammer it and plate it.
 
Wile E. Coyote said:
I've been talking to drift buddies and they are saying to run the chassis until it literally is falling apart. I'd how safe that is, but we'll see how I feel after I get all the seam sealer off and get a better idea. Might just hammer it and plate it.
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That’s the attitude I was hoping was for in that sport. I have limited exposure to drifting but what I do tells me your car has but a mere flesh wound.
 
Zep5.0 said:
What about a 1" tube that you weld a bracket on the end that you could weeks to the floor? One for front and back to basically make your own?
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I may do that on another car but idk if I wanna do that on this.
 
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