Rescued 94 T-Bird project

[lilhen]

Figured I would start a thread on my journeys of my first thunderbird I have ever owned have had plenty of mustangs.
I picked this bird up from a buddy of mine for $650. Some one pawned the title and decided not to pay. Right place right time so I scooped it up as fast as I could. Payed what was needed to cover the books.
Needed a battery and seemed like a starter when I went to look at it. Came back and picked it up the next day.
Installed a new battery, starter, and about a gallon of transmission fluid and she fired right up.
In the process of restoring the interior as the motor seems healthy on the short drives and the transmission shifted fine. Definitely not going to be a long distance car for awhile till I get to freshing everything up with the motor and transmission.
Had electrical issues when I got it. Key pad, power side mirrors, interior lights did work. Tracked that down to a blown fuse and a shorted wire in the doom light housing. Got everything functional as far as lights radio and keyless entry.
I'll try to update my progress as it's made waiting on parts to ship or become available.
First part I had to order was the front grill emblem. Was able to scoop that up off of eBay in the original OEM packaging. Just arrived today.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Door cloth still present. Solid car!

And chrome wheels!

 

[theterminator93]

Always a pleasure watching another MN12 get saved from the jaws of death.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Wow! That car’s had a hard life. So glad it’s in good hands. You’ve already done a great job bringing it back to life.

 

[lilhen]

Door cloth still present. Solid car!

And chrome wheels!

The doors cleaned up well a long with the rest of the panels.
Are the chrome wheels scares nowadays? Haven't dog into the stock wheels much. I will be taking them off in a few months going to do the brake hud and caliper swap so minimum I got to go with are 17's.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I'm not even sure if chrome was a factory option on that model year. They're more common on 96/97, though still rare.

Unless the cloth inserts have been re-glued, they're extremely prone to falling off. Better never touch them.

 

[lilhen]

Wow! That car’s had a hard life. So glad it’s in good hands. You’ve already done a great job bringing it back to life.

Thanks. The pictures I got before I bought it had cinder blocks sitting in the front seat. I might have the pictures some where I'll try and find them.

She was definitely was rode hard and put up wet.

 

[lilhen]

I'm not even sure if chrome was a factory option on that model year. They're more common on 96/97, though still rare.

I'll have to look into that for sure. I figured it was a common option. I pick my self every day for selling the original pony wheels off the 91 mustang.

Unless the cloth inserts have been re-glued, they're extremely prone to falling off. Better never touch them.

I believe that. Had to remove the door panels to fix a few wiring issues. Did the mod to the window regulator but found some aluminum bushings off of Amazon. Cut them down a bit. Think it was about 8 bucks on Amazon for enough to do two windows.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

What window mod is that?

 

[lilhen]

What window mod is that?

Sorry should have been a little more detailed. The window motor mod.
I found a steel bushing mod on TSTSNBN. After reading it they listed the bushing dimensions and I found a set of aluminum ones about the same size.
Figured it's lighter and a softer metal than steel, but harder than plastic.
If/when they fail I'll get pictures of the carnage but as of right now it works flawless. I had to grind them down a little. Didn't put a mic. on it just trial and error till they fit. Sorry they are about 13 bucks for the pack so around 7 a window.
Below is the link to Amazon.

https://a.co/d/f2W99J3

 

[Vicinity]

This looks fun. Aside from Zep have I havent seen many pics of the interior gutted

Unless the cloth inserts have been re-glued, they're extremely prone to falling off. Better never touch them.

Yeah the pics are an odd combo of garaged and seasoned. Maybe the windows were tinted a while back and kept closed

 

[lilhen]

This looks fun. Aside from Zep have I havent seen many pics of the interior gutted

Carpet had to be cleaned but wasn't able to save it. Planing on going with OG colors inside based off of door codes. Trying to keep everything as close to original as possible with exterior paint and interior trim.
Had a fun time getting the carpet out. No way in hell was I about to pull that dash

 

[XR7-4.6]

You’d actually be surprised how straight forward the dash is to pull given what you’ve already done. With the seats out of the way it’s borderline easy!