Thinking about getting this 97

Unpopular opinion here but just being honest.... Drivers seat is about to be worn out in 5-10k miles, needs new tires, old plastic intake manifold, lackluster options, steering wheel cover, no floormats, for $4000K... Not trying to be negative here, but if you didn't finalize it already there are better ones out there.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
The ball joints were recently done, correct? No noises? Good boots?

How is the leather on the driver seat?

Overall, this sounds like a fair price. Personally, I would try to push a bit lower, but I'm cheap.

The hazard are likely an easy fix. No idea about the manifold.


How do you feel? Did you drive it? Driving it is the most important thing.
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All suspension components looked fresh, yes. New end links, UCA / LCA, bushings, etc

Just posted a picture on leather. Literally looks new. Even the cluster surround and radio bezel are perfect. Like, they even still had their felt look and feel to the plastic. Perfect sample for scanning and reproduction.

I started at $3,500 and agreed to $4,000

Drove it for about 45min, going WOT a few times, tried to produce the shudder, but was unsuccessful. I didn't hear any rattles anywhere during my drive.

The only issue I that is "mechanical" I'd say is the O/D button not working. What could that be?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
All suspension components looked fresh, yes. New end links, UCA / LCA, bushings, etc
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That's great value in my opinion.

CDsDontBurn said:
The only issue I that is "mechanical" I'd say is the O/D button not working. What could that be?
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I read a few times about failing harnesses inside the shifter. The wires are extremely thin. I have a harness for sale.
The button is also somewhat fragile.
Are you sure it didn't work (to shift)? Not just the O/D Off bulb broken?

Kenz said:
Unpopular opinion here but just being honest.... Drivers seat is about to be worn out in 5-10k miles, needs new tires, old plastic intake manifold, lackluster options, steering wheel cover, no floormats, for $4000K... Not trying to be negative here, but if you didn't finalize it already there are better ones out there.
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Always good to hear another rational view. No point in just cheering on any MN12 purchase.
  • The seat. It's remarkably good, but it'll need immediate care to stay that way. I never see the leather un-torn in junkyards.
  • Tires. Agreed. Decent set for $500.
  • Manifold. No idea. Someone state cost and work hours please.
  • Options? Lackluster? I mean that depends on your preferences. I'd prefer no spoiler. I love the CD player.
  • Steering wheel cover. Covers often damage the actual leather. Check!
  • Where are the floor mats?
Are there better ones at that price? Possibly. The mileage is not super low. But if the body is rust free and the suspension is fresh, then that's a plus. It's not a price I would jump on. At $3,500, I think I would.
 
Probably the wires are broken either in the shifter, or just below it. Either way, you’ll have a replacement shifter available soon, right? For $4000, I really don’t see how you can go wrong with this car. 15” wheels and soft suspension are a positive for a daily driver. Put an intake manifold and tires on it and drive it for 200k miles.
 
Codes from Sticker:

CategoryCodeMeaning
EXT PNTBALight Prairie Tan CC
RC71Sales Region, but not sure what 71 means
BRK1$-wheel disc (without ABS)
INT TRB7Leather; Prairie Tan
R5Premium AM/FM Stereo
AXLEW5This code is not in the book, but that was discussed before. IIRC, it's the same as "5" = conventional axle
TRL4R70W
SPR33GGThese designate the spring part numbers, but I don't know how to distinguish Standard vs. Sport
 
4000 seems fair. The used market has been jostled in the last 5 years and I don't expect it to get much bettter. I imagine a dealer would mark it up to 7500 at the lowest, if the transmission is ok
 
CDsDontBurn said:
I pressed it and it didn't lock the TC, no. So I'm sure the wires are busted somehow in there.

Is this an easy fix otherwise?
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It is unrelated to the torque converter. It inhibits shifts into 4th gear (=overdrive gear) when "O/D Off" is illuminated. The torque converter clutch still functions as normal.

A harness fix is fairly easy, yes. Some people, like yours truly, relocate the button altogether.

No ABS is a double-edged sword.

There's way less to maintain/fix. That's good. But you have to be cautious on slippery surfaces. Always maintain a safe following distance and then some. If a friend borrows the car, you have to brief them that there is no ABS.

My car doesn't have it, although the seller insisted that it did over the phone. Oops.

Did you check if it has a supplemental transmission cooler? Some where installed by dealers under the TSB. Would be one less thing to do in a hot climate.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
It's too quiet...what's going on? 🧐
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13-cigars_03130_375759.png
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
It is unrelated to the torque converter. It inhibits shifts into 4th gear (=overdrive gear) when "O/D Off" is illuminated. The torque converter clutch still functions as normal.

A harness fix is fairly easy, yes. Some people, like yours truly, relocate the button altogether.

No ABS is a double-edged sword.

There's way less to maintain/fix. That's good. But you have to be cautious on slippery surfaces. Always maintain a safe following distance and then some. If a friend borrows the car, you have to brief them that there is no ABS.

My car doesn't have it, although the seller insisted that it did over the phone. Oops.

Did you check if it has a supplemental transmission cooler? Some where installed by dealers under the TSB. Would be one less thing to do in a hot climate.
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The best part about the car not having ABS was that the guy didn't know that it didn't have ABS 😂.

I didn't check to see if it had a supplemental ATF cooler. If it doesn't, I can add one later down the road, no problem.

1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
It's too quiet...what's going on? 🧐
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I was driving home and had to run another errand on my way back home.
 
I think that is a great buy. You can put the sport wheels from your pearl car on this one. At least that is what I would do. Congratulations on the purchase. Mechanical stuff is easy. Rusted out garbage underneath is not.
You'll have to decide what you want to do with the intake manifold. Since the real PI intake isn't available new anymore (unless you stumble across a NOS one), your choices are used PI, new aftermarket NPI, new aftermarket PI (which probably flows about the same as an NPI intake). For the money and ease of assembly and since you are just driving this, a new aftermarket NPI might be the way to go. Some (not all) come with a lifetime warranty which will be good for as long as they are still making them.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Well, I'm going say that, as a "car warming gift", once you disassemble the console and find that the shifter harness is indeed to blame for the lack of O/D OFF functionality, then I'll send you a good harness free of charge (you pay shipping). Keep me posted.
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Much appreciated! I'll keep you posted on this.

KevinVarnes said:
I think that is a great buy. You can put the sport wheels from your pearl car on this one. At least that is what I would do. Congratulations on the purchase. Mechanical stuff is easy. Rusted out garbage underneath is not.
You'll have to decide what you want to do with the intake manifold. Since the real PI intake isn't available new anymore (unless you stumble across a NOS one), your choices are used PI, new aftermarket NPI, new aftermarket PI (which probably flows about the same as an NPI intake). For the money and ease of assembly and since you are just driving this, a new aftermarket NPI might be the way to go. Some (not all) come with a lifetime warranty which will be good for as long as they are still making them.
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Yeah, it's going to be getting Pearl's Sport wheels for sure. Thinking about getting those wheels powder coated a stock-ish silver like color as they're all peeling right now.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Yeah, it's going to be getting Pearl's Sport wheels for sure. Thinking about getting those wheels powder coated a stock-ish silver like color as they're all peeling right now.
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I'm sure I've posted this here before, but I refinished the wheels off of my old '93 SC at least 5 years ago with the Rustoleum wheel paint and they still look good after that time and probably 65k daily driven miles on our '97. The color match was about as close to perfect as you can get (put old original center caps on and you cannot tell a difference in hue). It might be more prep time, but the finished result is pretty good for a fraction of the cost, and I'm generally kind of picky with stuff like that. PM me if you want more info on what I did.
 
KevinVarnes said:
I'm sure I've posted this here before, but I refinished the wheels off of my old '93 SC at least 5 years ago with the Rustoleum wheel paint and they still look good after that time and probably 65k daily driven miles on our '97. The color match was about as close to perfect as you can get (put old original center caps on and you cannot tell a difference in hue). It might be more prep time, but the finished result is pretty good for a fraction of the cost, and I'm generally kind of picky with stuff like that. PM me if you want more info on what I did.
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Definitely an idea.

After seeing what powder coating looks and feels like, powder coating just looks better 😅.
 
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