What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

I tried to remove my plug wires off the spark plugs today to see what condition they are after several changes I have made. Holy sweet Mary.... I guess the penetrating spray is coming out. I have the wire pullers and all, but the angle is what is hard on this car. Wish me luck!
 
Got a whole bunch done I just finished wrapping up. Got the FTBR hub pressed in, got the new pinion seal in and RTVd the shit out of it this time 😆, changed the companion flange back to stock because the large diameter aftermarket (Dorman) one I installed had way too tight of tolerances in the splines and literally killed two pullers trying to extract it. Pulled the driveshaft to swap to a matching yoke and put it all back together. Hopefully that’s the last of the car drama this year, I’ve had enough with my fleet recently! 🤞


BTW I changed my mind on pulling the diff with only one halfshaft removed. I had a horrible experience trying that the first time but it really is easier. Having those nifty rotunda plugs was probably a nice stress reliever to do it confidently.
 
Someone mentioned it to me; it saves a lot of time and hassle.
The first one on the red car had a rusted bolt in front,and it really didn't want to come out. So wen I went to the jy to get the replacement diff, a 3.08 from a tbird, dude yanked the diff with a torch, only the fact I had a screwdriver in my pocket kept him from cutting the axles.
edit: the rotuda plus will keep you from making an incredibly smelly mess.
The only smell I've smelled that was worse was the shock I took apart for the koni's.
 
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Chingon1 said:
buddy at the CNC place mad me the gauge pod for the ash tray location. Fits pretty decent cool, just trying to figure out how to get it to stay, double sided tape?
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Wow... you have AUTO AIR! I really wish I had that in my Cougar. I have it in the Town Car and miss it in the Cougar. Enjoy!
 
If you don't mind screws through the front, you could use something like wall anchors to hold it up against the plastic.
 
What I did to my Cougar today...

I replaced the iridium plugs with copper and found the iridium's where gapped a bit short of 0.54 but burning well. No. 1 plug was a total bitch to put back in. Dang A/C lines in the way. But I got it. Test ran the engine and it runs really nice. Now to check my O2's and starter cables...
 
White Lincoln said:
Wow... you have AUTO AIR! I really wish I had that in my Cougar. I have it in the Town Car and miss it in the Cougar. Enjoy!
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I converted mine to auto, it originally came with the manual 3 knob. Now 15 years later I kind of wish I kept the manual since there’s far less to fail (I’ve gone through two heads and a PWM controller). Plus it was unique, my car was loaded with literally every option except the auto climate control, car phone and power passenger seat.
 
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XR7-4.6 said:
I converted mine to auto, it originally came with the manual 3 knob. Now 15 years later I kind of wish I kept the manual since there’s far less to fail (I’ve gone through two heads and a PWM controller). Plus it was unique, my car was loaded with literally every option except the auto climate control, car phone and power passenger seat.
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What's wrong with people? You order a car fully loaded and don't get auto air? WTF? I am happy that both seats in my Cougar are full power, with lumbar. I want to add a heater to them but have not got around to it. I bought the kit, I just need to add it.
 
I guess auto air is good to prevent other people from touching the controls and complaining, but otherwise I dont get it. If you're hot you choose the blue color
 
Vicinity said:
I guess auto air is good to prevent other people from touching the controls and complaining, but otherwise I dont get it. If you're hot you choose the blue color
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"Do I chose the blue pill or the red pill...."
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I converted mine to auto, it originally came with the manual 3 knob. Now 15 years later I kind of wish I kept the manual since there’s far less to fail (I’ve gone through two heads and a PWM controller). Plus it was unique, my car was loaded with literally every option except the auto climate control, car phone and power passenger seat.
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I saw some of the parts listed for sale on eBay once. After talking to seller, it really seemed like a lot of work to convert it. Was it a PITA to convert?
 
Automatic climate control is fantastic in humid weather, where you need to use the A/C to dehumidify but you don't want to get cold. The system continously varies blend door position to maintain a constant temperature.

That said, I'm perfectly fine with a manual system.
 
White Lincoln said:
I saw some of the parts listed for sale on eBay once. After talking to seller, it really seemed like a lot of work to convert it. Was it a PITA to convert?
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Physically it’s not really any worse than changing the heater core, the big hurdle especially now a days where MN12s don’t grow on U-pull-it’s dirt like they used to is you need the whole dash harness and a bunch of other odds and ends within the dash assembly that are easy to forget and it needs to match your year(94-95, 96 or 97). I wouldn’t have bothered if not for my cars original dash pad being trashed by a aftermarket car phone mount installed by the PO, so I just grabbed a whole dash assembly and all the additional bits on the heater box to make a big job for a nitpicky issue more worth my time.

Frankly with the way our cars HVAC systems blow (literally and figuratively) in the summer it makes no difference, you still set the right dial the same and then for the car to be comfortable it just blows on max anyway, doesn’t matter if you set it on 60 or 72. Same if you just left the manual fan dial and blend dial on max. It works best when the outside temperature is below 75, at which point I’m a strictly in windows down mode.
 
I'm out,draining gas.
I have to pull the battery out of Lazarus, and start back to pumping.
 
Haha it’s my daily, I’ve done people favors picking stuff up and it just happens. Much rather the look of black tho.
 
Today, I pulled the positive battery cable out and checked for any damage. I also pulled the starter out and am running tests on it. Even though I did all that work on the front steering assembly because the car would not start, the issues did not leave. Every once in a while the key will just click, but if I try again, it starts right up. No pushing the key into the steering column to get it to start. This makes me wonder if there is an issue between the battery and the starter.... more to come.

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Starter.jpg
 
Chingon1 said:
Haha it’s my daily, I’ve done people favors picking stuff up and it just happens. Much rather the look of black tho.
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My wife and her finger nails... tears the crap out of that soft cloth.
 
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I got on a originality kick a few years back with the exterior (minus the wheels of course) which included a new 94-95 grille. Well I never really liked the 94-95 grille that much so I decided to restore the 91 grille in dire need of some TLC I found in my storage.

Was sick of seeing new Mercedes models with their plagiarized version

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Thieving Germans
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I got on a originality kick a few years back with the exterior (minus the wheels of course) which included a new 94-95 grille. Well I never really liked the 94-95 grille that much so I decided to restore the 91 grille in dire need of some TLC I found in my storage.

Was sick of seeing new Mercedes models with their plagiarized version


Thieving Germans
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Worth all the effort to get your grill looking that nice. "F the Germans!" LMAO I need to find a better grill than the one I got from the yard. They are NOT cheap anymore like they used to be. Nice work XR7!
 
XR7-4.6 said:
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I got on a originality kick a few years back with the exterior (minus the wheels of course) which included a new 94-95 grille.
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I am waiting for new head lamp assemblies at RockAuto to come back in stock. Mine are showing their age. I replaced the ones on the Town Car and it was night and day (no pun intended). RockAuto had a set for $100, better than anywhere else I could find.
 
White Lincoln said:
I am waiting for new head lamp assemblies at RockAuto to come back in stock. Mine are showing their age. I replaced the ones on the Town Car and it was night and day (no pun intended). RockAuto had a set for $100, better than anywhere else I could find.
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I’ve got a nice pair of OEM Ford ones I want to coat with UV clear first. The ones on it now are aftermarket and aren’t bad but the driver side one has taken on a brownish haze that seems to be on the inside weirdly. I didn’t actually know they were still being made, a few years ago it was impossible to find new headlights for 91-95s.

This grille is far from perfect, the chrome is a little flakey in spots and the old original black paint was peeling so it’s a little wavy under the subsequent topcoats I’ve applied if you look close. I had a nicer one at one time but I think I gave it away to someone.
 
I bout a few 96 ones, and every one of them has corroded. It bubbles under the chrome .
 
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