What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

So got around to “installing” the SS hose that I got from oxman and didn’t realize I was missing one of the AN fittings like a dummy, hopefully I can find one locally at the parts store. Anyways, as far as the seal goes, I don’t think the 82540 comes close to fitting, it pretty much the same diameter at the firing itself. Am I doing something wrong?


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Took advantage of the long weekend and nice weather coming up for this week to put the Mark up for some needed maintenance.

Replaced the ambient air temp sensor (for the EATC)
Replaced inner and outer tie rods
Replaced the RH LCA (the plan was to do both but one of the strut rod bushings crumbled and I used my last spare; not touching the other side until I get another just in case).

Of course while I was doing the LCA, I tore the boot on one of the endlinks so now it needs to go. And the rotors didn't glaze over evenly. Oh, and the UCA ball joints are looking sketchy. This never ends! :zcrazy:
 
theterminator93 said:
Took advantage of the long weekend and nice weather coming up for this week to put the Mark up for some needed maintenance.

Replaced the ambient air temp sensor (for the EATC)
Replaced inner and outer tie rods
Replaced the RH LCA (the plan was to do both but one of the strut rod bushings crumbled and I used my last spare; not touching the other side until I get another just in case).

Of course while I was doing the LCA, I tore the boot on one of the endlinks so now it needs to go. And the rotors didn't glaze over evenly. Oh, and the UCA ball joints are looking sketchy. This never ends! :zcrazy:
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Auto Whac A Mole is a very real condition.

Also if your car’s become sentient it’s probably jealous of your plane flying like mine is with my bike 😆
 
My cars hate my bike, and vice versa. I've had both randomly die, and need resuscitation after a pleasant day on the other.
 
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I was seriously considering this. I have a pair of emblems I got from the green cougar I raped for parts after totalling Lazarus the first time.
 
Not today, but a few days ago, I replaced the idler arm on my Town Car. When I got the old idler arm off (using an air hammer and tuning fork), the dang sleeve was still stuck on there. After a bunch of penetrating oil and a whacks to the seam of the sleave, it loosened and slid off. The rest was easy. The next day, I put the other grease fitting in and pumped some grease into the arm and rack. I couldn't do it that day as a storm was moving in and the Town Car was half in and half out of the garage.
 

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Got to work on the rear Cobra brake rotors today. I used the old caliper bracket for test grinding and fitting. I have a new set of calipers/brackets that I painted and clear coated in silver to match the fronts brakes I did last year.

Removing the shield on my bench grinder allowed the grinding wheel to fit inside the caliper bracket just perfectly and opened it up just enough for the bigger rotors. An air cutter makes short work of trimming down the caliper bracket mount points.

Also you can see the NOS sport shocks I found from a member on the old forum several years ago, don't recall who it was or if they are on birdcats.... While it is apart I might switch them out for the NOS Monroe reflex I have.


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An oil change...followed by a bunch of frustrating observations. I'll need some cheering up.

But first, I switched to Valvoline Restore & Protect. So many positive reviews out there; I figured I'd give it a try. I don't own a borescope, so the most I could do was taking pictures of the area directly below the filler neck, which is frankly pretty clean as it is.

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Still, if this spot looks cleaner by the next oil change, it may also be an indication of further cleaning elsewhere in the engine. Valvoline emphasizes the cleaning of pistons and rings above all.
I do not currently have any oil consumption to speak of. I do have a very rare potential knock when accelerating quickly under load, especially uphill.


Since I was already under the car, I looked around and found nothing but trouble.

Firstly, this fraying in the belt. It's only two years old. I cut the frayed fibers with a razor blade, and I'll monitor.

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Secondly, the state of my rag joint. It just doesn't look right to my eyes. Does a rag joint serve to transmit rotational force around a corner? Or does it just soften the force? My joint looks like input and output aren't in a straight line, akin to a universal joint. There are no steering symptoms, no vagueness or excessive play.

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Thirdly, and this is the big one: the sleeve over the driver side lower ball joint is totally deteriorated. I bought this car in the spring of 2022, and the UCAs/LCAs were swapped a month later by a shop using TRW parts; they do not have grease fittings. Prior to that replacement, I had very hard steering and very noisy steering at a standstill, so I have an idea what bad ball joints sound like. No such symptoms exist currently...but I'm still frustrated because this looks like the beginning of the end for this joint:

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Is there anything that can be done to save it? Meanwhile, the passenger side looks fine:

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I find any kind of suspension work super intimidating. Remember, prior to owning this car I have not done any mechanical work on cars whatsoever. Plus this is my only car and daily driver.


On the positive side, that engine disassembly video I posted the other day reminded me that I wanted to do another coolant pressure test. Earlier this year, I posted about a small leak on top of the engine, most likely caused by a bad lower intake manifold gasket.
Today's test did not produce a leak. I applied 16 psi (as stated on the radiator cap), and the system held that pressure steady, with not even a hint of pressure loss, over 3+ minutes.
I realize that leaks don't just magically fix themselves. But in this case, it must be minuscule and/or dependent on the season and surrounding climate/atmospheric pressure. I'll monitor the area above the lower intake manifold, plus I check my oil cap and radiator cap at least weekly, respectively for coolant/oil contamination.
 
I would replace the belt if it is fraying like that and look to see if it is rubbing against anything.

That rag joint looks normal-ish to me. I probably wouldn't worry about it.

That ball joint boot could be replaced. I'm sure you can't buy just the boot. I'd probably just buy a cheap ball joint and steal the boot from it and put it on the one on your car. A bit of a pain to get to it, but not the end of the world.
 
I spent the day making brackets for the red Cougars' Radiator. I can't find the ones I made 8 years ago, (lol)
I cant find a hose clamp anywhere, stock or a m.
I need a stock set of radiator hose clamps, for a 04 mustang cobra, With the larger end on the radiator bottom inlet. I know I can get std clamps at Advanced, but were to order factory? I checked online, tasca and fp, but no clamps. Is this one of the magical things where the"ford parts counter guy" goes, "oh yeah, how many do you want?" and pulls the number from memory?
 
For the ball joint boot, I’ve had success with energy suspension. They have a 4 pack of boots, 2 of them fit there just need to be shortened a little.
 
KevinVarnes said:
A bit of a pain to get to it, but not the end of the world.
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Alright...
Suspension work is one thing I haven't done before, but I guess I don't have a choice. Not looking forward to it.

I'll check the belt all over asap. I'm hoping that spot was just a minor manufacturing flaw; sometimes belts have some fibers showing along the side I've noticed. The belt doesn't look like it's rubbing anywhere nor does it make noises. Is there a way to test the tensioner?
 
usually a bouncing tensioner means there's a bad bearing in the tensioner or the idler. They're the same part, order 2 idlers, remove your tensioner, clean and lube it, and put it all back. Spin the alt,ac clutch, wp, and steering pump toget a sense of the bearings in them. gravel means trouble.
 
Got another new shift knob from TwistedShifterz, this one the inverse of my black one with the modern pattern/font(which just so happens to match the font on our gauges.

I already had a white one but the feel of these are awesome, 2-1/8” to the typical cueball 1-7/8” or 2”

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1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Beautiful...

But that's where R is?! I could never, having grown up with VWs.
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I actually learned the pattern on my Mom’s 85 Jetta when I was a little kid, she used to occasionally let me upshift while she disengaged the clutch driving me to school and whatnot.

Reverse is fine there though, you can’t shift from 5th into it since it hits an internal stop… however if you’re one used to skipping gears where going 2-4 is muscle memory going 4-R results on some hideous noises 😆
 
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