What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

[supergordo]

Took my younger sons Green Tbird out. Finally got the smog test. So he can register. I drove around blasting Van Halen for 2 hours last night. We built a really nice sound system so it sounds real nice! The cars power is impressive. Fun as hell to drive! I always forget how much I like these cars. I drive my E350 all the time.

 

[White Lincoln]

Took my younger sons Green Tbird out. Finally got the smog test. So he can register. I drove around blasting Van Halen for 2 hours last night. We built a really nice sound system so it sounds real nice! The cars power is impressive. Fun as hell to drive! I always forget how much I like these cars. I drive my E350 all the time.

What kind of sound system did you put in the T-Bird? I mean, to listen to Van Halen for 2 hours, that care must have an awesome sound system.

 

[Derphound01]

Drove it to town hall and paid my property tax on the house.

 

[supergordo]

What kind of sound system did you put in the T-Bird? I mean, to listen to Van Halen for 2 hours, that care must have an awesome sound system.

Has an Alpine deck. JL audio speakers, 4 channel 1000w amp running the four speakers. And a small JBL powered subwoofer that does a nice job.

 

[White Lincoln]

Has an Alpine deck. JL audio speakers, 4 channel 1000w amp running the four speakers. And a small JBL powered subwoofer that does a nice job.

Have to appreciate the use of quality equipment. I guess I need to upgrade my K-Mart speakers and Walmart head unit some day...



"I come here for the pictures"

 

[XR7-4.6]

In fairness you don’t need the greatest sound system to listen to VH, that music was meant to be paired with a nice EXHAUST system

 

[Chingon1]

Got the valve cover gaskets in today, question how come the grommets look totally different? I tried putting the new ones in on the PI valve covers and there ain’t no way them bitches are fitting.

From what I read on TCCOA, the valve covers are different which is why the new 97 gaskets do not fit the new PI heads. Can put the NPI valve covers on the PI heads?? Or do I have to order PI valve cover gaskets??

 

[XR7-4.6]

As long as they’re not Windsor PI heads you can reuse your stock valve covers no problem

 

[Chingon1]

nahh they are Romeo (no Juliet) heads thanks goodness haha

Thank you!

 

[supergordo]

Have to appreciate the use of quality equipment. I guess I need to upgrade my K-Mart speakers and Walmart head unit some day...



"I come here for the pictures"

For what it is worth. The speakers are the highest quality part of this system. The Alpine deck is a bluetooth capable unit but old enough that it has a CD player. I had a customer abandon a car on me about 10 years ago until her finance company repossessed it. So I took the stereo... The amp we bought from amazon for like $300??? It's not a major brand. And the JBL powered sub has a 10" speaker and its thin and compact. It adds a nice amount of low end without thudding. Think my sons investment in total is under $1000. But it sounds nice, it gets loud. And doesn't really distort until you really push it.

 

[White Lincoln]

Thanks for the feedback. You were lucky to pick up the JL speakers, they are not cheap, at least the ones that sound good. Well, when I win the lottery, I might upgrade.

 

[Kenz]

Replaced the driver side inner and outer tirrod ends with a new Motorcraft inner and Trw outer.

Since they are identical the factory parts I took off it was possible to measure them so I can avoid getting an alignment. The steering wheel is still on center so I'm assuming it's at least really close.



It unfortunately still has some play when pushing up and down on it. I'm assuming the rack is getting worn out.

No play side to side/in out, so it's getting put off until I do a major service or mod..... or it starts leaking.

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

Put a bunch of it back together, and before you say “I tint my headlights so they work less” they look sh*tty and a good set goes for north of $400, so it’s a temporary look for now, it’s only film that can be removed.

It needs to be lowered…a lot. lol.

But there still a lot more to do.

As for my 94, I’m waiting on a new fuel rail that I ordered from eBay over a week ago now.

 

[White Lincoln]

That is one sexy car! Always wanted an SVO, never found one I could afford. Now they are just rediculously priced.

 

[White Lincoln]

As long as they’re not Windsor PI heads you can reuse your stock valve covers no problem

I cleaned mine up and re-used them. Have not had a leak in years.

 

[Vicinity]

It needs to be lowered…a lot. lol.

*Bites knuckles* Looking forward to a walk-around

 

[Zep5.0]

I'd tint the fog lights too. Looks killer

 

[XR7-4.6]

Put a bunch of it back together, and before you say “I tint my headlights so they work less” they look sh*tty and a good set goes for north of $400, so it’s a temporary look for now, it’s only film that can be removed.
It needs to be lowered…a lot. lol.
But they’re still a lot more to do.

As for my 94, I’m waiting on a new fuel rail that I ordered from eBay over a week ago now.

View attachment 10682

Is that just regular window tint film or?

 

[supergordo]

Replaced the oldest sons upper control arms and right wheel hub on the ShitBird project. Tightened up all the strut rod bolts too. The front right one was less than finger tight!! Good times!

 

[supergordo]

Put a bunch of it back together, and before you say “I tint my headlights so they work less” they look sh*tty and a good set goes for north of $400, so it’s a temporary look for now, it’s only film that can be removed.

It needs to be lowered…a lot. lol.

But there still a lot more to do.

As for my 94, I’m waiting on a new fuel rail that I ordered from eBay over a week ago now.

View attachment 10682

Great Googly Moogly!!!

 

[Little Ice-Cable]

Did a quick wash to get the dust off from the shop, not the best wash but it did the trick.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

Put a bunch of it back together, and before you say “I tint my headlights so they work less” they look sh*tty and a good set goes for north of $400, so it’s a temporary look for now, it’s only film that can be removed.

It needs to be lowered…a lot. lol.

But there still a lot more to do.

As for my 94, I’m waiting on a new fuel rail that I ordered from eBay over a week ago now.

View attachment 10682

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

Is that just regular window tint film or?

Here’s the link for the tint.

Amazon.com

It’s applied with heat, it’s not too hard to do, the corner lights were the hardest cause of the curve.

 

[supergordo]

Thanks for the feedback. You were lucky to pick up the JL speakers, they are not cheap, at least the ones that sound good. Well, when I win the lottery, I might upgrade.

Well my son bought them from Crutchfield I think. Think they were $100 a pair?? Not horrible.

 

[Jae 'Bird]

Put a bunch of it back together, and before you say “I tint my headlights so they work less” they look sh*tty and a good set goes for north of $400, so it’s a temporary look for now, it’s only film that can be removed.

It needs to be lowered…a lot. lol.

But there still a lot more to do.

As for my 94, I’m waiting on a new fuel rail that I ordered from eBay over a week ago now.

Did you convert to 5 lug hubs to fit those wheels? They look amazing and did you repaint them? I love the finish, if you don't mind me asking what finish is that? Because this summer I'm gonna be painting a set of those and am still figuring out what color I want to go with.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Did you convert to 5 lug hubs to fit those wheels? They look amazing and did you repaint them? I love the finish, if you don't mind me asking what finish is that? Because this summer I'm gonna be painting a set of those and am still figuring out what color I want to go with.

Those wheels were 4 lug from the factory, 5 lug actually used to be really hard to get

 

[Ericv8thunderbird]

Did you convert to 5 lug hubs to fit those wheels? They look amazing and did you repaint them? I love the finish, if you don't mind me asking what finish is that? Because this summer I'm gonna be painting a set of those and am still figuring out what color I want to go with.

They're 4 lug, they’re brand new from LMR.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Revised the cubby illumination.

Previously, I had a light strip installed inside the cubby, which made the cubby a bit tight (especially when using the 12V outlet).

I now installed the lighting above the cubby. It's quite dim, which is to say it has the same brightness as the switch illumination on the radio/climate above. It used to be much brighter. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that...though the previous brightness was almost distracting.



While I was in there, I routed the audio jack through a proper grommet (phone holder is directly to the right of the radio). In the Aux-in thread, I described how I can now use a cassette adapter without the whirring noise from the cassette deck.



And yes, I know I need to wash that rubber mat.

Oh, and I also did some zip tie surgery to eliminate the center sag/bend that these cubbies are prone to. A tie pulls the centers up/down respectively, so that the cubby edges remain straight.

 

[White Lincoln]

In my never ending quest to track down noises in my car, this Saturday I put the front end up on ramps and today I put the rear end up on ramps. I thought I had seen upper control arm boot torn. After pulling the wheels, it was only grime and grease covering the boot. Once I cleaned it and inspected the front end, I could not find anything that might cause a clunk sound in the front.

On Sunday, I put the rear end up on ramps and did find a few things that were concering. Both rear sub-frame stabalizer brakets were missing a bolt to the frame. They require 2. I found a couple bolts that fit right in and tightened them down since I could not find the torque amount for these bolts in the service manual.

​

In my inspection of the rear end, I found one of the sway bar links was lose. The service manual said the lower bolt to suspension should be 8-10 ft lbs, so I went ahead and did the right thing and tightened them with an impact driver.



Then I noticed my weld of the exhaust pipe to muffler was not that great so I brought out my welder and filled in some holes.



I also ran my Snap-On scanner and got the same damn codes... but I am lucky, it is not finding anything else wrong.



Yes, engine still shows 137 / 173 codes. Maybe a long drive to Santa Fe would blow out anything that is not getting blown out driving back and forth to CVS and Walmart, 1 mile from home.

Thanks for looking.

Adendum. I failed to mention that after doing the fixes in the rear end, I can now hear the bushings making noise when they hit a bump and I believe I have drive shaft issues or differential issues. Crap that can wait.

 

[White Lincoln]

Revised the cubby illumination.

Previously, I had a light strip installed inside the cubby, which made the cubby a bit tight (especially when using the 12V outlet).

I now installed the lighting above the cubby. It's quite dim, which is to say it has the same brightness as the switch illumination on the radio/climate above. It used to be much brighter. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that...though the previous brightness was almost distracting.

View attachment 10706

While I was in there, I routed the audio jack through a proper grommet (phone holder is directly to the right of the radio). In the Aux-in thread, I described how I can now use a cassette adapter without the whirring noise from the cassette deck.



And yes, I know I need to wash that rubber mat.

Oh, and I also did some zip tie surgery to eliminate the center sag/bend that these cubbies are prone to. A tie pulls the centers up/down respectively, so that the cubby edges remain straight.

Damn, I don't have a cubby... I want a cubby!