What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Actually it topped out at 392°F.
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When it’s inside the box it won’t see temps that high since the fan is directly cooling it off whenever it has current going through it. Without the fan to cool the coil will eventually pop like a fuse
 
White Lincoln said:
1994-95 Cougar corner lights at RockAuto - CHEAP!

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Very good price, but I will say I probably have the same corners from a different vendor I bought a few years ago and the fit and finish is not great, I had to slot the header panel holes, add washers to the studs, swap the rubber gasket from a crappy set of Ford corners etc. the chrome inside is pretty dull too to the extent that they end up looking old next to also new headlight housings
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Very good price, but I will say I probably have the same corners from a different vendor I bought a few years ago and the fit and finish is not great, I had to slot the header panel holes, add washers to the studs, swap the rubber gasket from a crappy set of Ford corners etc. the chrome inside is pretty dull too to the extent that they end up looking old next to also new headlight housings
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That is sad to hear XR. I bought these same ones earlier this year and had no issues installing them. Well... except the passenger side. As you may know my car was wrecked before I bought it and hence, nothing in the front fits like it should. I will never buy a salvaged car again!
 
White Lincoln said:
That is sad to hear XR. I bought these same ones earlier this year and had no issues installing them. Well... except the passenger side. As you may know my car was wrecked before I bought it and hence, nothing in the front fits like it should. I will never buy a salvaged car again!
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The passenger side for worse on mine too and my cars never been in an accident(there anyway). Never had an issue in the stock corners, the clear 96-97 corners, the amber 96-97 corners or the clear 94-95 corners I have now.
 
So, the passenger side suspension has been reassembled with all new parts and the driver side is now just waiting for the install. Thought I'd measure the driver side inner tie rod that had way more play than the passenger side, which was also bad. The in/out movement was slightly more than a 1/16". I imagine there was some "play" in my steering.
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Well in the whole brake line portion of the project I managed to spill not a drop of fluid on paint… but then when i had to replace the caliper because the threads for the bleeder stripped I neglected to fully tighten the cap after topping it off and going for a drive and sure enough some fluid splashed out and wet my wrinkle coated Ford GT coil cover. Miraculously none got on the valve cover below which is a relief but now comes the time to strip it all off and repaint it

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And since I’d like to drive the car in the mean time this hideous temporary solution is used to motivate me to finish this project faster 😆

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So I have a few observations of the Rock Auto front suspension rebuild kit (and I suspect others have had similar experiences)
1) I didn't realize that the kit didn't come with sway bar end links. Totally my fault, but now I wait.
2) I know it is a crap shoot, but different parts for different sides. The driver side lower control arm seemed like better quality and had a zerk fitting. The passenger side had a sealed ball joint.
3) I checked all of the boxes when they arrived to check for missing parts and sure enough one of the upper control arms was missing the zerk fittings. What I didn't catch is that the angle zerk fitting on the lower control arm was cross-threaded at an angle that the grease gun couldn't attach. I'm hoping that I successfully backed out and rethreaded the previously cross-threaded part....I'll know more tomorrow when I finish the job.

Anyway, all that's left is grease fittings, brakes reinstalled, install new endlinks when they arrive and then an alignment.
 
I feel like I've spent the last 4 years trying to get suspension greenlights before I take anything else on.
 
Glad yours is going back together Kurt!

My end links and rear strut rod bushings were delivered today but I’m in Chicago so no wrenching this week.
 

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I put my original ECU back in and replaced the plastic finally. I've been running a 97 ECU from troubleshooting way back.
 
400 degrees is into 'live steam' range. If that's real, something there us not long for this world , lol.
I've seen one of my transmission that hot; I had to use gloves to remove it the next day.
I was warned to leave the rad cap off; It boiled the coolant dry overnight. Even oil temp shouldn't be much more than that.
 
Remember when aircraft stripper actually stripped paint and didn’t leave 100,000 stubborn spots?

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Bring back Methylene Chloride!!!!!
 
My XR7 is back together after the front suspension replacement. Despite counting turns and marking the lower control arm location, the car slightly pulls to the right. No worries, it is getting aligned tomorrow.
 
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Kurt K said:
My XR7 is back together after the front suspension replacement. Despite counting turns and marking the lower control arm location, the car slightly pulls to the right. No worries, it is getting aligned tomorrow.
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Counting turns only works if the old and new parts are exactly the same. I usually measure from a part on the inner tie rod to the center of the outer tie rod stud and set to that, but I almost always end up making minor tweaks to get the car to roll straight and/or to center the steering wheel. Mind you it still needs an alignment, but I hate sending a car out with a crooked steering wheel.
 
KevinVarnes said:
Counting turns only works if the old and new parts are exactly the same. I usually measure from a part on the inner tie rod to the center of the outer tie rod stud and set to that, but I almost always end up making minor tweaks to get the car to roll straight and/or to center the steering wheel. Mind you it still needs an alignment, but I hate sending a car out with a crooked steering wheel.
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As expected, the local Dobbs said there wasn't a way to adjust the rear chamber..."the car doesn't have elipical bushings". I assured him it does aandhe said I can bring it back tomorrow (but I can't). What I didn't expect, was to have a crooked steering wheel when finished!

I don't think the post-assembly alignment numbers were too bad, but I dont know how bad things were prior to assembly20251001_122542.jpg
 
Kurt K said:
As expected, the local Dobbs said there wasn't a way to adjust the rear chamber..."the car doesn't have elipical bushings". I assured him it does aandhe said I can bring it back tomorrow (but I can't). What I didn't expect, was to have a crooked steering wheel when finished!

I don't think the post-assembly alignment numbers were too bad, but I dont know how bad things were prior to assemblyView attachment 14894
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I feel as if it’s really tough to find a good alignment place these days, everywhere I’ve gone on all my vehicles I haven’t been happy with the alignment. Even the Ford dealership with my truck.
 
I'm hoping to move my car enough this weekend to set up an alignment in the next couple weeks. The shop I'm planning to use is very well known as the best in the area. I hope that hasn't changed.
 
Finished engine bay cleaning. Since the engines need a lot of work with these cars, it's nicer if your workplace is clean. Before:
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After:
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I want to believe that this boosts my motivation to work on all the rust inside the engine bay. The engine block is still dirty too, I think I'll try cleaning the dirt off that once I get a new drive belt.

And yes I love my violin case, I rinsed and sprayed some trim restorer on it. 8-)
 
Managed to straighten my steering wheel after my craptacular alignment. I rotated each tie rod 240º(driver side into the outer tie rod, and passenger side out of the outer tie rod). Of course it didn't fix the slight pull, but at least my steering wheel is straight.
 
SnowyOwl said:
Finished engine bay cleaning. Since the engines need a lot of work with these cars, it's nicer if your workplace is clean. Before:
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After:
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I want to believe that this boosts my motivation to work on all the rust inside the engine bay. The engine block is still dirty too, I think I'll try cleaning the dirt off that once I get a new drive belt.

And yes I love my violin case, I rinsed and sprayed some trim restorer on it. 8-)
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Looking good. I think everyone here would be horrified if they saw the engine compartment on our '97. It gets a heavy coating of spray grease every fall. Ain't pretty, but grease doesn't rust.

Kurt K said:
Managed to straighten my steering wheel after my craptacular alignment. I rotated each tie rod 240º(driver side into the outer tie rod, and passenger side out of the outer tie rod). Of course it didn't fix the slight pull, but at least my steering wheel is straight.
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Now that the steering wheel is straight, you can adjust the outer tie rods the same amount in the same direction to get rid of the pull until you get an alignment if you were so inclined. I would just lean in the driver's seat in the opposite direction of the pull to make the world right to me.
 
And after a few nights of stripping the old paint it’s once again wrinkle black. I forgot how hit and miss these cans can be, but it’s pretty forgiving at least.

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I got my chance to sound-deaden the front wheel wells. I looked at the rears as well, but they don't have the same fender liner that allows stuffing a bunch of deadener safely out of the way. The fronts are the most important in any case.

Going to take a long highway trip on Monday and get the chance to hear what it's like.
 
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