What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

If you take the rear speakers out you can stuff all kinds of crap down in there. There is already some jute backed material or something in there. I have to stick my paws down in there when I am pumping used oil in there in the fall. I always want to rip it out, but by now it's such an oily mess it isn't worth it.
 
Nice, but I'm not seeing any wood trim!

For the boot, I would suggest a ring that pushes the leather upward. Think a ring that has the same shape as the shifter opening in the cupholder panel, but slightly smaller, say a quarter inch gap all around, and maybe an inch tall. That way the leather would go up, then curve down, then up again to the knob.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Nice, but I'm not seeing any wood trim!

For the boot, I would suggest a ring that pushes the leather upward. Think a ring that has the same shape as the shifter opening in the cupholder panel, but slightly smaller, say a quarter inch gap all around, and maybe an inch tall. That way the leather would go up, then curve down, then up again to the knob.
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I still have exactly one bucketlist idea left for this car and it does involve wood trim😉

The boot isn’t really conducive to any more lifting than it has, the Hurst shifter arm I’m using angles the knob towards the driver so when it’s on first or second gear the leather on the passenger side is just short of being tight. Besides, my fitment benchmark is the car it was designed for, and it’s just as crude lol

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Ahhh. The wood door trim that didn't make it past pre-production. Definitely something you could create if you have a talent for wood work.

Just odd to have that, but no other wood trim whatsoever.
 
I've seen where the cutout is in the panel. I'd get a piece of something cool. That does remind me, I have a piece of leather for the Red Cougar.
 
Moved it up to the top driveway. Our house backs up to the woods and my garage is currently occupied, so I don't want any critters nesting in it when the temps drop at night.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Ahhh. The wood door trim that didn't make it past pre-production. Definitely something you could create if you have a talent for wood work.

Just odd to have that, but no other wood trim whatsoever.
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The latter point is kinda why I’ve not wanted to go to the effort, as I do agree… but apart from a few functional items like the gauges or head unit(although I’m semi considering putting the factory JBL cassette back and using a Bluetooth to FM transmitter to keep that function) I want to keep factory look within reason, and those goofy wood inserts are so tantalizing considering there’s literally a template for their shape on the back side of the door panels!
 
XR7-4.6 said:
The latter point is kinda why I’ve not wanted to go to the effort, as I do agree… but apart from a few functional items like the gauges or head unit(although I’m semi considering putting the factory JBL cassette back and using a Bluetooth to FM transmitter to keep that function) I want to keep factory look within reason, and those goofy wood inserts are so tantalizing considering there’s literally a template for their shape on the back side of the door panels!
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What about black stain so they don't stick out visually? Not that I'm trying to enable, as I don't care for the idea with no other wood trim.
 
Zep5.0 said:
What about black stain so they don't stick out visually? Not that I'm trying to enable, as I don't care for the idea with no other wood trim.
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The likelyhood of me actually doing this is like 20% max so no worries. I think with a black interior blackwood would just blend in to the point of why bother. For me it’s simply to have the look Mercury had wanted before it was tossed out(perhaps rightfully) more than whether it was great design or not.
 
Matt, if you ditch your alpine, I'd be interested if it's the one with time correction.
 
So I took my car back to the shop to get the rear aligned and the service manager told me my eccentric bushings were missing and the left bushing toast. I told him I didnt understand how something was "missing" and asked if he could show me. When I arrived the car was on the lift and he showed me the play in the upper left bushing ( that wasn't identified on my original visit) and the the eccentric were missing! I assume he thinks the eccentric washers found elsewhere on the suspension is supposed to be at the upper rear location. I assured him that the adjustment was internal, but he was too mad thinking I was an idiot to listen or even look at pictures of the correct parts...the young alignment tech was interested and did admit he had never seen bushings like that. Unfortunately, I have to replace the left rear bushing before proceeding with more alignment fun.

Since they will probably demand a new payment for an alignment after I install new parts, I will probably take it somewhere else.
 
Man, Ford really hosed us by using these weird bushings there. From what I have seen, there is some sort of rubber material between the aluminum eccentric cam and the aluminum housing it rides in. That material breaks down and results in play in that joint. I feel like I will almost have to leave a sample bushing in the car for the alignment tech to look at so they believe it actually works like it does.
 
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Flew back to NJ (it's fucking cold), took the cover off, drove it to my last few doctors appointments I couldn't move south, then switched the parking position with the truck. Truck is gonna get a refresh and then I'll drive it down to FL. Used car market in FL is a nightmare.
 
KevinVarnes said:
Man, Ford really hosed us by using these weird bushings there. From what I have seen, there is some sort of rubber material between the aluminum eccentric cam and the aluminum housing it rides in. That material breaks down and results in play in that joint. I feel like I will almost have to leave a sample bushing in the car for the alignment tech to look at so they believe it actually works like it does.
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Might need to keep the bolt with it so they see that the bolt cannot spin freely in the bushing.
 
KevinVarnes said:
Man, Ford really hosed us by using these weird bushings there. From what I have seen, there is some sort of rubber material between the aluminum eccentric cam and the aluminum housing it rides in. That material breaks down and results in play in that joint. I feel like I will almost have to leave a sample bushing in the car for the alignment tech to look at so they believe it actually works like it does.
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Its that white nylon(I assume) piece the eccentric spins inside. I had one turn to complete dust right before my eyes as I was taking out some camber doing a bubble level alignment. I’m probably getting a fresh set of tires next year so I’ll throw it on the rack, and I absolutely plan on bringing with a sample arm/bushing to teach the tech

Wile E. Coyote said:
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Flew back to NJ (it's fucking cold), took the cover off, drove it to my last few doctors appointments I couldn't move south, then switched the parking position with the truck. Truck is gonna get a refresh and then I'll drive it down to FL. Used car market in FL is a nightmare.
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For numerous reasons I bet. Sketchy cars and even more sketchy sellers
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Its that white nylon(I assume) piece the eccentric spins inside. I had one turn to complete dust right before my eyes as I was taking out some camber doing a bubble level alignment. I’m probably getting a fresh set of tires next year so I’ll throw it on the rack, and I absolutely plan on bringing with a sample arm/bushing to teach the tech
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Will a picture suffice? My new shop actually seems open minded enough to entertain supplemental info
 
Vicinity said:
Will a picture suffice? My new shop actually seems open minded enough to entertain supplemental info
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Possibly, they’d hopefully be able to notice the sleeve has a drastically offset bolt hole
 
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