What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

KevinVarnes said:
Be curious to hear more info on this when you get it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately when they looked at it, they said the corrosion was developed beyond the point where the cost to fix it was justifiable and that I'd just be wasting money on it. I was prepared for that answer, sadly, so I'm thinking I'll keep the car another 1-2 years then decide how to retire it. I've toyed with the idea of building a teksid 2v for the T-bird, and it has an updated/recently rebuilt trans I could probably find a new home for.... :zdunno: :sad:
 
theterminator93 said:
Unfortunately when they looked at it, they said the corrosion was developed beyond the point where the cost to fix it was justifiable and that I'd just be wasting money on it. I was prepared for that answer, sadly, so I'm thinking I'll keep the car another 1-2 years then decide how to retire it. I've toyed with the idea of building a teksid 2v for the T-bird, and it has an updated/recently rebuilt trans I could probably find a new home for.... :zdunno: :sad:
Click to expand...

This car is down the street from me and I suspect he’d take $1,000 for it. Paint is definitely tired but in an authenticity southwest car sort of way, there’s no rust underneath when I peeked

Bei Facebook anmelden

Melde dich bei Facebook an, um dich mit deinen Freunden, deiner Familie und Personen, die du kennst, zu verbinden und Inhalte zu teilen.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
Last edited:
Brought the battery out of the house and started it up in the garage. Mainly wanted to see if I went too far with all the wiring gutting I did in January, but it’s all good, other than the minor hiccup of the high beams coming on in low beam mode but that was an easy fix :tongue:

Since that went well I pulled the kooks out of the trunk to verify something using my stack of modular parts before I go full send on the install and novice exhaust fab with my cheap welder and bends.

IMG_6435.jpeg

That’s a 5.4 DOHC timing cover btw lol
 
XR7-4.6 said:
Brought the battery out of the house and started it up in the garage. Mainly wanted to see if I went too far with all the wiring gutting I did in January, but it’s all good, other than the minor hiccup of the high beams coming on in low beam mode but that was an easy fix :tongue:

Since that went well I pulled the kooks out of the trunk to verify something using my stack of modular parts before I go full send on the install and novice exhaust fab with my cheap welder and bends.

View attachment 10875

That’s a 5.4 DOHC timing cover btw lol
Click to expand...
DAAAMMMNNNN! Those are some awesome heads and pipes!
 
Today, I finally took the hub caps off and sanded them, wiped them down for dust and sprayed them. I tried last weekend, but the Ford wheel paint was spattering out crap, not paint. Plus, I was not sure if the Duplicolor clear coat was going to have issues with the sun. I went to AutoZoom last night and got a can of Ford wheel paint and a can of Ford wheel clear.

We will see if they turn color in a year. Pics to come.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
View attachment 10901

Got a tow! Pretty sure the TFI module shit the bed.
Click to expand...
Man, does that suck. How much are they charging these days for a tow? Last tow I had was when the smog pump locked up on the Mark VII and I did not have a way to fix it, late at night, in the dark in a strange neighborhood and the wife was on board.
 
White Lincoln said:
Man, does that suck. How much are they charging these days for a tow? Last tow I had was when the smog pump locked up on the Mark VII and I did not have a way to fix it, late at night, in the dark in a strange neighborhood and the wife was on board.
Click to expand...
I have the part in my garage and knew it needed to be done. Laziness on my part.

The tow was free, I have AAA, My newest vehicle is my truck and that’s a 15, I figured it would be worth it when you have a few 30+ year old cars. 😂
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
I have the part in my garage and knew it needed to be done. Laziness on my part.

The tow was free, I have AAA, My newest vehicle is my truck and that’s a 15, I figured it would be worth it when you have a few 30+ year old cars. 😂
Click to expand...
Dang... I used to have AAA. Then I got old and switched to AARP.... :P
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
Got a tow! Pretty sure the TFI module shit the bed.
Click to expand...
That stinks, but I don't know if I should be sad that it broke down or disappointed that you didn't have a spare TFI module and special tool in the glove box. I'll give you a pass since it just got painted and you probably had the interior gutted or something and hadn't put it back in yet ;)
 
White Lincoln said:
Today, I finally took the hub caps off and sanded them, wiped them down for dust and sprayed them. I tried last weekend, but the Ford wheel paint was spattering out crap, not paint. Plus, I was not sure if the Duplicolor clear coat was going to have issues with the sun. I went to AutoZoom last night and got a can of Ford wheel paint and a can of Ford wheel clear.

We will see if they turn color in a year. Pics to come.
Click to expand...
The hubs came out a bit brighter than the wheels, but that is expected after a few years.
painted hub.jpg

But from afar, the don't look to bad. Better than they did.

Not bad from afar.jpg

Old hub color:

Old hub color.jpg
 
Looks good. I believe silver is one of the hardest colors to match. The only way to get a perfect match is to repaint the wheels with the same paint. I think I've mentioned it here before, but the Rustoleum silver I used on the wheels on the '97 is a dead-on match for the OEM Ford center caps.
 
Today, I learned several things about the Stereo install in the Red cougar. First, where all the $@@@%@#@&* screws are.
Then how to unhook the satc climate controls. Third, how to unplug the connector on the radio I put in in 2005.
Fourth, that I over-tightened all the bezel screws, which broke all the tabs over the last 20 years.
I started before noon, and just finished. Jeez, it sucks getting old, 42 is much better than 62.
If the weather holds, I'm going in with new wiring tomorrow. New Monster Rca cables, and the battery relocation cables.
I've got to mount the Capacitor on the Amp board, add a new power splitter block, drill holes in the firewall for the weather seals, and mount the battery box, Power is going down the pass side, rca's down the drivers side.
I've also got to run wiring for the wideband
 
KevinVarnes said:
That stinks, but I don't know if I should be sad that it broke down or disappointed that you didn't have a spare TFI module and special tool in the glove box. I'll give you a pass since it just got painted and you probably had the interior gutted or something and hadn't put it back in yet ;)
Click to expand...
It’s still not fully put together. But I replaced the TFI today and turns out that wasn’t it, looks like it might be the PIP. So I have one on order.
 
Moved her to the garage and started working on her!

PXL_20250316_203322648.jpg

PXL_20250317_012237072.jpg

Aside from the UCA (because I'm using it to hold the brake caliper up) everything is now torn apart from the driver side. My boy was helping me with a good chunk of this tear down, and he's all for it! I have him using the impact drill to get stuff off, showing him how to do the double wrench thing for extra leverage/torque and I'm sure more stuff will come.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
It’s still not fully put together. But I replaced the TFI today and turns out that wasn’t it, looks like it might be the PIP. So I have one on order.
Click to expand...
Had the same thing happen to me. First long range vacation with the family (and mother in law) in the '85 wagon. Coming home it would run great for 2-2.5 hours and then it would stall. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then repeat the cycle. Tried replacing the TFI on the side of the road to no avail. Tried replacing the coil since I could get it. No dice. Wound up just throwing the parts cannon at it when I got home since I couldn't easily replicate the problem. Put in a NOS Motorcraft distributor and Motorcraft coil and TFI and and relocated the TFI module to the driver side fenderwell with one of the later aluminum heat sinks. No problems since. I'm pretty confident it was the PIP in the distributor.
 
KevinVarnes said:
Had the same thing happen to me. First long range vacation with the family (and mother in law) in the '85 wagon. Coming home it would run great for 2-2.5 hours and then it would stall. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then repeat the cycle. Tried replacing the TFI on the side of the road to no avail. Tried replacing the coil since I could get it. No dice. Wound up just throwing the parts cannon at it when I got home since I couldn't easily replicate the problem. Put in a NOS Motorcraft distributor and Motorcraft coil and TFI and and relocated the TFI module to the driver side fenderwell with one of the later aluminum heat sinks. No problems since. I'm pretty confident it was the PIP in the distributor.
Click to expand...
I tested it last night, turns out I have no spark, everything is motorcraft, the TFI, coil, cap and rotor. But unfortunately I couldn’t find a Motorcraft PIP for a 2.3 so I ended up ordering a Standard Motor Products one. It’ll get me by for the nice car season, but I’ll try and hunt down a Motorcraft one and replace it over the winter, if the SMP one lasts that long. 😂
 
KevinVarnes said:
Had the same thing happen to me. First long range vacation with the family (and mother in law) in the '85 wagon. Coming home it would run great for 2-2.5 hours and then it would stall. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then repeat the cycle. Tried replacing the TFI on the side of the road to no avail. Tried replacing the coil since I could get it. No dice. Wound up just throwing the parts cannon at it when I got home since I couldn't easily replicate the problem. Put in a NOS Motorcraft distributor and Motorcraft coil and TFI and and relocated the TFI module to the driver side fenderwell with one of the later aluminum heat sinks. No problems since. I'm pretty confident it was the PIP in the distributor.
Click to expand...
Good luck traking the issue down and fixing it! Sometimes I wish I had OBSII. :P
 
Years ago at TSTSNBN
Ericv8thunderbird said:
Replaced my hood liner, it touches a couple things, but it is a lot thicker than the factory one.

I ordered one for my Turbo Coupe too.

I got it from here : https://www.hoodliners.net/products...maZUDCGWdUiLL4Zrrr7vzyDeuALiCLCEaAiu5EALw_wcB

View attachment 10930
Click to expand...
Years ago at TSTSNBN, Gonzalo Duque was making these for the MN-12. He passed away and I'm wondering if a family member picked up making these.

Ok, poked around on the website and his son took over the business. :thumbsup:

Joe
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
I tested it last night, turns out I have no spark, everything is motorcraft, the TFI, coil, cap and rotor. But unfortunately I couldn’t find a Motorcraft PIP for a 2.3 so I ended up ordering a Standard Motor Products one. It’ll get me by for the nice car season, but I’ll try and hunt down a Motorcraft one and replace it over the winter, if the SMP one lasts that long. 😂
Click to expand...
I got lucky and RockAuto had old Motorcraft distributors in stock when I ordered mine. Looked like it had been sitting on a shelf for 30 years. I agree with Mikey. Standard (regular line) are usually pretty good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Back
Top