What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

Big Scott said:
I heard a noise on the drivers side...

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Not sure how this happened nor do I understand how the bushing stayed wedged up there. The last guy that did the alignment a couple years ago was a total douche.
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Yike. That could have gone very badly. Are those Thunderbird/Cougar aftermarket strut rod bushings or from another application? They look different than the usual MN12 parts.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I have ditched the column gauge pod I grew to absolutely hateā€¦. Which was quite a bit more work than it sounds. The tape holding it on ripped off some of the vinyl paint on the original shroud underneath and required me to strip and repaint it. I kept the toggle switch in the pods key release location I originally used to shut off the wideband but instead rewired it to toggle the fog lights(which I previously wired to always on after the console swap) in one position as well as the DRLs in the other.

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What of the wideband you ask? Itā€™s over here now šŸ˜†

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The wideband gauge being way over there would seem far more of an issue than ons the column or A-pillar.

If the bezels weren't such a rare commodity, would you consider mounting it to the bezel in the area around the rear defrost switch?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
The wideband gauge being way over there would seem far more of an issue than ons the column or A-pillar.

If the bezels weren't such a rare commodity, would you consider mounting it to the bezel in the area around the rear defrost switch?
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The column spot just sucks, it pushes against the cluster bezel to where you canā€™t adjust the column without bending it and from the driver seat it covers over 2/3rds of the tach.

Iā€™m not actually leaving it there, Iā€™m just too lazy to come up with something better. A single A pillar pod would probably be my first choice, but Iā€™d seek out a spare A pillar first as I never intended to keep the wideband permanently installed, I only use it just for the tuning stage

Ericv8thunderbird said:
Ooooo. Do share!
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I stuck a relay inside with the normally closed terminals jumpering the circuits going to the O/T button and used another circuit on the board that has 12v in all positions but Off to energize the relay coil. The relay basically just mimics you holding down the button indefinitely, when you actually use the controls the relay is energized and it operates normally, displaying the interior temp

This only works this simply on SOME 94-97 climate control heads though, this one you can hold down the button and the display will show the temperature indefinitely, other ones cancel after 5 seconds even though youā€™re still holding down the button.
 
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Not my Thunderbird but car adjacent, I changed the oil on my brother's Subaru legacy, pretty easy considering the oil filter is right on top in the engine bay, used an oil I've never used before, Motomaster OE plus full-synthetic, its formulated by shell who also makes Quakerstate and Pennzoil so I figure its actually decent oil for the price, plus. "any oil is better than no oil!"
 
Yet again working on the steering shaft. The piece I made from the 3/4ā€ bar stock I must have shaved a little too much material from making the DD ends. And there was the slightest play in the wheel as a result even with the unisteer U joint cranked down on it. My fix today was simply taking it back apart and sandwiching a piece of .008ā€ feeler gauge in to fill the slack. Hack but fixed!
 
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A lot of times I'll use hard copper to take up slack. It'll squezee out of sreel. I pulled out the big power supply today; it's about 100lbs. I will get the fp to get the gas out of my tank.
 
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Grog6 said:
A lot of times I'll use hard copper to take up slack. It'll squezee out of sreel.
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The feeler gauge, U joint and shaft section are all stainless, plus itā€™s got a hard stop on all ends so thereā€™s nowhere for it to squeeze out.

I degreed my cams with feeler gauges too, I know what Iā€™m doing šŸ˜

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KevinVarnes said:
Yike. That could have gone very badly. Are those Thunderbird/Cougar aftermarket strut rod bushings or from another application? They look different than the usual MN12 parts.
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They look like the 61 continental bushings I just got to redo mine.

They only way I can see that bushing coming off that rod without splitting open confirms the doucher assessment.
 
Apparently I went Thanksgiving turkey hunting with the car today. It was of the insta-tenderized variety and was super fresh, but alas... I had to abandon it to the elements.

In theory a replacement windshield is coming tomorrow. Thank goodness it's going to be dry for a few days! :facepalm: :zcrazy:

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theterminator93 said:
Apparently I went Thanksgiving turkey hunting with the car today. It was of the insta-tenderized variety and was super fresh, but alas... I had to abandon it to the elements.

In theory a replacement windshield is coming tomorrow. Thank goodness it's going to be dry for a few days! :facepalm: :zcrazy:

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That stinks. Glad it wasn't any worse than it was and you were able to find a replacement windshield so easily.
 
theterminator93 said:
Apparently I went Thanksgiving turkey hunting with the car today. It was of the insta-tenderized variety and was super fresh, but alas... I had to abandon it to the elements.

In theory a replacement windshield is coming tomorrow. Thank goodness it's going to be dry for a few days! :facepalm: :zcrazy:

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Glad to hear that it's just a windshield and not anything more serious!

On that note, did it get more than just your windshield?

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I got my catalytic converter guard for my cr-v a couple weeks ago, finally got it assembled and today just painted it with some high heat paint, here's a before and after, I know the paint will eventually come off but I just wanted to dull it down so it wasn't a big "LOOK OVER HERE" that the shiny aluminum was I think it turned out great
Before
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after
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then I also took off the side step that's going to get in the way of putting it on and came up with this hack to keep the hardware that was in really good shape after I cleaned it free of rust for the time being until I can figure out how to put the step back on with the guard, its the hardware in a bag with fresh 0w-20 engine oil then two bags on top to keep it from leaking, feel free to tell me why this is a great idea or the worst thing you've ever seen. Is it overkill, yes, probably, but I had the idea and the oil that's good for nothing else and this hardware is worth keeping nice so I don't gotta buy more down the road.
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New glass is in, $299. Pleasantly surprised that they were able to get it in so quickly, and the tech was familiar with MN12s/FN10s too.

He didn't have the right rivets to put the trim back on so he'll be back Monday, but I can at least drive it again. :)

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theterminator93 said:
New glass is in, $299. Pleasantly surprised that they were able to get it in so quickly, and the tech was familiar with MN12s/FN10s too.

He didn't have the right rivets to put the trim back on so he'll be back Monday, but I can at least drive it again. :)

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I'm wondering if your wiper arms are mixed up. Left and right are shaped ever so slightly differently; the letters L and R are on the back.
 
I bent them down to put more pressure on the windshield because they skip at high speeds. The wiper transmission bushings the main drive gears run through are shot.
 
theterminator93 said:
New glass is in, $299. Pleasantly surprised that they were able to get it in so quickly, and the tech was familiar with MN12s/FN10s too.

He didn't have the right rivets to put the trim back on so he'll be back Monday, but I can at least drive it again. :)

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Looks really good. Fresh glass is always nice. I've been considering replacing my Tbird windshield. It still has the original glass and the glass is speckled from 30 years and over 200K miles of highway speed dust blasting.
 
I need to do the same with my Cougar, itā€™s only a few years old, but all speckled.
 
theterminator93 said:
New glass is in, $299. Pleasantly surprised that they were able to get it in so quickly, and the tech was familiar with MN12s/FN10s too.

He didn't have the right rivets to put the trim back on so he'll be back Monday, but I can at least drive it again. :)

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New glass is always a big improvement! Also, that's a pretty good price. Looked up my receipt and I paid Safelite $395 last year to replace mine.

I took all the trim off before the tech came to replace it. He was kind of surprised I had it all taken apart already; told me he would have done it. Looking back now I probably should have just let him deal with it. I was just worried they might have bent the trim up or something by accident. It was fairly straight forward to remove and install the trim though. Worst part was drilling out the rivets
 
Washed most of the dirt and grime from the last year of putting it together in my garage age nephews shop.
 
Took it out for probably the last drive of the year(was a beautiful 70Ā° today, wonā€™t be tomorrow and beyond in the forecast!). The tune is still a mess at idle and thereā€™s a really heinous buzz in the power steering turning left at low speedsā€¦ which has been an ongoing issue that tends to eventually go away but has me slightly concerned about the state of the quite nice rackā€¦ but itā€™s also teething pains from an extremely project heavy year for it so I should look on the bright side

Next years agenda:

#1 dial in tune, maybe even spring for a legit dyno tune because Iā€™m kind of over the curveballs of doing it myself

#2 custom driveshaft. The CVPI one I have was fine but since putting the 4.30s in it definitely is hitting critical speed sooner than Iā€™d like! Iā€™m very seriously considering a 4ā€ in spite of the fitment issues theyā€™re known forā€¦ I have a hammer or two šŸ˜†

#3 tires. The pitfalls of buying lightly used as I tend to do is the ā€œnewā€ tires/wheels I picked up in 2022 were 5-6 years old then and in spite of the fronts having tons of tread left theyā€™re very old now. The rears arenā€™t as old but for some odd reason are wearing down at a rapid rate šŸ˜‡

#4 upgrade(downgrade?) the stereo. I want the stock cassette head unit it back controlling the stock CD changer for its sheer uniquess and rarity but also because I think it looks better, but also want a bigger subwoofer(still in the stock enclosure) and a better amp to drive it and the speakers.
 
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Which sub(s) are you running now and what size do you want to upgrade to? What amp(s) do you have in mind?

I'm planning on washing mine tomorrow and taking it for a drive up into the mountains of NC with my son.

It'll be his first time driving the Tbird. I'm very excited to see his reaction to the car.

As a side note, pending mods on my car:
  • Replace the OD crank pulley
  • Adjust the meth injection flow rate after I had to replace the pump switch about 4 maybe 5 years ago. It's been so long I don't even remember.
  • Touch up the paint
  • Replace the exhaust tips
  • and, I've been wanting to install after market bucket seats for decades. May be next year ...
 
Trunk Monkey said:
Which sub(s) are you running now and what size do you want to upgrade to? What amp(s) do you have in mind?

I'm planning on washing mine tomorrow and taking it for a drive up into the mountains of NC with my son.

It'll be his first time driving the Tbird. I'm very excited to see his reaction to the car.

As a side note, pending mods on my car:
  • Replace the OD crank pulley
  • Adjust the meth injection flow rate after I had to replace the pump switch about 4 maybe 5 years ago. It's been so long I don't even remember.
  • Touch up the paint
  • Replace the exhaust tips
  • and, I've been wanting to install after market bucket seats for decades. May be next year ...
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Just an 8ā€(I think?) like Brandon has. I have a little 6ā€ JL sub thatā€™s a semi-direct fit in the factory enclosure, same as the one featured in the old MN12performance article in fact, but Iā€™d like to stuff in the biggest it can take. Amp I havenā€™t decided on but similarly modest, just something equal to or greater than the current Alpine HU alone in power/clarity would be perfectly suitable for my needs
 
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