What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

For my Gold Bird, last night I ordered front and rear sway bar bushings, an oil filter, and 6qts of oil for my first oil change since purchasing it back in July. I can't believe that I've put on just over 5,000 miles already. I need to drive my Honda more often, lol.

Oh, I also ordered the first part of the PBR upgrade, the caliper brackets, lol.

For Pearl, I finally got word back from Dalke about the rear caliper adapters. I hope to be making that purchase later this week.
 
One of my RA shipments got returned because the shipper had an issue with the address. The same address I've used a bunch of times before with RA on other orders. But this time, they couldn't find my delivery address?

And of course it was one of the things I needed for this weekend....

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I’ve had things like that happen with USPS at home and my job.
 
:facepalm:

During this time of year, I would almost EXPECT something like this. I have been lucky so far. Hope you get your item soon.

Come to think of it, I bougth a pair of those years ago, from the list for my car and they were too big. Still sitting in the shed, in the original box collecting dust.
 
The rest of the order came in today. Nothing changed except the carrier. UPS for the cancelled part and FedEx for the delivered part.

Sucks too because I prefer UPS over FedEx.

I'm kind of tempted to go to the JY down the street from my work to get the other bracket, but my problem is finding the time to go down there.

Also, having a flashy clean bracket on one side and a used dirty one on the other side (even if I were to clean it up as best as possible) isn't my cup of tea. I'm too OCD for that 😅.

White Lincoln said:
I bougth a pair of those years ago, from the list for my car and they were too big. Still sitting in the shed, in the original box collecting dust.
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The caliper brackets or the bushings?
 
I ordered the caliper bracket again and the bushings. This time I'm getting them shipped to my house. Mainly, because I'll be on vacation from work when expected delivery will be made.
 
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Dropped the trans to see why I was having the reverse issue, and a slight ticking noise.

I’m almost positive this is my issue, that bolt coming through for the slave cylinder bracket is hitting the fork, causing it not to fully release. I wish I saw this before dropping the transmission. D’oh!
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
View attachment 15732
Dropped the trans to see why I was having the reverse issue, and a slight ticking noise.

I’m almost positive this is my issue, that bolt coming through for the slave cylinder bracket is hitting the fork, causing it not to fully release. I wish I saw this before dropping the transmission. D’oh!
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May as well upgrade the clutch while you’re there 🤣

I ran that bolt backwards on mine with the nut on the slave bracket side IIRC, I seem to remember thinking it might interfere running it like that, I guess it does!
 
XR7-4.6 said:
May as well upgrade the clutch while you’re there 🤣

I ran that bolt backwards on mine with the nut on the slave bracket side IIRC, I seem to remember thinking it might interfere running it like that, I guess it does!
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The clutch is new, and there’s no damage, it’s a valeo king cobra.

While I have it out it’s definitely getting a new TOB, Fork, and pivot stud, I’m also going to do something different to cover up that giant hole for the shifter. 😬
 
CDsDontBurn said:
The rest of the order came in today. Nothing changed except the carrier. UPS for the cancelled part and FedEx for the delivered part.

Sucks too because I prefer UPS over FedEx.

I'm kind of tempted to go to the JY down the street from my work to get the other bracket, but my problem is finding the time to go down there.

Also, having a flashy clean bracket on one side and a used dirty one on the other side (even if I were to clean it up as best as possible) isn't my cup of tea. I'm too OCD for that 😅.

The caliper brackets or the bushings?
Click to expand...

Yup. FedEx is, IMHO, by far the better delivery company. Why do you prefer UPS over FedEx?
 
I took the car to the Charlotte Cars & Coffee this morning. Great show with some really amazing cars there. Hendrick’s Cars had ALL the new Ferrari’s on display there. They were amazing! I’ll post pictures from the show today separately.

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'Since it was so NICE out today, I changed my oil. I thought I was at 3000 miles, turns out I was at 1,183.' :facepalm:

Needless to say, the oil 'looked' bad (trying to make myself feel better).... I replaced my Motorcraft Oil filter with a K&N PS-2009. Then I read the article that K&N filters are designed to "get the oil through" for performace so there it less resistance. But the sacrifices is less filtering. Then I read about Motorcraft being made by Purolater and the article said you can't buy much better (especially for the price) than a Motorcraft or Purolator oil filter for peak performance and oil filtering.

As for Wix vs Motorcraft, this is what my AI said:
"Wix oil filters are known for their high efficiency, often filtering out particles as small as 5-15 microns, while Motorcraft filters typically have a minimum efficiency of 80% at 20 microns. Both brands are reliable, but Wix is often favored for its robust construction and filtration capabilities, whereas Motorcraft is trusted for its OEM quality and compatibility with Ford vehicles."
 
White Lincoln said:
'Since it was so NICE out today, I changed my oil. I thought I was at 3000 miles, turns out I was at 1,183.' :facepalm:

Needless to say, the oil 'looked' bad (trying to make myself feel better).... I replaced my Motorcraft Oil filter with a K&N PS-2009. Then I read the article that K&N filters are designed to "get the oil through" for performace so there it less resistance. But the sacrifices is less filtering. Then I read about Motorcraft being made by Purolater and the article said you can't buy much better (especially for the price) than a Motorcraft or Purolator oil filter for peak performance and oil filtering.

As for Wix vs Motorcraft, this is what my AI said:
"Wix oil filters are known for their high efficiency, often filtering out particles as small as 5-15 microns, while Motorcraft filters typically have a minimum efficiency of 80% at 20 microns. Both brands are reliable, but Wix is often favored for its robust construction and filtration capabilities, whereas Motorcraft is trusted for its OEM quality and compatibility with Ford vehicles."
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WIX is my personal preference, although I do have some spare Motorcrafts sitting in the garage.
 
White Lincoln said:
As for Wix vs Motorcraft, this is what my AI said:
"Wix oil filters are known for their high efficiency, often filtering out particles as small as 5-15 microns, while Motorcraft filters typically have a minimum efficiency of 80% at 20 microns. Both brands are reliable, but Wix is often favored for its robust construction and filtration capabilities, whereas Motorcraft is trusted for its OEM quality and compatibility with Ford vehicles."
Click to expand...
And if AI told you wolverines would make good house pets would you believe it? Seriously though. Do more digging than what the little AI overview gives you. I find some very inaccurate information in there all the time.

In honesty, the filter manufacturers and quality seems to move around quite a bit. I think Wix is part of Mann+Hummel and not all of their filters are made in the US. I was putting one in an Audi a few months ago and it was made in Vietnam. I've seen others made in Czech Republic and Hungary. Doesn't mean it isn't just fine, but as with most aftermarket parts these days, you really don't know what you are going to get until you get it. I still think regular maintenance is more important that the ultimate high performance, everyone on BITOG loves it, oil filter.
 
KevinVarnes said:
And if AI told you wolverines would make good house pets would you believe it? Seriously though. Do more digging than what the little AI overview gives you. I find some very inaccurate information in there all the time.

In honesty, the filter manufacturers and quality seems to move around quite a bit. I think Wix is part of Mann+Hummel and not all of their filters are made in the US. I was putting one in an Audi a few months ago and it was made in Vietnam. I've seen others made in Czech Republic and Hungary. Doesn't mean it isn't just fine, but as with most aftermarket parts these days, you really don't know what you are going to get until you get it. I still think regular maintenance is more important that the ultimate high performance, everyone on BITOG loves it, oil filter.
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I understand what you are saying. The phrase I pulled from Duckduckgo came directly from forums.y-blocksforever.com and Wikipedia, AI did not make it up and I am not even sure if it is AI and not just a search engine. And in all honesty, I used Fram filters for 2/3 of the life of the car and it is still going strong. But I do change my oil regulary and do maintenance on the car. I would have to believe that you can use a cheapy filter and cheap oil in your engine for daily driving as long as you change it on a regular basis (for my car, every 3000 miles). And the more I thought about it, the oil and filter I had in the car for only 1200 miles was oil from hard test driving and seveal issues i recenlty resolved. So it may have been time to change it under those circumstances. What do I know, I didn't go to school for this stuff... I just read a lot of articles and asked a lot of quesitons. Besides, AI will be the determent of human kind. :P
 
Trunk Monkey said:
Yup. FedEx is, IMHO, by far the better delivery company. Why do you prefer UPS over FedEx?
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Why do I prefer UPS over FedEx?

Because I worked at UPS for 1-1/2yrs in my early 20s.

That stint with them though is why I believe that I have my present day back problems. 😒
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Why do I prefer UPS over FedEx?

Because I worked at UPS for 1-1/2yrs in my early 20s.

That stint with them though is why I believe that I have my present day back problems. 😒
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Sorry about your back. When I was a lot younger I applied to work as seasonal help at the local UPS distribution center. For whatever reason the guy that interviewed me didn’t like me and I didn’t get the job. Maybe he did me a favor. :zshrug:
 
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