What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Manual swappers, any opportunity to point it out, they're like: "actually, it's manu-awllll..."
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Well it is 😝 I deleted mine too, see?

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1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
But contrary to yours truly, Ford didn't bother to mount the bezel on springs to achieve a tight fit.
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I would have expected it would be molded to sit higher and have rubber nubs in the console top to prevent NVH if it were factory executed (similar to the rubber nubs between the cluster and bezel). The rubber gasket almost strikes me as a hasty solution to bad measuring.
 
XR7-4.6 said:
I would have expected it would be molded to sit higher and have rubber nubs in the console top to prevent NVH if it were factory executed (similar to the rubber nubs between the cluster and bezel). The rubber gasket almost strikes me as a hasty solution to bad measuring.
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About that, fun fact: there's an unused tab molded into the bottom of the console panel (red arrow), same type of tab as those used to hold it to the console (yellow arrows). This may have been intended to hold the shift bezel during development. (Or does that hold the manual shift boot?)

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For NVH, I cut off the tips of the melted nubs that held the rubber gasket; then I covered the remainder with thin foam (total of eights all around), which prevents the bezel from directly touching the edge of the opening in the console panel.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
(Or does that hold the manual shift boot?)

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Nope, the top for the manual shift boot was entirely different in shape, placement(about 1.5” closer to the dash) and retention using little metal clips that dig into + shaped nubs to hold the boot surround on…. Incidentally the auto top has one as well for gasket alignment purposes, as you can see next to the tab.

That’s an interesting idea, I never thought much of that tab piece but it really does look like it’s meant for a spring clip. It’s there on all the 94-97 auto tops so it’s curious why they didn’t get rid of it when the mold was altered for the 97s
 
XR7-4.6 said:
That’s an interesting idea, I never thought much of that tab piece but it really does look like it’s meant for a spring clip. It’s there on all the 94-97 auto tops so it’s curious why they didn’t get rid of it when the mold was altered for the 97s
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It's like those indentations in the door panels where the Cougar wood trim was supposed to go. Some sort of development dead-end, or some potential rare option.
 
Trunk Monkey said:
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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Interesting. If it was during peak season, (hiring starts late September), they almost didn't care who was hired on as long as they can move boxes. Off peak, they are a bit more selective about hiring.

1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
I eliminated the rubber gasket around the shift bezel:

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I still need to remove my AT shifter and troubleshoot my issues. I'll be making posts on that separately soon.

Ericv8thunderbird said:
I’ve always preferred UPS, now even more after this stint with FedEx.

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It was UPS that fucked me, not FedEx. FedEx got my delivery correct, lol.
 
They've all fucked me over. I'm the guy that stopped the fedex guy in town, after He passed my house. I made him spend an hour looking for my part. We found it. :) ups guy hates me over the wheels, lol. two sets of spirals, three sets of machined aluminum,two sets of fanblades.
I had to pick up jl's bracing, lol.
 
Grog6 said:
They've all fucked me over. I'm the guy that stopped the FedEx guy in town, after He passed my house. I made him spend an hour looking for my part. We found it. :) ups guy hates me over the wheels, lol. two sets of spirals, three sets of machined aluminum,two sets of fan-blades.
I had to pick up jl's bracing, lol.
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Same. UPS once stuck me with a fee for wheels where the driver claimed he unloaded them at my loading dock and stuck me with a $300 fee. It was a suburban driveway, and *I* even did the unloading from the truck because I was worried they’d get scratched up in the flimsy looking packaging(which they were). Spent an hour trying to resolve it over the phone with the branch and they basically told me it won’t go away. I then contacted the seller and they graciously picked up the tab for me… two months later UPS’s collection goons contacted me looking for the money plus delinquency fees. Contacted UPS and the seller once again and it got resolved. I’m still not sure whose fault it truly was, but everyone I talked to at UPS was a dickwad.

FedEx I’ve sent and received packages that ended up damaged. Worst was a guitar the driver inexplicably leaned against the front door, that came crashing down when I opened it, chipping the paint when the box hit the concrete

USPS just straight up loses packages, especially this time of year.
 
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Put the trans back up in the car today. It was pretty damn cold out today even with my heater in the garage so this is as far as I got.

Brand new TOB, clutch fork, and pivot stud.
I replaced that bolt that was hitting the fork with a button head style just to be sure there won’t be any interference this time around.
 
Sat in the garage this evening and listened to the car stereo for a little bit. Ran through all the stereo settings and made sure everything was working as it should. Sounds really good! Some of you may know, I'm a bit of an audiophile and love the sound of a good stereo or surround sound system.
 
I'm building a system for the black cougar; I found another Alpine like the one in the red cougar, it already has wiring and speakers, so I need an amp and subs, which I also have. So; I need to start assembling stuff. I'm finally getting over the flu
 
Grog6 said:
I'm building a system for the black cougar; I found another Alpine like the one in the red cougar, it already has wiring and speakers, so I need an amp and subs, which I also have. So; I need to start assembling stuff. I'm finally getting over the flu
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Glad you’re feeling some better. You’ll have to post pix and updates on your Cougar system build.

I’ll be upgrading the A-pillar tweeters in our Dodge sometime next week.
 
Trunk Monkey said:
Sat in the garage this evening and listened to the car stereo for a little bit.
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I’ve been doing that since my early teens.
My parents always had top of the line Ford’s and Lincoln’s.
There was just something about listening to a new CD in those cars and blasting the hell out of it.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
View attachment 15853

Put the trans back up in the car today. It was pretty damn cold out today even with my heater in the garage so this is as far as I got.

Brand new TOB, clutch fork, and pivot stud.
I replaced that bolt that was hitting the fork with a button head style just to be sure there won’t be any interference this time around.
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What trans is that?
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Manual illiterate here (though I grew up driving manuals in Germany), I'm curious: what's the advantage of a hydraulic clutch vs. a cable-driven clutch?
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Same reasoning behind hydraulic vs cable operated brakes really. In our cars the S10 slave paired with the SC master has a significant mechanical advantage over the Mustang cable systems even though they’re using the same fork
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Ohhh, that reasoning...! Right. Which is what again?
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Just a guess based on the brake comment, ease of use I assume? Cable operated is probably harder to use physically, whereas the hydraulic pressure makes it easier to use the clutch, just an educated guess. Please correct me if I'm wrong
 
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