What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

Thats the front piece for the subframe connectors.
Did racecougar make those?
 
VicRattlehead said:
it wasn't today, more like last week, but in the big picture its a huge step forward. I haven't done anything with my car in almost 10 years. but I bought another set of pedals for my stick swap.
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Mine sat for 14 years before I touched it and it's taken nearly 6 years to get it back to road worthy. Be patient and get as much purchased and ready to go before you jump in. That way there are less monetary surprises
 
Zep5.0 said:
Mine sat for 14 years before I touched it and it's taken nearly 6 years to get it back to road worthy. Be patient and get as much purchased and ready to go before you jump in. That way there are less monetary surprises
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oh this has been an on going project for probably 15 years now. I honestly don't remember the last time it ran and drove. I've got a lot of pieces here just need to put the time into it. but I've contemplated changing a few things but will see.
 
Looking at the SCP site to compare, which set of subframe connectors are those?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Not today, but about a week ago and finally opened them today.

Kudos to @jco1385 for helping me source them from SCCOA because I don't have an account over there.
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Stanley said:
Looking at the SCP site to compare, which set of subframe connectors are those?
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It's this set:
www.supercoupeperformance.com

Front Subframe Suspension Support Brace - Awesome & EASY to install!

<p>The Heavy Duty Front Suspension Support Brace is designed to substantially increase the support of the front suspension pick-up points for alignment accuracy and consistency. The FSSB also stabilizes the front suspension while significantly improving the handling and feel of the car.</p>
www.supercoupeperformance.com www.supercoupeperformance.com
 
More refining of my new Power Acoustik’s start screen and background, for the start screen I darkened it a bit and added generic display text, and for the background I also darkened it and made the text green like it’s illuminated so it doesn’t quite blend in so much with the white menu texts. I really need to get the car in daylight to see how it looks but I like it, best of both worlds!

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For anyone with thisheadunit who likes this, here, I did the homework for you ;)

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1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
I think it's very cool as a start screen. As background, I find it super busy though.
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I agree which was why I wanted to change the image text from white to green, the camera oversaturates it but its less busy to the naked eye. Besides, I'll mostly be using it in carplay mode with the default background(which annoyingly doesn't seem to be changable from the defaults)
 
Coin holder delete. I considered a few options...and then I did what I always do. Donor of this piece of walnut was the rear passenger door panel of a Cadillac DTS (Note that DTS uses genuine wood in select trim levels only).
 

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Removed the air silencer. Wouldn't know any difference if I didn't know what to expect -> cannot really tell if the perf gain and better engine sounds are a placebo or not.

Except that now I'm aware of all the rust behind the splash guard. Unfortunately that is not placebo for certain.
 
SnowyOwl said:
Removed the air silencer. Wouldn't know any difference
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On the V6, the effect is much better sound at ~3,500 rpm and above. Sounding less labored and less whiney. And it's definitely a  real difference; I compared it back to back.

Below that rpm, there's no discernable difference, and I also didn't detect any performance gain.

I can't speak to the V8, but I imagine it's similar.
 
I'm pumping gas, with a new battery. This pretty much has to be the last can.
So far, I've got two 5 gal cans with syrup in them, I bet the dregs are awesome, lol.
 
Messed with the tune for the first time since October, I ended up upping idle speed to 850rpm and cracking the throttle blade a touch more to keep the IAC duty cycle low which has made the most positive difference making these cams behave. Integrator is spot on too.

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Put gas in it too… $20 didn’t go far lol

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Drove my Thunderbird to a Chrysler dealership because...they had a used 2002 Crown Vic in inventory, and I was in an exploring mood.

Some may remember that I used to own a 2006 Crown Vic. 2002 was the last year with deep dish wheels before the suspension/steering redesign, interior refresh, etc.

I'm not seriously shopping, so I'm just sharing this as a little automotive anecdote.

The car has 138,000 miles on it, and it's a loaded LX with Handling/Performance Package (Y-spoke wheels, 3.27 axle, dual exhaust, rear air suspension). Check engine light was on: P0303, cylinder 3 misfire; but they said I could still test drive it. Odd...but who am I to judge?

And that drive...damn, it was smooth. There was an ever so slight stumble at low rpm, but otherwise the engine just purred. I love my car, but I have to admit a V8 is a whole different experience.

The digital dash is lovely, but I simply cannot own a car without rev counter; I want to see what the engine is up to.

The ride was beautiful. The steering seemed to require a lot of turns; not sure what the ratio is compared to MN12. It was extremely low effort as expected.

Cosmetically, on the surface, it looked very good. But I could instantly identify a whole list of things requiring some attention, including but not limited to: slow windows, slow driver seat, inop adjustable pedals, inop passenger side mirror, cracked front right parking light.

The asking price of $5,800 is high in my opinion, but it's just an  asking price. Overall a nice experience and a reminder of what I like in a car.

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I like those rims, do you know what diameter they are?
 
16”. IIRC they are the same basic casting as the old Mark VII LSC wheels
 
Correct, 16". In the community, people prefer these wheels from older model years when they still had a polished outer rim.

And these wheels do not fit 2003+ because offset is way too low.
 
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Planning to reactivate insurance coverage and take the car out tomorrow to pick up a co-worker from work for an all-day meeting. This afternoon I pulled the car out of the garage, vacuumed the carpets, wiped down the vinyl, cleaned the glass, dusted off the paint and gave it a quick wipe-down. It better not rain... 😅

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Downgraded my ambient interior lighting from LEDs back to incandescents, I used 912s in the footwells in place of 194s as they were way too dim with the black carpet. Controversial I know but I just don’t like the 6000k color temperature inside, and it seems absurd to buy warm white LED bulbs for as much money as fresh incandescents that still look better(and frankly last as long or longer IME)

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I played with my OBD Fusion app to see graphs of torque converter clutch behavior while cruising at approximately 35 mph in 3rd gear.

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I didn't learn anything new here. Essentially, the transmission tries to lock up as soon as it's in 3rd gear, but it fluctuates continously due to hilly terrain and changing throttle inputs (which is unlike cruising in 4th gear at higher speeds where lockup is more permanent).

This behavior appears to be unique to the V6. The V8s I have driven (though they were Panthers) did not lock up in 3rd at all, instead shifting into 4th at a lower speed. Exception to that: when I turned O/D off, then they did lock up in 3rd.

I'm wondering if this means that V6s wear out the torque converter clutch more quickly (?).
 
I relocated my OBD connector back to its stock position below the glovebox.

After the heater core failure, I had moved it inside the dash behind the glovebox because residual coolant kept soaking it.

Since I like connecting my app, I need it in a convenient place, and there doesn't seem to be any coolant dripping anymore.
 
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