in my shop manual, im only seeing a door switch in line with fuse 8. when the door switch is made (door closed), the light on the door itself should go out.
is this what you are talking about?
Maybe? I found a wiring diagram on the net a while ago, which I now can't find again, which referenced a relay somewhere that controlled the courtsey lights over the keyholes. I guess it was supposed to be a timed dimmer or something?
In my '84 T-bird, I've replaced the TFI setup with a 4 bbl Holley. Unfortunately, it isn't a Ford baseplate. My buddy and I cut the TV rod mounting point off the throttle body and mounted it to the carb in as close to the right spot as we could get. I think it's pretty close to right.
Now, we're trying to get the TV adjusted properly. Sadly I don't have a perssure gauge so we're going by the adjust and drive method.
We can get it to the point where in 1-3 it's shifting nicely. It's shifting under light throttle about 2200, it's not clunking after heavy accelleration, it will downshift 3-2 at about 45. Life is good.
Except for the 4-3 downshift. On the freeway, cruising about 60 in OD, if I mash the gas it will spin up to about 4500 RPM, seemingly not in gear, and then catch 3rd gear and go after a couple seconds. This obviously isn't right.
What's the problem? We've got two theories. One is that our placement at the carb isn't quite right and we're not getting as much travel on the TV as we should, so at the top end we aren't getting enough pressure. The other theory is that the OD band needs some sort of adjustment.
I'm not certain about our first theory, as I would imagine that if we had that problem it wouldn't drive right in the first 3 gears either. This is my first AOD, however, so I'm not sure how it should behave.
All, Thanks so much for the answers I've gotten so far. This board has been a life saver in some spots. :)
I'm putting a set of Maximum Motorsports C/C plates in the car, and obviously am going to take it in to get aligned after it's done. However, I can't find any good information on what to ask it to be set to. Anyone have a suggestion?
Did 1984 AODs have any sort of vacuum modulator? I got my T-Bird running this weekend, and it isn't shifting out of 1st gear. I suspect the TV isn't adjusted properly, but I wanted to see if you guys knew of a vacuum connection I'm missing.
I'm putting a Mustang exhaust under my 84 'Bird. I've got a set of late 90s (not sure what year exactly) tail pipes and lers, which is going to run into an H-Pipe from an '87 5.0, and then stock shorty headers.
Right now all that's in the car is the tail pipes as I'm working from the back forward, and put the pipes in when I did a rear end swap. The driver's side pipe fits great, the hangars go right into the factory hangers. Neat.
The passenger side is a little more interesting. Originally it was a single exhaust, so there were no hangars on that side. I got a set of hangars with the tail pipes and installed the one just before the axle. The rear, however, looks like it's going to be an issue. It seems like the pipe is supposed to nestle into the indentation in the tank under where the fuel filler spout goes in, but the hangar on the pipe currently is in the way. If that's how it's supposed to go I'll just whack it off and reposition it, but I wanted to get some outside input first.
Does anyone have pics of their T-Bird's dual exhaust going past the tank on the passenger side?
After putting the rear end back in my T-Bird this weekend, we realized we had left out the rubber cylinder that came out of the old springs. Not the spring isolator pads, but a rubber tube essentially about five inches or so long.
What is this thing? I can't find a single reference to it in my books, and I can't find anyone selling something like it. Is it important? Do I have to take the thing back apart and put it in?
I can post pictures if my description wasn't clear.
Aah - I got it. I went out today and pulled the axles out and it does look like they'll swap fine. You guys mentioned swapping the brakes, and obviously the drums are different, but do I have to swap the backing plates too? I notice the lip of the plates on the Bird plates are a little thicker but it seems like the rest of it is similar enough to stay. What do you guys think?
I read on Coolcats that TBirds, Cougars, and Mustangs all used the same rear end until mid-85. I've got an 84 T-Bird with a 7.5", and I picked up a rear end out of an early 85 Mustang (also 7.5"). The date code on the Mustang rear is 5D27, which I believe translates to April 85.
We got the rear end out this weekend and got to measuring, and realized that the T-Bird rear is 0.75" wider on each end axle to axle.
Does anyone know what gives? I thought they were supposed to be identical, so I'm kind of bummed. I'm still going to put it in because I want the locker, but now I have to use wheel spacers or something. :(
NEVER follow those diagrams. If the distributor has been removed, if the timing has been adjusted, or anything, the diagram will be off.
Hell, the one from the haynes manual for my 3.8L was completely wrong.
Hm. The relative position of the distributor shouldn't acutally effect the firing order any, should it? Unless the cam has been swapped to something which requires a different firing order, can't you just find TDC for #1, find the tower that points at, and key off that? I mean, sure, the distro might not be oriented exactly like the picture in the book, but that doesn't mean the firing order in the book is on drugs..
Hi folks! I thought I'd write a little intro thread since I've already taken advantage of the some of you over in the tech forum. :)
Last week, I picked up a 1984 Thunderbird. She's not in great shape, but for $300 I didn't figure I could go wrong. Right now it's a 302 AOD car, and it leaks out of just about every seal it's got. :) The interior is not in bad shape, but I think it needs new seats. It's got power leather seats, and when the front and back lift is set all the way down I nearly feel like I'm laying down. I'd assume the seat is busted, but the passenger seat is the same way. (Anyone know if that sounds about right?)
Body wise it's not in bad shape, though it's worse than I thought, we discovered today. The damage I knew about was in right behind the rear driver's door. There's a smallish dent there that I've got to take the interior apart and knock out, and then re-weld the backing plate of the driver's door latch pin so it closes properly. The damage I didn't know about until today was that it apparently took a pretty good shot in the nose on the driver's side at some point. When I got the car, it had hood pins in it. (???) Today, I decided to take them out and readjust the hood latch, since it was still there and seemed to work just fine. Well, it was adjusted up all the way. My buddy and I realized that the core support was pushed down a couple inches, and was completely out of alignment. A little more looking brought us to the conclusion it had been hit at some point.
My first impulse was to start taking it apart, and go up to the local pull a part and get a new core support, but my buddy pointed out it wasn't bent that badly, and we decided to try bending it back. We hooked the engine hoist to it and lifted it up by the core support, slowly. Five or six iterations later, the end result is that the hood closes again. The fender to hood alignment isn't great, but we'll get it. :)
My short term plan for the car is to get the engine out, re-seal it, put a 2 barrel carb in place of the TBI, put a roller cam a buddy of mine gave me in it, and get all the oil mess cleaned up. We'll also do the body work, of course. Later on, we'll do a five speed swap, a 7.5->8.8 TL quad shock swap, and perhaps a 347/351 swap.
I'm extremely excited to have this car. My last project car was a 1966 Dodge Monaco. I don't know if any of you have had the pleasure of trying to find C-body parts, but that car is what drove me to a Fox body. :)
Sorry for the long winded post. I'm looking forward to getting to know some of you! I live in Kirkland, WA. If anyone's reasonably local let me know!
