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Messages - 88Boostedbird

1
Suspension/Steering / Fox Thunderbird Cobra IRS install
I am doing the very same thing right now, adding 3/4" to my IRS cradle arms to fit my '88 Bird properly (as I am also running it lowered with 18" wheels and need every bit of wheel well real estate acreage I can get!).
7
Engine Swapping / Coyote
DO NOT use the '07 Mustang rear-end unless you want to do major surgery to both the rear AND your car. For one, it is considerably wider than the '99-'04 rears (which are 3" wider than FOX rears), Second, the springs sit atop the axle tubes instead of on the LCAs (unless you plan to modify the dogsnot out of the LCA brackets), they are a 3-link/Panhard bar rear and your floor and framerails will need to be modded/brackets made to make it work.

Any '96-'04 Mustang K-member can be used to drop the Coyote down in, provided the rearward 4 holes of the K-member are modded properly. Also, you will need to drill/tap the bosses on the side of the Coyote block for a mechanical power steering pump.
8
Engine Tech / Long tube headers and a 5 speed.....question
I had long tubes on my '91 Mustang GT T5 car with 0 issues with clearance. I did, however, thermal-wrap my clutch cable and bent the standoff bracket (the one that bolts to the frame) to tuck the cable closer to the framerail and further away from the primary header tubes.
9
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Why do you guys love 83-88 T-Birds & Cougars so much?
My FN10 (the Lincoln version of the MN12) is at 86,000 miles. Front strut rods need new bushings (good luck finding good replacements), the 'Door Ajar' light was constantly on (Had to clean out and lube the driver door lock system inside the door), and it needed front wheel bearing something fierce (I bought it at 68,000 miles). The rear wheel bearings died a short time later, along with the pre-'98 4R70W transmission failure. The MN/FN chassis was NOT one of Fords 'Better Ideas' at all.

With respects to the 4.6L DOHC engine: (personal opinion alert here) It IS a performance engine, with a huge aftermarket and heads (right from the factory) that need no work to support 800hp. The Teksid block is STRONG and LIGHT, with 6-bolt mains. I am a pushrod guy, but this Modular is impressive.

Why love the LIMA 2.3L? It started out as a junk motor that would cone the cylinder walls in 20,000 miles. Oiling issues and sheared distributor drive gears were common. Once the problems were addressed, the engine became a good little unit. SAME with the 4.6L.
10
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Why do you guys love 83-88 T-Birds & Cougars so much?
Fox chassis. Even with all of its engineering shortcomings, it is one of the easiest chassis ANYWHERE to upgrade/update. FoMoCo tried something different with the styling, to bring the 'Box' into the aerodynamic age. Styling might be questionable, but to me it is what I remember growing up.

I own an FN10, and while I love its' looks and ride, there is just something so basic and primal about the FOX that it appeals to a whole different side of me.
11
User Rides / '88 Thunderbird TurboCoupe 'save'.......
A friend of mine (worked with him for years) bought a 12,000 mile original '88 Thunderbird V8/Auto earlier this year. He started looking for a Thunderbird TurboCoupe as he wants the 8.8" Trac-Lock (versus the 7.5" open the V-car came with), the buttstuffog dash (his is digital), the front spindles and calipers (again, to convert to the larger brakes), the hood (just for the NACA duct look), and the SnowFlake wheels.
  He found an '88 Thunderbird TurboCoupe Automatic sitting not to far from us, parked 6 years ago. Stopped to talk to the guy about parting the car out and the guy told him "No, you'll have to buy the whole car. I want it gone." Thinking he would want too much, he walked away. A month passes and he decides to see just what the guy wants for the car. Guy tells him $300. Needless to say, he buys the car (and immediately calls me). We get the car to my other friends garage and he says I can have the rest of the car for pulling the parts. I don't want it as he tells me it was rusty over the phone. Once I saw it in person, I am shocked! We live in Ohio, land of salt-death for sheetmetal. There is NO RUST in the car! I decide right then and there to save it and hunt down replacement parts.

  Hitting up my storage unit (where an '85 Mustang Coupe project and my '84 Mustang GT Turbo live), I find I have some parts already (thank God I am a FOX Ford guy). The current plan is to swap the car to 5-lug (since all of the original 4-lug stuff will be gone), so my '85 Mustang Coupe will be donating its '99 Cobra IRS set-up. Then I went to the local salvage yard and pulled a set of '94-'95 Mustang front spindles. Cobra Calipers/brackets are on their way. Found an buttstuffog cluster (out of an '87 TurboCoupe) and procured that. Going to look at an '87 hood next Monday (need to see if it is a TCoupe hood, as it is listed by a salvage yard as such but may not be).

  Once all of the parts get here, I will move my modified '97 Lincoln MKVIII out of the garage and get the swap done. Then get her running and driving again. She needs lots of attention and more parts (not to mention a paint job!), which is something I hope to give her.
12
User Rides / Rescue project
Excellent save. I belong to FEP as well, and remember the car. I am glad you and your friend saved it.

I am in the middle of a 'save' of sorts as well, and it is cool that yet another car that would have died is now back to running/driving!
13
Lounge / Forum members map
Tipp City, Oh (North of Dayton, one of its better bedroom communities).