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Messages - 88BlueBird

1
Lounge / Re: Anyone still around?
Yup I'm still here and I still have the '88 T-bird. I need to start posting again and more often :)
2
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / 87-88 Floor Pan Brace
Hi,
I'm looking for the bolt-on factory floor pan brace shown in the picture below. It's a curved brace that was on 87-88 dual exhaust T-bird or Cougar.  Can pay with PayPal or whatever is convenient. Thanks!
5
Drivetrain Tech / Re: Shift Kits and Valve Bodies
Quote from: mcb82gt – on
What was done differently with the V8 Bird AOD's vs V6?

I believe the V6 AOD's had one or two less clutch plates than the V8 AOD.  Also V6 AOD's had "C" overdrive servo for smoother shifting into overdrive compared to V8 AOD with "B" overdrive servo, I did upgrade my trans to a "B" servo from an F150 AOD when I installed the Transgo, since overdrive is considered to be the weak link in AODs.
6
Drivetrain Tech / Re: Shift Kits and Valve Bodies
I've got the TransGo Reprogammer Kit AOD-HP in my car. It required a pretty extensive modification of the valve body, but only took me a few hours.  The kit definitely firmed up the shifts and probably helped keep the V6 spec AOD alive behind my 5.0L swap  :smile: The trans has over 100K and still shifts great. That being said, I've always kept trans fluid clean and I don't beat on it every time I drive it.
9
Engine Tech / Re: Build approval someone please!
Ford gray high temp engine paint works well for the upper intake manifold. I used it on mine about 10 yrs ago and it's still holding up great.
11
Show Photos / My 88 T-bird at local High School car show
Here's some pictures of my 88 T-bird at the local High School car show. Their mascot is the Mustang, so it's very fitting for a car show in their parking lot  :smile: I attend every year and it's a lot of fun because there's a wide variety of cars, everything from Mustangs to a few Rolls Royces attended.
13
Engine Tech / Re: Build approval someone please!
Quote from: thunderjet302 – on
Back in the day (2008) I was looking for an A9P. A local mechanic my parents used to use had a whole shelf of computers from 80's and 90's cars he sped. He kept them in case he needed one. So I asked if I could go looking through the stack for a 5.0 Mustang computer. He said sure. I found an A9P in the stack and asked how much he wanted for it. He told me I could have it for nothing, he didn't need it. So I got the A9P, that's still in my Thunderbird, for free.

If I had know these things would be like gold 10 years later I would have tried to find more.

I have a factory A9P all original in my car also and a functional (I've tried it) Cardone unit as a backup. Glad I got the backup about 10 yrs ago, seems they are getting hard to find resulting in prices going up.
14
Engine Tech / Re: Troubleshooting persistent misfire
Make sure you don't have the LH and RH oxygen sensor connectors swapped. I did this inadvertently when installing the 5.0L engine in my car and I fought a rough idle and random cylinder lean condition for a few months before I figured it out.  The car would run great in open loop, but when it warmed up and went into closed loop it would run like , because it was leaning out the wrong side of cylinder banks.  It's an easy mistake because LH and RH connectors are keyed the same, yay Ford  :beatyoass:
15
User Rides / Re: New Addition
Quote from: EricCoolCats – on
Quote from: 88BlueBird – on
What company did the convertible conversion on these? Did they strengthen the underbody at all, any added cross braces?

Car Craft Company from Lima, OH did the conversion (they are not associated with the Car Kraft company from MI that did all the hot-rodding to Fords in the 1960s.) The company got bought out a few times and are now part of S&S/Superior Coach which is still in Lima. Essentially the company did nothing but GM conversions at the time, and the Cougar was its one and only Ford conversion which used the same GM parts they'd been using. The top, top skeleton, top motor, cylinders, latches, etc. were all from a Buick Riviera. Even the weatherstripping had GM part numbers. The small side windows do operate and have GM motors, wiring, and switches. They used some aftermarket/generic relays for the top and for each side window. A modified power seat switch is used to put the top up and down. The rear seat was just chopped and narrowed (center armrest removal); the rear side panels were made from sheetmetal and covered with matching vinyl. There is a full snap-on top boot as well. For its day, not a bad conversion although the cut 2-point lap belts usually scare people LOL.

Underneath there are some pretty hefty subframe connectors welded on. They are not the typical ones seen on Mustangs or our cars, for that matter. These are fully boxed, even on the end caps, and contoured to the floor pan and are made of 10-gauge steel. They didn't mess around. There were no other braces on the car that I've found, though. Sometimes I swear my A-pillars were gusseted on the bottom side, as they never quite fit correctly, but that might be from cowl twist. D'oh!

Thanks for the information Eric, sounds like Car Craft did a good job with the conversion then and parts are hopefully fairly easy to come by since they are mostly GM sourced