Hey I'm Danny, come from Fort Worth TX, and just got an '84 Tbird with a 302 for $500. Craigslist rules.
I've had about eight of these cars, so I'm not quite as new as I may seem. ;) My first car ever was an '86 Thunderbird that my parents bought new and gave me to drive when I turned 16. Still the best car I've ever owned. Here it is after my dad and I repainted the Light Regatta Blue.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/ph-10226.jpg)
Over the years I find them for as cheap as I can and mess with them. The stuff I started out with used to be pretty nice, but these cars are mostly junk anymore! I put together the dark blue car here for my little brother. It was a 3.8 and ran pretty well until he let a radiator leak get out of hand and a head cracked. He was too lazy to fix it, so when he left his house, he left it behind. I still want my money back on the springs and wheels, that .
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/Apr09_12.jpg)
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/Apr09_15.jpg)
And here's the one that gave me my screen name. A Thunderbird with a 460. Heh. God I hated this car. From day one it was a piece of . It was already heavy being a TC, but the big block just exagerated everything. Converting to manual brakes and steering didn't help. It went a 7.9 @ 88 the one time I took it to the track, which was a whoooole lot slower than I was hoping for. It had a ridiculous 60' so that's where most of the time went, but I was so disgusted I didn't bother figuring it out. Sold it to a guy that went deep 11s without changing much, so I guess it's not all bad. But I was sure glad to see it go.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/DSC00030-1.jpg)
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/DSC00027.jpg)
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/DSC00026.jpg)
I've had others, but none I have a picture of on this PC. So I'll get to my "new" car. It's a white '84 with grey interior, 302 and I guess an AOD. It drove really bad when I got it but I realized pretty quick that someone had done a pitiful job of replacing the sway bar end links and a $20 set of new ones made a $1000 difference in the way it drives. Knocking a coil and a half off the springs made it sit right, but the struts and shocks are so gone that it spends half the time on the bump stops. Oh well. Plans for this one are deep 11s on a budget. I've already got a line on a set of SN-95 spindles and brakes so those are going up front, I'll have to score a rear end and master cylinder to pull all that together. And probably run a set of Mustang Bullitts on the street since they're cheap and look good.
Here's a pic of the car as of yesterday and a pitiful PS of what I'd like it to look like eventually.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/tbirdlower.jpg)
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a274/46Tbird/1983_thunderbird.jpg)
Alright, so I've got some questions for you guys too. Biggest one is, where can I get the side mouldings for these cars? Every single one on this car is pure trash. And is anyone running an 18x10 rear wheel on these things? It looks like it will fit if the rear end is the right width. I've never tried anything that big on one.
Thanks, looks like a really nice site you guys have going here.
Glad to see another 4-eye around. Welcome.
The moldings are no available unless you find a good set of used ones. When I had the silver car painted I pulled them off and cleaned them up and had them repainted. i couldn't get a decent set for the doors, so I wound up leaving it off between the wheels.
i remeber seeing your 460 car on mp motorsports website when i bought my hood from them
Thanks Chuck. I saw your silver car on the other thread. Man, I'm blown away. I'm a huge fan of the '94-95 Cobra wheels, I've had several sets (I think you can see them on my black Ranger in the picture with the white car).
I don't think there are any good sets of used mouldings left. Do you have any tips for removing them without having them curl up on the ends?
87 - lol, yeah I remember that. I had to have the 4" hood for that car. Not because of the carb and intake, but because of that MSD distributor - it was a monster.
Nice collection over the years...welcome aboard! The Regatta blue one with ponies is very nice.
4 Eye's unite!! Welcome to the boards and congrats on your 84.
Not really. They were a PITA to get off there. Used a sharp utility knife and even the wire method. ONce I cleaned them up I sat them in the sun an under stuff to flatten them out and worked the ends to get them straight again.
You can use the windshield cutting wire to remove them.
And welcome. Looks like you will be much at home here. I recently purchased my first 4 eye and love it.
Nice cars man! Those wheels on your brother's car are awesome, I'd kill for a set of those. :)
Welcome. Good to have another Fox T-Bird lover on the board :birdsmily:
Nice Birds. You 4-Eyed guys have got me missing mine. :(
That's because you know 4-eyes rock! :p
Yesh, yesh I do.
Now that I'm actually getting paid something for working, I've got plans for darkthunder. Big plans. :D
nice cars! i remember your car on the site for the cowl hood also.
did you cut the springs on all of your cars? i really like the way you first birb sat on the ponies, i am starting to save up for my suspension and buying piece by piece
The blue '86 had a set of Ford Motorsport M-5300-C springs with one coil cut off the front. Here's another picture of it.
Thanks for the welcome guys. I appreciate it.
how did it ride? low low did that but it and what else did you do on the front suspenion? any rubbing problems?
I remember it riding fine, but I don't mind a rough ride. I don't remember it ever rubbing at all. Tire size was 225/50-16 up front and 245/50-16 in the rear.
Welcome! Nice collection.
what else did you use do to the suspention? stock struts and what shocks were you running in the rear
good to see another dfwstanger over here. also glad to see you back in a bird. if you want to swap out some intior stuff from an 87 TC let me know, in stripping down my spare for trck duty. in north east of you in Corrinth just south of denton..
glad to have you.
You didn't use the C's on the rear did you?
Ick!
I think the C's on the rfont are low enough already w/o chopping more off. Mine rides on C's in the front at the moment.
lmao.
Yeah, I did run the Cs all the way around. What's wrong with that? Besides, this was 12 years ago...
Hey 4bangen. I figured I'd find someone from that site over here. ;)
Cougar 8689, I had the piest shocks and struts ever on that car - Monroe Sensatracs. I thought they would be cool (they had just come out) but they were soggy most of the time and didn't "firm up" as advertised until you were nearly bottomed out. Stiff springs and soft dampeners is the WRONG way to suspend a car...
It's just they are WAY too light (load rating wise) for the ass end of these cars. They were marginal for the GT hatchbacks when you looked at the numbers.
300lbs / inch is too light??
http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=272
That's a pretty stiff linear spring. Your car drops less than an inch with a 300lb person in the back seat? It must ride pretty rough.
Spring rate and load rating are two different things....I'm talking about load rating.
The load rating of the C-kit rears is maybe 600# IIRC....the stock TBird/Cougar springs is about 900#...per spring. SN-95 stuff is between 700-800#.
Ah, gotcha.
Well I didn't tow anything with it. :D It seemed fine at the time... lol.
Well part of the issue with the C-kits having such a low load rating is that they are so short....not much travel before complete collapsing. I really like the fronts though...
Yeah, I do remember that. You had to be careful when jacking it up to make sure the rear springs didn't just fall out...
Testing to see if this sig works...
hey want to come help me lower my 87tc?:)
I was wondering when you where gona get another bird.
Sure man. Get all the parts together and some tools. Or you can just come by my place, we can do it in the driveway if the weather is nice. Plan on about 2-3 hours. You gonna do the struts too?
I've been wanting one but never had the space. I just got a new house (and garage). :D
my 87 doesn't run yet so its stuck here. like I said if you need any parts let me know.