Going to look at an 88 tbird possibly a sport, from what the guy said its an 88 with a 5.0 floor shifter white paint and a broken drivers side window. I'll post pics of my find.
well it is an 88 sport with 190,xxx miles, dual power seats, no rust, 8 hole wheels, traction lock axel, blueish interior, dual exhaust, broken drivers side window, keyless entry, no dents, and tinted windows. he's wanting $600 am I getting a good deal?
Sweet deal,grab it.Windows are easy to find.
I have a few pics but they are small I'll post them in a few minutes.
I have a few pics but they are small I'll post them in a few minutes.
190k miles?
You should spend less than $600 on that car...
600 sounds fair.
car is straight with no rust... and complete minus the drivers side window.
No rust is prolly more important than the 190K. Throw out 480$ you can always go up.
Sounds good. Go for it.
where has it been stored? look under it to make sure the underbody isnt rusted like a w. i say talk him down wait it out and offer him 400 at the most. shiznit thats what i paid for my 53xxx mile 86
I'd offer 450-500 area for it, if the underbody isn't very badly rusted.
Like said before, windows are an easy fix, but you could get him to knock some off the price a bit for it :grinno:
cougar86_89, i tried sending you a pm, but says your message thing is full...wanting to ask you about your '88.....
I dont think he will come down too much, the car is "stored" in a field. the car is nice for $600 if it was at a dealer he would probably be asking $1,200 or more. I work with this guy so we will see what happens.
If its from Kansas, I doubt there would be very much, if any rust on it, so, get yourself a nice fixer-upper. Do look for rust and frame pulls though just to be safe.
you from kansas too?? :tg:
anyone know what the gear ratio would be in a sport with a traction lock?
Does it run? I want a sport!
in a traction lock? ouch! gonna have to change that one...
its supposed to run but you never know what the mice and rats have done.... :beatyoass:
I think the T/L's in the sports had 3.08 gears
It *should* be a 3.08. I just threw the 2.73 in there because I met someone who had a Sport with a 2.73 Traction-Lok (and I checked the axle tag and it was a 2.73:wtf: ).
I hope the Sport I'm getting has a TL.
It should:cool:
Looks nice, and if it runs for 600 is good, I bought mine for 300 with bad trans...
Try to go a hundred less, but either way still a good deal
Daniel
Actualy Graham that is a good deal.. is the car coverd up so no water gets in?
ha no :beatyoass:
he said he put a tranny in it also so he might be trying to get back some of the money he has put in it.
$600 if it runs without smoking badly or making any horrid noises sounds like a fair deal to me.
hell I think the body less engine and tranny would be worth 600
In 1988, the 3.08 ratio was only available with the 3.8L, all 5.0L equipped Thunderbirds got 2.73's. The Traction Lock was standard equipment on the Sport and Turbo Coupe's and was not available on any other Thunderbirds.
Brent
the sport had the 2:73 gears, but i didn't think they had the 7.5 traction locks?
My old '88 Sport had 3.08's with Traction-Lok...all factory.
Mine had a 2.73 open factory. The 3.08 was an option. Most Sports had the 3.08 T-lok but a few didn't I guess.
So my factory Ordering guide has several a miss-prints?
In the "Engine-Transmission-Axle Availability Chart", it states that the 3.08 gear was not available on 5.0L cars.
It also states - "TRACTION-LOCK AXLE (Std. and required on Sport and Turbo Coupe; NA with any other model)"
It also lists the Traction-Lock axle in the "Standard Equipment Summary" section for the Sport (and Turbo Coupe).
Both the 1987 & 1988 Brochures also state this.
My ordering guide is from February 1988, does anyone have a newer version with a revision?
Brent
It probably is because it was 1988. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for any options that year...we've seen and documented some strange things. Like my '88 V6 Blue Max with 10" drums, for instance...with no towing package. WTF?! I've always believed that Ford wanted to just get rid of stockpiles of parts on hand when they were finishing up the run of '88's. I'm a strictly by-the-book guy too, Brent...but for 1988, throw all logic out the window, apparently. ;)
BTW, I've found the brochures to be about 70% accurate. The dealer order books, like what you have, are a lot better. But given the extremely poor documentation for these cars to begin with, there is apparently nothing set in stone. I have printed proof that Ford was going to begin installing the factory power moonroof in late 1986 cars, beginning 3/3/86. But I've never been able to find an '86 with a factory moonroof. The NATO guys have already said that it was a delayed option, not seeing production until 11/86 for the 1987 cars. So...the proof, really, is in the cars themselves. Which is why the build sheets for these cars are really the untapped buried treasure of knowledge.
I found mine for the '86 under the passenger seat....well the very bottom of it in pieces :(
I agree Eric, I don't think there is a brochure that has been printed yet that is 100% correct. And since I have never owned a Sport, I'll concede that it (both) could have errors.
I've noticed the moonroof thing before but wasn't there an '86 that popped up about a year ago that actually had a factory one? My memory is a little fuzzy but I thought it was here or at NATO.
What about the Equalizer radio, have you ever seen one in a 1985 model?
Like Fred, all that I found of my built sheet were a few small pieces that were just enought to identify that it was a build sheet.
Brent
My '88 sport came with 2.73s from the factory with trac-loc. It didnt have my name on the title for a whole week before I had ripped them out and put in 3.73s. Now it has an 8.8 trac-loc with 4.10s :)
If ya guys want I can try to scan my build sheet. It's mostly *intact* but it waaaay from being perfect. My car was early 88 production run (built September '87) and it has a 5.0 with 10" drums but no factory towing package. I swear every 87-88 5.0 Bird or Cat I've seen at the wreakers has had 10" rear drums. Only the V6 cars seem to have the 9" drums.
As I stated before,I'm going to be picking up my '88 Sport project car soon,and it's all stock,except for the wheels.I'll take pics of everything and do a little investigating.It seems to have just about everything except the moonroof.We'll see soon.
My 88 3.8 is a later year run and it has/had 3.27's with ten inch drums and quad shock brackets..no quad shocks though.
I think the moonroof car was on NATO, but it ended up being a dealer-installed thing IIRC. I have not seen an EQ in 1985 cars either. Then again, I don't seem to run across many '85s anymore.