I'll point out my petpieves with my car as i go along.
These are the good pictures. i like the one from above.
here are some more good shots.
In The first pic, it shows how i had to replace the hood, headerpannel, and driverside fender. The second picture shows the grill. i painted it black and left the bird chrome. i've had to commute 6 hour trips ont he interstate and it's chipped the paint off. the third picture shows where my tailights have been broken and chipped right above the licence plate. i had to buy the right rear off of ebay, and the part that came that goes above the licence plate were all there but it was in pieces. the chip on the left one was there since i got the car.
this is my 5 dollar fix to cover up the annoying holes i had on there. when i put the tape on there it looked good, but after about 2 months of rain and othjer weather its getting ragged. The scratches are from the bushes that used to line my driveway at my dad's old house. the road we lived on was a one way road so i would have to cut the corner and i had to hit those bushes at least 1000 times. but im plannin on replacing those fenders anyway so it doesnt bother me. when i got the car it had a 90's taurus hubcaps. didnt look right at all so i took them off and painted the steelies. :disappoin
i do love how drug dealers and other shady people think my car is an undercover cop car though. its annoying though when they see me in thier rearview, and go from 10 over to 5 under.
This car is WAY ahead of where mine was when I got it.A few years and a lot of effort made the difference.Start collecting parts and geting that thing built.Nice foundation to get started.Great car.
-troup county, is that newnan?? good start though. it takes time. me anyway.....
thanks for good words. you guys have done some nice stuff to your cars, where i havnt had the money to really do much. and troop county is basically lagrage, newnan is coweta county. oddly enough i lived in newnan forever. if you live there i've NEVER seen another aerobird around. the really sad part is, when i got my car i got it from my dying grandfather. it was mint, just a few scratches here and there, i mean it looked beautiful. then i hit a deer in newnan between publix and quicktrip, and its gone downhill since then. the interior is in great condition but things have been falling apart. the consol bin lid latch broke, the headliner is starting to fall down, not hidiously bad but enough to piss me off. from the back of the front seats back though looks mint. the handles on the doors have started to seporate from the door itself. dash got cracked from using armorall and then sitting in the sun. A/c is gone, gotta rebuild it or get a good one. the hood i got that replaced the ruined one is ruined. got dropped or something so it has a dent right infront of the driver on the cowl area. headlights are so dim sometimes while im driving i have to check they're on, and they never leave highbeam. When i get done with it, it'll be show worthy for sure. but right now, if it wasnt a v8 thunderbird i'd be embarrased by it. and im glad my gramps is goin blind so he doesnt see how much shiznit i've put it through. also look in the picture where you can see the exhaust tip. if you crouch down from about 6 feet away you can see the exhaust pipe from the rear tire all the way to the tip. i got a lot of work ahead of me thats for sure, but i think when this car gets finished, it'd be more than worth the blood sweat tears and cash.
Oh yea, we have a pull a part up here in NC, and for instance you can get any v8 in any condition and any CID for liek 130 bucks. transmissions are under 100 bucks. i know for a fact they have 2 aeros, 87 and 88. dont know what trim level they are, but i dunno if im ganna find anything good off of them. our cars being rare and everything. you cant get parts for it so everyone goes to the junkyard. im hoping body wise i can get a front bumper and 2 front fenders and a hood. i have a good headerpanel and if it has better headlights i'll get those too. im ganna eventually start renting a house with a garage so i can work on the bird and drive a pos truck or something. i'll then do accumilate my engine and drivetrain mods, also get svo mustang spindles or linc mk7 spindles, an 8.8 with sn95 axels, and then i'll go from there.
It really doesn't take a lot of money,as much as it takes patience.Look around,ask questions,and buy parts when you can.The parts are out there,you just have to find them.I'm still gathering parst for my project car.$15.00 aluminum valve covers.Cam and intake for $50.00,plug wires (Ford racing) $15.00.The list goes on and on.There are guys here selling parts,E-Bay is a good place to look,as are some of the Mustang forums.I just found a white '88 T-Bird with the 5.0 here in town at a boneyard.As soon as the guy gets his salvage liscence,I'll be all over it.It just takes time.Headliners are easy to do,or,have done.I had mine done for $35.00,I pulled it and re-installed it.have the cost is them pulling and installing.Do that yourself.Keep your eyes open,set a goal .I have a book I use.I have 3 columns.
1.Parts I need/want
2.Parts I have already
3.What I want to do (replace passenger fender,swap door locks,etc.)
It keeps me focused,and keeps me from losing my cool and getting confused with my goal and where I am with the status of the build.Keep up the work,take your time,and work it piece by piece like a big puzzle.Ask questions.There are a lot of people here who have been through the same thing,and have answers.Now,get to work.
cool, its got some potential...
That thing is LOADED with options. It looks like a great project!
Keep us posted on its progress.
haha finally someone other than me that only has one exhaust tip. sweet bird man... headlights look like they need cleaning. but your doing a great job so far with it
I have to say, It has a lot of potential, hopefully you have more then three months of good weather to work on it. lol
Keep us updated.
im about to take the vynle siding.. err i mean trim off tomarrow... and i know this may sound stupid but im ganna put a ford blue rally stripe on the drivers side fender. it'll be done right, i'll take pics. i already have the back seat out of it, prepping to use a coat hanger to get the rewire going for the speakers. went and picked up everything i need.. i got crimpers/dikes, but i dont have strippers, i'll prolly end up either using the lighter method or the crimpers. then im ganna vaccume the car out and give it a good wash and do the stripes. im still trying to figure out a RIGHT now method of getting good lights. i have some fogs i got at wally world but when i was in advance i saw some fogs that look better and prolly have a better beam so i may hold off on that. im also considering redoing the gril for the 3rd time to get the chips off. i have like one day to do this but im kinda stretching it with the stripes b/c i hear there may be snow on sunday. im deffinatly ganna get the interior wired up and put back together and cleaned up. what me off is the torque nuts holding the BACK of the rear seats in. i could wreck the bolts with a flat head, but im not. i'll just use the hanger. as far as the headlights im looking for either really good used ones or forfitting the 160 on ebay for the crystal lenses.
just checked the weather forcast, the weather looks clear till tomarrow night but freezing rain looks to be coming sunday, so that kills the paint project.
Do a search for "head light cleaning" or "yellow lights" and you'll get alot of info how to clean them for under 10 bucks. They will look like new when you're done!
Don't get in a rush to get your car done.Take your time and be patient and the results will pay off better in the end.I've got a T-Bird I drive and a Sport that I want to drive,but I'm slowly gathering parts to build it.I want it done right the first time.Start setting money aside and gathering each piece you need for your car as you can afford it.Keep at it.
see, im ganna put aside all the parts i need and then in like a week or so put it together. it might take me 6 months to get all my parts, but i'll get it done in one shot. thats if i dont get something else to drive while im installing the parts. as of right now, i just need to touch up what i have. i mean adding things here, and removing things there that doesnt take much effort or money is what im doing now. i still need to go to the pull a part and see if they have the fenders i want, and the other odds and ends. then i need to get a 302 block and have it worked... i know a place through my instructors that will balance and clean up a long block for 300. heads, headers, EFI, etc all the other engine pieces would need to be purchased before i do this though. i prolly wont really start getting the car near complete till juuuuuust after spring or possibly later than that.
Good luck.You have a big job ahaed of you.I'm going to swap my H.O engine into the Sport,then my current interior from my daily driver (unless I can find a lot of tan interior pieces),then off to paint.I can't wait to see the new paint job.I still have a ways to go.A long way,considering the weather is cappy and really holding me back.Yopu look like you have a decent foundation to start your project with.Are you going to get the 5.0 harness and everything else?Your car is the 3.8 right?If you're going with a 5.0,you may as well do an H.O and get it over with.There are a lot of parts for cheap out there to build one.Keep up the good work.Everybody is here to help.
i really don't know what the finished product you have in mind will look like,but if you want shiny black mirrors,get some Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish and go over your mirrors a few times with it and the black plastic will shine like a new penney.It's better to remove the mirrors to do it for a finished look.
actually, im thinkin of painting the mirrors to match the rest of the car. i mean its going to stay black, it just needs an entirely new pantjob b/c of body parts. BUT... i might keep the mirors factory plastic and try that mother's trick on it. oh n btw, mine has the 5.0l sport package. im not ganna go HO with it b/c i need to rebuild the engine. right now i can tell by the consumption of oil (its not leaking anymore took care of that) and the sluggishness with the flat sound its making that the rings are gone. the motor isnt in the best shape to say the least. i beat on it too hard, and before i got it, the car sat for a long time. my gramps would go out and crank it up every so often, and then an idle problem started from dry rot (vaccume leak) but my gramps thinkin he knows everything fiddled around with just about everything on the car maiking the problem worse. If he hadnt messed with it, i could have trouble shooted streight to the problem. but after he fiddled with it, me n my dad spent almost a year troublshoting the car. why a year? b/c every step of the troublshooting check list needed adjustment or a new port. runs fine now tho as far as reliable. i took the valve covers off recently to put new gaskets on, and there was so much condensation over time that the rockers and everything was rusted. it was oiled but rusted. no sludge thank god. im just ganna park it when i get the money for another car and get a 351 bronco block or 302 (make it a 347) and built it. or if i have it parked where it wont get towed (my apts only let you leave your car in one spot for 2 weeks, and if you cant drive it away they'll tow it away) i'll have the original block built.
Throw in an H.O cam,E-7 heads,Mustang headers,h-pipe and an H.O speed density computer.Now you have H.O power.
meh, i wanna go bigger than just HO.. oh and i've tried a million products tryin to clean the headlights, i cant clean the inside though, when i tried on an old set the reflective coat on the back of the housing started to come off as well...