Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

General => User Rides => Topic started by: Tbird232ci on May 26, 2007, 04:11:12 PM

Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 26, 2007, 04:11:12 PM
Im sick and tired of my Turbo Coupe. Yes, its quick, but thats all. The body is twisted, the radiator support is mangled, theres body work falling out of it, the rear quarter that was replaced is slowly separating, suspension is worn out, motor is tired, only thing good in the interior is the rear seat and console swich panel, its just a rough car. No matter what good parts i throw on it, its still a junker. My pictures hide a lot.

But anyways, i was looking for another turbo coupe to buy, a nice one, and i had 3 deals fall through. All of the others ive found were just too rough, needed work i didnt want to do, and when they were what i wanted, they were way out of my price range. So i started looking for something different. Thats when i found this guy:

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1603.jpg)

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1607.jpg)

Thats right. A mustang. An 86 Mustang GT convertible. The car is rough, but Im very happy with it. It runs great, drives great, very solid, and has only a little rust on the floor, none on the body other than where there were some paint chips. The only things it needs other than brakes up front, is appearance and cosmetics. It needs a new top, new seats, door panels, top motor, and other odds and ends. Anyways, heres a few more pics, i made sure to show everything, and not hide much.

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1618.jpg)

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1614.jpg)

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1616.jpg)

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1612.jpg)

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1611.jpg)

(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/Tbird232ci/DCP_1609.jpg)

All ive done was wash it, and degrease the engine bay a bit. Progress will come soon.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: daboss351 on May 26, 2007, 04:15:11 PM
nice find man, looks good i like the four eye stangs. so whats happening to the tc?
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: vinnietbird on May 26, 2007, 04:16:13 PM
So,are you parting out the Bird?What's goping to happen to it?Can I have the fog lights?Oh,about the Stang.It has potential.Time,patience,and money.That's all you need.Get to work.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: 84 Fila on May 26, 2007, 04:21:41 PM
YOu buy that off corral? That looks ALOT like one I was looking at
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: turbo_88_XR7 on May 26, 2007, 04:25:54 PM
nice find, car looks great other than the front seats and dirty engine bay. i love those wheels, they look good on mustangs/capris
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 26, 2007, 04:37:48 PM
Quote from: vinnietbird;149886
So,are you parting out the Bird?What's goping to happen to it?Can I have the fog lights?Oh,about the Stang.It has potential.Time,patience,and money.That's all you need.Get to work.

The bird is getting sped. Im keeping the good stuff, because I know for a fact ill be buying another TC down the line, and if I dont, Im going to make a clone for my girlfriend. The car doesnt have much worth of good parts on it other than the nose, lights, tail lights, and the seats and some other odds and ends. The rear, engine, tranny, swaybars, all that is going into storage.

Quote from: 84 Fila
YOu buy that off corral? That looks ALOT like one I was looking at

Its the one. I saw it on corral, sent a PM, then found him on 4eyedpride, and worked everything out on 4eyedpride.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: 84 Fila on May 26, 2007, 04:39:12 PM
. That was going be my DD but atleast someone got it. Nice lookin seats;)
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: daboss351 on May 26, 2007, 04:43:38 PM
well its good you found something that makes you happy, and its nice that your keeping everything for another down the road. Good luck with it!!
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: 32VFoxBird on May 26, 2007, 05:41:28 PM
i plan on getting back into a mustang, after my car is done. congrats on the car. should be a lot of fun. are you keeping it a V8?
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Thunder Chicken on May 26, 2007, 05:57:23 PM
That thing's just begging for a 350 :evilgrin:

Love the four-eye. Are you gonna use any of that TC stuff (rear, etc) on it? Do the 86's have 11" front brakes?

I don't hate you for buying a Mustang - I've always wanted a convertible, and have even considered Sebrings and *shudder* J-bodies just to have one. If that '86 convertible Cougar that was in the F/S section had come up last year it would most certainly have been mine...
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 26, 2007, 06:01:55 PM
It should be staying V8, who knows what Ill end up doing. I change my mind just as much as I change underware.

This thing is going to stay mostly stock. Its got some flowmasters on it, which I generally dont like, but they arnt bad, im just going to stick some polished tail pipes on it. Itll get a K&N, a 3G alternator, upgraded fuel pump, and all kinds of chassis stiffening.

The TC rear is going into the red bird, along with all the brakes from it, theyll hold me over untill i can afford SN95 cobra for it. These got the 10" brakes up front, but theyre slow anyways.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: stuntmannick on May 26, 2007, 06:45:35 PM
ew


It needs a 5 speed.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: cougrrr302 on May 26, 2007, 06:59:04 PM
If I were you I would just put the TC away for awhile and work on the Stang and other Bird. Then see what all can be accomplished on it. No matter how rough it is.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: shame302 on May 26, 2007, 08:06:19 PM
i cant say i would have picked up a vert or an auto loader or anything older than an 87 but it will be refreshing to have something a little different. if it were me id be swaping a stick in first thing. looks like a decent score shawn.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: turbo_88_XR7 on May 26, 2007, 08:44:59 PM
Quote from: cougrrr302;149922
If I were you I would just put the TC away for awhile and work on the Stang and other Bird. Then see what all can be accomplished on it. No matter how rough it is.


that's a good point.. turbo coupes are going to start becoming very, very rare if people part or s them.

and i think you should leave it auto, WHO CARES! it's a daily driver. just put a transgo shift kit in it and it'll perform just like a C4 with overdrive:hick:
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Thunder Chicken on May 26, 2007, 08:46:46 PM
So... um... should I change your user name to "Mustang302ci"? :D
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Dogcharmer on May 26, 2007, 08:52:25 PM
Uh, you're missing a hubcap:hick:

Actually, the 86 is my favorite Fox fornicatestang. I like the front ends on those. Looks like you have alot of work ahead of you on that interior. At least the dash isn't cracked. Seats are easy to replace.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: kingcars on May 26, 2007, 08:56:45 PM
I guess there are worse cars you could have picked up :hick:

Nah man, just do the Stang some justice!  It looks to be a great cruiser.  Have fun with it :D .
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87 on May 26, 2007, 08:58:50 PM
Great potential, hate to see you part the bird but i cant say i havent thought about doing mine the same way but the recent changes ive done has made the world of differance.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: daboss351 on May 26, 2007, 09:06:16 PM
i doubt he can do much to the bird if he says the body is tweaked!
if my dad ends up getting rid of his, ill let you know. his the body is not bad, its just the motor is iffy
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Chuck W on May 26, 2007, 09:17:06 PM
I won't hate you...I'll just make fun of you for driving a Mustang :hick:
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Ifixyawata on May 26, 2007, 09:27:01 PM
Shawn, dunno if I asked you yet but do the doors sag at all when you open 'em?
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 27, 2007, 09:22:03 AM
The doors do sag, but theyre not bad. My birds were worse.

As for keeping the turbo coupe...it would be a waste of time and money. The car is literally falling apart. My pictures hide all of the flaws. I could spend a half hour walking someone around the car pointing out all of the problems.

I could go through the entire car, replace every part, and it would still be a piece of junk.

The car is just a cruiser/daily driver. Its staying an automatic. If i wanted to go fast, I would have bought an 87-93 notch back.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Thunder Chicken on May 27, 2007, 12:40:43 PM
Quote from: Tbird232ci;150045
If i wanted to go fast, I would have bought an 87-93 notch back.
Or a Civic. Everyone knows they're faster than Mustangs...
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Cougar5.0 on May 27, 2007, 01:00:05 PM
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;149915
That thing's just begging for a 350 :evilgrin:



 you! You beat me to it :beatyoass:


O/P: You know, I have been drag racing the 20th and am totally undecided as to whether to just keep building it up to race while keeping it as much of a sleeper as possible, or just picking up a 10 second Mustang :evilgrin:

I fault nobody for picking up an old 'Stang - especially a classic 4-eyed convertible like that. Kudos! Heck, if it wasn't for the 'Stang, 50% of the parts on my car would not exist - though we got some stuff that is better than the stang - I still think our larger Fox platforms are the best of both worlds (comfort/style and muscle-car capability).
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: thunderjet302 on May 27, 2007, 10:03:03 PM
Looks good. The 4 eyes were always pretty cool. Just ditch the wheels. They look hick-ish:hick:

I think you can get a whole upholstery kit for the car for about ~$450. The fun part is installing it.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 28, 2007, 10:06:56 AM
I can get it for less than 400 actually.

Front apolstery is easy. The rears are hard, as long as I take my time, it shouldnt be too bad.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: 5.0willgo on May 29, 2007, 10:05:06 AM
I'll bet you're lovin' the aftermarket support for replacement parts now. Should be nothing to redo that interior.

Nice score Shawn.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: V8Demon on May 29, 2007, 10:28:10 AM
Convertible FTW!
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: thunderjet302 on May 29, 2007, 04:21:44 PM
Quote from: Tbird232ci;150374
I can get it for less than 400 actually.

Front apolstery is easy. The rears are hard, as long as I take my time, it shouldnt be too bad.


Not bad. The cheapest I've seen the leather kits has been ~$450.

Quote
I'll bet you're lovin' the aftermarket support for replacement parts now. Should be nothing to redo that interior.


Yeah finding stuff for the Birds/Cats for the interior sucks. It took me three weeks to track down the material to re-do my front seats.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 29, 2007, 05:59:17 PM
Im not wasting my time or money on leather. Most of the seat is vinyl as it is. With the modern synthetics, most people cant tell the difference anyways.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: kingcars on May 29, 2007, 06:15:53 PM
I prefer cloth interior.  I hate when leather gets hot or cold.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: thunderjet302 on May 29, 2007, 11:33:07 PM
Quote from: Tbird232ci;150631
Im not wasting my time or money on leather. Most of the seat is vinyl as it is. With the modern synthetics, most people cant tell the difference anyways.


True. I can barely tell the difference between the leather seat surface and the vinyl on the sides of my front seats. The new stuff is pretty amazing. Another bonus is the fact that you won't have to clean and mosturize it like leather. It's really low maintinace and looks good as well.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: Tbird232ci on May 30, 2007, 03:37:09 PM
Its good to keep it moisturized, just like leather, the natual oils will cook out of it, and it will deteriorate, vinyle just doesnt require as much special care as the leather does.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: bhazard on May 30, 2007, 06:56:48 PM
I have a chance at an 82 mustang with a straight 6/auto with like 70k miles for about $700. Its extremely tempting to get it and drop my good running 88TC driveline in it and do away with the py body of my TC and have a 2600lb car with a 200hp engine.

But the TC is such a nice comfortable car, and even being almost being half a ton heavier it still scoots along nicely and gets better gas mileage than most newer cars.

Theres also the complications of having never swapped engines in such a way. Being that the mustangs an old carbed car and my TC's EFI and all the adapting the engine side of the harness to the interior side of the mustang. As well as the AC systems in the two cars and whatnot.

Im wondering how fast the Mustang would be with a fairly stock 88TC driveline. The mustang is a 3.3/auto with AC, and I think it weighs under 2700lbs. If I did do it I would of course be swapping in my entire driveline, T5 and 8.8.

Its all very tempting and all but I just like the TC so much, the downtime would suck being that its my only car. I could drive the mustang while pulling my TC apart. But the Tbirds are getting rarer everyday. I see fox stangs every day, but Fox birds maybe once a month if that. Its also my first car, and of course Im trying to keep it as long as I can. My brother has been through 5 or 6 cars in the time Ive had mine.

I didnt really mean to make a post this long in someone elses thread, but I guess Im just showing my experience in the same topic. Ill prolly post this on TF to get opinions and ideas.
Title: Youre going to hate me...
Post by: thunderjet302 on May 31, 2007, 09:24:22 PM
Quote from: Tbird232ci;150804
Its good to keep it moisturized, just like leather, the natual oils will cook out of it, and it will deteriorate, vinyle just doesnt require as much special care as the leather does.


Oh I know. I just meant it's much easier to keep up than leather:D