I started going over my 95 today to find out how much rust "fixing" I had to do from this past winter. I found out that the passenger door skin has started to separate from the door frame along the bottom of the door. Well that's not totally right. The door skin is only held to the door frame along the bottom in 2 places. The rest of the metal between the weather striping and door skin is gone as it just rusted away. I can wiggle the door bottom while the door is closed :mullet:
I also found that a rust bubble on the driver's side rocker panel is bad as well. It looks like if I start to poke it and clean it out that I'm going to have at least a 6" long hole.
This is starting to make me want to get a new car. Well not new but new to me used. I'd buy a new car but I'd rather put my money in the bank instead of giving it to the bank as interest. :D
The 95 has just rolled 84,000 miles. It has a 3.8 and actually runs good. I don't have the skills to start cutting metal and making patch panels. The underside is pretty solid with only some minor surface rust in a couple of spots on the floor pans. The frame rails are solid.
Do you guys think it's time to look for something else or ride this puppy till it rusts away or pops a head gasket? I'm undecided because of the mileage. If it had over 100,000 miles on it the car would be on it's way out. BTW if I get another car it will more than likely be a rust free low milage MN-12, because I like driving a T-bird and I don't want to kill a Fox body with rust:D
Sadly, rust is why I sold my SC. It was too far gone. Open your hood and look behind the shock towers where they run down next to the inner fender. I bet you will find rust there. I want to find another SC some day....just sans rust.
I took some pics for fun.
Driver's side rust issues.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1481.jpg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1483.jpg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1495.jpg)
Passenger side door. As you can see the metal between the weather strip and door skin has rusted away.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1484.jpg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1490.jpg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1487.jpg)
Some under hood shock tower shots.
Driver's side.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1491.jpg)
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1492.jpg)
Passenger side.
(http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/thunderjet302/95%20tbird/DSCN1494.jpg)
The structural rust is minimal surface stuff. The cosmetic rust is what bugs me. That door bottom really wiggles.
Lou , It's time to find yourself another mn-12 soon friend. :poke:
That's not bad enough to get rid of. I've seen worse.
Slap some fiberglass over the rusty areas and drive it till it croaks.
Quick, cheap, easy. It's just a DD after all.
Scott
I'm thinking about just getting some color match spray paint and bondo and "fixing" it. I think that's what I'll do and keep my eye out for a low mileage V8 MN-12. If I ever find one then I'll have a new dd.
Dont buy the Bondo, get the fiberglass it will last longer plus its a little more waterproof and has a picture of a fox-bird on it or at least it used too.
Wow, I thought PA was the rust belt. I felt bad about getting rid of my 96 Bird due to minor rocker rot.
Heres what I use. Comes in short or long strand.
(http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=SSSSSu7zK1fslxtUnxmGM8_ZevVSeChshvTSevTSeSSSSSS--)
The old can I have in the garage has a 4-eyed bird on it. Seems its GMs turn now.
Look at it this way, if you sell it now you might get something out of it. If you drive it until it rusts away or the head gasket blows you aren't going to get anything out of it. I would strongly consider selling it and finding something a little less rusty.
How 'bout a Lincoln? I think it would be sweet to have a Mark VIII as a daily.
(http://www.carid.com/images/accessories/lincoln-mark-viii-accessories.jpg)
Replace it with this:
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/ctd/1656064309.html
The problem with that SC is that it'a half a country away;) It is blue though, which I like.
I've looked for Mark VIIIs but I can't seem to find one with less than 100K. I'm also a bit iffy on the air suspension.
How about a Fusion? We bought an 06 with very low miles last year. It has the v6 with 221hp, it runs great! I like everything about it, the way it looks, runs, and it gets good milage.
I prefer RWD cars. I have nothing against FWD I just like RWD better. Plus just because a car is old doesn't mean that it's not reliable. My 95 runs fine it's just the rust is starting to get to the body. My 95 has never left me stranded and has always started. It's been a great DD thus far.
I had a 95 before, mine had the 4.6. I think it must have been worn out before I got it though, the tranny had the typical shutter. I was constantly putting in some kind of additive to help it stop for a while. Plus it came with a few other problems. It had alot of miles on it but the guy I bought it from said they where mostly highway miles. He was an insurance salesman. But the body was in great shape, the front end was chipped up a bit but I put a bra on it to hide them. It was definately a beautiful car.
What a shame about the rust! And to think around here in North Carolina I see MN12 cars in salvage yards with great bodies perfectly intact. Rust sure is not kind to these cars in Northern climates!
It would drive me absolutely crazy to have a rust bucket for a car. This is why my 84 is worth saving from a crusher because there is only a minor spots that need to be repaired.
I would say try find a good southern car and have it transported. You could even keep the one you have now and use it for parts.
Or you could do like someone else said and get what you can for it now while the drivetrain is still worth something.
Mark VIII's are sweet!
I remember seeing that car for the first time at an auto show and I was romanced with it's radical shapes. The way it looks it really looks more like an evolution of the original Aerobird design. Take off the tire hump and change the grille and that could have been the next four seat Tbird.
Back when it first came out I like it so much that I wished the Tbird and Cougar followed suit with a related design that worked out the slab sidedness and lack of interesting details. I even worked up a Tbird version of the Mark VIII via photochop. I guess the fun in that was removing the spare tire hump in the decklid and making the taillamps full width with a dropped center like classic Birds. The front though I simplified by swapping the grille for a black one with a bird logo centered in it. I had fun playing with quarter window variations including a completely blind quarter panel with no window, a porthole window and even a 1977-79 inspired basket handle roof and quarter window design. I'll find those pictures sooner or later. They are saved somewhere on a disc..
I had a 93 Mk VIII, and I must say, it was expensive to maintain. It had great power, and was fun to drive... But man, it was kind of a POS.
Every time anybody talks about a MK VIII, I say yank the drivetrain and stick it in a better car :)
Maybe mine was just a lemon, but I had nothing but trouble with it.
Those MN-12s seem to rust out faster than the fox bodies. I've seen alot of MN-12s with huge holes in the rocker panels here in Michigan. Even though there are some really beat down fox bodies here too, but they don't seem as rusted out.
Oh yea, that reminds me. I still have a pair of brand new pre-stamped rocker panels for an MN-12. If you want them, make me an offer.
I found this today. Too bad it's a V6 or I'd be all over it. It's blue, which is my color of choice. If it had a V8 I would be buying it tomorrow as it's a 15 minute drive from me. http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=277633627&dealer_id=84103&car_year=1996&rdm=1270701429466&lastStartYear=1981&model=TBIRD&num_records=25&systime=&make3=&make2=MERC&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=1989&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=50&marketZipError=false&model2=COUGAR&search_lang=en&sownerid=565083&showZipError=y&make=FORD&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceASC&seller_type=d&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceASC&address=60638&advanced=y&end_year=1997&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=9&standard=false
Really all you have to do is take a leisurely drive out the Ridgecrest, Ca., drop off your car at the junkyard and buy my 92 Tbird, the interior is tattered and worn but the 3.8 only has 30,000 miles and the car drives great. The front suspension needs an overhaul the brakes have on 5,000 miles and everything works. $600 will do the trick. No rust.:D
I want a V8 car ;)
It's kind of a catch-22 living in the Rust Belt and are a car guy.
You want to keep your "nice" cars nice buy not driving them in the winter, so you usually have another car for winter use. If you're not into driving "beaters" (which I'm not), you usually still wind up with something you like/tolerate driving. Even though you have slated it for bad weather use, it's still painful to watch it die a slow, rotting death.
Agreed! That's kinda where I'm at. My LS was originally a FL car, but made it's way up to WI and I bought it there 10 years ago. When I moved to KS 5 years ago, it was still in pretty good shape, but the old salt demons had started to attack, and I'm still not completely free of winters here. Now all I can do is try to keep ahead of the rust as much as I can...but eventually I know I'll lose and probably will need to get rid of the car. I don't have the facilities (or background) to be doing a major resto, but perhaps before it gets too bad, I'll find someone who is willing to keep her going.
It's so true. I like my 95 (not nearly as much as my Fox) but the rust is starting to get to it. I could *fix* it with bondo and some rattle can paint for cheap but that won't solve the problem. I know I could just get some little econo box but I would hate driving it every day. Atleast the MN-12 with a V6 is a little entertaining in the twisties. I've just resided myself to the fact that any car I drive every day is going to rot to death at some point. Like you said it's a fact of life in the salt belt. If I know I'm going to kill something I might as well have fun driving it before it dies.
I know I'm not going to get a Fox as a DD. I couldn't kill one.
I gotta say, redneck as it sounds.....my vic is WAY too clean top and bottom to let go. Most of it is perfect steel...never saw a winter before I owned it. Every year I get a bunch of cardboard/wood-veneer paneling that my parents took down out of our old house family room and kept for some reason...park the vic on it, jack up the rear and front one at a time, set the tires down on upturned spare wheels.....and go to town with 2 or 3 cans of WD-40 Big Blast. I let it drip off overnight, then find a nice dirty/dusty road and drive up and down and that right there is some serious undercoating. I watch it religiously and even by the end of the winter stuff still has a little bit of an oily sheen to it.
Secondarily. Granted...I didnt have to pay for this becuase its my grandparents and they lent it to me because they almost never use it. http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Outdoor-Power-Equipment-Pressure-Washers-Electric/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xieZbbob/R-100669162/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 Weak as hell and terrible as a real "pressure washer" but very high-pressure in the realm of cleaning salt off of a car. Eleventy-billion times better if you can hook hot water up to it. Pain in the ass in the cold? Yes. Especially if its below freezing, gotta have a day when you wont make a rink out of your driveway. But I wave it around underneath it all over the place for at least 5 minutes straight, blast the engine bay out too, does that thing ever clean. Looks like it just came out of a touchless wash....but no extra salt stuck to it from the ride home. ;) Check ebay too, I bet youll find one of those washers for $30-40. I mean...it depends on what you want. A rational being wouldn't put themselves through the hassle of hauling the hose around and being outside in the cold blasting off their beater car. For me it's worth it. And I'm not gonna sit here and claim to be rational either...I think most of this board knows THAT much :laughing:
I don't have a hot water tap outside the house so the car wash is my best bet. I've been doing the blast the underside thing at the wash but I don't know how much that helps when there are clouds of salt floating through the air:hick:
Get a 4.6L Cougar or Bird. I bought mine with 281,000 KMS, (168,000 Miles) and it now has 302,000 (181,000 Miles) on it and is still going strong. not the fastest thing out there, and I really miss the '88 that this replaced... but it is a nice interior. and sharp looking.