Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

General => User Rides => Topic started by: BJL on October 10, 2011, 11:29:14 PM

Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: BJL on October 10, 2011, 11:29:14 PM
Brief history on the car.
purchased in April 2004. had a mustang non-turbo 2.3 and mustang a4ld.
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/REfixforntgray.jpg)
turbo was there but missing compressor wheel. gutted turbo housing and made custom intake tube. rewired a4ld to work with TC eec.
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2005161.jpg)
early dec 2004 repainted car did body work in fall 2004
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/Picture005-small.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSCF0023.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSCF0027.jpg)
Xmas 2004 did 5 spd swap swapped in good rear
July 2005 swapped in turbo 2.3 out of my blue TC
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/BL2_88TCsharp.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/smashedtcblue.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSCF0006.jpg)
sept 2005 rod knock was heard.
sept 05 -oct 2007 babied rod knock
Oct 2007 rebuilt 2.3 swapped in bored .030 , speed pro pistons, ranger roller.
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSCF0050.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSCF0052.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSCF0057.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/DSC02728.jpg)
june 2009 cyl 3 loosing compression.
sept 2009 pull head, exhaust seat in chamber 3 missing
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/Head%20job%202009/0831091832a.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/Head%20job%202009/0831091830.jpg)
april 2010 swap in reman head.
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/Head%20job%202009/TurboIIisalive041010002.jpg)
Feb 2011 swap in t3 turbo and 3in single exhuast
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/03212011011.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/03262011phone012.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/turbo11tailpipe3process.jpg)


Now where up to June 2011
went to carlisle
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011-06-05_12-51-41_520.jpg)

and that leads us to the end of june 2011
during the time ive had the car i slowly acquired parts for the 5 lug swap.
some deals came my way
sn95 axles in a TC rear with fresh 3.55's sn95 rotors and calipers
sn95 front spindles and necessary brakes ;D
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-06-18_08-24-16_936.jpg)

then i decided to do this. dont worry it going back in :bubblegum:
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-06-21_18-39-40_407.jpg)

cuz it needed the k-member replaced. had an accident in 2004 that bent it up bad.  ::)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-06-25_17-17-48_614.jpg)

and i wanted to clean and paint it too.  :fool:
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-06-25_16-06-46_139.jpg)

then with the help of a really good friend Chris Allen,  :drinks:
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-07-02_08-38-15_270.jpg)

now comes time to really dismantle it  :focus:
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-07-06_19-34-06_45.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-07-06_19-35-08_50.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-07-06_19-34-28_884.jpg)

after some POR 15 gray coating i got the k-member back in  :search:
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-07-31_14-38-42_494.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/photobucket-6176-1313246133819.jpg)

install new spindles and test fit wheels  8)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-07-31_14-38-25_761.jpg)

with help of a few friends , Joe lovern, John *jmags* Magnent, and Nate we got to this
http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/?action=view¤t=photobucket-2101-1315146202076.mp4

then Nate helped again and we got to this
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-09-05_13-47-16_363.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-09-05_17-59-05_341.jpg)

and finally 90% complete
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-09-09_17-38-55_189.jpg)

then to make the mustang wheels into tbird wheels
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/photobucket-482-1316886442860.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-10-01_16-55-37_451.jpg)
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-10-01_16-54-59_0.jpg)

two new goodyears and alignment
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-10-08_11-37-11_46.jpg)

my 88 TC *turbo II* and daily driver 87 TC *turbo 3*
(http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/BJL88TC/Turbo%20Stuff/2011%20overhaul/2011-10-03_18-18-14_677.jpg)
still working out a few bugs and such, a couple oil leaks popped up but gotten then taken care of. been breaking in the new spec stage 3 clutch ,
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: EFFalcon on October 11, 2011, 12:06:19 AM
beautiful car.
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: Shadow on October 11, 2011, 02:33:34 AM
the hood on the blue car looks AWFULLY familiar lmao
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: cougarman on October 11, 2011, 07:44:36 AM
Nice!! Great job.  :D
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: mcb82gt on October 11, 2011, 08:53:55 AM
That is a lot of nice work.  Very impressive.
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: thunderjet302 on October 11, 2011, 01:40:38 PM
Looks great.

When you did the center caps did you use a stencil or did you etch the T-bird logo into the cap.
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: Soul on October 11, 2011, 03:45:40 PM
Those wheels look almost factory.
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: stangman_1987 on October 11, 2011, 05:31:35 PM
I love how the wheels look. Beautiful car you got man.
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: BJL on October 11, 2011, 11:02:52 PM
thanks guys.
the center caps are blanks Nate found for the wheels on evilbay. i had a vinyl shop scan and vector the factory center cap emblem and enlarge it a lil.
i have 175 invested in the wheels. 100 for the set with tires, 40 for the caps and 35 for vinyl. plus i found another set with tires for 50 bucks. so i have spares now.

my whole intention of this car is to look stock but not. i only want the important people to notice what i changed!
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: RunninWild on October 12, 2011, 03:02:11 PM
Incredible! Our cars are pretty close in color. Love the rims!
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: thundr306 on October 12, 2011, 05:22:38 PM
Where did you score all the 5-lug stuff?
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: BJL on October 13, 2011, 11:44:33 PM
Thunder306
i got the spindles and front brakes as a finders fee for finding a cobra front brake swap for my friend kevin's brother's 96 stang. i got his old parts.
the k member and rear i got from Nate. which came out of your old Tbird he did the IRS swap in. if thats what you were wondering :)
Title: My 1988 TC, what ive been up to this summer
Post by: thundr306 on October 14, 2011, 05:45:11 PM
I thought so! At least they are getting used.