Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

I just got back from a 5-hour drive to pick up an 86 'vert. I fell for some 'glamour shot' pictures, hehe. When I got there, it was quite a bit more of a project than I had hoped for, but it's salvageable. Here's the run-down:

The good:
-Engine and trans are running perfect with no issues
-Suspension is in great shape, the ride is very good
-Nice aftermarket stereo that was installed without cutting the bezel!

Now, if this was a non-vert, it sounds like an awesome car, right? Well here's the bad:
-The paint, sheesh. horrible amateur paint job. Cloudy, peeling, flaking, and DA swirl marks showing through
-It's only a 3.8 (although it is a good runner)
-The top has a hole in it (right above the door lock, I bet it was cut intentionally)
-The back window in the vert top is broken (brittle vinyl sheet)
-None of the power options work (top, windows, mirrors, cruise) hopefully just a fuse, haven't checked yet.

And the main thing that makes me sad:
-A dent in the quarter. A vertical line right down across the gas cap. It looks like maybe he spun it into a stop sign or something. It's not real bad, maybe a 1" depth at the deepest point. I don't know how I am going to fix that...

I almost walked away. But I thought it will end up in the junk yard if I didn't save it (the der in me, lol). And besides, I've driven rougher-looking cars that weren't anything special. So what the heck, I shot him an offer, and he took it.

Pics will be coming soon. I was too tired when I got home, it was a white-knuckle nightmare coming home in a pouring snowstorm with the two rear windows half-open and the back window flapping. BRRR! Good thing the heat works so at least my hands stayed warm, lol. I need to wash this poor car and get that road salt off. You guys would cry if you saw it right now.

Well, at least another one of the 89 convertibles is safe in a cougar-lover's hands ;)

Pic's Pic's Pic's

Cool, good job.

Don't bet on a fuse for the power top stuff though...there's a pseudo-circuit breaker under the hood on the cowl, right next to the wiper motor. That's where all the power is distributed and the first place to look when you don't have power going to the top. You can trace the feed wire (pink) back to the battery area, see if it has a lot of corrosion around the yellow Scotch-Lok.

I have some wiring diagrams that might help you, should you need them. Just PM if you do.

Thanks for the offer. I'll look at it one of these days ;). I drove around today getting the title done and getting plates, now I'm legal. Anyway, I was messing with the top, just getting a feel for it, and I noticed that it doesn't seem to go all the way down. Like, when it's down, it's piled too high for the boot to cover. It almost seems like it doesn't swing back far enough, it gets hung up on the corners of the back seat. Is there a way to make it move back some as it's folding up? I saw some threaded rods on the inside that looked like it might adjust, but I didn't wanna screw with it yet.

Righteous save. DOn't worry about the dent right now...just make sure she doesn't rust underneath. Pics when ya can :)

awesome...if you need help, give a yell

I dont have one of those breakers on my car Eric... dont know if thats better or worse... lol

I had a chance to look at it a little bit today, and the scotch lock was the culprit. I jiggled it (it just spins on the wire it's so loose) and the rear windows and top motor work now. I am going to just remove that scotch and make a proper solder splice. Now, the top motor runs, but it doesn't move. On to chapter two , heh...

Cool, glad that was it. I did the same thing and made a better (soldered) connection.

For the top motor, make sure you have enough hydraulic fluid in the motor. In other words, check for leaks (remove the back seat) in the hoses and the cylinders.
When my top motor died, it just got really slow and didn't have that final ooomph to get the top all the way up. I hope you just need fluid...then again, the motors are GM so they're in stock and affordable (gasp! WUT). ;)

The roads finally dried off enough for me to go wash it and snap a few pics. Here she is, as found (minus a pound of dust from sitting in a garage, lol). It looks better in the pictures than it actually is:

nice...welcome to the club

Don't know that I've ever seen a black one. Looks pretty sharp. Is the interior torn up or anything?

The interior has its pros and cons. The main pro is a perfect dash with no cracks! I can't believe that in a convertible. It also has a nice aftermarket CD player. The main cons are: 1) big screws through both door panels because somebody couldn't figure out the plastic snaps, 2) The driver seat has the "fox lean", 3) The steering wheel and shroud are beat up, 4) Somebody spilled about half a quart of oil on the back seat. It's all over the one corner, down the crack, all under it and on the seat belts. Ugh. I don't know what I am going to do about that yet. In the grand scheme, these aren't too bad of things to have to fix.

I am currently putting in a new rear window and sorting out the electronics. I need to get the exhaust fixed too. It's missing the pipe between the cat and ler. Oh, and I noticed the spark plug wires are all cracked and brittle. Ahh well, these things will all get done and it will have a nice life now, lol.

Oh my. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you.

Was that car from Columbus?

It looks decent, you did well.
One thing convertible owners never find out until they buy the car: convertibles ALWAYS need work with the top, the interior, or both. Welcome to the club. ;)

It was on Columbus CL, but it was actually in Newark. The ad is still up. Funny thing, I tried to contact him several times. He's had it listed for a long time. I could never get a reply. I assumed it was sold and he didn't take the ad down (like it is now, lol). But I tried again and finally got a response and made the deal happen.

I bought it mostly for my wife. She needed a different car, and she wanted something 'special'. She wanted a convertible mustang. Oh c'mon, everybody has a convertible mustang (and people want a million dollars for even the rattiest ones!). Lets get something reeeely special ;).

I am fortunate to have a wife who loves old cars, and is not afraid of the problems they sometimes have. Heck, she does her own oil changes.

For sure

Nice score :).

 
dang, those exist?  Lol