Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

So I have been trying to work on my Bird and my truck at same time. Tends to leave me afoot part of the time. I am in the process of buying a 92 Bird with a 5.0. It only has 88,000 miles on it. Looks like new. I will post some picks if deal goes through. This will allow me more time on the Bird and I will be able to do more with it. My truck, on the other hand, smokes and I would like to do a 4x4 conversion on it. 96 F-150 and I have all I need to convert it, other than a set of gears in the front to match the back.

If no rust, hell yeah. It'll be an HO, as well. ;)

No signs of rust anywhere. No chips on the paint anywhere. Seems that most of it's miles were gathered from in-town driving. Yes, HO. kind of sluggish though. I guess it needs the cobwebs blown out.

What gear did those have?

Might need a tune up and some timing. They are heavier than our Fox cars too, so keep that in mind. ;)

Find yourself a SuperCoupe being taken apart, and get the wheel and effects (and wheels too, if you're a fan, I'm not, however) and add those to spice it up a bit..

I would have to look up the gearing, I just don't remember. I am sure a full tune up will be in order. I just can't help but to think this thing needs a little more oomf. My 96 Cougar was a total badass and would out do any Mustang that was having a bad day. Yes, it had the 4.6, but power output should not be that much different than the 5.0. Not too worried about it though. It is a great car and will do great for daily transportation. I will keep the SuperCoupe stuff in mind. First on the agenda is to get the windows tinted and get that cassette player out of there! I am approved for the loan. Just waiting on the title. The seller does not own the car. His grandmother does. She is now too old to drive it. She lives out of state, so that slows things up a bit.

The rear gear is probably 2.73 or 3.08. On a 8.8"

Travis

The rear gear is 3.08 with limited slip. If I recall, that is what my 96 Cougar had. I now have the car. After changing the plugs, cap, and rotor, and driving it around some, it seems to be waking up. It is hesitating on full throttle after it hits 3rd gear. I think if I change the plug wires and fuel filter, it will be good to go. Weather is supposed to be nice later this week. I will clean her up and take some pics.:D

Sorry for the delay guys. Here are some pics.

That's pretty nice looking, and I'm not at all a fan of the MN12 cars.

A friend of mine had a '97 Cougar, and it seemed like it was quicker than the pair of 5.0 MN12 cars I have rode in.

I'd like to have a 5.4 Fox Tbird. A Navigator 5.4, that is. :D

That is a well-optioned MN12 for sure. I spy factory-equipped car phone controls on the dash!

^^^Really! Interesting.

The one thing I cannot take away from MN-12's (maybe just the early?) is that dash. Very good-looking overall.
And of course the lovely short-lived automatic seatbelts....

I'm guessing the buttons he is referring to is on the right side of the cluster. Those are to navigate through the digital cluster. It has a functional power antanne and automatic headlamps. No auto-dimmers thank goodness. The one thing I hate most is the automatic seatbelts.

ball joints suck on the cars. Mine had 92,000 miles on them and were shot. The power window motor gears on the driver side needed to be replaced, the lower door hinges are another common thing on the MN-12's, let's see, what else? haha

I have had 2 MN-12 Cougars. Got rid of them both once the hit 173,000 miles. Never had those issues. Between the two, had to replace 1 rack, 1 intake (plastic one on a 4.6), and 1 head gasket (3.8). The speaker panels in the rear like to break and fall off, and the door panels like to fall apart. I sold the one with the 3.8 to some friends of mine. With over 300,000 miles on the engine (head gaskets done 3 times), and after hitting 8 deer, it was finally done. I am not afraid of this car at all. I did not care for the 3.8 and the 4.6 started to burn oil too soon. This one has the 5.0 HO. It will be a great daily driver while I get the modifications done to the 88 Bird.

Luckily for you, Texas is mostly rust free, no?

Every MN 12 up here is rusty, unless it's a show car, or never driven. The two I spent time with had door issues, power window issues, ball joints...etc. One even caught fire one night as we were driving it. No love for the 3.8 from me, although the one in my white '88 lasted until I forgot to check the oil and threw a rod, or two. I had some serious issues at the time and wasn't in the right mind to be in a car in the first place. Anyway.....

That's a nice one. two thumbs up. :)

I like the interior.

my buddies sister had a 94 cougar bought off an old lady with 30k or something crazy low like that on it with a 4.6. It was really fun in snow, but was much slower then i expected overall. 0-60 with my old 86 was neck and neck. who ever got the jump generally won. it was much quieter though, and had a nice wot sound.

Oops. My mistake on that one; I thought they were for the factory car phone option. I've had my MN12 for ten years now and it has served me very well, and I've driven it aggressively for all those years. Keep an eye on the rocker panels for rust, which has nothing to do with salt or driving in the winter. They rust from the inside out.

I had to replace the ball joints (all four) on my 95 Thunderbird at 72K miles. Also needed the driver's side hinge replaced. Fun times, especially the hinge. It was a nice car though. A bit ponderous and the 3.8 was a turd but nice none the less. I do like the Foxes better overall but I would rock a rust free 5.0 MN-12.

Hopefully I've got mine back in the next week, so I can show off a rust free '97 again :-)

I know I'm reviving an old post but wow, a 91-93 with the full digital is rarer than rare!! Ironically, the full digital was standard on 89-90 Cougar LS's.