Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

I've had the itch for another fox body now for almost 6 mos.    I don't need one, but I do so love these cars.    One night, during one of my usual time wasting web cruise's, it all paid off when I found this car.    My wife and I drove 250 miles to go look at it.  I immediately knew it was meant to be.  It truly spoke to me like no other and I've looked at quite a few.  I wanted it.  Wife wasn't totally convinced but I was.  I am the second owner now of this beauty.  As I understand the story, the original owner of the car had stopped driving it as a regular driver, but even then not so regular, sometime in the early 90's.  Used it only for weekend fun so to speak until 2003 or 4 I believe, then it became a garage queen only being driven to go back and forth between the home garage and the winter storage garage till this morning when I loaded it up on my trailer.  Literally everything works except the AC, a relative easy fix, and the drivers window which is trying to work just won't go down all the way.  It seems to get stuck going down then needs help going up.  Both will be an easy fix.  It has never in its life seen a snow flake, that he could remember, and never will.  I hope you enjoy the pics.  Everything you see with exception of the custom pin striping is as it was when he drove it off the lot.  I am truly excited about this one.  I smell a few car shows in my future.  Thanks for looking

John

More Pics

My Favorite Pics of all of them.  :birdsmily:


Thanks for looking.

W O W !!!!  That is a great find John. Im glad to see that one go to a good home. You definitely scored with that one. Enjoy the shows.  :cool:

That is awesome, and so 80's with the body kit and pinstriping. I'd love to find something like that

Impressively clean car! Very nice find and a big congrats!

I see that this car has a smooth inlet tube off of the turbo vs. a finned tube. Does your other '86 have a smooth or a finned tube?
Does it still have it's yellow build date stamp underhood?

Nice find.  I'm trying to remember who sold that body kit and grill, was it Kamei?


cheers
Ed

Congrats on the new baby, a outstanding find...

Nice new ride John. :headbang:

As much as everyone likes the 87-88 bird/cougar....I think im more now than ever sold on the 4 eyes....just makes it an 80's car.

Travis

Nice score! It's an 80's time capsule.

Wow Just wow


Very nice

Nice score!

Enjoy!

Unbelievable find man!  The interior quality kills me and it still has the dealer sticker on the trunk lid...what a find.

Darren

Very nice find, and I am liking the ground effect kit also

Thank you to all for the kind words, and if you couldn't tell, I am super excited about this car. 

It is totally 80's.  Made the cool factor that much more for me.  I hate it but I have to wait till Wednesday to get the car licensed so I can even drive it.  I don't antite a ton of miles put on it but I do want to drive it around and enjoy the car.



I think Trim Line made the body kit.  It has the sticker in the drivers side quarter window.



Thanks Dan.  I may meet you someday at a show.  Maybe park next to the cougar?  LOL



My other 86 shown there is a V8.    The 88 is a turbo but they were different then.  Guess I didn't know there were two different kinds.  I have looked all over the engine compartment and I don't see a yellow build sticker so I'd have to say no to that.  Door panel says 3/86 though.  There is a metal tag but I don't think that is what your referring to.  Is there someplace specific to look or is it in plain sight?

I went through it today and checked all fluids.    All fluids look good, but I thought I would get them all changed just to be safe.  I don't like the condition of the belts, I am guessing they are original by the looks of them.  Lots of cracks in them.  Need a couple of minor light bulbs but really no big issue.      Spent some time and took the door apart today as well.  Super careful taking that door panel apart.  I believe my window issue is a bad motor.  The motor turns on but makes no effort at all to move that big gear arm in there that moves the window up and down.  Doesn't even attempt to move it.  Yesterday I tried helping the window down that was why it moved.  But it wouldn't go up.  I had to help it up.  Well today same issue.  I can move the window and that gear arm pretty easily and I can see in there that the gear on the motor is still attached to the gear on the arm of the mechanism.  So I may be wrong as I don't have a ton of experience with these motors but I am guessing that the motor is the issue.    I'll be looking for a new window motor tomorrow.  Does not look fun changing it though.  Need someone with smaller hands than mine.

Coolcats has a write up on them, its usually the three little plastic balls inside the regulator.

While you have it apart, clean and grease everything that moves. I like white lithium grease for that application, but not sure if it is the recommended lube. Helped immensely on mine though.

Another nice thing about the 86 glass, it has a hole that you can stick a bolt through if the window ever comes off of the tracks.

Personally, I've given up on power or automatic anything. I have deleted every power option on my 86, and when the trans lets go, its gonna get swapped to a t-5.

Nice score! Im digging the 80's look.

Yeah, pretty obvious to me now, I guess I just had turbo on the brain. :hick:
This is what the finned ones look like. This pic is from another '86 car. My '85 car (6/19/85 build date) also had the finned tube.


The date stamp was a small yellow ink stamp. On most '85/'86 cars it was on the driver side strut tower. It could also be on the radiator support.
Here is an example of one on an '88 Turbo Coupe showing a build date of June 28th.

It was made by Spoilers Plus out of Blauvelt, NY. They were also the supplier of the Ford Motorsport kits.

Yeah, I went out and looked I don't see anything like that yellow build stamp.  The owner was always cleaning the car I wonder if it disappeared over the years. 


Yep, that's it.  Thanks for the Info.  Helps me know more about the car.  I have a spare front air dam that came with the car.  Has a crack in it where he hit a puppies early in the cars life.  He kept it and gave it to me.    I have it tucked safely away just in case.    Looking at your photo's, I like the red car there at the top.  Those gold centered wheels really set it apart.

NICE score OP!  I love the period 1980's add-ons.

Not surprising, I know from experience that it could easily be wiped away with some Simple Green. :(

Well tonight I got off work early enough that I tore the window motor out of the drivers door.  I think you have to be double jointed or something to get in there.  Finally got it out of there and used the rebuild kit that I had purchased.  When I opened it up, nothing but broken plastic in there.  Nothing at all left of those plastic pins.    got the motor cleaned up and re assembled.  Now to get it put back in place.  I wish I could twitch my nose and have it all be done.  Don't know how I'm going to get my meat hooks in there to start those screws.  Thank God for the magnet I guess.  Used it about 20 times tonight.

If you look on the door sheet metal directly in front of the power window motor there are some dimples right where the bolts are that hold the motor in place. Drill this out with a large enough bit to pass a 1/4" extension and I think you can figure it out from there. Once done you simply use plastic plugs in the holes if they show past the door panel.

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?454-window-motor-replacement-1986

Darren

Thanks Darren, that sure would have been easier.  I've drilled the holes out tonight.  Didn't have time to put the motor back in but I'm sure with the holes drilled out it will be an easier task.  I hope to get to it in the next day or so after work.  Will let you know.

Motor went right in.    Thanks for the advice.    I am excited now as the window works just as if new.  Runs up and down now with no hesitation, no jumpy movements nothing.  Smooth as glass so to speak.    Now its time to drive the car.