My 87 Thunderbird. Just got it back from body and paint yesterday.
NO, it is not a turbo coupe, it is a custom LX. The grill has been filled in to make it look like a turbo coupe. Pretty cool huh?
What was done:
Shaved Antenna
Custom Made Header/Grill
Custom Made/Hand Built Shaker
Custom Made Rear Spoiler
Custom Painted Lazer Blue
Custom Flat Black Striping around Tail Lights and on the Hood
All body moulding painted to match body colour
All window trim repainted black
18" Cobra R's
(Still waiting for the turbo coupe emblem. Had to be shipped from NY, took FOREVER to track one down.)
Here are some before and after pictures.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE!
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_14_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_46_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_47_full.jpg)
Definitely an improvement.
One question, why fill the old header panel, instead of throwing a turbo coupe one on?
Well, there are different reasons.
One, because there are now no others like it.
Two, because it looks better than an actual turbo coupe header. (I think)
Three, because I would have had to get new inner lights.
Four, because I would have had to buy a whole turbo coupe front end.
Five, just because. :)
Badass. I want it. NICE car.
Yeah, It's pretty awesome. I am definately in love. LOL. Was well worth the month of waiting!
sneaks over and tries his keys in the door. :hick: :bowdown:
You need to put up more pics of how that shaker works man. It looks badass. Very nice car now. Not that it wasn't before.
Will get right on that. Still needs some work under neath the hood, but it works good. The ENTIRE shaker/setup was made by hand. Talk about million dollar hands!
Looks Kool, Like the old school look.
Sometime you just have to do something diffrent "Just Because"
Looks Great
nnnnn- I like the before/ after look- I also like the scoop- only prob is u didnt do it to a cougar....... haha j/k
I'd hit it.
Mine would look the same if you removed the embem, and filled in the two holes that were left (and added the lx front bumper cover).
A bit cheaper, but, none the less, a cool lookin bird.
Very nice work. I love the paint scheme.
Don't wreck it.
You would not believe how many times I have heard that, LOL.
That looks schveet!! Lets see some pics of the rear :D
I like the color and the scoop just stands out. All around it is awesome, good work.
Dan
Worked out very well.. and the grille fill-in looks great, but you know you'll only be one-of-a-kind until someone here copies you. :p With how it came out, I could see that happening occasionally.. "just because".
So what's the deal with the Mark VII sitting next to it in the original pic? :p
That is nice:D . I'd love to see a pic of how the hood scoop works. I've wanted to make a functional shaker hood for my Tbird for awhile. BTW does the chrome script on the shaker say "Cobra Jet"?;)
Very nice looking car indeed!
sweet. very nice looking.
my only gripe is the tires being too narrow for the rims
Yes, indeed it does say Cobra Jet. :) But, no, there is no Cobra Jet IN it...maybe that will come in the future. Gotta save more money! LOL.
I have a cardomain if anyone wants to see more pics.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/492107
Oh your a girl? cool.
Youre a girl...but are you a single girl?
Just pickin on ya. Being single wouldnt last long with a car looking like that.
Now you've gone and done it! These guys will drool over any girl, especially one who likes t-birds/cougars. :rollin:
HAHAHA, thanks guys. Does mean you will still talk to me? (even though it's cuz of my car, haha) I hope so!
That is actually my Mom's car. It's a 1990 LSC. Has a lot of sentimental value to it. It hasn't been driven for over a year. It's been in storage since last November and is prob gonna be for a while, unfortunately....
I hate to say it, but right now I'm favoring Mark VIIs slightly over T-birds and Cougars. I'm thinking it's due to the ones in my possession more than anything.. the Mark is nice and comfortable and has a lot of options, and my '86 T-bird is rather bland by comparison. Perhaps if I got rid of the boat anchor under the hood and did a few things to it, I might rekindle my interest in the car. (I still want to turn it into a sedan delivery, but that's a LOOOOOONG way off)
Seeing this filled-in grille almost makes me want to reconsider my decision to get rid of my '88 T-bird. No, I wouldn't be copying you.. but I had something else in mind for it awhile back that I could see myself doing if I were keeping the car.
I dig the hood scoop. Nicely done!
That is a sharp looking car. I'll be the dissenter and say the only thing I don't like is the shaker hood. In my opinion, it breaks up the clean lines of the beast.
For whatever reason, this picture from your cardomain page cracked me up. It looks like the T-bird got cold-pen 15ed and has a black eye.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_4_full.jpg)
looks very nice. im fixin to run a tru shaker on my 4 valve pending that i dont go with a PD lower. i like the way it looks on your car. koodows for having the berries to do it. i love the flat black. ive been thinking of how to work that into my car, inspired by the datyona magnum hemi chargers (the burnt orange and flat black look amazing). nice job and deff an A+ for a little creativity. it never even occured to me to fill in the grille.
good lookin car but giving a TC header panel is definitly a down grade in looks.
Holy . I said don't wreck it before I realized your last one was wrecked.
Twice.
Okay. REALLY don't wreck it. A VERY nice Tbird you have there, and that is coming from a Cougar man.
Now thats funny right thur. :rollin:
are you honestly in favor of the stock look? i think the turbo coupe header panel gives the car a much meaner look, a ungranny looking front end i may add, however this is my opinion...different strokes for different fokes.
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. In my opinion also, the chrome grill makes it look very grandma-ish. I always said my first Tbird WAS a granny car because the colour seemed very grandma-ish to me also. I think the TC header makes it looks tough and gives more of a sports car type feel to it. But everyone has their own ideas!
Here's a compromise between stock and your solution:
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showpost.php?p=4493&postcount=36
That's a compromise that leans towards the stock side. Another compromise is what I was referring to earlier, my thoughts on what I'd do to that grille there in the picture if I were keeping that car.. cutting out the divisions between the 8 holes, smoothing it all out inside to make it look like it came that way, perhaps rounding off the corners to make the hole a little squarer but with rounded corners, and then filling in the gap between the grille and the header panel or whatever. Then I'd cover the back of the new hole with simple hardware cloth turned 45 degrees so it made a diamond pattern.. and heavily painted black to thicken it up a little bit. Yeah, it looks better in my head than it sounds.. but whatever. :p
Anyway, we all have our own tastes and ideas.. but personally, given the choice between having to pick only between the stock grille (painted the stock way) and the faux-TC front end you made, I'd probably go with the faux-TC look. And yeah, I agree on the "granny" thing.. heh.
I prefer the grill like on my car. I think it looks really awkward and strange without a grill. And hey, if people think it looks "grandma-ish," that's fine with me since it just helps the "sleeper" look I'm goin for. Granny look on the outside, serious ponies on the inside :evilgrin: .
You could paint that grille body color and it would probably not be much less of a "sleeper". Then again, I'm not big on white cars.. heh.
Well, I don't have money for a paint job, so it isn't getting one for quite a while. When I finally do paint it, I may go for a charcoal color....but I'm going to stop going off topic now :D . You guys are such bad influences!!!! :rollin:
I <3 Blue cars!!! You got a number? haha :)
And I agree with your thinking... IF it weren't for the '87-'88 Turbo Coupe, I'd likely own a Fox Stang...
BTW sweet ride, but I'm still deciding about that shaker scoop...
Ah hell Tom, your old school! That thing should be on your bird! Hell you probably have had a car with something like that on it!
Are you free Saturday night??
Yeah he does a 69 Torino with a 428 Cobra Jet:D (Tom if you need someone to keep an eye on it for awhile just ship it to my house;) )
You know after reading your cardomain, I think it would be in your best interest to stay away from your boyfriend. Or atleast his father.:giggle:
Neither am I. Now does that make any sense?:rolleyes:
You guys(or gals) ever click on the links in my sig???
Body color grilles look better. Here's an old pic of mine before the new headlights:
(http://www.cardomain.com/member_pages/show_image.pl?bg=000000&image=http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/469000-469999/469316_29_full.jpg)
i have an extra grill getting sand blasted bc the chrome was flakin off..it came off a header panel i needed cuz i busted my front up a few months back, im goina paint the grill the body color ..F7..great color! but i think the grill helps set my car off =:)
HAHA, thanks for the advice, but that story is about 3 years old and, well, you get the idea *wink wink nod nod*.
Got my windows tinted yesterday too, looks even better now! Will post pics tmrw.
Aha, finally here's a young woman who's into cars and doesn't have a boyfriend. Now if I could only find someone like you near me...
... hey, a guy can dream right?:o
WHAAAAAT? I hate the LX header panel...
UPDATE!
Tinted windows, front emblem finally came and brand new custom plates. Looks even hotter now!
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_61_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_65_full.jpg)
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_66_full.jpg)
Sweet! Definitely one of my favorites here!
Yeah, your car looks tough imo (well, judging by your sig). I still prefer the grille over the TC panel. I'm the underdog in a forum of underdogs :D .
The car looks great, though! The tinted windows and Tbird emblem help.
Absolutely fantastic. Great work.
definatly one beautiful bird! now to get my cat just as beautiful:evilgrin: oh and yes a man can dream of a woman who is into cars just like we are...even the same ones!!! so when are ya comming to cj to meet up with all of us...err i mean me;) :D
yeah it's def lookin mean!
thats soo hot.. the bird i mean!! heheh
what's under the hood? with all that bad ass body work, does she move as fast as she looks?
up there as one of my favorite birds on the board too.
Thanks everyone.
Putting it in a Ford car show this coming Sat, will have to let you know how that goes.
As for what's under the hood, a 5L with 300, 000 km's on it. (ouch) But it still goes, not as good as it should obviously but it's still got a little bit of it. LOL. I've got straight pipes on it too so it sounds pretty awesome.
Nice car, I dig the muscle car paint schemeJust wondering did you have to take any extra steps when it came to painting the rubber trim? I'd really love to know the process for prep and finish work on that, cause otherwise I'm gonna have to paint my grey bird black (and that's just a bitch to keep clean).
Hey thats cool Tom you let your grand-pop race your tbird MuHAHHAHAHA :D :tg: :giggle:
woah! That bird is sick! I love it!
Looks good bro. All but that shaker scoop, ack!
Thanks BRO, but I think the proper term is SISTER, lol. Yeah, I'm a girl. :D
I honestly have no idea what was done to prep and paint the trim. I dropped the car off and picked it up a month later looking like that. Sorry.....
LoL, ok. Sister!
Thats hot
I've been wantin to do a shaker on one of our cars! You beat me to the punch, and it's a knockout! great fab work
I want a shaker also.They have a kit for Fox Mustangs (will fit ours as well),and it's fully functional,but,I can't shell out the $700.00 for that.
Lookin good there :D Enjoy the heck out of it :D
John
Nice looking ride,where abouts in ontario are ya from.
We should all get together this year for a cruise up here.
Other than having 'CobraJet' on a non cobra jet car, I think you've got a killer looking rig. Nice combo.
Proof that our cars aren't as indestructible as some here would like to believe. Be safe.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/492000-492999/492107_11_full.jpg)
I thought about doing the non TC header panle filling thing when i bought my 88. didn't relize thats what you did till today when i read everything and didn't just look at the pics
"Nice Very Nice" I love the CJ shaker,they go for good money if you have a original one. Love the color,wheels, and the fact that a girl own's it. I think we need more chicks on here to chat with instead of guys. Then again this isnt a dating chat room either. Sweet Ride!!