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Topic: Drove the T-Bird today!!! (Read 1342 times) previous topic - next topic

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Ok, so it was a highly illegal, uninsured, unlicensed, uninspected, 6-mile round trip with no tail lights or rearview mirrors and half the interior missing, but I drove it :mullet:

I had just replaced the valve covers and gaskets (installed some aluminum HO VC's and rubber gaskets), and was letting the car idle in the driveway to burn the oil off the manifolds. I decided it was taking too long, so I shut the hood (TC hood scoops still uninstalled) and eased it onto the road, whereby I immediately floored it. The arse went sideways, I kept into it, and fishtailed a good 100 feet up the road. Once it straigtened out I had it up to about 120 km/hr (75 MPH) and stomped on the brakes to se the rust off the rotors. I repeated this a few times until the brakes felt smooth. Brought it back up to 120 and enjoyed the car's newfound handling prowess on the country back road I live on.

This was the first time I'd driven the car since I installed the CHE suspension, TC rear, and Mach 1 springs. Now, it's been better than  two years since I last drove it, so I can't really make an apples-to-apples comparison (I forget how py it used to handle). A few things I did notice: Even though the stock non-HO 5.0 was choking on years-old gas, it works quite well with the 3.55 gears (old gears were 2.73). It's not particularly fast, but much quicker off the line than I remember. Of course I'm also comparing it to the 100-horse platic torpedo I drive daily. This car SOOOOOOO needs an HO-T5 conversion to make it complete!!!

The 11" front brakes and TC rear brakes work excellent. I know this is the stuff Mustang guys throw away, but it's so much better than the 10" rotors and drums the car had originally. I almost feel confident that the car will stop when I ask it to now :D

I also noticed the A/C compressor is fvcked. It still works, but is noisy as hell and the clutch slips at higher RPM. I was kinda expecting this, though - the compressor was noisy when I last drive the car.

Finally, I noticed just how loud these things are when there's no interior in them. I've got the carpet, front seats, dash, and headliner installed, but little else. No door panels, no sail panels, no A-pillar trim, no back seat, etc. It felt like I was driving a tin can. Actually, a more accurate description would be that it felt like I was driving a cargo van. Wind noise, road noise, and "booming" galore, all amplified by my poly bushings.


The upshot: I am finally feeling ambitious about getting the thing on the road again. You don't realize how much you miss driving these cars until you go without for a while...
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #1 –
i know the feeling!! When ever I lose intrest in my mark i take it down the street and back quick and its a rush
RIP 1988 and 1990 Lincoln Mark VII LSC
I welcomed the dark side and currently am driving a 2000 Dodge Durango SLT plus, with a 5.9, Code named project "Night Runner"
Shes black on black, fully loaded, with headers, 180 tstat, e fan, straight exhaust into a cherry bomb vortex ler, full tune up, ported intake and T/B, MSD coil, and round aircleaner.
Mods to come: Fully rebuilt and heavily modded 46RE, and a richmond rachet locker.
my $300 beater ;)
R.I.P Kayleigh Raposa 12/18/90 - 2/24/07

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #2 –
Quote
Ok, so it was a highly illegal, uninsured, unlicensed, uninspected, 6-mile round trip with no tail lights or rearview mirrors and half the interior missing, but I drove it


Your summonses are in the mail, LOL!

:burnout:

Sounds like you are getting close!  Pics, please:D
-- 05 Mustang GT-Whipplecharged !!
--87 5.0 Trick Flow Heads & Intake - Custom Cam - Many other goodies...3100Lbs...Low12's!

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #3 –
I know what you mean. I love the first ride in my 88 after it sits all winter. Even though I drive a T-bird every day (a MN-12 :mullet: ) there is nothing like a fox.
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #4 –
You really DO need the H.O and T-5.The H.O conversion can be done for almost nothing,and the T-5 is pretty cheap if you really shop around.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #5 –
Quote from: V8Demon;232057
Your summonses are in the mail, LOL!
 
:burnout:
 
Sounds like you are getting close! Pics, please:D

Dick!!
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #6 –
Quote from: kitzdnm;232076
Dick!!


Isn't that short for "Richard"?.LOL.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #7 –
Yeh you could look at it thay way.
It was not to be takin as fowl.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #8 –
Or was it?................the mystery of it all.LOL.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #9 –
Quote from: kitzdnm;232076
Dick!!


HENRY!!:hick:
-- 05 Mustang GT-Whipplecharged !!
--87 5.0 Trick Flow Heads & Intake - Custom Cam - Many other goodies...3100Lbs...Low12's!
 

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #10 –
Quote from: V8Demon;232057
Your summonses are in the mail, LOL!

:burnout:

Sounds like you are getting close!  Pics, please:D

The worst is that it was probably still one of the more legal cars on the road around here. You oughta see the things the hillbillies drive by in - cars with no windows, doors, or exhaust, trucks that have been rolled, set upright again, the roof kicked back up, etc. Then there's the 4-wheelers that sail by at mach 3 every day...

...But no, sadly, I'm not getting close. The car is pretty much unchanged since the last pics I posted. I've still got to:
  • Reinstall the rest of the interior (including painting blue bits black)
  • Paint and install the things that bolt in where the roof meets the quarter panel
  • Paint and install the hood scoops
  • Paint and install the side trim
  • Paint and install the mirrors
  • Re-attach the tail light lenses to the housings
  • Remove and re-glue the windshield (it is literally almost just sitting in place, the factory glue has let go on both sides, there's only about a foot wide strip top and bottom holding it in)
  • Reinstall the windshield and rear window trim
...And that's just to get it drivable. Then I've gotta make it legal (plates, inspection, insurance). Then there's the refinishing of the snowflakes, then I've gotta get tires to fit 'em, I need a stereo, and of course the HO/T5 swap.

I should be driving it regularly in... oh... say, 2015...
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #11 –
Nothing like some nice black marks to keep ya motivated :D  Sounds like some great mods, can't wait to see some more closer to done pics.

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #12 –
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;232051
Ok, so it was a highly illegal, uninsured, unlicensed, uninspected, 6-mile round trip with no tail lights or rearview mirrors and half the interior missing, but I drove it :mullet:


sounds like [almost]every car ive had and everyday for me :toilet:

since you already have them off you wouldnt happen to have any pics of the channel for the trim on the rear window, and how the clips go on?
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible
2015 Ford Focus SE 1.0 EcoBoost

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #13 –
I can have you some pics tomorrow...
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Drove the T-Bird today!!!

Reply #14 –
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;232103
I can have you some pics tomorrow...


thanks:hick:
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible
2015 Ford Focus SE 1.0 EcoBoost