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Reply #90 –
Old Four eyes is as blind as a bat right now. I jus got her some headlamp buckets from a 1986 Cougar that were in good shape and not rusted. I just repainted them. None of the sealed beam units I had were in good shape. The glass fronts literally came off in my hand after I removed the rectangular retaining rings. I am holding out for some Silver Star sealed beams but they are expensive to do right this moment and I have other things I am spending money on at the moment. I thought about maybe getting some diamond clear headlamp replacements but I dunno.

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Reply #91 –
The map light mirror, conveniently spliced into the dome lamp wiring harness on the right side.

The freshly painted turquoise gauge needles along with the now working fuel gauge from a donor Ford truck.

Blue LED illumination for the gauge cluster really brightens up the gauges for night driving. Only drawback is that the dash light dimmer will not dim enough for these bulbs but I am used to the brightness that the blue LED's give off on the My Color dash of my 2008 Mustang.

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Reply #92 –
Looking good!

I agree, the SN95 dash was a cool retro look but would have turned it into a long term project to make it work. Probably would have needed to weld in a custom frame to make your attachments.

When all else fails go back to original and I also agree the 83-84 style is very clean looking. Hard to beat that look.

The wheelcovers you picked should look fine. I liked the 83-86 standard ones too and sometime I just feel the factory got things right.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

I my have a taillight lens if you need one.
tbirdregistry.com
26480
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Reply #93 –
Quote from: rodsterh;289591
Looking good!

I agree, the SN95 dash was a cool retro look but would have turned it into a long term project to make it work. Probably would have needed to weld in a custom frame to make your attachments.

When all else fails go back to original and I also agree the 83-84 style is very clean looking. Hard to beat that look.

The wheelcovers you picked should look fine. I liked the 83-86 standard ones too and sometime I just feel the factory got things right.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

I my have a taillight lens if you need one.


The worst part about the SN95 dash was having to cut the edge against the windshield. I had no problem cutting it but for me it just was not whole and it was sloppy and difficult to fabricate attachment to the base of the windshield area. I would have been better off trying to keep the original dash frame for integrity but there was just too much to modify. Then I got the guilt that the original Tbird design was not being used. The vinyl knee pads of the original dash are in such good shape I could not bear the thought of not using them.

I am having second thoughts about the wheel covers I got. The 3factory steel wheels I got from a 1986 Cougar do not allow the 1980-82 wheel covers to sit flush as they should. With the lone Mustang steel wheel I got they fit fine. I may s the entire wheel cover idea and look for a set of Mustang/Cougar turbine wheels. Ideally I like the new wheels Vinnie got but they are gonna have to wait.  It's just a ned shame I cannot retain the TRX wheels. They look so good but one is bent and the tires if I could find them are too expensive.

I am interested in the LH taillamp. It's bothering me that the one I just bought has a crack. It's still intact with no light showing through so I have not been in a hurry to remedy it with a replacement right away.

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Reply #94 –
I just bought more stuff off eBay. I found LH & RH clear turn signal lenses. I also found Ford Escort rubber headed OEM key blacks which are inverted triangle shaped that fit our ignition lock cylinders. I already installed my new chrome ignition lock cylinder. I just like having that brightened up as opposed to the boring black, plus I always liked the chrome twist  which has been a Ford characteristic since they started using them in 1970.

I think I already mentioned I bought a remote keyless entry. It's has every function the same as the one on my new Mustang. Trunk release,  dome, dash and parking lamp illumination upon unlock, parking lamp flash and horn sound upon locking. I have gotten so spoiled that I hate unlocking a door and trunk with a key.

I am hoping to find a AM/FM electronic stereo only with NO cassette. My plan is to use it with an FM iPod converter with an iPod and not install any sort of CD player. I am so over CD's and CD players that I don't even care that I have one in my Mustang anymore. I seen one such AM/FM electronic stereo-only in a car at Pull-A-Part but when I went back to find it, either it was picked out of the car or the car was gone. I could not remember what vehicle I had seen it in.

I gotta find a set of six speakers. Maybe I will either buy new or scavange for some late model used ones still in good shape.

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Reply #95 –
Looks like your tailights are diff styles also~
One looks like an '83 and one looks like an '84.

No big deal, just mentioning.
~Project ThunderStorm = '84 Charcoal Thunderbird - First Car - Long Time Work in Progress~
~Project (No Name Yet) = 1970 Plymouth GTX/RR "Clone"~

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Reply #96 –
Quote from: Romeo2k;289625
Looks like your tailights are diff styles also~
One looks like an '83 and one looks like an '84.

No big deal, just mentioning.


They are the same. The left taillamp just has the chrome flashing worn off the peremeter and the emblem.

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Reply #97 –
Oh, ok.
Just sayin' Cuz my '84 had the same worn emblem (like your drivers side), And one day i came across an '83 in the yard that was in terrible shape, But, The birds on the tails were nice and silver/chrome still...
Come to find out they were Metal, And the ones on my '84 are plastic.

And is the paint on your gauges anything out of the ordinary? I need to paint mine but i'm looking for something light reactive.
~Project ThunderStorm = '84 Charcoal Thunderbird - First Car - Long Time Work in Progress~
~Project (No Name Yet) = 1970 Plymouth GTX/RR "Clone"~

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Reply #98 –
Quote from: Romeo2k;289652
Oh, ok.
Just sayin' Cuz my '84 had the same worn emblem (like your drivers side), And one day i came across an '83 in the yard that was in terrible shape, But, The birds on the tails were nice and silver/chrome still...
Come to find out they were Metal, And the ones on my '84 are plastic.

And is the paint on your gauges anything out of the ordinary? I need to paint mine but i'm looking for something light reactive.


Both Wal-Mart and Lowes have day-glo red-orange paint that you could probably use for a light reactive color.

The paint I used on the needles of my gauges came from Wal-Mart. It's Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze. My grille and rear 1/4 panel emblems are gonna get a splash of this color in the inserts just like the 1983 Heritage models used turquoise inserts. This will look especially good with my black car. I am probably going to do the insets of the wings on the taillamp emblems as well.  I have always loved the classic emblems with the turquoise inserts.

As far as the taillamp emblems go, yeah there were metal ones and plastic ones. I like metal ones which were all chrome. I did not even notice after all these years there was two different kinds until I started looking for a replacement taillamp.

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Reply #99 –
Great success this evening installing a remote keyless entry system! I have most of it done but I need to buy three relays. One to activate the trunk release and another for the starter interrupt and a third one to turn the interior lights on for 30 seconds during an unlock.

So far the installation is working perfect with what is wired up. I am waiting for new door lock actuators. The relays are working properly without them right now. The horn chirps during unlock and lock as well as the parking lamps and dash lamps flashing. The key to this installation is accessing the wiring under the driver side kick panel where you find two pink wires from the door lock buttons and one brown wire going to the taillamp harness which is for the taillamp/parkinglamp/dash illumination circuit.

I am so happy this install went smoothly and works perfectly. The kit is a remanufactured Audiovox kit which was $29.00 off eBay.

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Reply #100 –
Hey, that does sound cool. Let me know how finding new lock actuators goes... My D.S. actuator is toast.
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

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Reply #101 –
Quote from: jrad235;289820
Hey, that does sound cool. Let me know how finding new lock actuators goes... My D.S. actuator is toast.


I found them on eBay.... Universal aftermarket replacements. They are priced extremely low and easily adapt to the operate the lock rod inside the door.

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Reply #102 –
I sure hope they work well. Last time I took my door panel off I was thinking that I would need to reinforce/rebuild the backing as it seemed a little weak to be pulling it on and off repeatedly(2 or 3 times now)
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

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Reply #103 –
Quote from: jrad235;289902
I sure hope they work well. Last time I took my door panel off I was thinking that I would need to reinforce/rebuild the backing as it seemed a little weak to be pulling it on and off repeatedly(2 or 3 times now)


I got my actuators today! They work perfect! All I did was mount them to an existing hole in the door and attach the actuator rod to the rod for the door lock . This was an easy install. They come with everything you need to attach them. The only extras you will need is some butt connectors to attach the wiring to the existing wires, some electrical tape to seal the connection up and one zip tie to secure the wiring to the little hole in the door.

Be sure to completely remove your old actuators. They cause the lock rods to bind if they are siezed up.

I am very thrilled they work very well with the remote keyless entry I installed.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Universal-2-Wire-Slave-Power-Door-Lock-Actuator-360D_W0QQitemZ170378089617QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item27ab535491&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

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Reply #104 –
Oh man, that is just too cool! I would love to just look back at the car and "Click" have the doors lock and the lights flash. That would be awesome! Congratulations on the install.

I think I would have to rewire my trunk release as it only works with the key on, did you have that problem?

Also, how did you tap all the wires? Wire taps?
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...