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Reply #375 – March 25, 2010, 09:21:07 PM

Quote from: Watchdevil;315544

...... and varied trim bezels and finishes.

Looks like the Full Size 81 Crown Vic shared some parts too.

Nice clean looking dash.

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Reply #376 – March 25, 2010, 10:49:13 PM

Quote from: rodsterh;315897

Looks like the Full Size 81 Crown Vic shared some parts too.

Nice clean looking dash.

While the design looks somewhat similar to early 80's Tbird/Cougar dashes, the dashes were totally unique designs that accommodated the much wider cabin. The only parts that were shared were standardized parts which you would find in numerous Ford models such as switches, s, radios, sometimes vents, steering wheels, steering column, door hardware, shifters, levers, pedals... just to name a few things.

When I was referring to the shared Fox dashboards between the Fairmont/Zephyr, Mustang/Capri and Granada/Cougar sedans, the base dash assembly with the shell and top pad were identical for all these cars except for the different arrays and shapes of the gauges and trim plate finishes. All these cars HVAC systems and controls as well.

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Reply #377 – March 28, 2010, 01:45:33 PM

Quote from: Watchdevil;315920

While the design looks somewhat similar to early 80's Tbird/Cougar dashes, the dashes were totally unique designs that accommodated the much wider cabin. The only parts that were shared were standardized parts which you would find in numerous Ford models such as switches, s, radios, sometimes vents, steering wheels, steering column, door hardware, shifters, levers, pedals... just to name a few things.

When I was referring to the shared Fox dashboards between the Fairmont/Zephyr, Mustang/Capri and Granada/Cougar sedans, the base dash assembly with the shell and top pad were identical for all these cars except for the different arrays and shapes of the gauges and trim plate finishes. All these cars HVAC systems and controls as well.

Yes, I understood what you were saying. I was just surprised to see so many of the parts shared between the Fox cars and the full size cars.

I was probably surprised since I never paid too much attention to the full size cars.... until now! :D

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Reply #378 – March 28, 2010, 01:56:49 PM

Quote from: rodsterh;316238

Yes, I understood what you were saying. I was just surprised to see so many of the parts shared between the Fox cars and the full size cars.

I was probably surprised since I never paid too much attention to the full size cars.... until now! :D

Oh yeah, if you look back to the generations of Fords before 1978, they also shared a lot of standardized interior parts between models. I think the most noticable was always steering columns and wheels, and the iconic ignition switch design.

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Reply #379 – March 28, 2010, 02:03:53 PM

Ya know what I like? I look at a 67 mustang at a show...saaaame opera lights in the interior back sail panels as my cougar has. Exact same pieces. And then all of the power seat switches and what not that clearly are late 60s and 70s pieces blacked out.

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Reply #380 – March 28, 2010, 02:49:11 PM

Quote from: ZondaC12;316240

Ya know what I like? I look at a 67 mustang at a show...saaaame opera lights in the interior back sail panels as my cougar has. Exact same pieces. And then all of the power seat switches and what not that clearly are late 60s and 70s pieces blacked out.

Yeah it's interesting to see how long Ford kept using some standard parts from way back. Another notable one is the big chrome dome lamp with the twin map lights.

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Reply #381 – March 29, 2010, 01:18:39 AM

Kinda neat to have a tie to the past using the aero header panel...

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Reply #382 – March 31, 2010, 11:50:30 PM

Well, I bought a 1995 Mustang instrument cluster. I will like the fit and look better than the digital cluster. I gotta get it wired up and operating. I have the wiring all figured out okay. I gotta get a VSS, oil pressure sender and temp sender. Let's hope I can get the speedo, tach and fuel gauge to function with this car. If everything turns out okay, I have some cool stuff planned to buy for this cluster since these Mustang clusters have great accessories to dress them up!

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Reply #383 – April 02, 2010, 11:14:58 AM

Whatchdevil.

I love what you did with the SN-95 dash. I agree with Vinnie. The delete plate needs a smaller tbird badge. I did some searching and Ford has new tbird emblems from the newer tbirds from 2002 that are just as wide but alot skinner.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted. I am thinking this would look good in mt 88 tbird.

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Reply #384 – April 02, 2010, 11:18:39 AM

Haha good observation with the '58-'60 "square bird"!!! I love those....

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Reply #385 – April 02, 2010, 11:30:42 PM

Quote from: ZondaC12;316833

Haha good observation with the '58-'60 "square bird"!!! I love those....

Ford designers intentionally picked up cues from the 1960 Tbird. So they picked up the browed lines over the headlamps, smoother bullet-like nose section, thick grille bars and triple round lenses incorporated into the taillamps. The explaination that was given for taillamp design was that taillamps for the past too years were becoming too plain and simplified. They wanted to bring back detail to this element to make them more interesting.

Of course our Aerobirds always retained a critical element of classic birds... The thick C-pillar with the bird emblems. It was all about taking the classic cues and incorporating them into an aero look that contrasts with the boxiness of classic birds.

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Reply #386 – April 02, 2010, 11:34:05 PM

Quote from: 86caprirs;316832

Whatchdevil.

I love what you did with the SN-95 dash. I agree with Vinnie. The delete plate needs a smaller tbird badge. I did some searching and Ford has new tbird emblems from the newer tbirds from 2002 that are just as wide but alot skinner.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted. I am thinking this would look good in mt 88 tbird.

I can't let go of the bird on my dash! I like it! It will be changed out for the newer bird emblem soon because the aeronose has that style bird and there is no older style bird that will fit. So I have two NOS quarter panel birds I have had since 1989 that have never been used.

I am also changing the taillamps to 85-86 units so the birds will match. I am seriously thinking of doing the same trick to my taillamp lenses that I did on my old 1985 Tbird I used to have. That is seperating the lenses from the housings and making three circles for light to shine through while the areas outside of the circles will be black. This will show up well against the black exterior paint. I even have an idea to incorporate sequential LED turn signal lamps.

I will also be trying a three spoke 85-86 Mustang steering wheel soon which sould look more in line with the theme of the Mustang dash and I have a couple of the newer style bird emblems that I salvaged from the wheel covers of the 1989 Tbird I used to have. I will likely use one of those on the centerpad. Plus I realize the three spoke wheel will mirror the use of three spokes on many classic Tbirds of the past.

I got the parts I need to convert the instrument cluster to work. All of $24 of brand new parts, a VSS, oil pressure and temp sender. I don't even know if my 84 has a VSS regardless of the speedo cable being there or not. I guess I will find out when I look under it. But it dawned on me I should have got the Mustang VSS because the Tbird one I got has the provision for the speedo cable to install on top of it while the Mustang design is the same exact part with a plug set into the hole that the cable would normally go in. No worries if I change my mind and go with the Mustang one instead. They both pulse the same rate. If I find out my Bird already has the VSS then I have to figure out if the green/white wire that is unused in my instrument cluster is connected to a VSS or not. That wire is there originally for the tripminder option despite the buttstuffog and digital speedos running off a cable.

It will be interesting to see if the tach will work or not. I discovered after some research that the tach is the same for V6 and V8 Mustangs but the V8 uses two grounds off the printed circuit while the V6 uses one. The V6 printed circuit has an intentional interrupt in one of the runs so that the extra ground for the V8 is not used.

I bought sending units for the Mustang hoping they will read as they should with the Mustang gauges. I double checked the threads and they are the same as the ones that go in the engine block of the 84 Birds.

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Reply #387 – April 03, 2010, 12:01:25 AM

Quote from: ZondaC12;316833

Haha good observation with the '58-'60 "square bird"!!! I love those....

Oh yeah and it seems the Cougars have always carried over some consistant themes, such as the waterfall grille and wide taillamps. They even marked the taillamps with vertical reflectors inside the lens to pick up on the bright vertical bar theme of the classic Cougars. The one thing though that the 1983 brought to the Cougar was the distinct quarter window design. First impression I ever got was that it looked like a Gremlin with a trunk. When the Cougar was redone for 1987, the new window profiles were refined so much that they are sensational looking and still very unique. Even the back window hints back to the Mercury Breezway roof designs of the Early 60's. When the 1989 Cougar came out, it lost a crucial element of personality changing the quarter window design to something boring and too upright and square looking like typical GM cookie-cutter designs of the day.

Aeronose Progression and Mustang Instrument Cluster Installed

Reply #388 – April 07, 2010, 12:04:44 AM

I scored well at the Pull-A-Part on Monday! The added a lone 88 Tbird several days ago and I snagged the front bumper cover and bumper reinforcement. I also snagged a nice set of headlamps off that same car that are clear as a bell and need no polishing! I am still missing a LH corner turn/parking lamp.

I wired the innner and outer parkinglamps so that they both flash for turn signal operation, just because I could. I am debating adding amber city lamps to the inside of the headlamp housings.

I bought a used 1995 Mustang V6 instrument cluster off eBay and installed it today. Lot's of wire crimping but everything worked out great so far. I have most of the connections made including the speedometer and it works. I looked under my Bird today and it does in fact have the speed sensor already installed in the tail of the transmission. I tapped into the VSS wire and the speedo works perfectly along with the odometer.

It was also very easy to change the mileage of the used cluster to actual mileage of the vehicle. I do think the fuel gauge is still reading opposite of what it should, because it is showing 1/4 tank and I just filled it a few weeks ago so it is really 3/4 tank full.

Before I installed the cluster, I refinished the gauge needles in that Thunderbird Blue that I like. These needles carry light through them so they show up at night, so it was a matter of sing the orange glow paint off the back of the needles and repainting the backsides of them Thunderbird Blue. The paint shows through from the back of what is essentially a clear needle, and when the cluster is lit up they glow.

I also painted the center caps at the pivot of the needles from black to silver. Looks more interesting than all black.

I ran out of time to finish some of the wiring and put back all the trim I removed. I still need to make the tachometer connection and run leads for the oil pressure and coolant temperature. I bought new Mustang specific sending units for those two gauges so they will read accurately. For the tachometer operation I had to connect the extra ground for V8 operation that was unconnected for V6 operation.

I am debating changing the cluster illumnation bulbs to blue LED's.

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Reply #389 – April 07, 2010, 11:35:04 AM

That looks significantly better than the old gauges you had in there. And the small touches to the needles really are a nice effect. I think it would be cool if you could get the inner and outer parking lamps to alternate flashing when the turn signal was activated.

It's nice to see you making so much progress, especially considering you're doing it all on your own!