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Reply #405 –
Looking good , I agree with the other guys the stang steering wheel works better with that dash :D
Fox-less at the moment

Small mod to the headlamps...

Reply #406 –
Added amber illumination to the headlamp housings...

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Reply #407 –
Cool,
You going to sell the 4eye lights?
~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 #410 –
Quote from: Romeo2k;318077
Cool,
You going to sell the 4eye lights?


Yes I would like to sell the 4-eyed lights. They are still in perfect new condition. Remember they have the halo illumination and you can change the bulb colors with caps which I still have, blue, green, & red.  What may be cool also is using 194 base LED bulbs in place of the incadescent. However, I would need to get two lamp sockets to fit the housing of one lamp. Each lamp uses two 194 bulbs and I used two of the sockets to illuminated the factory aero headlights I am using. It should not be a problem to find something to use in it's place. If I have to, I will take the sockets out of the first set of quad crystal clear headlamps I bought which I still have. The halo lamps have barely been used and I really liked them on the 4-eyed nose, but as most of you know I can change styling direction in the flash of an eye.

I am really happy with the aero nose as it ties in to the bullet nose look of classic Birds with the browed headlamp shape and eggcrate grille bars. It has a much more unmistakeable character of being a Thunderbird than it did before.

Anyway, PM me if you are interested in purchasing the halo headlamps. I will sell the headlamp buckets along with them since I had to enlarge the openings in the back to make them fit. They are cut a little crudely with tin snips but I painted them and of course the irregularities in the cuts are completely hidden when installed.

Also, the first set of crystal clear quad lamps are up for grabs if anyone wants them, whatever I can get for them plus shipping. Each one has a single city lamp illumination but they are not made specific left and right. All the city lamps are positioned facing left.  These are harder to fit into the headlamp buckets and bind a little when putting the rectangular retaining rings over the front. The headlamp buckets do require opening them up in the back.

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Reply #411 –
Quote from: hypostang;317898
Looking good , I agree with the other guys the stang steering wheel works better with that dash :D


I lived with the three spoke wheel for a couple of days and just was not feeling it. Maybe because it is too vinyl, low end looking like it belongs more in an Escort or a Ranger. I would probably feel better about if it were actually an SVO or GT wheel which are both wrapped in leather.

I am thinking about trying a 1989-93 Tbird wheel but I think it will just place the wheel uncomfortably too close to my chest. Plus I have been looking at pictures of the mounting hole and I don't believe the flat side of the hole will match up in the right plave on the steerinng shaft. 89-93 Tbird wheels are in abundance and pretty cheap so I may get one and try it for the heck of it. It will at least have the more current bird design on it to match the exterior birds.

The only other possibility is the actual Mustang style wheel that was used with this 95 dash design. They make replacement airbag covers for the wheel and RH side of the dash that look just like originals but they have no Ford or Mustang logos on them. However they are rather expensive. I wonder though if I can get the 1994-97 Tbird wheel and remove the airbag but retain the airbag cover undisturbed. That may work. Sounds like another day in the salvage yard for investigating by face to face examination.

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Reply #412 –
Yesterday I worked on the 85-86 taillamps I bought from Dansbird. I took them apart and painted the bulb housings with a fresh coat of that "chrome" paint. Makes a big difference. Then I did some initial polishing of the outside of the lenses. The look much better but need some more work.

I have been debating some design details for these lamps. I thought of going with the three circles like the 87-88 models have which also ties into the three circles on the back of the 1960 models. However, I think I am over circles within taillamps since it is a too common sight on so many cars these days.

I am definitely not as much of a fan of the 85-86 large clear backup lamps on each side of the license plate. I am thinking of visually reducing the actual size of them by painting a thick black border around them thus yielding a better looking full width lamp look.

I still have the potential to install sequential flashing LED lamps inside the lamp housing. I may have found something that will work.

Taillamps

Reply #413 –
Here's the updated look...

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Reply #414 –
Lookin' Good
~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 #415 –
I got my new odometer gear today and installed it. The entire Mustang gauge cluster works perfectly now! I think I am going to replace all the dash lighting with blue LED's.

So now I even have sort of a tie in with the 2002-05 Thunderbird with the gauge cluster design. If I decide to go with Mustang white face gauge overlays that are available it will look even more the part.

I am thinking of doing the trim bezel around the cluster painted silver to pick up on the same aluminum look the 1960 model has, which means I will need to do something to match the passenger airbag cover delete to mirror the gauge cluster bezel. If I can find a silvery vinyl that might work. Ah... I just found silver vinyl and plastic trim dye which would ensure a match.

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Reply #416 –
Wow, I am actually kind of surprised that you switched to those tail lights. I would have thought the originals, or even the 87-88's would be better than those, mainly due to the large backup lamps. So...When do we get to see it running?!  :D
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 #417 –
Quote from: jrad235;318333
Wow, I am actually kind of surprised that you switched to those tail lights. I would have thought the originals, or even the 87-88's would be better than those, mainly due to the large backup lamps. So...When do we get to see it running?!  :D


Trust me if I could switch the 87-88 taillamps into it I would but the entire rear end was restyled and nothing is interchangable.

 The main reason I switched the lamps is to match the bird emblems front and back to the same design. There is no 83-84 style bird that has the extreme peak to match the beaked design of the 87-88 nose. I also had an incomplete crack in the LH taillamp of the original design.

I have a plan for the large back up lamps. They used to not bother me when I had my 85 Tbird but I don't like it as much now. My plan is to reduce the clear part of the lens by painting a border around it to reduce it to the size of the small squares of the original lenses. Right now I am tossing around a few ideas to make the lamps look more unique and I have not completely ruled out the triple circle effect like the 87-88's have. I did that to my 85 Tbird and when the inner lens it painted black it shows through a stealth looking dark red background while yeilding normal bright red for the circles.

I also had the idea to paint the inner lens so that the shape of the bird emblem is enlarged around the actual chrome bird emblems allowing the red light to show through. I have backed off that idea for fear of it being too cheezy.

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Reply #418 –
Quote from: jrad235;318333
Wow, I am actually kind of surprised that you switched to those tail lights. I would have thought the originals, or even the 87-88's would be better than those, mainly due to the large backup lamps. So...When do we get to see it running?!  :D



I yeah I forgot to mention, it does run... Ever since I put a fresh tank of gas all the way full in it I never have fuel starvation problems anymore to where it wont start.

Now it does have issues when running. One issue is that it revs too high and it has something to do with the automatic choke system. I always have to remove the air cleaner housing and knock the choke off by hand, then it returns to the normal 800 rpm idle.

Also, the fuel mixture is running rich and after a while of running the engine the catalyic converter overheats and puts off white smoke which seems to be coming from the seams. When I drive it like this it feels like it is clogged. Sometimes I can drive it and it does just fine. However, after about five minutes of driving it acts up.

Also, the transmission is slipping at times. I have yet to change the fluid and filter which I will probably do. If the transmission is not salvagable I think I will just find a 5-speed manual to install in it and have more fun, especially since it is not nor will ever be daily driver. I may just do it anyway. The only drawback I have with that is having to relocate my console switches where I have installed them inside the Mustang shifter plate. I could deal with that though for the sweet manual shifter. Just think, I could install a Mustang Bullitt shift  if I want.

I have no idea yet what is going to be needed to get the engine running reliably so I can make a trip over five miles. It may be okay as it is with just a few gasket and seal replacements. My step mother never dogged this car but she probably neglected a lot of maintenance like oil leaks and such. All I can say is that there is no oil coming into the air cleaner housing and puddling like it used to do on my 1985 Tbird. I do see oil leaks coming from various places and a coolant leak which could be coming from the water pump. It definitely needs a new radiator as I can see scaling looking down inside from the filler neck. But the coolant is still green, not muddy colored. Also, currently I am not getting smoke from the exhaust like I was when I first got the car and put Seafoam in. I forgot that Seafoam makes a car smoke a lot as it is cleaning off carbons. Now that I have a full tank of gas I don't seem to have the smoke issue like I did before.

Brakes, suspension... all needs a complete overhaul. However this car should ride and handle decent when it is done. I am suprised already how lateral it handles considering everything is aged and all worn out. I would like to put on a dual exhaust with nice sounding lers. I also want to investigate using a different steering rack with a lesser turn ratio.

I really thought that I would not miss not having a tachometer in this car but since I adpated the Mustang cluster with the full gauges, I really like seeing the RPMs and how the engine is idling.

Anyway, now is the time I will be working on mechanicals. The cosmetic stuff is done for now until it's running reliably and is safe to drive. Once that is done the paint work will be done and the interior will be completed with the new headliner and carpeting. After all those things above are done, I will advance to good looking wheels and sticky wider tires, recovering the seats with leather then just stay on a process of perfecting the car with every detail any way I can.

I am also considering going away from the gray interior trim and paint and dye the majority in black with perhaps some white contrast on the lower dash and console, and door panels. I would also do black seats with white inserts, just like the 1960 Tbird in my signature picture. Carpeting is defnitely going to go all black.

Taillamp mod proposals!

Reply #419 –
What do you think of these proposals?