Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS (Read 146087 times) previous topic - next topic

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #315 –
I finally got the title back for my cougar. I had a title loan on it ever since I put the new engine in it 2 years ago and when I bought the truck they paid the rest of it off and put it on my new loan so I got my title back the other day.

I got the center caps for my turbines and they're all painted and ready to go but I still don't have tires. I was going to buy my tires back from the j/y off my old tbird and I told the guy that but I told him I didn't need them right away and so by the time he got ready to pull them well he happened to come in late that day and his boss had already pulled them to drag another car to the yard that had no tires or something so now I'm still waiting and am kinda wondering if I am actually ever going to see them. Anyway that was my big plan for this month to surprise everyone with but looks like I'll still be waiting on that one.....

I had to take my battery back again too. It still under warranty so that was nbd but I guess I need to start the car more often cause this is the 2nd time this has happened to me since its been sitting. I would start it  more often but its so loud with no exhaust on it that I try not to so I don't drive my neighbors crazy...

I'm really hoping to get this thing running before the baby comes cause well, one: my truck has no backseat for the carseat and two: I'm for sure not going to have any money to put in it after it's born lol
--SteveN 👍
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L
 

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #316 –
I had my daughter in my car for a little while, but the AC sucked. She came home from the hospital after being born in that car, and so did I when my mom had me 21+yrs ago :) I take her out in it every once in a while when I'm in CC. She goes "Daddy's Thunderbird is FAST." If only she knew...

You plan on redoing your AC?
-'88 Tbird 3.8
-2012 Altima 2.5 BASE. 
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Future: Budget 5.0 300 HP.

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #317 –
I don't. The car will mostly be a night/weekend cruiser when its up again and then a little bit when we can't use her car to carrry the baby and i need to go somewhere or whatever. AC isn't that big of a deal for me, I'm used to the heat. I didn't have it for 2 years of driving so I don't miss it. I might do it eventually but it will be the very last thing I do to it. As in after paint.
--SteveN 👍
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #318 –
i was good without a/c as well. Didn't have it for 11 or 12 years, but it was pointed out to me by my wife that although I was o.k. with it, her and anyone else suffered while they were in the car. Good point. Plus, sweating your a$$ off every summer day sucks when you're going somewhere. Start gathering the parts you need to get the a/c done. Gotta take care of the family too on cruising days.
'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..

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #319 –
Quote from: vinnietbird;362777
i was good without a/c as well. Didn't have it for 11 or 12 years, but it was pointed out to me by my wife that although I was o.k. with it, her and anyone else suffered while they were in the car. Good point. Plus, sweating your a$$ off every summer day sucks when you're going somewhere. Start gathering the parts you need to get the a/c done. Gotta take care of the family too on cruising days.
Good point, You may be fine but your newborn may not. Babys can't handle heat long, they dehydrate fast and it can cause brain damage.
88 Cougar LS 5.0 .030 over, ported E7s with GT40 valves & trickflow springs, Proform roller rockers, HO cam, removed air silencer, K&N filter, smog pump delete, 2.25" dual flowmasters, Pacestter H-pipe & headers, HO computer, 65mm TB, Explorer intake, 19# injecters, 3.45s, rebuilt posi, and TCI shift kit.

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #320 –
I started from scratch getting mine all together, and actually, I found some killer deals on Ebay and was able to get the whole thing done pretty cheap.The a/c parts are actually easy to find and the prices surprised me, and I'm probably one of, if not THE, cheapest person on the forum. You may need the car for something and you gotta take care of the family. It doesn't use enough power to make a difference.
'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..

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #321 –
the sh*t's honestly beyond my comprehension. If I have the AC done, it will be by somebody else.
--SteveN 👍
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #322 –
Steve: If you're looking to redo your AC, you'll need one of those awesome-no-longer-produced HR980's for your 3.8-that's what mine has. Sometimes there are some on ebay, and I actually have a spare somewhere, but when I took it to the AC guy, he said it wasn't going to work because of the position of something I can't recall..
-'88 Tbird 3.8
-2012 Altima 2.5 BASE. 
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Future: Budget 5.0 300 HP.

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #323 –
I bought and installed the new compressor and condenser, and let the pro do the rest. He made custom lines, and they were cheaper than if I had bought them pre-made. SWEEEET !!!! I have about $350.00 invested in my a/c system including the brand new condenser, reman. compressor, misc. bits, lines and service.
'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..

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #324 –
how did you install the condenser? when I did my heater I tried to remove the condenser but I couldn't figure out how to get it out... that's the biggest reason I gave up on it...
--SteveN 👍
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #325 –
Hey VINNIE! How about a polished 3.8 intake? :D :cool:



--SteveN 👍
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #326 –
The condenser is in front of the radiator. The evaporator behind the dash can be a bear. I thought mine was bad, but the a/c people flushed it out and said it was fine. Yours may be fine as well. They have special stuff they clean them out with.

The 3.8 upper can look great polished. i did one a long time ago. Took a little time and patience, but after I smoothed it out, it went pretty quick. Made a HUGE difference on the engine as far as looks went. I also had a set of factory aluminum valve covers for it. Remove the mold lines, smooth it all down, and polish....easy.Easiest if you fins a second upper (dime a dozen), and polish it while you are still able to do what you have to with the car.
'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..

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #327 –
Oh duh yeah I meant evaporator. No mine is definitely bad. I guess you don't recall but I cut my lines off because they were twisted and cracked, so yeah.... I will be needing a new one.

I'm not going to actually poslish my intake. The one in the pictures is new though. I cleaned it up real nice before I threw it on. It looks so nice it looks out of place lol. I'm not going to go full on with the polishing b/c I've currently got my eye on a s/p setup so it'll all be going away soon....:D

A note, btw, for anyone who for whatever reason, ever gets the idea in their head to replace their 3.8 intake with one from a mustang, like I did, well every thing will bolt up 95% exactly the same except for one problem: You will need 20" of 3/4 heater hose to re-route the hose since the new intakes don't have that idiotic pass-through in the main intake to the heater. You know, those stupid little pesky hoses that are like 4 inches long and PITA to get to/change? well they're gone and now you'll actually be using a single hose and routing it under the intake. Which actually is nice b/c now you don't have freaking HEATER WATER PASSING THROUGH YOUR INTAKE????? like you did before. I mean, really... who was the one who came up with that bright idea in the first place? was it for gas mileage? well anyway, now its better. Oh and you'll need a vacuum cap cause the late model intake has two vacuum ports where we have one... which is where the MAP sensor connects.

Just a little random 3.8 fyi.
--SteveN 👍
[thread=28690]1988 Cougar V6[/thread]
2012 F-150 3.7L

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #328 –
Quote from: vinnietbird;362873
I bought and installed the new compressor and condenser, and let the pro do the rest. He made custom lines, and they were cheaper than if I had bought them pre-made. SWEEEET !!!! I have about $350.00 invested in my a/c system including the brand new condenser, reman. compressor, misc. bits, lines and service.

Did you run a stock T-bird condenser? I have heard that with a R-134A conversion they don't cool as well in stop and go traffic. Apparently the trick is to run a SN-95 condenser, which is bigger to compensate for the R-134A.

I still have my 23 year old R-12 system running. I pray every summer that it won't die.....
88 Thunderbird LX: 306, Edelbrock Performer heads, Comp 266HR cam, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, bunch of other stuff.

Project Black Panther: 1988 3.8L Cougar LS

Reply #329 –
You'll have to pull the heater core box out, and literally, but carefully, cut it open to get the evaporator out, then once the new one is in, reseal the box.
'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..