silly people Reply #15 – December 24, 2010, 09:47:03 AM The reason I was given years ago for the Birds not getting the H.O. was clearence problems under the hood. But with all the Gt40 intakes on these cars now we know that wasn't really an issue. Quote Selected
silly people Reply #16 – December 24, 2010, 12:05:34 PM Quote from: 1Bad88tbird;346901The reason I was given years ago for the Birds not getting the H.O. was clearence problems under the hood. But with all the Gt40 intakes on these cars now we know that wasn't really an issue. That's the silliest thing I have ever heard ..the HO is dimensionally identical to the SO... someone fibbed to you years ago ..lol Quote Selected
silly people Reply #18 – December 24, 2010, 05:04:31 PM Quote from: dragon574444;346848Why didn't these cars get the H.O. anyway? The Mark VIIs got 'em.Because Ford could not have Cougars + Birds leaving the factory as fast or faster than their darling Mustangs. They even went to the trouble of designing the fake, more restrictive dual exhaust system that only went on the Cat/Bird platform, even though the Mustang system would have bolted up with a manifold change. What should have been......................... Quote Selected
silly people Reply #19 – December 24, 2010, 05:36:52 PM lmao.. a simple cam change would have de-tuned the HO enough to keep the birds/cats slower.. morons Quote Selected
silly people Reply #20 – December 24, 2010, 05:43:25 PM Quote from: hwy73;346965Because Ford could not have Cougars + Birds leaving the factory as fast or faster than their darling Mustangs. They even went to the trouble of designing the fake, more restrictive dual exhaust system that only went on the Cat/Bird platform, even though the Mustang system would have bolted up with a manifold change. What should have been.........................Partly true but 85 Mustangs had the same "dual" exhaust set up as 88cat/ birds Quote Selected
silly people Reply #21 – December 24, 2010, 05:46:44 PM a simple cam and throttle body change could really de-tune the motor enough that it couldn't touch the stang.. but why restrict the power? it was their last muscle car for crying out loud Quote Selected
silly people Reply #22 – December 24, 2010, 05:48:01 PM Quote from: turbo_88_XR7;346973a simple cam and throttle body change could really de-tune the motor enough that it couldn't touch the stang.. but why restrict the power? it was their last muscle car for crying out loud So would the extra weight of a cat/bird Quote Selected
silly people Reply #24 – December 24, 2010, 08:25:47 PM Yeah, I would think the extra weight of the car, along with all the options that our cars have would be enough. Oh well... Quote Selected
silly people Reply #25 – December 24, 2010, 11:02:26 PM I'm not surprised, I saw a 1990 Super Coupe being advertised as turbocharged at our local Ford dealer.IMO the Thunderbird didn't get the HO simply because Ford didn't want any potential infighting with its precious Mustang. Quote Selected
silly people Reply #26 – December 24, 2010, 11:15:14 PM I think most people that aren't otherwise familiar with the cars could fairly (though incorrectly) assume ford would use the same engine in these cars. Why have a suck version and throw it in a "flagship" car? I think until one actually becomes familiar with or owns one they wouldn't generally know otherwise. Similar to those that say the mark viii has "the same engine as a cobra"Anyway, IMHO i think they never were equipped with the HO because it would have hurt the turbo coupe and in some part the mustang. Quote Selected
silly people Reply #27 – December 24, 2010, 11:17:27 PM i wish the mark 8 had the cobra motor hiding under the hood.. lol Quote Selected
silly people Reply #28 – December 25, 2010, 01:14:27 AM Quote from: turbo_88_XR7;346973a simple cam and throttle body change could really de-tune the motor enough that it couldn't touch the stang.. but why restrict the power? it was their last muscle car for crying out loud That really is basically what they did. The 86 stang had the same throttle body and heads as the 86-88 S.O. This is my theory on what happened. The 87 up body style was supposed to come out in 86. They decided not to put it through, for what ever reason and left it till 87. The 87 body style had under the car setup to run duels. I know of several sports and XR7's that had the dual hump crossmember in 87 as well. I honestly think that the sport and XR7 were going to get the H.O. and then last minute they decided not to. In 87, the ford truck started using e7's, as well as the mustang. Only the panthers, and cat/bird kept using the e6's and the exhaust manifolds.My idea is, they decided to push the car forward as it was planned in 86, before the SEFI H.O. was really setup or standardized. Quote Selected