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Topic: New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS! (Read 2819 times) previous topic - next topic

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Hi thought I'd introduce myself, my is Dan and I am into cars, especially sleeper cars. I have an 87 Tbird, 87 Cougar 5.0, 89 Tbird, and 93 Tbird and possibly a Lincoln MkVII coming soon....

The 87 Tbird was originally a 3.8 car that I converted to a 347 stroker that blew up, now the car is full tube chassis car with a dart 302-based big block.

The 87 cougar is a stock 5.0 car with an on 3 performance turbo kit on the way, I just bypassed the smog pump with a 75.5 inch belt and removed the idler pulley. I have to convert the car to a maf car from speed density before the turbo kit goes on.

All the other cars are stock.

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #1 –
Awesome fox cars and welcome to the site.  Let me know how the On 3 turbo kit is, since I will be in the market soon.

Oh, and pics are necessary!

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #2 –
Those Ford fox cars of the mid 1980s are my all time favorite cars. I recently bought a sweet and clean '85 Cougar 5.0 and within three weeks it has become my favorite car. For a number of years I had a silver-grey '84 Elan Thunderbird 5.0 and I still wish I had it.

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #3 –
Yeah, I am getting hooked on these cars too! I wouldn't mind gettin an 89 cougar, they look a little better than my 87. I will be putting a 2500 stall converter and shift kit + 8.8 limited slip carrier with 3.73 gears before the turbo kit goes on. It will be a learning experience for me as well, this is the first car I did a turbo conversion on. I just put in a new rad and heater core couple weeks ago, I have to admit that it was the worst heater core I ever did!! Had to remove nearly the entire dash. Also did the front brakes and repacked the bearings. The rear shoes will be done pretty quick too. I will try and post some pix tonight of the cars.

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #4 –
XXX

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #5 –
py pix I know, but more will come as I start work on em. The Bbird is going to be a real nice race piece, you can see the frame starts at the rad support and goes through the fire wall runs along the the floor boards half above half below then connects to the chassis engineering back half kit. I might run some pieces back and make some sort of skid plate under the rear bumper so I don't crumple it up in case I put the car on the bumper (I doubt that will happen but you never know).

The cougar is a daily driver, haven't really messed with it much other than getting it running reliably. I am more excited about working on this car than the drag car for some reason....

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #6 –
I'm a weirdo I guess because I know the Cougar began in '67 as a sort of Mustang type car and mutated into an LTD type car in the 70s, but to me the 1980s fox Cougars are what they ought to look like. It's one of the most distinctive cars Ford ever made. You can be in the parking lot of one of the big amusp00get parks and see one a hundred yards away and just know what it is.

How popular are these cars in Canada?

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #7 –
Not really very popular, lot of people don't even know what they are. I just got rid of my 67 cougar, had a 351 cleveland with the big heads (2.25" intake valve) for it, but had too much going on at the time and never put it in. The second gen fox tbirds are pretty common up here in my area of Canada, but the 79 to 88 fox bodied tbirds and cougars are rare. We ended up with quite a few Crimson Cat Capri's for some reason.....I really would like to get my hands on a black magic capri or even better a detroit gran prix capri (only 300ish of em). I was thinking of getting another 3.8 tbird and throwing the 351 cleveland in it, but with a built aod instead of that py C4. I hope that the 89 to 97 tbirds are fox bodies, because that is what they are called up here!

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #8 –
Quote from: canadiancarguy;367942
Not really very popular, lot of people don't even know what they are. I just got rid of my 67 cougar, had a 351 cleveland with the big heads (2.25" intake valve) for it, but had too much going on at the time and never put it in. The second gen fox tbirds are pretty common up here in my area of Canada, but the 79 to 88 fox bodied tbirds and cougars are rare. We ended up with quite a few Crimson Cat Capri's for some reason.....I really would like to get my hands on a black magic capri or even better a detroit gran prix capri (only 300ish of em). I was thinking of getting another 3.8 tbird and throwing the 351 cleveland in it, but with a built aod instead of that py C4. I hope that the 89 to 97 tbirds are fox bodies, because that is what they are called up here!


The Fox Tbird/Cougar ran from '80 through '88. The '89 to '97 was an MN-12 chassis. Not sure what the older ones ('79 and down) were based off of, LTD probably...but those are NOT Fox bodies either.
The MN-12 was a radical change in the Tbird/Cougar, not very many parts at all will interchange, aside from bulbs and of course the engine/transmission were mostly the same as the '88 cars, except the '89 N/A 3.8 didn't have the balance shaft as the '88 version did..and there was no factory 5.0 '89 'Bird or Cat.
'98 Explorer 5.0
'20 Malibu (I know, Chevy, but, 35MPG. Let's go brandon, eh)

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #9 –
I kinda thought they had different chassis and suspension, I wanted  to take the rear end off the 93 and put it on the 87 tbird before I realized they had totally different setups. I think that is a common misconception up here, everyone seems to think that fox bodied cars ran right until they discontinued the tbird in 97. Thanks for clearing that up that is what I thought, I just put a tubular front k member on the 87 tbird (it was for a fox body) and the guy I bought it from was trying to put it on his 89 tbird and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't fit (I ended up with the car too!)

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #10 –
At least at the end of the MN12 series they bulked up the hood a bit. The 90's Birds and Cats are my least favorite because of that FLAT front end they gave them. When they bulked up the hood a bit at the end, they looked so much better IMO.

New to this forum, but not to Fox bodied cars that aren't MUSTANGS!

Reply #11 –
Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;367946
The Fox Tbird/Cougar ran from '80 through '88. The '89 to '97 was an MN-12 chassis. Not sure what the older ones ('79 and down) were based off of, LTD probably...but those are NOT Fox bodies either.

 Yeah I'd say LTD because I had a 1978 Thunderbird for a long time (1994 - 2008) and I scavenged a lot of late 70's LTD parts for it. I crawled up underneath enough of 'em to tell the frames looked identical to me.