my 2 birds

Topic: my 2 birds (Read 9497 times) previous topic - next topic

my 2 birds

January 01, 2016, 09:05:59 AM

my first 1988 5.0L t-bird back in 2005, i think the car no longer exist and i did nothing interesting with it as i had not enough knowledge at that time and when some guy offered me a lincoln mark 7 for 500$ i knew that daddy wouldn't help me do the swap and i was not experienced enough to do it by myself and i had no place to do it, still regret it....

my new ride ten years later, with less rust, less options, less mileage, less owners and i now have my house, garage, experience, knowledge and i'm just missing some parts to achieve something and time :burnout:
it's still an '88 5.0L and junk research just began as i read posts and tech info on coolcats :D

my 2 birds

Reply #1 – January 01, 2016, 11:04:03 AM

Welcome to the forum and Happy New Year. You're at the right place for these cars. Between the members here on the forum, there's not much that can't be answered for you. Looks like you're starting with a solid foundation for a great car. WAY better than what I started with. LOL.

my 2 birds

Reply #2 – January 01, 2016, 12:07:42 PM

the best part with this car is that i saved the bird from being parted out. The 80 year old man who sold it to me told me that a guy offered him 750$ as parts car and he agreed, but that guy was divorcing letting him without any cash for getting the car within a month, i met the old man 2-3 days after and he said if you take it now its yours for 750$. i'm broke and i'm in school but a man do what he gotta do. so the bird came to my house and i found money for the ridiculously low price and the old man was happy that someone like me saved the car. his girl was remembering his dad picking her up at high school back in the day and she learned to drive with this (ugly to her ) car in the end of the 90's. i'm happy to know that the car was real well kept and loved by someone who cared and i think it's a great fixer upper with so minor damage

my 2 birds

Reply #3 – January 01, 2016, 12:33:13 PM

Welcome to the forum. Lots of info to be had here from some great people. These cars have a lot of potential and are some what addicting!. What are your plans for the ol' Bird? Just drive her or do you have some mods in mind? Like Vinnie said , it looks as though you have a very solid car.... And $750? You gotta deal!....Ray.

my 2 birds

Reply #4 – January 01, 2016, 05:33:33 PM

Welcome. Don't be afraid to ask any tech questions, were all here to help.

my 2 birds

Reply #5 – January 01, 2016, 06:26:58 PM

thanks for the good comments. and yes, for the price it's a steal! my plans for this summer is to repair power windows (i think the regulator is broken or run channels) and rolling all summer long and keeping it up. i'm planning on picking some parts in pick'n pull yards like gt40 heads and intake as well as proper fuel pump and injectors, front spindle from sn95 and look for 8.8 axle but mustang gt and such are hard to find in these places, exhaust and suspension will be in order and maybe t5 swap with sn95 parts. tell me if i'm wrong but 1986-1996 f-150 302 flywheel is the same diameter and teeth count as 3.8 flywheel and will help me do a cheap swap with 3.8 sn95 parts(i did the conversion on my 1992 cherokee 4.0L and as a 13 years mechanic i see no big deal here but some work :)

so, in some years i hope to achieve full HO swap with maf and some minor mods,5spd, 3.55 or 3.73 8.8 lsd rear end, 5 lug conversion, suspension work not defined yet but will be looking for cobra and bullit used parts, bucket seat and console, tinted windows, maybe new color and windshield but there's lot of little work before, and also stuff my 10'' type s woofer along with my type s speakers and pioneer headunit(sitting for years!)

it will be long term work but my goal is almost clear in my head because of my first one in 2005. i remember each deception over the years as informations and how to's came to my ears, experience and junkyard find along with talking to ford guys ripped my heart for years as i failed to achieve something with the grey bird ten years ago:punchballs:

my 2 birds

Reply #6 – January 01, 2016, 06:49:31 PM

Welcome!!

my 2 birds

Reply #7 – January 01, 2016, 08:31:57 PM

Quote from: ISTLCRUZ;453171

These cars have a lot of potential and are some what addicting!.

Congrats on the purchase. Very nice car. ISTLCRUZ is correct, as you can see below, they are addicting. My cars are as loved now and probably treated better than my new car is. Look forward to seeing your progress as the days go by. Keep them warm and dry in the winter. Don't want the rust monster getting a hold of them.

my 2 birds

Reply #8 – January 01, 2016, 10:46:13 PM

Quote from: vincejeep;453186

thanks for the good comments. and yes, for the price it's a steal! my plans for this summer is to repair power windows (i think the regulator is broken or run channels) and rolling all summer long and keeping it up. i'm planning on picking some parts in pick'n pull yards like gt40 heads and intake as well as proper fuel pump and injectors, front spindle from sn95 and look for 8.8 axle but mustang gt and such are hard to find in these places, exhaust and suspension will be in order and maybe t5 swap with sn95 parts. tell me if i'm wrong but 1986-1996 f-150 302 flywheel is the same diameter and teeth count as 3.8 flywheel and will help me do a cheap swap with 3.8 sn95 parts(i did the conversion on my 1992 cherokee 4.0L and as a 13 years mechanic i see no big deal here but some work :)

so, in some years i hope to achieve full HO swap with maf and some minor mods,5spd, 3.55 or 3.73 8.8 lsd rear end, 5 lug conversion, suspension work not defined yet but will be looking for cobra and bullit used parts, bucket seat and console, tinted windows, maybe new color and windshield but there's lot of little work before, and also stuff my 10'' type s woofer along with my type s speakers and pioneer headunit(sitting for years!)

it will be long term work but my goal is almost clear in my head because of my first one in 2005. i remember each deception over the years as informations and how to's came to my ears, experience and junkyard find along with talking to ford guys ripped my heart for years as i failed to achieve something with the grey bird ten years ago:punchballs:

I did exactly as you said and used a 3.8 trans with a f-150 clutch and flywheel. You need a manual pgrm starter from a 92-97 f-150 or f-250 with a manual trans, which is the only "hard" part to find. The m5od used in trucks uses a comparable clutch and pressure plate as well as throw out bearing and pilot bearing. Use the small wire from the truck for the solenoid trigger and swap your existing starter cable to the always hot side of the solenoid. Easy, easy swap and bolts right in. The 94-98 trans uses a similar speed cable, sometime in 98.5 they swapped to a oss magnetic sensor. If it's the later style it will read 4x actual speed. The later trans also can reuse the stock aod cross member.

You will also want to buy chuckw motor mounts or "upgrade" yours. I ate three sets of drivers side motor mounts in about 80k miles, but I am really hard on stuff.

Start a new thread when you start to modify.

my 2 birds

Reply #9 – January 02, 2016, 09:39:37 AM

thanks for the info haystack, i did some research and sometimes the info gets confused, the parts mentionned will be on my summer checklist of junk treasure:hick:

my 2 birds

Reply #10 – January 02, 2016, 11:44:10 AM

What is difference in the manual trans PMGR starter???

my 2 birds

Reply #11 – January 02, 2016, 01:55:55 PM

Welcome and nice Thunderbird.

The color combo on your first Thunderbird looks familiar.

my 2 birds

Reply #12 – January 02, 2016, 05:21:42 PM

thunderjet, the grey combo is the best looking in my opinion :D
turbocoupe, the ring gear on a manual flywheel is not at the same place and the bendix gear on the starter will always be on the ring gear with an automatic starter because the gear is 3/8'' out, i saw a picture of this on the net and i think its only a truck issue, but if you use truck flywheel you get the truck issue with the starter not being the same lenght and size as the auto one

my 2 birds

Reply #13 – January 02, 2016, 10:09:02 PM

Yup, there are two offsets to starters. 3/4" and 3/8". Most cars use 3/8's and most trucks and some older cars used 3/4" offset on the ring gear. The 3/8" offset won't disengage from a 3/4" offset flywheel.

my 2 birds

Reply #14 – January 02, 2016, 10:11:26 PM

Here's my t-5 swap thread if you find it useful from my 87 tbird. I used a 2001 v-6 trans and f-150 flywheel/clutch.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?35400-sn-95-v-6-t-5-behind-a-5-0

Have a few good pictures of the differences between auto and manual parts.