Probably jinxing myself, but...

January 02, 2006, 10:24:13 PM

I might, just might, crossing my fingers and toes here, possibly have a line on a complete, running '87 Turbo Coupe parts car. I actually looked at the car about five years ago, but the woman wouldn't sell it (even though she had it advertised for sale, she couldn't bring herself to part with it). When she first listed it it was due to financial hardship but she pulled herself out by the time the ad appeared in the paper. I can't say as I blame her for being attached to it...

...But apparently the Rust Demons have caught up with it, and the strut towers are coming apart. She is finally ready to part with it now and wants to make sure it goes to somebody who appreciates T-Birds and ain't gonna hack it up for a Mustang (of course I meet that requirement), but the question remains: How much$$?

I would not be interested in attempting to fix it - in addition to the strut towers I seem to remember the door bottoms and quarters were pretty ripe. Besides, my 60k mile '88 5.0 is in too good a shape to give up, and I can't have two 'Birds (yet).

What I am interested in, though, is the 3.55 8.8" rear, 11" front brakes, sway bars, hood, bumper, and interior (it's blue and supposedly mint, so I'd have to change my entire red interior out). As for the engine, I could put it in a 4-cyl Mustang, a Ranger, or part it out on eBay. I could certainly distribute some of the other parts on eBay (Canadian cluster, various electronics, etc). Since these cars are getting hard to find parts for I would keep all switches, motors, relays, soleniods, glass, plastics, lights, etc.

I'm also thinking that the 5-speed, even though it's a 4-cyl version, would work well behind my 5.0. I know the 4-cyl T5 is weak, but I have no intention of making more power than a stock HO with minor bolt-ons. I'm pretty sure the TC version is stronger than the regular 4-cyl tranny - does anyone still have that chart that was floating around?

Of course, this is all moot - having mentioned it, I have jinxed it...