Well guys its been a couple of years since I've been on this site conistently but I've finally started spinning some wrenches on '88'bird again. A little back history my aunt bought this car new in Lousiana then my Dad bought it from her and brought it up here to Indiana in the mid-90's. After that I got the car when I was 17 and drove it all through high school and college. I took it to all my HS proms, 4 yrs of college (taking down quite a few 80's monte's and camaro's along the way), and even drove it on my wedding day...so I think a lot of the old girl. I just finished the Mustang 11'' brake upgrade on the car. Next I need to get the exhaust worked on as has rubbed the driveshaft ever since I put the Steeda springs in it. I could just bend it but this makes for a good reason to put a little bit louder system on it. Then after that I plan to get it painted. I know it looks good in the pics but the paint is original w/185000 miles. Decklid paint is very thin, it has some very small rust bubbles on lower 1/4's and just needs freshened up. I had big plans of building the 302, converting to MAF, etc. but now that I am married I will have to hold off on that one for awhile. Thanks for looking.
and one of the car in the garage with my Alloy gray '07 GT Mustang 5spd.
like the one on the left better:roxor: !
i didn't like the 69/ 70 stang looks back in then and i surely would waist good money on a wantbe remake of a 2005:toilet: to current stang. sorry this mustang lover just not into new ones and thinks the best years for stang are 1979 to 1995.
Great looking Bird.I can't wait til mine is painted one color again.I get dizzy looking at mine.LOL.
It's amazing how so many people who love fox-Mustangs dislike the S-197 --- Seems I'm one of the few exceptions.
Wish I had a big enough garage to put both of mine in....Cougar's in the driveway.
Great looking car...both 'em. There has not been a mustang generation I couldn't find something I liked about them.
See I'm not a big lover of fox body Stangs. Probably because they get so much attention and our fox's really don't. I also never liked the original stangs but the late 60's models were O.K. I think the current Mustangs will still be hot in 30 yrs. If you look at all the mags they are everywhere.
Bottom line is its just a Mustang...I'd rather drive my T-bird any time and I honestly think the bird is a lot better looking car.
Looking at Pic #3 I see a man with his Priorities in order. Two cars, two car garage, Huge driveway, and a 150sq. ft. house.
Still looking good:D
I still have to get that 2 car garage built. The 88 is living in the 1.5 car garage I have now so the DD has to sit in the driveway, which sucks when it gets burried by snow in the winter :toilet:
For 185k.. !!!!
Love it!!
I guess you mean my neighbors kids playhouse? Good thing I get along well with him because if I keep spending money on the T-bird my wife may have me sleeping over there. lol.
You need to wake up... A Fox Stang can never touch the '69s in styling(not a fan of the '70 redesign myself)... I'll prob never own another Stang that isn't '69 or earlier... I'm OK with the new '05- up, just not a Stang person, so I likely will never own one...
50tbrd88... That is a great looking Bird, obvious you take great pride in you car...
I prefer the 67-68 style Mustang myself. I'd love to have a 68 GT with a 428CJ;)
First of all thanks for the comments on my car.
I would not call myself a "stang person" either but if you want a newer RWD Ford w/v8 and a manual tranmission you don't have too many options (unless you buy a truck). That and the new Mustangs are just plain good looking cars. I'm not even a fan really of the early Mustangs and I bought a '05-up so the retro thing doesnt mean too much to me. Also for the record I'm not big on fox mustangs...if you ask me the only thing they are good for are parts to put on Tbirds/cougars!
The 05 and up are the greast coupe body style mustang post 79.
But you can't bet a 83 to 88 GT Hatch with a custom built street/srtip built 351 Windser, 302 good to.
But my dream Mustang other than a 2007 Shelby GT500 or a Foose Elentor New body style mustang, is a 2004 SVT Cobra Chromealusion Metalic Blue.
But for now I got my car I wanted as my first car so I happyer than a Kebbler Elf getting promtied to packing manager.
I'm excited I talked a local bodyman into painting the car this fall. He has painted several nice cars around and does a good job. He is going to paint it on the side over the course of the winter. Its going back to the stock dark shadow grey with the silver pinstripe. My question is what is your guys opinion on painting the side moldings to match? I always thought the black side moldings gave it a nice contrast and kinda gives it the period correct '80's look...but I've seen several w/painted moldings that look good too. What do you guys think? I've got a spare chrome grill I might get painted body color too.
My black cat is painted with door piece taken off,it looks good on that.not sure if I'm doing that to my grey cat though.
looks good
My Sport won't have the trim between the doors either.I like the smooth look,and the car's natural bodyline looks great.Nice looking Cat Kitz.
so I had a guy at work offer me a 5.0 HO for $200. He says its been in his garage for awhile it was going to be used in another project but now he just wants it out of his garage. He says its out of a 1991 T-bird (I wasnt aware they had HO's?:dunno:) and its low mileage. I realize it will be MAF and I will have to swap my car over which is fine w/me as I'd like to at least cam it. So what do you guys think. Is this a good buy? It will ultimatley go into cold storage for now and be used in a year or so. Like I said if I get it I'd probably change the cam in it and thats about it.
Is there a difference in the Mustang HO's and ones in MN12 T-birds? How about the 90's era motors vs fox body 5.0's how are they different? The intake looks different but I'm sure you could swap on a earlier style if you had to. Seems like a good buy let me know what you all think!!!
Well the 91 Mustang was still a Fox body and If I am not misstaken 87 to 95 5.0's were the same on pretty much everything except for the GT-40, which came in the Expolres.
Wakeup, he said it was from a '91 Tbird...
Get your shiznit straight or don't post...:mad:
That's a screaming deal if it's a decent motor... Yes the '91-'93 Tbird/Coug used a HO 5.0...
It has several small differences, upper intake and TBody, headers are unique to the MN12, and the front accessory setup and water pump is different(used elec fan)... If you plan on retaining the original water pump driven fan, you'll need to use the front cover and accessories from your original engine...
It may use a divorced module distributor, but you can use your orig...
id grab it up
search yard for explorers and im sure you can get gt40 heads and intake for 200 if u shop around and pull yourself
that block with those heads and intake, and mass air would be a NICE set up
Thanks guys. Yeah it sounded good price wise but I wanted to check and see what differences there were, if any. I think I'll go for it. I can always buy parts over time as money allows. Change out the intake (maybe cobra or GT40), add headers, cam, etc and it would be pretty nice! Now I just have to find room in the garage to store it.
Picked up the 5.0 HO this weekend. It looks to be in really good shape from what I can tell. Pulled the dipstick and the oil looks like new.
(http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/233000-233999/233524_78.jpg?311018-308)
(http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/233000-233999/233524_79.jpg?311018-308)
(http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/5/web/233000-233999/233524_80.jpg?311018-308)
So I want to know your guys opinions of what I should do from here. Keep in mind I am doing this on a budget. Of course there will be the necessary things; MAF conversion, intake change, change front accessories over, etc. I snagged this thing for $200 and would like to have under $1000 in the whole swap. Throw some ideas at me!
MAF, Cam, underdrives, GT40s, Chucks motor mounts, SC AOD. CAI, e fan, and some stickers
thats a pretty good list. We all know stickers add HP lol. I had thought about doing A/C and smog pump delete. I think my A/C compressor is f'ed up anyway but man I would miss having it on there. I have all these ideas rolling around in my head now. Maybe under $1000 was a little conservative. And good point on the AOD mine is bone stock w/185,000+ miles on it so I'd say its just a matter of time before it shiznits itself.
Right now I'm thinking:
GT40 intake
Ford Racing Headers
Convert to MAF
New motor mounts (I have a broken one currently)
5.0 HO fuel pump
CAI
Swap all my accessories on
Smog pump delete
Smog delete for sure. If your doing all the work youll make it under 1000... Are you including the motor price in that though?
If your AC still works or is close to woking keep it. I dont know what exhaust you have but that might be nice too. Craigslist and ebay are going to be your best friends for a while
I can get u gt40 intake at yard cheaap let me know!
Hell yes man. I NEVER have time to go to the freakin' bone yard any more since I work every single Saturday. Plus most the yards around here are picked clean of anything 5.0 related. Let me know what kind of $$ you are talking.
Plan is to do all the work myself. I was thinking $1000 total but that might be a little too conservative. The expensive part will be the MAF conversion if I can't piece it together from junkyard parts I'll have to buy a kit from Brothers Perf. or something.
I did my MAF conversion for $40 and that includes getting wires :hick: I got the A9P EEC, MAF intake tubes, and MAF pigtail (cut from a 91 5.0 Mustang) for free. I paid $20 for the 55mm MAF (now running a 70mm one from a 94 Mustang). You can probably get the MAF meter and tubes cheap off ebay and just go to the bone yard and cut the MAF pigtail from a MAF car. Just make sure the wire colors match a Mustang though so you know where they go. Then you can just add some length with some wire from the hardware store. The A9P is what's going to cost you $$$ though.
Looking at what you plan though you would be fine running SD untill you swap the cam or heads. Hell I ran my combo on SD for a year. It does run better with MAF but that's because of the cam. If you're sticking with the stock HO cam for awhile just run the car on SD and do the swap later when you add a cam or beter breathing heads. Plus I have a perfectly good Mark VII HO SD computer sitting here if you want it ;)
here are some pullies...
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/pts/891237794.html
Man you guys are a ton of help!
thunderjet302, forgive me for a lack of knowledge here but since my new motor is already set up for MAF (came from '91 T-bird) wouldn't I be better off just taking the plunge and doing the conversion? How would I keep my SD? Just use my original engine wiring with the new motor? If I can keep it SD for now that might be easier and cheaper. Hell I don't want to build it up much maybe a cam and thats about it down the road.
My problem is I work all the freaking time (especially weekends) and can never get to the boneyard to scavenge for parts. I love junkin' it but never have time anymore.
I could grab the wires from an MN-12 for you tomorrow if someone told me what wires to grab. I thought you could wire it into our harness, but i cold be wrong
Your putting this 91 in an 88 right? If so keep it SD if it is what you have. You can change it later, but it don't sound like your ready for that yet.
the 91 cougars had a more mild then h.o. cam. A step better then stock but less then the mustang from what I have heard. Get an SD computer for a mustang and your pretty well set. Use a mustang h.o. intake, throttle body, egr spacer, and if you decide, MAF. Use your old timing chain cover, water pump, and front accessories. I would use the stock fuel rail for the new H.o. I'm not sure if the cougars had compatible 19# fuel injectors or not, but if they did then that would work fine.
I would get a shift kit for the tranny. It'll make the insides wear less when it shifts.
Those '91 injectors are fine.
Yep you can run any Bird/Stang/LSC HO on a '87-'88 Stang SD computer and it's totally compatible with your original wiring harness... You'll need to swap '91 engine to the '87-'88 type sensors(only if they don't have same connector as your Bird), but you'd have to do same if using mass air ...
Your original computer cannot be used with any HO engine...
You can't use the computer from the T-bird you got the HO from as it's a bit different than the FOX style HO computers in relation to wiring/pinning of the harness.
Now that being said all HOs are the same between SD and MAF. What I mean is the block, heads, cam ect are the same it's just the engine management that's different. To make your life easy for now just swap the timing cover, water pump, oil pan, oil pump pickup, and every sensor from the 5.0 in your car right now to the new HO engine. Drop it in, plug in a SD computer, and enjoy the HO.
+1 On the ECM pinout. It's the same as a 94-95 Mustang's.
Swap on your old (Or 87-93 HO) upper intake and fuel rail too. The fuel line connections on the 91+ Thunderbird are in a different spot.
sweet thanks for the info guys. I thought I would have to convert to MAF but I may as well wait for the mods to start. I bet you can pick up SD computers for el cheapo on ebay since everyone converts to MAF anyway.
THANKS a ton for the info guys...
Anyone know what stock HP specs were on the HO's in the MN12 cars? Sounds like less than a 5.0 'stang...
The reason the MN-12s had a lower HP rating was because of a more restrictive exhaust and upper intake manifold. All factory HOs 88 and up are the same.
If you want a SD HO computer pm me. You can have the one I was using before I converted to MAF (which is from a 89 Mark VII) for $20.
The car is now at the body man's place! I took it to him Monday and he has already made pretty good progress. It should be all done within 2-3 weeks. So far he has re-aligned all the body panels and has her stripped down. It was kind of shocking to walk in and see it like this:
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1011.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1012.jpg)
The bottom pic shows the quarter panel that I let roll into the garage door this summer:punchballs: . It is the only real damage on the car. He said other than that the car is very straight and shouldn't require any extensive work. I have the turn signal lights and will polish them this week. Its going to look good! It will be going back the stock colors...just hope I get it back before the snow and salt start flying!:burnout:
I feel like posting some photos.
Here it is the day before I took it...
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1010.jpg)
Here is the finished product after swapping for 11" Mustang brakes this summer.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF0860.jpg)
looks good!!
I have a 5.0 HO SD comp as well
thanks...I'm excited as can be about her getting paint!
I already have a SD computer coming from thunderjet302 but thanks!
i figured but just wanted to throw it out there!!
Yea i bet! Id love to paint my car(and have a garage like that! or one period haha), but other issues need dealt with, and money wouldnt allow it!
Nice looking car !!! On the brake swap,did you change the master cylinder or anything else for the 11 inch brakes?I'm about to do that upgrade on the Sport..
I did put in a prop. valve but I have yet to change the master cylinder. The pedal has more travel but with the 11" fronts and TC rear discs it still stops better than it did stock. I think to see full benefit of the brakes I need to upgrade MC's though.
I'm leaving drums in the back for now.
:D Went to check on the car tonight again and take back the turn signal lenses after I polished them. He has the drivers side body work mostly done. He was working on the dent on the passenger 1/4 when I got there.
He thinks the car will be in primer by the weekend as he has this week off and is working on the car every day.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1013.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1014.jpg)
trunk lid clear coat was pretty much gone.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1015.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1016.jpg)
I really like the smooth lines without the side moldings on there. I am debating on leaving them off or painting them...just can't decide. What do you guys think? I think we will leave them off at first and at least see how it looks.
just remember you cant take them off the bumpers
The molding on our cars isgood for nothing but looks. I say leave it off between the wheelwells. I took mine off and I think it looks better even though you can still see where it was since it took the paint up in a few spots.
Thanks for the advice. I have learned on this project that I don't want the car changed
too much. One thing I like about the side moldings is it still gives it that '80's feel...which I think is a good thing. One thing I am considering more and more is painting all the moldings for that monochromatic look. Anyone have any pics of one done up like that? One thing I would be unsure of there would be wether you keep the chrome strip in the center of the molding or paint them too? What do you guys think?
Hey guys another update on the paintjob.
Well I knew this whole paint job thing was going too easy. Today was a bad day. The car had developed a leak around the top of the windshield. I was hoping that it simply needed a good resealing but turns out there was this:
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1018.jpg)
Good thing is that its just surface rust and can be easily fixed. It all goes back to the mid-90's when a dump truck in the other lane lost a rather large rock and it took out the original windshield. Dad had a glass company replace the windshield and I can remember him complaining that they had done a shoddy job (they put the first crack on the dash for one thing). Turns out he was right. The windshield guy this time around said that if had been done right back then I wouldn't have this problem. Oh well, could have been worse...might have been actual holes.:punchballs:
There is also surface rust in the cowl area...
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1019.jpg)
To make matters worse the body man found a pretty good spot of rust in the passenger rear quarter. What looked like a very small dime sized spot turned out to be more like a 1/2 dollar size. He cut it out and made a patch panel to fix it (and did a good job). The car is still amazingly rust free for having spent most of the time in the midwest.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1025.jpg)
and now fixed:
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1017.jpg)
looking good.keep the update pics coming.
In case anyone is still keeping track of this project, here she is in primer. It should have paint this weekend.:burnout:
(http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/935/481/2335240090_large.jpg?020019-338)
(http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/935/481/2335240089_large.jpg?020019-338)
The guy in the orange hat is my Dad...and no I don't think those guns on the wall are real. At least I hope not.
Niiiiice !!!! I'm proud for you.Mine should be the next one painted.Pics coming soon.Your car looks great so far.
Nice, is it going to be the same color again?
I hope you're not sanding with those rifles in there......
YEP ITS FUNNY what alittle paint does to a ride:burnout:
What did you decide with your mldgs? When I painted my sons car over the summer (83 heritage) I only cleaned them up and put them back on there original grey. When I painted mine early this fall (87 bird) I was not sure what I wanted either. I painted them but left the chrome strip. My kids car is blue and I changed mine to black so it might be relative to color also as they both turned out very nice.
I'm leaving the mouldings in the middle off.
looking good!!
thanks for all the positive comments guys. I've decided to leave the moldings black and put them all back on.
Car is going back to the factory color.
I think that will look awesome!
Have you thought about redoing the mouldings with a colored stripe?
Looking good:D Really don't worry about the *rust repair*. It's not much and that little is just about equivalent to pulling out a dent or two ;)
Looking good.I'm glad you chose to put the moldings back on,I like the looks of them.
The problem with putting the moldings back on right now is that the ones on the fender and door on the passenger side have been taken off before (or should I say pryed off) and are warped. Anyone have any nice ones handy?
Not really...but a body colored stripe would look pretty cool. I kinda like having that little dash of chrome on there though.
Yeah I was actually pretty happy the rust was not any more extensive than it was. Considering the tail lights leaked once and FILLED the trunk with water, I wasn't surprised there was rust in that quarter. Its hard to get moisture out once its there. The bit under the windshield was kind of a surprise but it was easily fixed. What sucks the most is that we have wintry salty roads around here now and I can't enjoy it! Come spring I'm probably going to put some new exhaust on and get the windows re-tinted...and drive it as much as possible.
I appreciate your guys positive comments! Hopefully I can make it to Catjam some year and let you guys see it in person.
Just looked at the car and she has color! He was in the process of buffing it out...and man does it look good. Its nice to see all the little dents and dings that drove me nuts long gone! I can't wait to see it completely polished and everything put back on it (including the pinstripe). I've been wanting to do this for soooo long!! It seems like it took forever to save enough money up to do this! Sorry the pics aren't better there was not much room to work with...
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1045.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1044.jpg)
I decided to have him paint the grille and leave the birdy chrome :headbang: ...I have a spare grill if I ever want to take it back to a regular grille.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1049.jpg)
Let me know what you all think.
Oh wow. That is a really pretty color. GOOD JOB!!!
Looks great, can't wait to see the finished product!
Looking great! I'm thinkin about doing the same to my grille when the car gets painted. Are you having the pinstripes put back on?
car looks great !!!!
that color looks awsome!
Thanks for all the support guys. I am proud of all the hard work I've done on the car...hopefully the paint job will be the only thing I'll have farmed out to someone else. It sure will be nice to see it looking like new again, and like I said it has been a long road. I started modding the car in '04 so its been teeny tiny baby steps as time and money allows. Come spring I have a list of things that need done: new window tint, new exhaust, TC springs. Then I'll start saving for the next step which will be dropping in the 5.0 HO and a rebuild of the trans (I should have done this b4 the paintjob but oh well). Thanks again guys.
Yep I have to keep it totally '80s and get those pin stripes back on there...lol:ies:
Yeah I love mine! I'm hopin to have the car painted next year; havin my dad's friend do it. He's gonna put the pinstripe under the clearcoat.
The car is pretty much done! I will go take some pictures of it tomorrow.
I can't wait to see it,and,I'm glad to see a lot of members here getting some stuff done.
Wow, That Pops. What happened to the green idea??? Or is it green and pics are dark? (making me look like a Jack A$$) Paint and body can be the most rewarding on a car, hands down.
Just got back from looking the car over. It is all done except for putting the side moldings on, painting the bumper trim and black plates on the doors (not sure what they're called but the ones you put your hand on when you close the door), and putting on the pinstripes. It looks great. I was glad to see it was sitting outside when I got there so I could get good pics. I didn't see any imperfections ANYWHERE. I'm excited to get her back...to bad I won't be able to drive it until spring. Next up is getting the new motor on a stand to get it ready to drop in (that might be in the fall). Let me know what ya'll think!!
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1083.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1084.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1082.jpg)
Thanks Vinnie...seems our cars our both progressing at the same rate! I like your car too, that color is old school and is unique!
I think you are getting Vinnie and my car confused...I guess thats understandable because both our cars are gettin painted and have Cobra R's!
Looks freakin awesome!
Very Nice !!!!I have to paint my bumper trim and those door "plates" also.I'm leaving the trim in between the wheels off.I like the clean look with the car's natural body line.You kept the Factory Thunderbird script on the trunk.I used one I ordered from Ford for a 2005 T-Bird.Same thing but different.I'll have a few more pics tomorrow as well.That is a really good looking car,I'm proud for you.
Oh,if you'll wet sand the mirrors with 1000,1500,then 2000 grit and then polish them with Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish,they'll shine glossy black,and still be natural plastic so you don't have to worry about paint chipping off of them.Just a tip.
No kidding? I'll have to try that little trick. Its funny, when you repaint a car you start noticing all the little trim pieces and things needing attention too. Its never ending...now I'll have to re-do the interior to make it look as good as the outside!!
Before............
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/Vinnietbird/000_0978.jpg)
After.....
(http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc205/Vinnietbird/000_0980.jpg)
The pics don't show the real shine,and since I already had the polish and sandpaper,it was a freebie (my favorite way).
Daaayyyymmmnnn that made a huge difference! Like they say "There's no shine like Mothers". lol. I bet you could easily leave them on the car to do that too.
Well she's all done! Brought it home last night. Luckily we had some rain last week that washed all the salt off the road. I got it home just in time as we are supposed to have snow in the next couple of days. Enjoy the pics!:D
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1091.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1094.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1110.jpg)
and some more
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1102.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1096.jpg)
Check out "My Photobucket" (http://"http://s495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/") for more pictures!
The pictures didn't come out as well as I had hoped but my camera sucks and it was cold out there, so I was in a hurry!!
Secks!
Sweet!!!
VERY nice. I left my middle trim off.I think if I had some really nice side moldings,I'd re-install them.That Bird of yours is looking sweeeet !!!
Thanks guys...
first off sweet looking bird love it . i was readin the whole thread and i was nothing but a mustang fan but now that i bought my bird i dont want a stang just the fox body t-bird's love my car cant wait to get my baby repaired so i can get her back on the road. missing her badly. i still have 2 other fords to drive but there nothing compared to the bird but really you and vinnie getting your pics up of the new paint jobs are making me sad that i dont have the money to paint my car but it leaves me wanting it and thats a good thing time to start project (save up the cash )so i can paint my car lol
1st off thanks for the positive comments. I'm glad we have converted you to Fox body T-birds/Cougars now! :burnout:
Let me just say that it does take a lot of time, patience, and yes money to get one of these cars fixed up or modified to where you want it. I understand 100% how it is to not have the money to get your car painted. What you see in my thread has been accomplished by saving money over several years just for this paint job. The rest of the car has mainly been put together with junk yard or ebay parts scrounging. You also have to keep in mind we are working with cars that are 20+ yrs old with little aftermarket support so it does get frustrating...but most of all its fun and totally worth it by having something different. I am sure everyone else on the forum will agree with me.
Keep it up you have a good looking T-bird! Just keep it up...and trust me the more time you spend on this forum the more you will want to work on the car.:D
i slaped a deer going 65 with the car before christmas so i got a lot of work do do to it now but yes the cars are differnt and love my bird this forum is great and so is everbody on it
great looking car !!!, I love the color, looks like it has a good chunk of metallic in it
Beautiful work, congrats
Looks great, Just hope mine comes out that decent now.
Is that a film tint on the windows?
Thanks everyone for the comments.
I think you should be commended for saving your Cougar...I am really enjoying watching your progress.
My window tint was done by me with film I bought at a local parts store. I did a pretty average job (plus it was cheap tint and is starting to turn purple) so I need have it redone this summer. Every time I try to tint windows I just end up pissed off...so I will just have to pay a pro. The back window is a killer! I think all new 20% tint will really finish her off on the outside.
I'm hoping to have my windows tinted soon.I still have some other things to do first.It is best to have a pro do it,and give a warranty.Only use tint friendly cleaner.Windex and like cleaners are wicked harmful to tint.
50tbrd88, Like Vinnie said "your tinted windows look great" and we had our Cougar windows tinted by a (pro) and received a Lifetime Warranty to replace if they start to fade or come off. ;)
Hey guys just an update. I have started ordering parts for the next phase of my project. As you all may know I acquired a 5.0 HO out of a '91 MN12 T-bird awhile back. Originally I was planning on swapping motors...but now have decided to just use all the HO specific parts from the donor motor to do a HO conversion on my original SO motor. There is nothing wrong with my original motor and I don't plan to abuse, drag race heavily, etc so I think it should live for a long time. Plus (even though I bought it off a co-worker) I have no idea what type of life the donor motor has led and the last thing I want to do is to pull a good motor and drop a junk one in its place.
So far I have in my possesion or have ordered:
1.) 5.0 HO computer (speed density)
2.) fox mustang HO intake
3.)Chuck W motor mounts
4.) complete fel-pro gasket set
5.) Pro-Form smog pump delete kit (http://"http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PRO%2D68110&N=700+0&autoview=sku")
6.) BBK 1515 headers (http://"http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=BBK%2D1515&N=700+115&autoview=sku").
I plan to order a BBK h-pipe soon as well. I also will be doing a 5.0 HO fuel pump. I am contemplating buying a new distributor too as mine is original. What do you guys think and what would you recommend? Anything else I am missing? Keep in mind it will basically be a 5.0 HO w/headers and probably bumped timing. I am really excited about this phase of the project. Even though it will basically be a stock Mustang motor the added performance should be great! :burnout:
get an explorer intake. You'll need to get the right sized egr/throttle body too. if your distributor looks okay, I would get a cap and rotor just incase. You may want a differnt cam, but the mn-12 one would probably work okay.
I already have a fox mustang stock HO intake I got for cheap. I figure I can always upgrade to explorer/gt40 later on. How is the MN12 cam different from any other HO cam?
I would return that smog pump delete. Extra pulley you dont need. Just get a shorter belt, its cheaper.
I thought about it but really want to be able to walk into the parts store and just order a standard belt without having to get a parts guy to understand what I am doing.
I like the piece of mind of walking into a store 100 mi from home and getting a belt...plus its only $50. I just put a new belt on not that long ago so at $25 a belt x 2 I was better off just buying a delete pulley. Trust me I am the master of being a tight ass. D
LOL. Me too, most of the time. When I have the money though I just want to buy when I find what I need. Holding out usually pays off. I dont think you will see much drag from the pull or loss anyways. Sounds like everything is coming along nice so far.
Just another update.
I now have the donor motor basically torn down to the heads. I now need to pull the heads and cam. Seems I am making pretty slow progress...
I ordered a bbk catless h-pipe from Summit to go along with the headers (by the way I was less than impressed by the quality of the bbk 1515 headers...I thought they were kinda junky looking).
So basically I have a trunk full of parts ready to be installed! I have a friend who is going to help me do the HO conversion over easter weekend...can't wait!!
H.O power.That's gonna be nice.Pics really should be posted as this happens.You know the rules.LOL.
Will an H (or X) pipe installed AFTER the cats be as effective as one installed beforehand?
EDIT: Sorry thread hijack.
huh? WTF? who ever heard of that kind of set up?:mullet: just use a stang H-pipe and be done... ta hell with a custom H pipe....:D
The bird I have already has true duals with the cats installed, and I'm looking to save money.
The pipes we are talking about are from headers down to flowtubes. Sounds like you are referring to just the cross over itself. No cats would benefit the most. Usually the H or X is after the cats.
Should I go junkyard diving for a set of mustang pipes? In my county, Cats are required to be street legal.
thats why people hollow them out instead of piping them.
That mustang could bring you some cash towards your thunderbird i bet... :)
Read this: http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showpost.php?p=264620&postcount=22
See above link..... Here's the FULL article as well....
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/articles/hardcore/0505em_exh/index.html
Made a little more progress on the upcoming swap:
1.) I got the bbk catless h pipe in from Summit
2.) My buddy Chad and I pulled the cam from the donor motor today.
3.) Also this week I took the E7 heads to a local machine shop. I had to have them remove some broken off intake bolts and had them grind the valves, hot tank and check them for cracks/damage. They should be good to go now with new valve stem seals, etc. So no worries of leaky valves now.
One question I have...the HO Mustang intake I have only had the TPS on it. Now I do have my original egr, etc from my SO intake plus the stuff from the donor motor intake (its from an MN12 t-bird). Which stuff should I use? Can I use my original SO stuff without any ill effects or should I use the donor motor stuff?
I'm getting excited about the swap...the only thing left to buy now are an HO fuel pump and then just a bunch nickel and dime stuff (cap/rotor, spark plugs, oil/filter, antifreeze). I am going to do the swap over Easter weekend...I will post some pics after it gets done!
Here are some pics of the heads...
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1150.jpg)
And this is the point where you say "Ahhh shiznit"!
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1145.jpg)
Well we have made some progress but did not get everything done over the weekend as planned. A friend of mine is helping me do it in his shop and he came down with the flu over the weekend so no wrenching was done pretty much all weekend.
We started back up on it and have all the front accessories and intake taken off my motor. After cussing it for being so low and hard to get to everything, he has decided to we should just pull the motor. It needs rear main seals anyway so if he wants to go to the trouble I couldn't really argue with him. Once we got the intake off we saw that it was carboned up BAD. I am hoping once we pull the heads that everything else looks OK...if not it might be high time for a hot tank and new bearings and rings.
The guy helping me do this is big into Ford trucks. He has a 2wd Ranger pulling truck with one hell of a motor in it (he won his class last year). He had a 460 built up and ready to go into his 4wd pickup that he estimated at over 500 hp. He also has a 429 that he was trying to talk me into putting into my car... tempting but I think that would break the budget.
Here are some pics:
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1153.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1152.jpg)
congrats on the work man, it makes quite a difference doing that kind of work... even more with a T5 swap.... sucks when you get use to that power though, then you have to spend more money for more power... LOL.
Thanks. I can't wait to give her hell man :burnout:. It ought to be pretty quick with 3.73's don't you think? Now I'm just fearful my 185,000 mi motor will decide to be a punk and give me trouble
after I get all this done. There are no problems with it that I know of (I will know more once we dig into it deeper) but you just never know with those kind of miles on something.
I started collecting parts for a T5 swap (have center console and a few other odds and ends) but never did do it yet. Maybe someday.
Ha yeah, I remember when we did the HO conversion - it was our first time diving into that engine bay and we had no clue where to start. After doing it a few times, though, it's surprisingly easy. And yes, that car should be movin quite well with the 3.73s and HO. The T5 swap isn't as bad as you'd think either.
I am hoping it will make a big difference. Its gotta be better than 155hp and 2.73's! lol
Yeah meto!!!! Im pretty sure the swap is an extra 65hp....... so 220hp rating isnt that bad............. but you have gears too, so youll be quiker than me!!!!
Ohhhh youre gonna be haaauuulin. Dont even get me STARTED on how fast an H.O. 3.73s is. Dont eeeeven get me started. What a day. DAAYUM.
I've been in faster, see below ;)
On the sensor thing (since no one answered) yes you can just swap over all the sensors from he SO lower as long as they all work fine. They are the same as the HO sensors.
Finish up the car and have fun already ;)
:rollin: that good huh? I can't freakin' wait! I just want to drive the darn thing...and I'll be glad when all this nickel and dime stuff is over. My wife is starting to lose her sense of humor about this project pretty quickly. :punchballs:
Thanks on the sensor stuff...thats what we were planning on doing! I think it will be a lot more fun once we get it going.
Tonight we pulled the motor out, flipped her over on the stand and pulled off the oil pan. We checked the bearings and everything looked very good for the miles on it. In the process of pulling it I found not one, but
both motor mounts broken. That will hopefully explain some of the wierd vibrations I had with the car. Chuck W's poly motor mounts I have will come in very handy.
Tomorrow I am going to run to the parts store and get nickel and dime stuff: vacuum/molded hoses off the upper intake, freeze plugs (might as well do 'em while its out), new oil drain plugs (mine are py), and something to clean the engine compartment with.
What have you guys used in the past to knock the grease off your engine compartment? I figure now's the time to do it.
One other wierd thing we ran into; When we pulled the motor out and starting taking the flex plate off, we noticed spots rubbed on the bolts. And then when we checked the torque converter, you could see really faint marks where the bolts had rubbed. It looks to me like it probably had been that way for awhile. This seems really odd to me. Should I be concerned?
Perhaps the torque converter balooned?
Had the same on mine,would figure it was normal.
Probably just a tight fit to allow for zero play.
Ok I won't worry about it then.
You know come to think of it when I pulled the engine on mine it had the same thing. Maybe it's normal?
Well that makes three of us so I guess it is fairly common? I still thought that was odd but oh well.
Tonight I used some commercial degreaser I "borrowed" from my last job to clean my engine compartment. I wish I would have powerwashed it but my buddy does not have water at his shop so it will have to do. The stuff really does a good job...its similar to that "Simple Green" stuff. While I was doing that he pulled the heads off my motor, everything looked great from a wear and tear standpoint. It won't be long and we will be sliding it back in hopefully. At the pace we have been going I'd say it will be next weekend before I am officially "high output".
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1160.jpg)
We put the motor back in tonight. It went pretty smoothly really, it slid right down in there and lined right up. The motor mounts are going to look and work great. After we got it settled in I worked on pulling the old computer and putting the HO computer I got from thunderjet302 in. I had never changed one and honestly it was a little more difficult to get to than what I had expected. But, after skinning my knuckle on something under there I managed to get the old one out and plug the new one in. I will have to button everything else back up tomorrow. We are hoping to have it out of his shop by the weekend. Then its off to the exhaust shop ASAP.
I have chrome bbk 1515 headers and bbk catless h...what would you guys go with for lers? I want it to have nice aggressive tone but not too obnoxiously loud. What do you guys think? I plan to run it straight out the back with chrome turndowns (I have always had turndowns on this car and have to keep 'em, it just wouldn't be right without 'em).
Here is a py cell phone pic:
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/Image002.jpg)
you can never go wrong with flowmasters.... I have the cheap summit racing Chambered lers, (flowmaster knockoffs0 and it sounds great. It is quite loud outside but is actually pretty quite inside...
I had a pair of Flows on my old F-150 and didn't really like the sound. But it might have sounded better without cats.
W/O Cats they sound A LOT better. Personally I want something different now. Not sure what I want yet though.
I have flows on the Sport.They sound great.I had a set of Warlocks on before that,and they were really quiet inside the car,a deep burble outside,and a mean tone when you hit the gas,but not obnoxiously loud,plus,you can uncap them at the track for open exhaust.Nice.I
I've run Warlocks, Flowmasters and Dynomax Turbo lers. I prefer the Dynomax for sound, price and weight!
The Warlocks weigh a ton and the Flowmaster are not far behind. I had fitment issues with the Warlocks inlet/outlet staggering.
The Flowmasters were pr0ne to a drone at 1,800. I swapped to regular H-Pipe and long tubes (from shorties w/a Mac Pro-Chamber) and the drone was greatly minimized.
I put the shorties and Pro-Camber on another car w/the Dynomax lers. No drone.
With the Flowmasters,I don't have any drone issues.As far as weight,when I got mine I never even had a concern for that.I would if I were racing it,but as a street car 99% of the time,no big deal.It all really comes down to personal preference.
Thanks for the suggestions. I really don't think I will run Flowmasters because I want something different and am just not that crazy about their sound. I have been really considering getting some Pypes Violator lers. That's what I run on my Mustang and they sound tough. I am just afraid that without cats they would be insanely loud.
I was incredibly biased because I went for 2 months without even SEEING my car and just got it back. Yeeeeah. lol. I felt like posting it anyway I didnt care.
All thats for sure is compared to stock its ridiculous.
I'm running Flowtech Afterburner lers with 2.5" dual exhaust all the way back from the headers. They sound good and while they aren't the loudest thing out there they will still set off a car alarm or two on occasion ;). When I get home I might be able to post up a vid of how they sound if you want.
Oh so I see you had fun putting the computer in. Try a MAF conversion. That's fun ;)
At least you have a 302 in your winter ride. Try driving a 3.8 for 5 months :hick:
Yeeeah I thought that would be pretty neat and I tooted my own horn on that. Doesnt really matter that I got an extra 1.2 liters when I ALSO have an extra probably 7 800 pounds as well :rollin:
I can NOT complain...thats being too demanding wanting a fun winter car...besides then it would never get any traction :hick: thing is mint and rugged and does get from A to B before winter actually ends....so okay.
I didn't get to help on the car tonight, but my buddy needs it out of his garage to work on his pulling truck so he wrenched on it without me. Totally sucks not being around to work on my own car but I did manage to stop by for just a second. He had all the front accessories back on along with the headers. The smog delete and headers look good on there for sure!
He did run into a couple of problems:
1.) Has anyone run Chuck W's motor mounts with a TC hood and 5.0? It looks like the motor sits a tad higher and I am afraid the A/C bracket is going to hit the scoop on the hood. Anyone had issues with this? I guess if it doeshiznit I will just delete the A/C.
2.) The oil dipstick tube wouldn't fit with the headers and had to be bent a little. Now the dipstick is really hard to pull out and put back in. I will probably have to take it out and try and tweak on it later on.
I am sure we will run into more snags along the way...especially the way this project has been going so far. Seems like we have been fighting it the whole way. Tomorrow I have to run to the parts store again as they gave me the wrong heater core hoses and lower radiator hose. I am going to make sure and take my old ones with me this time.
I had the same problem when I swapped headers (they were just stock stang shorties) I actually broke my dipstick and had to find another. But as far as I knew, it still gave accurate readings.
You have to grind the AC bracket down.
That's what scares me...I already have done some grinding on it. I could probably grind out more if need be. All I know is, that hood will be closing one way or another.
Headers and the dipstick are problematic. I've crimped a couple over time resulting in trips to the junk yard. A brake line tubing bender may help get it routed properly, minimizing the kinks. It can take a bit of time and be frustrating
Fastening the dipstick to the header bolt can be another challenge. I haven't ever come up with something than has looked very professional for that...
Glad to hear you are getting close.
I see that now. lol. At least I have the dipstick tube from the donor motor I could always use if I crimp this one too much. It definatley will not work the way it is now. It is VERY hard to pull the dipstick out and I'm afraid it will break.
I got my stock dipstick tube to work with the factory HO headers as well as my FRPP GT40P headers. I just bent it a little by hand and it bolted right up :dunno:
My issues were with couple sets of long tubes and a set of equal length shorties. It seems with any aftermarket part install, something else has to get tweaked. Even after all the years I've messed with this stuff, I'm always surprised! Still a slow learner...
I cheat. I bolt it to the valve cover....
(http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk191/V8Demon/Car%20Tech/Dipstick-tube.jpg)
Hey! I like that!
I may have to cheat on that dipstick deal too.
Should come closer to firing it up tonight. I plan on running it on stock SO fuel pump for awhile (maybe a week or two)...I don't forsee any issues with this. Do you guys think it will be OK?
Should be ok. I am better sure a few people have done it without issue. 1WLDBRD I believe.
Just hold off on the full throttle runs until you get the upgraded fuel pump. It'll run fine in normal driving. If you run it hard, you'll know if you max out the fuel volume, it will feel like you slammed on the brakes!
Hope you have good luck getting it running!
Yep, I have been running mine quite hard for over 6 months on the stock 302 pump... No issues yet.:mullet:
Yeah I've actually never changed my fuel pump.... collar rusted to hell...didnt even want to try yanking it apart. I will at some point...but for two years now all has been well...so I dunno. Again I do need to change it to be safe. Im glad it has been okay though.
I will probably wait awhile and let my bank account recover a bit before I buy any more parts :D. But, I really have done this swap for pretty reasonably small amount of money.
Just make sure you only have 1-2 gallons in the tank when you change the pump. I did mine with half a tank. Not fun :hick:
Been there, done that. The car is on its 3rd fuel pump. I changed it once with over 1/2 and it sucked ballz.
Got another update on the car:
The intake is on along with the bbk h-pipe. It should be ready to fire tomorrow, but the py thing is I have to work all day tomorrow. So my pal is going to try and finish it up without me. I feel horrible for not being around but thats part of it. I have to pay for this habit somehow!
We found out that with column shift, the o2 sensorshiznit the shifter linkage. d'oh, I should have thought of that!! I bought one new o2 sensor with longer wires on it because we f'ed one up trying to get it out of the old manifolds. I am thinking when I take it to the exhaust shop, I will have them weld up the old bung and place the o2 sensor a bit further down and away from my shifter linkage. We may even end up splicing more wire into the o2 sensors to make them reach even further back.
Another question...since I deleted the smog pump there are some leftover doodads that I am not sure what to do with. For instance see below. What exactly is this vaccum "port" for? I remember there being vac lines going into it and maybe one going to the charcoal canister ??
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1152-1.jpg)
Speaking of the charcoal canister...can a guy just delete it too without the car reeking? Anyone on here deleted theirs? I figure it is on there for a reason.
I have deleted the charcoal canister and associated vacuum lines with no issues I can discern. Sorry, can't tell what the lines you have indicated are.
OK cool. I may just delete it then.
Mine still has the charcoal canister and EGR but the Thermactor stuff is all gone. What I did was just follow the vac hoses and join/cap them off where they needed to be to keep everything functional and the engine happy ;)
So ya get it fired up today??????? Id imagine youre out enjoying it!!!! Let me know if it rips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I belive paul is looking for those parts.
I have now driven a 5.0 HO T-bird. We buttoned everything up around 3:30 yesterday and I drove it about 4 miles back to my place. I couldn't really get on it too much because I am running straight pipes right now (headers and h-pipe) but initial thoughts are that the car will be much faster. Even just taking off and getting up to speed I was running 70 mph without even realizing it. And that odd vibration I had been trying to diagnose for over a year? Now I know that that was the motor mounts because it is gone! Right now the car basically sounds about like a demo derby car or something. I had a headache from just driving it home. lol.
It will go to the exhaust shop hopefully this week and get lers and tailpipes put on. I am also going to have to have them move my 02 sensor on the drivers side out of the way of the shifter linkage. One other problem that cropped up: The drain plug was and oversized plug but it never leaked since I put it in a couple of oil changes ago, now it leaks like a mother. Like a pint or two just over night. I am going to try to put a different plug in but I may have to resort to something more extreme down the road. I should have just put a new pan on it while I had it out...
The only other problem is that the sensor thingy on the throttle body (what's it called like a ATC or ITC or something??) is going bad. I am going to work on it some today I'll get some pics posted later.
TPS???? yeah i got a new one too, they arent that much, and only two screws and a clip....You must have been turnin some heads while drivin that beast around!!!!!!!
IAC idle air controller. oilpans suck in the car.
yeah IAC thats right. Never can remember the name of that doohickey.
So I worked on the oil pan situation. What really me off is that it didn't leak a drop before this and now that we've had the motor out and back in it has decided to be a prick and leak. I went and got an oversized plug today and tried to use it but it totally screwed the threads up.
After checking it out I found at that the threads in the pan are broken. Don't ask me how this happens but I am definatley going to have to pull the freakin' pan now. I have decided I have turned enough wrenches on this thing lately...its going to a shop to get done. Call me a wuss if you want but my wife is about ready to kill me the way it is. If I spend then next week in the garage I am a dead man!
Here are some pictures of the engine:
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1175.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1176.jpg)
You know a striped rear oil pan plug was the whole reason for my engine rebuild ;)
Glad I'm not the only one!! Its frustrating because I just want to be driving the wheels off this thing right now.
Hopefully you'll get it resolved soon :D I figured it would be easier to pull the engine to change the pan so I figured while it was out I might as well rebuild it :hick:
Oh how's that computer working for you?
So far so good! I only drove the car 4 miles so far but it worked like a charm. I actually still have the kick panel and associated trim laying in the floorboard. I still need to button everything back up. lol.
I am going to at least try my "drill and tap a patch and then weld on the pan" trick. Sure its redneck engineering, but I figure its worth a try and might save me a big bill. If it doesn't work then off to the shop it goes!
Small update on the car! Redneck engineering alert: This week we made a patch which we drilled and tapped for a new drain plug. We welded this over my old hole. Problem with this was that the oil pan was so thin, I burnt a teeny tiny hole into it when welding the patch on. So end result was that it still leaked a little...well you guessed it once you start redneck engineering stuff it kinda snowballs from there.
Today I used JB weld (the quick set stuff) all around my normal weld, let it set up for a few hours and then sanded it down and painted it. Looks near factory and doesn't leak a drop! Hell of a lot better than pulling the pan.
Also last night my buddy and I took the car out for a spin (open exhaust and all) and decided to gag on it a little. Even with the stock SO fuel pump I was shocked with how much of a difference the upgrade made! This thing feels almost as fast as my Mustang!! There are a couple of small issues still to iron out but I finally see light at the end of the tunnel.
This week I am going to make an exhaust appt and then next week it goes in for a complete tranny service and to get a couple of leaks on the trans fixed.
Thats awesome to hear man!!!!! Hey that redneck engineering works!!!! im learning from ur misfortune tho.... im checking out my pan and relacing my gaskets and oil pump.... figure... the motor is out, and the pump is only $17....why not... Really glad you liked the conversion... im even more motivated just hearing that it made a noticeable difference....Sarted mine today!!!!!!
I'm ready to start a whole new engine.I'm only lacking the parts and the funds.Other than that,I'm ready.
LOL!!!!! IM ALways ready!!!!!!!!
Lol...I just want to get this thing to a point where I can drive it. Thursday it goes to the exhaust shop for new pipes. I'm pretty excited about that...should sound tough with what I have planned.
Next week it goes in for a trans service and then I plan on driving it as much as possible. The original plan was to take it on Hot Rod power tour 2nd week of June, but I just don't know if I can trust taking the car 8 or 10 hrs away from home yet! I'll probably just take the 'stang again and blend in with the crowd. :(
Bummer, I was looking forward to seeing another Fox Bird on the tour.
I'm in the midst of doing a thrash on my car. It won't be getting much of shake down prior to leaving on the 5th.
I will take it as long as you bring your tools and help me fix it when it breaks down. lol. I'm still on the fence...I am going to drive it as much as possible and if it seems reliable, it might go. But don't get your hopes up. lol.
I always bring tools! On a serious note though, no one wants to be on the side of the road...
Hope you are able to get things worked out in the next month.
I'm working on getting a P600 Procharger installed and tuned by the 20th. You know how everything for a Mustang bolts right up to a our cars right? I wish!
Lol...yeah I would really like to enjoy the power tour and not be stranded in some no name town in Kentucky or something. You know how it goes when you work on cars...you are always chasing something. I noticed tonight that the car idles high in park so I am thinking maybe the IAC needs a good cleanin'. I replaced every vacuum line I could so I don't think I have a vac leak. If I get her going and it seems reliable who knows???
Man a Procharger!! :bowdown: What all stops are you going on? I have to see this thing. I am going from Dayton thru Bristol.
My cougar's oil pan rusted out within 5 years of the car being new.
I used that jb weld stuff to patch the hole for a couple years until I got the pan replaced.
It works great.
We should be able to work something out to meet, I plan to do the full tour. When it gets a little closer we'll exchange some info to set something up!
Try this: http://www.muscularmustangs.com/idlereset.php ;)
Hey man that would be great. I am going to be taking my bro along too so maybe we can run together for awhile!:burnout:
Man I've never heard of an oil pan rusting out! Thats nuts. I am always impressed with what a person can do with JB weld.
Hey thanks! I was going to try that this weekend...I found some info over on corral about it last night. I think you are right I should start there 1st.
thos 17x9 Cobra R's fit with out rubing and what size tires do u have on them?
It usually works to cure idle problems, at least for me. Hopefully it works for you.
245/45/17. No rubbing issues at all. I intend to run wider rear tires at some point...
We shall see! I need to wrap up some issues on the car this weekend and change the oil now that it has some miles on it. I also need to retighten the header bolts.
Went to the exhaust shop yesterday to get the lers and tail pipes put on. The thought never crossed my mind that the shop would not be able to bend some 2.5" tailpipes up from me. They said their bender could not handle a bend that tight (going over axle). So now it looks like I am going to order some sort of catback kit for a Mustang and then have the tailpipes extended. Problem is the ones I can find are expensive. However, I don't want to sacrifice quality or good sound so I may have to just spend it and go on with my life.
Here are the ones I am considering:
Pypes Violator (http://"http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=PYE%2DSFM13V&N=700+4294923429+4294922451+4294925005+4294908331+4294908282+115&autoview=sku") (have Violator lers on my 'Stang and love 'em)
Dynomax (http://"http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=WLK%2D17393&N=700+4294923429+4294922451+4294925005+4294908331+4294908282+115&autoview=sku")
I am not too excited about the price involved here (plus the fact they tack on $18 shipping). I need to get something done quick if I am going to possibly take this baby on the Power Tour. What are your guys thoughts?
ok thank u
i have 245 40 17's up front with plenty of room,and 255 40 17's out back and they clear the quad shocks easily.No spacers.Bolt 'em on and go.
just bit the bullet and ordered the Pypes kit. I have to quit throwing $$$ at this freaking car. At least it should sound mean now!
Just got done putting on the Pypes Violator lers and midpipes. I am taking the car to get the trans flushed tomorrow so I wanted to get some lers on it. I left the tailpipes off because I am going to have to take it to the exhaust shop to get everything tweaked into place, welded up, and the tails lengthened. For the meantime it has old clothes hangers holding things in place :hick:.
First impressions are that the lers really don't le much at all :evilgrin:. I didn't think I wanted the car very loud, but I think I am going to have to get over that pretty quick. It should sound even better with the tailpipes on it.
EDIT: I forgot to mention...I hope I NEVER again have to hang exhaust on a car while laying on a cold, damp garage floor. I have TOTAL RESPECT for guys at exhaust shops now. It was not a very fun job trying to wrestle all that around 4" from your face!!
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1199.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1200.jpg)
Here's a video (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzWIzhWNfj0")
man that sound nice to me. and where did u get the tech for it?
The TACH is a Stewart-Warner got it out of Summit racing a couple of years ago.
ok do u remeber how much it was
sorry not a clue.
how did u wire it up?
Sound good. Are you going to get another vid once its down and out? I am trying to figure out what I want to replace my Flows with. Once you get those tailpipes on it will quite down.
Hey i got a quick question..... when you deleted the smog and a/c... what vac lines did you cap off or eliminate??
plug the tube(s) coming out of the rear of the heads, hole in the exhaust where the tube from the pump connects. Cap off the two vac lines that run to the rear of the pass side strut tower. Remove everything that is connected to the smog pump and the pump. Get shorter belt. Do a search and you will find a few different belt length options in my thread about this.
what he said. lol. I just got some bolts and rubber "washers" for them and plugged the where the smog tube went in the back of the heads.
Yeah.... i was rished, so i left the tubes on.... and just made some little metal "caps" and welded them shut....the only reason i ask, is when i shut down the car.... i hear a hissssssss for a second or two......
P.S..... you need to post up a vid of the tach/speedo...when ur gettin on a highway,.... ust so i can see the difference in acceleration..
Sounds great. A bit loud though ;) Hell I have a full exhaust and it'll set of car alarms at times:hick:
You know I thought your car had the full digi dash like mine does for some reason.
I'm hoping it will quiet down with tailpipes. No my car is just the standard LX digi dash:toilet:.
Your car sounds great. Definitely agree that you should get a video driving it.
I filmed a video today of it driving but I don't think I'm gonna post another video until I get one of it with tail pipes. It sounds good right now, just kind of raspy.
This weekend I drove the car as much as I could. Saturday night we took it on an 80 mile trip and then I cruised it around a bunch today. So far it seems to run great and it feels good to be driving it again. I can also leave it parked on concrete and it doesn't "mark its territory". The weather forcast is calling for nice weather this week so I am going to daily drive it for awhile and see if any bugs pop up. I also plan to make an exhaust appointment to get the tailpipes welded on.
your better off welding it your self or if u know some one that can weld. they cant weld for at them shops. i know i had to have some work done to mine and the guy shaged it all and it leaks some
You need to find a better shop then.
:punchballs:x2
they just had to put new down pips on it and replace the flang on it. the exhaust on the car is over 15 years old.
Well I kinda took a long lunch hour today and had my tailpipes welded on. I also had them weld up the inlet/outlet of the lers. I can't believe how much different (and better) it sounds with tailpipes. Before it sounded like a demo derby car...now it sounds totally pissed off. I am going to paint where they welded the tips with some aluminized paint or something to cover up the welded area. Overall it turned out pretty good. I did have to tweak a brake line on the pass. side but other than that it went really smooth.
Stay tuned for vids, but here are some pics in the meantime.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1204.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1203.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1202.jpg)
and one more...
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1205.jpg)
Let me know what ya'll think!!
Looks good :D. Your car needs a bath or it needs to be dusted. I can see light dust on it in the pics lol j/k ;)
Thanks. I have been driving the car this week and yes it is dusty now. I am going to go out and wash it once it cools off a little outside...jerk! lol.:beatyoass:
looks nice :burnout:
You need this stuff: http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+QUIK+16 I use it to "dust" my T-bird after every drive or two. That way I only have to wash it once or twice a month, which means I don't have to wax as much ;)
Don't you know there's no shine like Mothers (http://"http://www.mothers.com/02_products/08224.html")? Last year at Power Tour they gave us a bunch of Mothers Showtime spray wax and I gotta say I am impressed. I had always used Meguiars (and still do some), but Mothers is pretty kick ass.
I thought you were going togo with chrome turn downs for the tips?
i had planned on it but, changed my mind at the last second.
Look good. Seems like they angle down a little odd though. I want to hear it though.
I really should put some tails on my car again....
Meh I like the Meguiar's stuff better. What I posted up wasn't a spray wax it was "quick detailer", which is a fancy liquid that lets you dust your car. Just spray it on, wipe it off, and presto it looks like you just washed your car without having to drag soap and a bucket out to do it :D
I think the tips angle down too much and I personally hate seeing that weld where the pipe was extended. I think you should of gotten new tail pipes made from scratch.
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
Glad you got them on.I hated it when my Sport had dumps,it was crazy loud,and the drone was deafening after a few miles down the road.Tail pipes = good.LOL.
thanks vin. With tailpipes it sounds 110% better! I also was shocked at how much it quieted down with getting the noise behind the car.
I thought this was an open forum-besides you asked us what ya'll think. Have fun with your car.
Ken
I agree with Kendoo about both his comments about your exhaust and the forum.... if you cant handle constructive critisim then dont post and ask what we all think....:flip:
The weld being visible doesnt bother me as that is the exact way mine is, but why did they weld them on the angle?
Well I didn't mean my comment to come across shiznitty...I just keep my negative comments to myself when it comes to saying things about other people's rides. We all put a lot of time, money, and effort into these things so I get a little touchy about negativity. I sure wouldn't say that I didn't like a certain thing about your car, instead I would just keep my mouth shut. I guess that's just me.
They were welded down at an angle because that is what I wanted. I like how it looks. thats really all that matters:D
True.
Now where is that video?
Looks good! Nice job with everything!
lol. As soon as I can get someone to shoot it for me, I will post something up!
Here are a couple of vids. It is rainy here and I just washed the car or I would get a "drive by" video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwfpiQozOlI (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwfpiQozOlI")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=634xO0I9UIA (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=634xO0I9UIA")
Sounds sick!
Pretty loud for idle.......... but then again,, it looks a little nipply,with the rain and all....Nice job,..... P.S.,,,, found any "bugs" yet???? or has everything been ok??
Man to be honest its pretty loud all the time. :roxor: Its really almost too loud but, I don't daily drive this car so it will be OK.
I think what you are getting at is that it idles high? I do need to change the IAC because it is bad (which I knew before the swap). So yeah...when its a cold motor my idle is a little high. I just don't feel like spending another $60 on a new IAC right now. I tried cleaning it and it helped a little but its still not right. It seems like that once the car is warmed up it idles better, but not like it should. If you unplug the IAC it idles closer to where it should. Other than that no bugs at all!
Flowmasters are for sale.
I wonder what the flow is on them though. Ill have too look up that thread and see if theyare listed.
IAC? What exactly does that stand for?
Would replacing this IAC stop a car from revving really high when starting the car? Every time I start my car and it's sat for a period of more than 5-6 hours, it revs really high.
Sounds great man!!!
When it idles high for too long,.. i just give it a bit of pedal and let off,.....and she calms right down,,,, try it next time..... i do about a quarter pedal,, maybe less... just a little stab.....
yeah mine does that too...
so do both of mine
Here is a video (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvZykdIe2CI") my brother shot for me today. Did a little hole shot! Sorry about the shaky part at then end..
Awwww, i bet she had more in er!!!!!! Nice bird!!!
Yeah your probably right! It needs a 5 speed now:evilgrin:
hey guys i have a little question (by the way nice bird 50!!)
im getting a new exhaust soon and the guy is making it from stainless steel
and i really want that angle cut tailpies look just like the 5.0 mustangs
so i feel like i have 2 options having him weld jones exhaust tips that are 24 inches long
OR
having him extend the stainless steel tailpipe till the bumper at right lenght and then polish it off to a mirror finish look
thing is i dont know how to do it lol what do you guys think how easy or hard would it be to polish stainless steel to a mirror finish, also would it last? or will it discolor form carbon oxide or idk and the ultimate question how to polish it to a mirror finish
thanx guys i really apreciate all the camaradery in this forum
heres a little eye candy for you guys http://s637.photobucket.com/albums/uu96/1986elan/
ps since id rather not relocate the fuel filter i was given the advice to put hushpower lers the car will undergo a true dual system with h pipe and probably custom headers you guys think those ies would sound good? considering the car is a 3.8
SOUNDS AND PERFORMS AWESOME!!!!
I'm truly jealous of your car man.
1986 ELAN:
Go with a 5.0 before all that...I wouldn't waste the money on 3.8 exhaust. Save itfor 5.0. I removed the ler from mine and it sounds pretty decent. Drive it like that until you can get your 5.0. That's my plan.
yo Running wild what are the wheels your using on your bird ??? could we get a few pics
also anyone could answer a few of the questions ive asked up there?
Not trying to be a smartass here...but go to the proper area, start your own thread, and post an exhaust question. I'd say you might get more responses than posting it within another thread. If you ask me I'd agree with RunninWild...a 3.8 with loud exhaust can sound pretty awful. You have to choose your setup wisely or it could end up sounding like a tin can fart.
Thanks man!
dont even run dules on a 3.8
thats pretty much encouraging guys let me refresh yall memories im still poor student and cant afford a new engine plus the labour and all that plus id rather put a bigger engine later on in life when i do a full restoration to it
also i wouldnt try bein a smartass eighter 50 but i already started ou a thread but didnt get much answers
:moon:
dose not matter how much money u have. im doing a v8 swap on one of my cars and its not the much work to do. just time consoming. im going to have about 3grand when im done with it but thats paint and all.
Snapped another couple of pictures of the car after waxing it today. As you can see I need to get my back window re-tinted.
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1228.jpg)
(http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/50tbrd88/DSCF1227.jpg)
I would have took more but the little neighbor girl decided to practice hitting baseballs...towards my car. I made a hasty retreat to the garage! Neighbors are a PITA sometimes.
nice mines going to look close to that when im done lol
You defenately got a sweet looking ride!
thanks!
looks great...your paint doesn't look that bad at all for the mileage you have on it.
that's because it just got painted this January! :D
then I stand corrected. :)
Your car is the same exact color as mine...except I have a Red stripe as opposed to a white one. I got mine painted almost a year ago, in August of '08.
i think they look the best in that color
Mine's half that color ;)
Looks good:D. Just make sure that the neighbor girl's base balls, uh, dissapear if they land in your yard ;)