Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Eric: I don't think I'm the only thing keeping this place quiet. I do want to try to drum up some more activity. So how are all three of those Cougars doing?

Sometimes I miss tom renzo.

Sometimes I miss tom renzo.

I haven't been posting much here lately either, though I do still regularly check in.

I sold my white '88 T-Bird back in 2010 because I became bored with it - it was never really the car I wanted, I'd settled for it (I really wanted a 4-eye Bird or 87-88 Cat) and I could never make myself happy with it, so it went away. I've been casually looking for a decent 4-eye Bird, but hope of ever finding a good one for a good price at a good distance is fading.

So I bought myself another 5.0 Ford, a 2015 Mustang GT. It cost a lot more than a Fox T-Bird, but man, what a car! 30-ish years of automotive evolution have definitely made a difference. Needless to say this car keeps me entertained. I will eventually get stupid with it and start modding, but right now I'm perfectly content with stock. Hell, I've only put 14,000 km on it (not quite 10,000 miles) in two summers.

On the personal front, I sold my house in the country and bought one in the suburban town that I grew up in. I loved the country place but the 70 mile commute over really py back roads was killing me. I have gone through a few jobs: I left the job at the used car place because there were rumours the owner was planning on selling the place. One Friday eveing my service manager called me and said he'd confirmed the rumour and that I should get my tools out of there ASAP. The following morning I went there with my truck and trailer and picked up my tool box. Two days later, on Monday morning, the signs on the building were taken down and replaced and a guy well known for being a hack was the new owner. Crisis averted.

I moved the tool box to a Honda dealership, where I worked and made a hell of a lot of money flat rating Hondas. I was happy there - the cars were easy to work on and the pay was good, but the owners of the place ceded control to a general manager who went to war with the service department - cutting flat rate times, expecting us to work weekends, etc. Things steadily deteriorated until I finally lost it at the general manager after I replaced an engine in a Civic that one of his drinking buddies had left the oil drain plug loose in, and he went into the computer system and changed my tech notes so he could put the engine through warranty. I ended up rage quitting, and went to a small independent shop working on European cars, where I'm still at. It's a bit less money but a lot less stress, plus it's only 4 miles from home (which explains the low mileage on the Mustang).

I was gifted a piece of property from a friend of the family, and this has become a big part of the Big Plan. Some of you saw it on Facebook: I got engaged to my partner of 17 years. We will be getting married in July 2017. It was a long time coming. We are planning on building a year-round cottage on the property. We had hoped to start construction this year but my partner was accepted into nursing school starting next September so we pushed the construction back a bit. Our plan is to build the cottage as cheaply as possible and to borrow no money to do it. I've been gathering materials: windows, wood, etc, and have been working the property to get everything ready. It will be 20X30, built on a concrete slab, with a barn style roof to give us an upstairs. I plan on doing all the work myself, everything from forming and pouring the slab to building the trusses. I'm hoping to have it roof tight by the end of next summer. The grand plan is to have this building finished and use it as a cottage for a decade or so, then sell the house I'm living in now, which will be paid off and hopefully worth a half million or so. We will then retire to the cottage and live the simple country life, debt free.

Like I said, I don't own a FoxBirdCat anymore, but I do still come around and check out the forums. Good to see some old names coming back...

Sometimes I miss tom renzo.

I wonder what the landscape will look like on the showfields in 10-20 years.

Sounds like you've come a long way man. Last I remember, you had gotten yourself back into shape, alleviated some back issues and started wrenching again. That in itself was a big step.

One things I've learned as I've gotten older, is that the money doesn't always matter. Working and living in an environment that is healthy for you is worth more than any dollar amount. The money can relieve some stress, but sometimes it's not worth the stress. I'm glad to see you're in a shop that is low stress. I've been around long enough to see that most shops where you make big money typically brings a ton of BS with it.

Congrats on the engagement. I've known you a long time, but I don't really recall you saying much about having anybody in your life. You're  good at the smoke and mirrors. The cottage also sounds awesome. I would love to do something similar, but the way the east coast is, there won't be much land to build anything on by the time I can retire. So if you sell your house for half a million, will that be about 7 dollars USD?

For me probably dark, likely be looking at dirt side of turf...

That makes one of us, he was a shiznit from word go...

Sometimes I miss tom renzo.

You certainly have time, as stated no indicators of these cars skyrocketing in value anytime soon LOL.

I'd like to know why I come across so many more modified Cougars than TBirds. I've *seen* three black 88 XR7's in the Northeast we'll say in the last 3-4 years. Two of which I bought.
There is a black GT40'd T5'd 4-eye Tbird on the southern NY state craigslist. I was impressed by that. I wonder what the landscape will look like on the showfields in 10-20 years.

For me probably dark, likely be looking at dirt side of turf...

I never really talked about my partner because I was never one to broadcast my personal life (In case you missed it, my partner is a dude - I'm one of those dudes that are into dudes). I never actively hid it, but never advertised it either. People close to me, including family and coworkers knew, but I never went out of my way to tell others because I just didn't think it was important. The shootings in Orlando earlier this year changed that, and for some reason I felt it was important to "come out". A lot of it was defiance - My marrying my partner is kind of a big middle finger to whack-jobs such as the Orlando shooter, but it was also to demonstrate love in a world that desperately needed more of it. I seems silly to write that now, but that was my frame of mind back then.

You are so right about how high stress isn't necessarily worth higher money. Working at a flat rate shop was super high stress - even though I was one of the top producing techs in the shop I still always wanted more (couldn't help myself) and absolutely dreaded getting the big warranty jobs because I knew they paid horribly (for example, replacing the piston rings in a V6 Accord pays around 6.5 hours!). I would stress out bigtime over things like that, even though I'd still end up with 125+ hours in a two week period. Where I'm at now I don't mind the big jobs at all, in fact I rather enjoy tearing into a BMW engine, or setting up the carbs in an old Volvo, or chasing an electrical problem in an old Alfa Romeo. It's much more interesting than maintenance and brake jobs - the gravy jobs at dealerships that pay well but are repetitive and boring.

If the Canada-US exchange rate stays the same, that $500k would be worth about $600K US. Unfortunately the buying power of that money will likely have greatly diminished by then, but I think we'll be OK living debt free with our retirement savings...

The only real thing you missed was me joining and building some cool !  lol

As for me and what I've done/been doing since 2008....3 kids, married (since 2010)  Mustangs..'84, '87, still live on my grandparent's farmstead that I inherited....just trying to keep on keepin' on. Lost a couple of really close friends not so long ago, other than that, life is good, no complaints.

Missed you Shawn ;). I'm still an asshole, lol!

Holy shiznitballs, what is this a class reunion?  I'll add my 2 cents a little while later this morning once I get home.

Since 2008? Well:

2008: Graduated undergrad, bought house.
2011: Started masters degree, bought brand new 2011 Focus.
2012: Finished masters degree, bought brand new 2012 Mustang.
2014: Got married.
2015: Started house renovations.
2016: Finished house renovations, got promotion to director of my own building, bought brand new 2017 Accord EX-L V6

Oh and I still have the same Thunderbird I've had since 2002......

It takes a lot of courage to come out. I've had a handful of friends that came out, only to receive a lot of hate from friends and family. On the other hand, the friends that stuck by have been lifetime friends at this point. It does show who your true friends and family are.

Man, sounds like your pull-out game was weak! It seems like a lot of us are getting to that age where friends start dropping off. It's almost surreal when it first starts happening. Glad life is good for you brother.

This is the longest I've had a job and probably the 'best' job I've had.
.

Cole is the oldest, Nicole and I met January of 2008, we'd both been through some shiznit and bad partners/spouses, so we really hit it off fast. At that point, I was sure I couldn't father a child, but, well, fate said that was a lie LOL, and Cole was born November of '08. When he was still only a few months old, we decided that we'd have another....since Cole was such a great baby. Annika was born February 2010, and to date, the only planned brat.

In January 2014, Nicole and I made a trip to West by-god Virginia to help her sister and her then-boyfriend. We also met Scott and his wife and one of their boys....the first night we were there though, Nicole got horribly sick at Ruby Tuesday.
It ended up screwing up her system a bit, and 9 months later here comes Liam.

She says if she gets preggers one more time she's gonna cut my rod off and shoot me with my rifle LOL.

(I think she's more than half serious....all the knives AND the guns are locked up now...) LOL.....

Nah, I truly have no complaints...all my old friends are all drunks, drug addicts, or are dead. My co workers are probably the closest thing to good friends, and that's not a bad thing as I don't make friends easily. But enough about me...I've said far too much already.

Hah!  I did forget to check back in.  I think the last thing I really posted was that I was getting married, we got married, we went to the last CJ after that and I think that's where it left off. 

My T-bird still sits in the garage at my mom's house, new suspension bits all under it but badly in need of paint, etc.  I'll get to it someday.  I still have all the EFI parts I bought from vinnietbird!  Otherwise on the car front I put about 200K miles on the '05 Neon I bought new, changed the timing belt at 180k and overheated it to death at 202k.  The car did well considering I never took shiznit for care of it.  Ironically it died on the way home from my in-laws in NC where I picked up a nice '04 Mercury Mountaineer as we needed a bigger family car and AWD/4WD.  After we got home I scoured CL around where my in-laws live (rust-free, baby!) and found a sweet yellow '01 Ford Focus.  Sent my FIL to go look at it, he said it was good and picked it up for me.  Got it home last July and I've been loving being back in Fords since then.

I worked at a body shop for about a year, then got fired because someone else was screwing around in a customer's car.  Ended up unemployed for about a year and a half and then got the job I have now.  Working at a circuit board manufacturer whose primary customers are defense and aerospace contractors, etc.  Started out as an operators, then after 3 years I got promoted to 2nd shift supervisor and about a year and a half ago I made the switch to 3rd shift.  It was a change for the better but life is a little harder now.  This is the longest I've had a job and probably the 'best' job I've had.  I wasn't even going to apply because the 'requirements' were way beyond my experience.  But, my wife, like she tends to do, pushed me to do it anyway and I'm so glad she did. 

In between that time, my wife and I had our son (Sept 2013), his name is Fox and he just turned 3 at the end of September.  It was pretty unexpected, my wife and I were together for about 5 years and it had never happened.  Granted, we never really tried to have children but we never took preventative measures either.  You can imagine the surprise when my wife told me.  Now we're expecting a 2nd and my wife is due in February '17.  This one will be a girl, so I guess you could say I'm going to up the difficulty on this one... or so I'm told.

It's good to read about everyone else and see what folks have been up to.  I'm glad a lot of the 'old gang' is still here.

times they are about  to get much better for you and the heartland of the USA.

I do remember you and your wife coming through CJ. It's amazing how this is jogging so many memories. I also remember your Neon, and you being pissed at the adaptive ECM when you put the intake on it. Also remember the burnout you did when you left CJ. Didn't you put the old school Pizza wheels on that thing?

You still happen to have the old 600 sitting in the garage? I know it's been forever since I was out there, but I do remember that 600 and remember wanting it back then.

Three year gap between undergrad and your masters? You beat the statistics there. Most people who take a break end up never going back. What did you get your degree in?

times they are about  to get much better for you and the heartland of the USA.

Got bit by 135 lb Rottweiler at work and was forced to put it down.  My hand still cramps in about 2 minutes when writing

I dont often post personal stuff here, maybe I should actually say whats been going on with me. Might shed a bit of light on my moods and things for the past few years.

How often does that happen? They are animals, after all and I've always wondered what the odds are that one could become "renegade".

AI can look back at some my posts here from those times and let me tell you I put on a good public face despite how shaged up I was then.

.

Suppose it's my turn already...I'm a little older, the facial hair is a little more grey, but I'm still hairy as ever! LOL

Let's see...in the past 8 years:

- Still have the '84 and the '86, no major updates to either of them
- Paid off the house
- New daily driver (Lincoln MKX)
- Same job
- Still with Woman™

I guess 'steady as she goes' for me. Sorry so boring!

Unfortunately I am at the point in my life where I'm gonna see some more of the closest people to me start to pass on. It's inevitable but still a harsh reality. So I'm focused more on spending time with everyone now, and also getting my own affairs more in order. Most things were taken care of a little over a year ago before I had heart surgery, but there are still a few things to button up. Once that happens...I'm ready to go whenever I'm called. Anything I got past last fall are bonus years in my book. So...I find most of my "spare" time taken up by other things and people, not so much car-related anymore.

The house has been getting slow but steady updates over the years (shingles, porch awning replaced with a wood roof, garage reorganization, basp00get finishing/walls, cement patio in back). I'm down to just the furnace and a/c unit, as far as major expenses yet to arise, but I'm ready for them if something happens. Right now I'm working on the shelves in the basp00get for storage, closet storage, new carpet for the basp00get steps, and new bookshelves to finally organize all my books. Hoping to get a basp00get drop ceiling in there also. Then next year, probably a storage shed and closing in the back porch. It's always something but I love my little house, it's a peaceful place and it makes me happy. And did I mention it's paid for? ;)

I'm enjoying everyone's candid answers, it's really great to see everyone's lives coming together. Glad you're all still here!

Masters in library and information science. I waited a couple years before going back to save some $$$. Plus I was a bit tired of school. My employer helped to defer some of the cost of the degree, which helped my decision to go back. 

Ok....
I'll sum up 8 years....

Had my second daughter.  My brother, who lives about 70 miles away, has never seen her.  Im not sure he know she exists....what can I say, I tried to keep the communication going, but...

Bought a Dodge Nitro R/T.

Wife went back to work for NYC BOE.

Her 2000 Cougar bit the dust.

Bought a 2012 Focus to replace it.

Got bit by 135 lb Rottweiler at work and was forced to put it down.  My hand still cramps in about 2 minutes when writing.

Sent the wife and kids to Hawaii and couldn't go due to not being able to get off from work for it. 

Did a shiznit ton of work to the Cougar and Mustang, almost all of which is documented here.

Turned 40. 

Quit smoking.  I think this time for good.  Had a 3 year stint once before.  This one feels more promising though.  Been 4 months.

Nice to hear that everyone its still doing fairly well. This is still the only forum i came back every now an then. It looks like some of those old school meetings.

Never read an entire post from that Renzo guy, only knew it was a PITA.  It was  like our old friend 351Bird (Ben) or something ?

I dont often post personal stuff here, maybe I should actually say whats been going on with me. Might shed a bit of light on my moods and things for the past few years.

Me and the wife split hust before my second son was born. Been just over five years now. My ex had an obsession with shoppping and dug herself about $20k in credit card debt without my knowledge. I got sent 2500 miles from home for work in Pittsburgh and came home to an empty house with an eviction notice on the door.

I haven't spoken to my ex since then. She told her parent's I beat her up and ran up all the credit cards while I was gone, the re mortgaged their house to pay them off and helped her to file  protective order against me. I am not a violent person and actually came from an abusive home. My mother abused prescription drugs, went crazy and left when I was 14 years old. I feel very strongly about violence and have never hurt anyone because of it.

Long story short, my ex wouldnt let me see my kids at all after she left, and I spent 3 years dealing with all the court stuff. Hired a lawyer which cost me $7k and finally settled outside of court for state minimums.

I was in a very, very dark place for about two years. While I was doing construction, I was a forman in charge of as many as 50 people and was always working after my ex left. I dug myself into work and just shut down emotionally while I couldnt see my kids. I kept getting migraines that would last for days straight. I got really sick and lost a ton of weight. I am 6'5, I went from 240lbs down to 157lbs during that time.

Once my divorce got finallized and I was able to see my kids again, I started to get much better and I am in a much better place now. I moved back in with my dad and things started to look up. Ive given up on construction at least for now, and am just trying to enjoy life with my kids whenever I can. Right now I am working part time delivering pizza because it's easy money and one of the few jobs I can easily work now that we live about 50 miles from any major cities. Financially I  crippled due to a low income after years of making okay money. When I settled outside of court I got saddled with a ton of bills and past due child support putting me somewhere around $16k in debt which Ive slowly paid down to about $12k.

I will catch up on it, and I am probably going to go to college and just take some general classes once I am all caught up. I finally got my ged in november 2014 after my oldest started asking me about my school grades and I had to tell him that I dropped out of school and never finished.

Next month I start a new local job for okay money working 3 12hr days a week. The plan is to keep dominos part time and use the entire income of my second job to pay everything off.

Overall, this forum has helped me get through a ton of things. I feel more like this place is family. Even though ive never met anyone from the forum, ive spent a ton of time here since I was 16 and got my first cougar. I turn 30 next year and am looking forwards to a new and better life.

Anyway, I didn't mean this to come off as a pity me post, believe me, I've had enough pity and I ain't wanting more. Just be glad I made it through. Life is good. Go live it.

Never read an entire post from that Renzo guy, ?

It really is a harsh reality. It's really sobering. We spend so much time wrapped up in the grind that it takes something drastic to make you step back and see what really is important.

Are you still in the same house as before? The one with the hair dye stained leather couch?

That sounds like a degree where you didn't want to make any money ;) What kind of work do you do?

LOL Yeah, same place. The dye came out with no issues. ;)

Well it's not a degree I recommend getting unless you have some sort of job/career path lined up, like I did. Currently I manage a public library building and supervise 10 people. Let's just say it's civil service and pays well enough ;).

That's actually really fortunate. I have a handful of friends with liberal arts degrees and have absolutely no career options.

I was the THIRD person he bit within a month.....  The one before me was an elderly woman whom he put in the hospital for weeks..... It wasn't my first rodeo with him.

To find out how often it happens you could always contact your local SPCA.  Most munilities require them to be notified in such instances.

Boo! 
As we get older and the pay increases we can afford the dream cars and move on from the foxes that only filled the void.

Boo! 

To summarize my last 8 years, the girl you met when we last saw each other I married.  Gumby was there ;)  We now have two kids, a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 month old.  Bought a house, do some farming when we have time. Life has been good.

I still have my 88, I have tried to sell it a couple of times.  The buyer either fell through or people had little interest.  It has sat for years getting started every couple months suffering from a low fuel pressure issue.  I actually dropped the tank and fixed it this week, it rekindled an interest in the car now that it runs great again.  I even washed it!  That's why I'm here and how I even saw your thread.

I notice its a bit different around here, I think people have moved on to different projects. I personally have gone down the diesel truck route but mostly due to needing them on the farm.  As we get older and the pay increases we can afford the dream cars and move on from the foxes that only filled the void. My money gets spent on farm equipment though :hick:

I'm still here, but don't post a whole lot. Life is good, but busy.

Still have the '83 and have plans to get some work done on it (Been hard to get too motivated to get too deep into stuff, as I don't like leaving things apart sitting outside). Got married (again) back in March and we are closing on another house in a week. More room for the car projects and finally a spot to get the TBird back into an indoor home.

I don't know. I've had the same Fox for 14 years, even with pay increases. I have no plans to get rid of it any time soon ;)

Pssshhh.  Only 14 years, Lou?

New year's day will be the Nineteenth anniversary of me owning mine.

Man, I didn't know you were married before. Shows how well I paid attention.

I'm looking for a clean, damage free 5.0 'Bird...gotta be an '87 or '88, though I wouldn't entirely rule out an '85 or 86, either.

It's time to get back into a FoxBird. The Mustang is a fun thing, but it's missing something....style.

i am totally still into these cars, birds & cougs.  I guess im an odd ball.  I cannot imagine what the eventual day looks like when i can no longer drive one.  I feel just as ambitious and energetic about the preservation aspect as well.    I was 15 playing basketball in my driveway when i was finally united with the commercials i saw about that car the cougar........ as it drove by i saw the full side profile and at that moment i decided i will have one.  No one could buy me a car or get me a college education as we were a family of very humble means.  I come home from bootcamp and my father and i go out and at the first stop, the first car lot, there was the 84 coug with a v6.  3200$ cash and i drove home in it,, and down to avionics A school in memphis tn.

anyone who knows me knows i seem to wear the same car.  i have had 4, my first 84 total loss at the intersection where circuit city once operated in va beach.  The second 84 my rental apt tree fell on it.. then i re-enlisted and cashed in my leave days and bought my white 87... its being restored now for my youngest son although i am dealing some lonely time by myself nearly every available day... SON where art thou!,, this hurts me and i hope he snaps out of it.  skype and IoT seem to be more interesting for him yet he's my passion as well, my son and i am working hard to preseve and old machine he can be proud to own.  I love these old cars and for the sake of conversation, thier simplicity and ease to remediate and fix with a modern solution if needed when no part is available.  I worry about the tone lately around here and one day i had  a bad feeling that our community of this board will yeild and error 404 when i jump on to find information....  I have this feeling everyday now since i have started paying close attention.  to anyone with that feeling of moving on, keep one of your fox cars, its a part of who you are, these cars have personalities and wishes just like you to survive, be noticed and be liked.  If they could only for a brief moment be gifted with the opportunity to speak words, they would all tell us they also do not want to die.

whats up Shawn? good to see you back! A lot has changed in the last few years. I got married and bought a house, I'm up in westminster now. mostly finished with the sport (you know they're never really done).  Can't remember if I was still working on cars last time we talked but I've been doing commercial HVAC for a few years now. I still swing by here every once in a while. Good to hear that things are alright with you. You still in MD?