Check out this 86 Turbo Coupe I'm buying. It's super nice!

[cook96cbra]

I've talked to my friend on and off for about six years about selling me this car. He's finally ready to let it go. He bought it in 1990 and it's been kept in his garage. 63K miles!!!

I'M STOKED!

It's bone stock. I know money can make anything fast but what would y'all suggest for budget minded mods? I'm thinking an intercooler, down pipe, cat delete, exhaust, intake, tune. I think there's some kind of cam that can be had for reasonable cost. 4:10s????

[cook96cbra]

[JTurbo]

Nice car. You could easily add an Intercooler, raise the boost (manual BC), 3" DP.

[Fearnot]

Great looking Turbo Coupe! I wouldn't do a thing to it but enjoy it.

[cook96cbra]

Nice car. You could easily add an Intercooler, raise the boost (manual BC), 3" DP.

Sounds good! I have no idea how to do the manual BC but I'll look into it.

[cook96cbra]

Great looking Turbo Coupe! I wouldn't do a thing to it but enjoy it.

I'm going to for a while. Money is one reason why...

[5.0 bird]

Nice TC, congrats!

[cook96cbra]

Nice TC, congrats!

Thank you sir.

[Walking-Tall]

Sweet 'Bird, nice catch!

[cook96cbra]

Nice TC, congrats!

Thanks

[82GTforME]

Perserverence pays off!

I used to have an '86 TC years ago! It got totalled and I miss it! Mine had a body kit, spoiler and even a fancy T-Bird nose cone grill.

Enjoy the ride!

[cook96cbra]

Perserverence pays off!

I used to have an '86 TC years ago! It got totalled and I miss it! Mine had a body kit, spoiler and even a fancy T-Bird nose cone grill.

Enjoy the ride!

That's unfortunate.
Thanks, I think I will....

[84StangSVT]

Nice! I would love to find one that clean! I have always had a sweet spot for the Birds. Having owned more of them over the years than I have Mustangs, I dream of the day I can afford to get another one. Enjoy the hell out of that one!

[Matt J]

Awesome car, I think a lot better than that 6-cylinder one you were considering! If it's all stock and working great, my advice is to take the mods slowly, get to know the car the way it is for a while so you can notice the changes (both good and bad) when you make them. Sometimes changing something makes something else not work properly or outright fail; it's a lot easier to do it if you know that a problem that pops up is only because of a single change you made, not possibly something that was already there in the car that you hadn't had a chance to notice yet. Also, you might want to rethink deleting the cat, if it's there and working well, removing it probably won't impact your performance on this engine much if any. But it probably will make the exhaust stink to high heaven. Most guys are leaving cats on the cars now unless they have serious performance enhancements that need to breathe in order to work well. Even a lot of performance exhaust systems are coming with cats now, if that's any indication.

I remember my uncle had one of these when I was a kid, and it was a lot of fun to ride in. I remember watching the boost gauge and listening for the whistle of the turbo. It's still a unique car experience that recall all these years later.

[tbirdman]

Nice score on a great looking TC and in great shape. As far as mods go, with low mileage like that and in the shape it's in, "tasteful" is the word of the day. If it were mine, I would probably do the intercooler but would hedge at doing anything else. I would keep it as original as possible.

[PaceFever79]

Man that is one sweet Bird!

Count me in the no need to mod it camp. But if you must I'd keep it to minor easily reversible mods such as an intercooler, boost valve, etc. I would avoid any major mods such as tearing into a good clean exhaust system.

Nothing you do to it will make it actually be "fast" but it will compromise the originality. Collector value isn't my big concern, there is a personal satisfaction in driving, and maintaining the purity of a nice original car like the one you have.

It is the time capsule vibe. With each little mod that purity begins to slip away. The car becomes more modern. More tampered with. It has little to do with collector value for me, it is that purity that can be very satisfying! Try it first!

Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

It's a very nice example! (I'm jealous)

[PaceFever79]

Also, remember, little things like adding boost, also make the engine wear out faster. Which means a rebuilding, and one less thing that is original. Just getting at the slippery slope, you have a chance to avoid it!

[E2ZZGLX]

Nice looking bird...as for the mods I have to agree, keep them mild. Like a FMS front mount, ecm, and maybe some gears. Keeping it Factory stock appearing with some "Dealer Inatalled" accessories

[cook96cbra]

Y'all are very level headed and I'm thinking you're correct. Maybe just a few little things and then just enjoy it.

Thank you for all the great ideas and nice comments.

[magnum517]

Very awesome Turbo Coupe!! Congrats! And I am very jealous!! Keep the mods simple that will keep cost down and enjoyment level up!


Sent from Mos Eisley using Tapatalk

[Tigger]

I'm jealous as well. I had an 86.5 that was beat back in 1999. It was dark grey with blue interior. Interior was nice body was rough and engine and turbo were super tired. Turbo seals were leaking so it smoked real bad and the head gasket between cylinder 2-3 was blown so it ran rough. The T5 (which is what I wanted for my Pinto at the time) was nice and tight and so I bought the car for $200. I tell you what, even with a hurting engine, the car still hauled. I was real impressed.. I would take it out late at night and beat on it some more. Was real fun. I ended up keeping the entire drive train as well as the Marshalls and sold the shell for $350. Last year I found the Marchalls at my mom's house and sold them for $150. I forgot I had them. I still have the Drivetrain for my Pinto. I would like to find another one some day. Good luck to you.

[86GT2r]

Nice score
I side with the time capsule crowd, less modifications is my thought.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.

[cook96cbra]

Thanks y'all! I like reading / hearing your stories too.

I brought her home tonight, moved the wife's car out and put the Turbo Coupe in LOL

[PaceFever79]

The Chicken has landed!!!

[Haystack]

I have owned 12 86-88 tbirds and cougars.

First car was a 86 gs with 302 and digital dash about 200k miles, got towed and never received a notice or anything in the mail. It ran and drove and was registered. Almost 10 years later the tow truck yard tried to collect on it, i told them id pay the 10k they wanted if they produced the car, never called back.

Second car was a 86 ls with base dash and about 95k miles, gave to my dad, he junked it without ever driving it.

Third was a 87ls v-6 with about 180k miles, water pump went out while i was moving, gave it to a freind who parked it for 5 years then junked it.

forth was a 87 ls v-6 new motor and bad trans for $300. drove it till it ended up with four neutral gears and one reverse. Drove it to the junkyard backwards for $350.

Fifth was a 87lx with basic dash and blown 302 motor and trans (car didn't run when I bought it), swapped in a new motor got it running good and only had reverse and 1st gear. Put about 50 miles on it in 1st gear only.

Sixth was a 87lx with 180k miles and a burned up wiring from putting the battery in backwards that I bought for the auto trans to put in car number five. When I replaced the fuse able links, nothing was wrong with the rest so I pulled the motor on car five and kept driving car six. Wrecked the car, surprise butt secks with a caddilac, swapped the front end off car number 3 when my buddy junked it. Swapped the front end, pulled the radistor support out and drove it 250miles the next day. Ended up junked when my ex wife left me and i had no place to store it. This is the only car with a name, Thunder cat since it had a cougar front end with a thunderbird rear.

Car seven was a 87lx with 302 an about 180k miles with no od from the TV cable clip. My buddy bought it and was gonna do a h.o. upgrade and t-5 swap with insurance money from his Wrecked mustang, but gave up before he started. I bought it off him for $50 more then the junkyard would give him and eventually swapped in a 2001 t-5 and a bunch of other crap. Broke the bolts off the motor mounts and had the motor out to drill them out when my dad got evicted, where I stored the car when I was working on it. I pulled the t-5 and junked the car for $250.

Car eight is my current 86 gs cougar, former hertz car from Oregon. Pretty sure it's been rolled and Wrecked a few times, has a 84 front end, bumper is held on with only two bolts front and back, and a ton of bondo all over the car. The roof is 3/4" shorter on one side. It has 340k miles right now and I drive it every day doing pizza delivery.

Car nine is my 88xr7 I just bought and am just starting to work on. Has 180k miles and needs rear shocks and a master cylinder so that I can give it a good shake down run before I try to get it on the road.

Then I've had at least 3 more that I forget the exact years and time frame. One I bought for a set of new tires, it had a blown motor but new tires. I bought it for $100, swapped the tires and junked it for $300 the same day, done stuff like that a few times. When I was 16 I didn't know anything about cars. I would buy them for $400-500, drive them till something broke, junk them for $350-450 depending on scrap prices and buy another one. It really bugs me how clean some of the cars I junked were now. At the age of 29, I'm done junking cars. My current 86 will be cleaned up some and gutted, maybe a drag only or barely street legal car, really tempted to try salt flat racing as I'm only 80 miles from Bonneville. I also live in a non emissions County.

My current 88 will be fixed up as a nicer daily driver, might even fix the ac on this one.

Every car in my list was bought for $550 or less.