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Thread: 83 TC rescue

  1. #1

    Default 83 TC rescue

    Soooo.... Before I can jump into my own next project which is the Pun Intended 85 XR7 Cougar for my old lady I need to fulfill my obligations to finish this car for my buddy and breath some new life into it.


    My buddy picked up this 83 TC from down south and had it shipped to him up in Canada as a roller. Some may remember this car being for sale here and the story that made some people unhappy. Kid took a beautiful all original TC and stripped it of its motor and harness for a dune buggy project then just pushed the rest of the car out in his yard. My buddy scored the car for pennies and threw together a mess of parts for it. Now its up to me to bring it back to life!







    As it sits it has a motor I built last year for another project that fell through {the 85 Cougar}. Shortblock came out of my low 11sec Ranger,Rods Header,PT5558,Steve Scholdes ported head and intakes. Its bolted to the original T5 and it has a fully built 8.8 now.

    My job is to wire in Stingers new PNP MS ecm and harness, plumb and bolt top end of motor together,build the exhaust, move the battery,install NOS kit,Dial in front suspension and finish up all the little bits to get it track ready in the next 30 days or so.

    Stay tuned!
    Brian R. of Michigan
    83 TBird 5.0
    88 Ranger 2.3t
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...83-Tbird-build

  2. #2

    Default

    You sure make these builds look easy. I really enjoy the mechanical side to your threads. I'm looking forward to what you do here.

  3. #3

    Default

    Thank you, I really enjoy doing this stuff for some reason.

    I wish I had taken more pix but just a month ago I finished another project for a local young man (19). I took his 95 Ranger and swapped in a built 2.3t,t5,Ron Francis harness and Pimp. Truck was a rusty turd that he wanted a sleeper and boy did we nail that!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixTLaofM4RE&t=22s
    I built the whole truck from front mount to tailpipe in about 2 months.
    Brian R. of Michigan
    83 TBird 5.0
    88 Ranger 2.3t
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...83-Tbird-build

  4. #4

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    Well here an update. Been jumping back and forth from this car to getting mine ready for first trip to the track.

    I got all the top end bolted together, charge pipes finished,exhaust on, the harness is all in except for 3 wires left to hook up. I installed the MSD, breather tank,moved the horns,mounted an overflow,wired the starter and charging system. I dropped the gas tank to install the battery box and bottle brackets in trunk and found that somebody had cut the plastic fuel lines off the tank at some point and just hose clamped rubber hose to fix it. The rubber hose had turned to a black gummy mess so I need to fix/replace the fuel lines next.






    Brian R. of Michigan
    83 TBird 5.0
    88 Ranger 2.3t
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...83-Tbird-build

  5. #5

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    Wow my last update was end of April?! Dam time got away from me. Have had alot going on around here between my own car , work and this thing fighting me every step of the way.

    With all that said I actually did the first test drive lastnite! Im taking it in for a front end alignment Monday morn and then just waiting for buddy to bring me plates and insurance so I can start street tuning it.

    Had to figure out a bunch of issues with fuel system and I had the tank in and out 3 times in the past week. The new intank pump didnt work cuz it was stuck or something. Used a battery charger to test it and it took a 30a boost before it broke free and started working normal. The last owner cut the plastic fuel lines off at the sending unit and when me and buddy repaired them with new ends we got the feed and return backwards....when car wouldnt build fuel pressure I discovered this when I see no fuel was being pushed to the frame pump but I could hear it running in the tank. Fixed the lines and had fuel being fed to frame pump. It still wouldnt start. Went back under car and thats when I noticed the Walbro 255 was installed backwards by the last owner. OK unhooked it and flipped it around and still no start....Pump sounded weak so I decided to swap it out with another 255 I had and thats when I found it was also WIRED backwards. Installed new pump and it finally had fuel pressure!
    That victory was short lived because thats when I found #1 injector hosing the motor down with fuel. Some how the first injector cup on the rail wasnt lined up with the intake bung and cocked the injector enough that the oring didnt seal.

    I had to pull the rail and heat it up to tweak that cup and fixed the misalignment.



    Once this was fixed she was ready to go.

    I hit the key and she fired up for the first time.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aHxjw57lAg

    I got the car warmed up, leak checked, adjusted electric fan settings,set fuel pressure and started playing with fuel and timing maps. I shut car down to go cool off and have lunch while my buddy was on his way from Canada to come see his car run for the first time. Once he got here the can wouldnt start again. Fuel pumps would prime but wouldnt turn back on after cranking the car over...

    I spent the last three days pulling my hair out trying to figure out what happened. The dam thing fired right up and ran for 20mins that first time then never again and I was stumped. After talking with numerous people and checking 100 things I finally found that the 12v keyed power source I used from the chassis harness to the Ron Francis engine harness would show 12v with key on but after car was cranked it dropped to 8-7v and stayed there. Not sure why or what this wire is {in the 6 pin grey plug near brake booster} but once I swapped that wire to a different 12v keyed source the car fired right up and moved under its own power for the first time since my buddy bought it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxOlhu8rQDY&t=10s
    Brian R. of Michigan
    83 TBird 5.0
    88 Ranger 2.3t
    http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...83-Tbird-build

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