1984 Thunderbird

[5.0 bird]

Look what the big brown truck brought today for the Tbird, a set of LRS 16x7 TRX wheels! These are the Mustang style TRX, but they still look good on Tbirds, and 99% of people wouldn't know the difference lol. Now I just gotta get some tires put on them.

[mcb82gt]

Nice! It will look great.

[5.0 bird]

Not a whole lot has been happening with the Tbird besides driving it and enjoying it, but here's an update since June.


I wanted to finish the fuel system and utilize the return fuel line since it's not a good idea to dead-head an electric fuel pump. So last October I made a homemade brass low pressure regulator kind of like what Walking-Tall did. It uses a brass set screw with a small hole drilled in it as a pseudo jet to regulate fuel going into the return line. I was able to find all of the fittings pretty easily at the hardware store except the brass set screw. Those are difficult to find. I ended up having to special order some from Fastenal.

[5.0 bird]

I also got a new set of Ohtsu 225/55-16 tires for the TRX wheels, and they're on the car now.

[5.0 bird]

I also have everything rounded up to install 11" Mustang front brakes.















































I got these adapters for the brake lines, but I'm not sure they're the right ones yet.

[5.0 bird]

Also Front struts for a 94 Mustang GT











And finally a set of FMS 3.73 gears. The axle in the Tbird has 2.73s so this should make a big difference going to 3.73s.

[87gtVIC]

Oh nice. The wheels look really good on there. Are you doing the rear gears yourself?

[5.0 bird]

Oh nice. The wheels look really good on there. Are you doing the rear gears yourself?

Thanks! They're not correct for a Thunderbird, but I'm happy with how they look on there. I am having a shop I know install the gears. If I had a lift I would do the install, but there's no way my back could stand doing the swap on jackstands laying on concrete lol.

[mcb82gt]

Is the front lowered? Guessing the sn95 struts fit stock height ok?

[87gtVIC]

Thanks! They're not correct for a Thunderbird, but I'm happy with how they look on there. I am having a shop I know install the gears. If I had a lift I would do the install, but there's no way my back could stand doing the swap on jackstands laying on concrete lol.

I understand. Dad and I did mine back in December 2013...backyard cold concrete...snow around car. lol Gotta do what you gotta do.

[5.0 bird]

Is the front lowered? Guessing the sn95 struts fit stock height ok?

The front isn't lowered, and for Thunderbirds you wanna have SN-95 struts because the strut travel is similar between Thunderbirds and SN-95 Mustangs. 87-93 Mustang struts aren't long enough they top out on bumps. I got the SN-95 struts mainly to fit the narrower strut mount on the 87+ 5.0 Mustang spindles.

[Chuck W]

Is the front lowered? Guessing the sn95 struts fit stock height ok?

Yeah, lowered I use Fox Mustang parts, but if it's stock-ish height, I use SN-95 stuff.

I've used new take-off SN-95 struts before on lowered cars, because they were free. Not ideal, but you know...free.

[mcb82gt]

Yeah, lowered I use Fox Mustang parts, but if it's stock-ish height, I use SN-95 stuff.

I've used new take-off SN-95 struts before on lowered cars, because they were free. Not ideal, but you know...free.

Thanks guys. guess I need to find some sn95 bilsteins.