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  1. #76

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    Wheels pics are here!


    After I sold the TRX wheels I used that money to buy a new set of 245/45-17 Falken Ziex ze950 a/s tires





    Then I got covid from my girlfriend, and it turned into covid pneumonia. I stayed out of the hospital thanks to virtual doctor visits where I got antibiotics and steroids. I was out of work for 3 weeks.


    Yesterday I was able to get the tires put on the mesh wheels, and get them mounted on the car.




















    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  2. #77

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    I've had decent luck with those tires.

    The wheels look sharp on the car.
    83 TC "Clone"
    85 Marquis LTS
    86 LTD Wagon

  3. #78

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    Well, the bearing in the 60 amp 1g alternator gave out after 41 years. (Yes, it's older than the Thunderbird) I'd like to see an alternator made in China nowadays last that long! It was also having trouble keeping up with the electrical load from the a/c and headlights especially in traffic. I may be upgrading to electric fans soon too so I decided to upgrade to a 3g 130 amp alternator. I got the kit from Latemodel Restoration Supply with the alternator bracket. You can grind the factory bracket to fit the 130 amp alternator, but for the little extra it costs I'd rather just bolt on a bracket that's made for the 130 amp alternator. The install went smoothly except the alternator bracket doesn't have a threaded hole for the tensioner bolt, and the kit doesn't come with a nut so you need to provide your own nut to attach the belt tensioner. The alternator upgrade made a big difference. It handles the car's electrical loads like it's nothing staying above 13.5 volts at idle in drive with the brakes on and a/c and headlights on high beam. It's no wonder I see so many Mustangs and Thunderbirds with 3g alternator upgrades.














    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  4. #79
    FEP Member Hans's Avatar
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    Bit late but thanks for the review of the lmr kit. Was looking for that.


    Verstuurd vanaf mijn CPH2219 met Tapatalk

  5. #80

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    Any updates on this Tbird? Car came together really nice.

  6. #81

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    Quote Originally Posted by ISTLCRUZ View Post
    Any updates on this Tbird? Car came together really nice.
    Thanks! Not much has been happening with the Thunderbird, but here's a small update.


    I removed the body mouldings between the wheels because they were peeling up and warped. I also painted the lower body satin black. The speedometer was so worn it was basically useless so I started searching for a good one. The only speedometer I could find was on ebay in Canada. It was a good price too so it arrived 3 weeks later, and now the Thunderbird has a kilometer speedometer. It works good, I just have to read the inside numbers for mph. It does have one advantage, in that it goes to 110 mph instead of only 85.











    What's next for the Thunderbird.


    The rear main seal and transmission tailshaft seal are leaking so those need to be replaced.


    I also wanna put in a 3 row aluminum radiator

    A good set of shorty headers


    87-88 TC front struts and strut mounts or caster camber plates so I can replace the strut mounts I had to modify for the Mustang struts.


    I also wanna put a cam in the motor at some point.
    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  7. #82
    FEP Power Member 87gtVIC's Avatar
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    She is a looker. Love it. I like the decision to paint the lower half of the car.

  8. #83

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    Update time! Been busy with work and everything ya'll know how it is. But I did get some work done on the car since last year.


    Starting with GTS headlight covers. I'm surprised they still make these, but I'm glad they do.














    Danco console decal.

















    I didn't use this timing set because the chain was too long. I got one from SA gear that fit correctly.



    Factory V8 front springs






    front strut mounts



    New brake and parking brake pedal pads



    New fuel pressure gauge



    Dorman compression fittings for nylon fuel line. I used them to clean up the fuel lines underhood.









    Ball joints. 2 for the Thunderbird and 2 for the Mustang.
    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  9. #84

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    This is the install of the v8 front springs, KYB 87-88 Turbo Coupe struts, strut mounts, and ball joints. The passenger spring was broken in 3 pieces. I couldn't even tell it was broken until I went to remove it from the control arm. You can use a standard spring compressor, but everything has to be in the correct spot and lined up just right or it won't work. It took a lot of trial and error, and oiling the spring compressor, and batteries for the impact.
































    The new front springs and struts raised the front a lot so I bought new rear springs. They raised the back up some, but the front still sat higher than the back so I added some spring locks to the rear. We live on a bad road so I don't mind the car sitting up high.








    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  10. #85

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    E303 cam install. I used Anderson Motorsports cam install tools. They work great you just have to be careful. Double check everything to make sure they have a good hold on the lifters before you swap out the cam. If you drop a lifter it's gonna be a bad day LOL.

















    You can see the a/c condenser hanging from the hood in this pic.















    Back together









    The last item for this update. Like I said, we live on a bad road so I wanted to get some mud flaps on the car.


    You can spend big $ on some nos factory Ford mud flaps, but why when your girlfriend has a Silhouette machine?


    $12 a pair on Amazon






    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  11. #86

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    Here's some new pics of the car from yesterday at my Dad's on July 4th.






































    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  12. #87
    FEP Power Member 87gtVIC's Avatar
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    Looking awesome. Is that silhouette machine a vinyl cutter or something? Came out awesome.

  13. #88
    FEP Power Member mcb82gt's Avatar
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    A lot of work. Nice job! It looks good. What size tires? sidewall 50 series? They look thinner. Maybe its just the new ride height.
    Mike

    Now stang-less.

    88 Cougar 5.0

  14. #89
    FEP Senior Member OX1's Avatar
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    Looks great!!! 84-86 Birds are my second favorite fox.
    86 Capri, 5.0, 5Spd, A9L QH/BE, 47 lb Inj PMAS 3" MAF, Single T44 Turbo, Front Mount IC, TW170,
    Stock Cam, Explr Intake/TB, 1.7 Rockers, CF dual friction clutch, 3" DP, 2.5" full Exh, 3.27, 11.932 @ 115.78
    84 LTD, 331-10:1, TW170/Exprl Intake, 47 lbs inj/80 mm LMAF, Full Duals, Quarterhorse, Vortech 7PSI, Lentech AOD, 5 lug Mk VII brakes/rear, Eibach Sway bars, Cobra HB (dads ride, but I fix it )

  15. #90
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    Looking good! Had any luck in finding dew wipes for these cars?
    '86 GT - weekend driver
    '86 Capri 5.0
    '86 Turbo Coupe
    '17 Mustang GT
    '23 BRONCO

  16. #91

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    Quote Originally Posted by 87gtVIC View Post
    Looking awesome. Is that silhouette machine a vinyl cutter or something? Came out awesome.
    Thank you sir! Yes, the silhouette is a vinyl cutter she's a wizard with that stuff.

    Quote Originally Posted by mcb82gt View Post
    A lot of work. Nice job! It looks good. What size tires? sidewall 50 series? They look thinner. Maybe its just the new ride height.
    Thank you sir! The tires are 245/45-17s. It's definitely the ride height.

    Quote Originally Posted by OX1 View Post
    Looks great!!! 84-86 Birds are my second favorite fox.
    Thank you sir! They're one of my favorites, but availability of Thunderbird specific parts is almost non existent. So basically like every non Mustang fox.

    Quote Originally Posted by ZEN50 View Post
    Looking good! Had any luck in finding dew wipes for these cars?
    Thanks! I'm ordering some now. Apparently Fairchild makes some universal dew wipes that will work on a Thunderbird.
    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  17. #92
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    Fairchild? Have not heard of them, do you have a link?

    I do have one extra passenger NOS dew wipe attached to the chrome trim piece.
    '86 GT - weekend driver
    '86 Capri 5.0
    '86 Turbo Coupe
    '17 Mustang GT
    '23 BRONCO

  18. #93

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    Quote Originally Posted by ZEN50 View Post
    Fairchild? Have not heard of them, do you have a link?
    Here's a link to the company, but I'm pretty sure they don't sell to the public....you need to buy them through a retailer. Some house brand parts are Fairchild brand.

    https://fairchildindustries.com/automotive/
    1985 Mustang GT (Mothballed...Desired restomod parts acquired...Top of my project list for my 2024 retirement!)

  19. #94

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    Quote Originally Posted by ZEN50 View Post
    Fairchild? Have not heard of them, do you have a link?

    I do have one extra passenger NOS dew wipe attached to the chrome trim piece.
    These are the dew wipes I bought. They're a trim to fit. I'm still waiting for them to arrive, but I'll update when they do. They're reported to fit 1983-86 Tbird and Cougar. They don't fit 87-88.

    https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...415263&jsn=518
    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  20. #95

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    Knocked out a couple small projects while I'm on vacation this week.


    First I dealt with a power steering issue. The power steering worked fine when it was cold, but when it warmed up it would groan and hang up when turning the wheel. It would also shoot fluid out of the cap sometimes. So I bought a power steering cooler and installed it. I also replaced the power steering pump under lifetime warranty from 2018. That seems to have resolved the power steering issues.














    New dew wipes!


    I used the universal dew wipes from Fairchild part no: 1369-4x2. They're not bad for the price. I think they were $27 plus $20 for shipping from Rockauto. They're not perfect, but definitely a lot better than cracked and crumbling 40 year old dew wipes.























    Here's the new dew wipe next to the old one. I was unable to reuse the clips from the old dew wipe. The clips are stapled into the dew wipe, and wouldn't come off without destroying them. The door mirror, the stud at the back of the dew wipe, and the B pillar trim is still holding the dew wipe in place so I'm not worried about the clips.









    Here's the dew wipe riveted onto the trim. I didn't have to make any relief cuts since it's a lot shorter than the factory dew wipe, and I'm not using any trim clips.















    Matt
    1984 Thunderbird -- 1989 302 HO, GT40 heads w/ Trick Flow springs, E303 cam, Edelbrock Performer 289 intake, Edelbrock 600 4bbl, 85 Mustang dizzy, Jegs o/r h pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Mustang AOD & shifter, Mustang 8.8 w/ 3.73s, Mustang front & rear sway bars, KYB 87-88 TC struts & shocks, and Mustang 11" front brakes.

    1988 Mustang GT hatch -- Explorer intake, GT40 heads with Trick Flow spring kit, Crane 1.7 rrs, E303 cam, 70mm MAF, 70mm throttle body, o/r H pipe, Dynomax mufflers, Kirban Kwik shifter w/ Pro 5.0 Deluxe handle, clutch quadrant & firewall adjuster, and 3.27s
    (86 Mercury Cougar 5.0, 89 Lincoln Mark VII LSC 5 speed, 80 Mercury Zephyr 4 door) sold

  21. #96

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    I think I'd rather have the wipe full length, personally. Good job at making those work, though.

    When I did the dew wipes on the LTS, I wound up using a piece that was originally the outer piece for the rear window of a Full-size Bronco. Discovered it in a Google search. PN for the outer is D8TZ-9841610-A. (A lot of places sell both the inner and outer as a kit) I think mine came from Dennis Carpenter.

    They are roughly 4' long and use the stock-style clips.


    The clips are removable/usable though. While most of the clips on the new piece lined up with the originals, a few didn't. To relocate them, you just pry the two little tabs open on the back side and remove the clip from the strip. Then I just drilled 2 small holes, big enough for those tabs to go through at the new location. Then install the clip and bend the tabs back into place. They're a little shorter than the TBird stuff below the window line, but the same elsewhere.

    One of the Bronco pieces was enough to do one side of the LTS, and should be more than enough for a TBird.

    My TBird needs new dew wipes as well, and I was going to investigate this route when I get around to doing them.
    83 TC "Clone"
    85 Marquis LTS
    86 LTD Wagon

  22. #97
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    Chuck, do you recall what height might be on the Bronco ones?
    '86 GT - weekend driver
    '86 Capri 5.0
    '86 Turbo Coupe
    '17 Mustang GT
    '23 BRONCO

  23. #98
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    Matt,
    Odd that yours came without the clips attached. I had ordered this last year from Rockauto and it came with the clips. I tried using these on my metal trim piece but center section wanted to move with window, like sliding up. Do you have any issues with it moving with the window operation?
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    '86 GT - weekend driver
    '86 Capri 5.0
    '86 Turbo Coupe
    '17 Mustang GT
    '23 BRONCO

  24. #99

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    Quote Originally Posted by ZEN50 View Post
    Chuck, do you recall what height might be on the Bronco ones?
    I'll have to check and see if I can find any of the remnants of them. They were pretty much identical to the ones on the LTS.
    83 TC "Clone"
    85 Marquis LTS
    86 LTD Wagon

  25. #100
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    Looking at your pic again it looks like it could be about 2 razor blades tall?
    '86 GT - weekend driver
    '86 Capri 5.0
    '86 Turbo Coupe
    '17 Mustang GT
    '23 BRONCO

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