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Topics - Chuck W

4
Other Vehicles / OK. So hear me out...
I may have a problem.

This is more of an introduction post, vs a project thread, as this is going into storage for a bit, as I have many other things in front of me currently.

I've had the itch for another RWD daily driver. Specifically, a 2-door Fox.
On the short list of options were:
- 80-82 XR-7 or Tbird
- Fairmont Futura or Zephyr Z7
- Box top Fairmont or----this----





81-82 Granada 2Dr

The Box Birds were a little bigger than I wanted, and my wife actually preferred these to the Futuras (which were my initial front-runners).

I have a plan formulating, but after I get the title stuff done, it's going to sit in storage for a while until I have the bandwidth.
The 2-Drs are harder to find, so I jumped at it, even though I'm buried in projects currently.

Aside from the baked paint, areas, there is NO rust on the body or underneath (NC car). I6/auto with 2.73's, but that's all moot, as none of that will wind up staying in place, no matter what winds up propelling it later. It's all tired, but I just drove it the 60 miles back to our place from my buddy's (We dropped it there after the pick up a couple weeks back).

My current daily is the '97 Turbo Volvo 850 in the background. Fun car, with lots of mods/upgrades to it but I think I've run my limit again of dailying a FWD car. There's also availability issues on some parts that are starting to get on my nerves.
With this, it's all "Mustang" stuff to keep it on the road.

Anyway. Here's to doing silly car stuff!



8
Other Vehicles / Oops, I did it again. I bought a new car. (1986 Ford LTD wagon)
As if I needed another project, but here we are.

I've been wanting to get rid of the F150 but wanted to replace it with a Fox wagon (which will eventually get a hitch). I've never been much of a truck guy, no matter how hard I've tried.

Found this thing on Marketplace a couple months ago, but wasn't in a place to do anything about it at the time.


After some talks with the owner and working out some logistics on my end, my buddy and I made the 6 hour trip to southern MO to check it out.

It has been sitting under a group of trees since '05-'06, when it was parked for what looks to be a HG issue.

The interior could best be described as "moist", due to a bad door latch striker leaving a minor door gap, and a window slightly cracked.




.

Checklist was-
- Check strut towers/frame
- Check underneath
- Check cowl

Popped the hood. Towers and frame were clean.  Got a jack underneath it. Greeted by perfectly straight pinch welds and a surprisingly rust-free floorpan. Pulled up the front carpets. No evidence of standing water, so the cowl is good. There may be some rust inside in the rear floors, but nothing was evident from below and it seemed solid. It's definitely in nicer shape, body-wise, than the LTS was.

I struck a deal with the owner and we pulled it out of its resting spot and got it ready to travel.


The first stop before a quick bite to eat was a carwash



Still needs more scrubbing, but there is no body damage, no body rust, and only a couple small spots on the hood where the paint has given up.

Right now it is tucked away in a relative's pole-barn until I get it moved to the house. Hopefully that will help dry the interior out a bit. It's not getting touched until after I finish up a couple of house projects that MUST get done before tearing into this.



The plan right now for it, aside from getting the interior sorted, is pretty basic for the time being.

It will get the '11 3.7/6R80 combo I have in the garage. Will stay 4-lug for the short-term, but will get at the very least 11" Fox brakes. Tow hitch. General refresh to get it road-worthy.

More details and pictures when the car is at the house and I'm tearing into it. For now, it's just planning and organizing when I'm not tending to my other needed projects.
9
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / Looking for stock 5.0 EFI parts
Hey all.

I'm looking for some EFI port injection stuff, like from an 86-93 Mustang.

Interested in stock items. Not looking for anything fancy.

The list:
- Upper and lower intakes (Don't have to be Mustang or Fox, so Tbird, SN-95, etc would be OK)
- Throttle body
- fuel rail and injectors (19#ers would be fine)
- set of stock factory Mustang tubular exhaust manifolds.

Let me know

Thanks!
Chuck
10
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / Wanted - Rear Seat Belts
As I evidently tossed mine years ago, I'm in need of some rear seat belts for the Tbird.

Would prefer the charcoal color to match the interior.

Starting here before I cast a wider net out in the wilds. I'm in Indy.

Thanks!
11
Other Vehicles / Wife's new toy - 1976 Beetle
So, my wife has wanted a VW Beetle since she was a little kid. We've been saving up a bit of money the past few years and we finally snagged on for her a couple weeks ago.





It needs a little mechanical help, but the body and pan are solid enough. It was originally a FI car, but the engine has been replaced with a carbed engine from a '71.

I need to put an exhaust on it, fix the shift linkage, get the carb and a couple irritating electrical issues sorted, then she'll be able to noodle around town in it while we sort out more of the details.
12
Electrical Tech / Source for dome/map light connectors?
Anyone have a source for the insulated connectors that the dome/map lights screw into?

One of them in the LTS is disintegrated and I would like to get the light working. They're the same as used in a bunch of other stuff, but my search isn't yielding any.

Pic of what I'm talking about (grabbed from the webs)

13
Lounge / Hot Wheels TBird
Was at a car show over the weekend and found this in the swap meet.

14
Other Vehicles / Added another Fox to the fleet - 1985 Marquis LTS
So, this wasn't the original plan. The past few months, my wife and I discussed picking up another vehicle (which would stay automatic). Being the weirdos that we are, we narrowed down to an 83-86 LTD or Marquis wagon, and then eventually opened it up to an option for a sedan.

Had been casually scanning for something for the past couple of months. No rush to get anything. Even inquired with the owner of a Marquis wagon that was in the neighborhood. Figured something would pop up.

Then a couple weeks ago, an ad on FB appeared for an '85 Marquis LTS with an LTD LX parts car in western PA. Both were kind of rough, but there was plenty of bonus stuff included.  With no way to get 2 vehicles moved, I kind of sat on it for a week or so. Then after someone asked the seller about just purchasing the parts car, I went ahead and messaged them about the LTS.

For those that don't know, the '85 Marquis LTS is the one-year, Canadian-only, Mercury equivalent of the LTD LX, which was the "hot rod" of the Fox LTD line-up. They made 135 LTS's, total.

After a phone convo with the seller about it, he basically said he didn't want to bother with the guy interested in the parts car, and if I were to buy the LTS, he said I could take whatever I wanted off of the LX. He then sweetened the deal with offering to bring the car to me.
So, on a Sunday morning, I hopped in the car for the 5-ish hour drive to check things out and to hopefully make a deal.

Got there, looked things over, made a deal and got to stripping off the parts I wanted from the parts car. I was on limited time and wasn't *really* concerned with drivetrain/suspension stuff, as it's a Fox-chassised car after all. But I did grab some specific items, like 4 better doors, and hood, along with some LX-specific items (console, cluster).

Also included in the deal were a bunch of LTS-specific NOS parts.

We got everything organized, I loaded the NOS stuff into my car and drove home.
The next day, he shows up with the car and all of the other parts and we get it all unloaded.

In addition to the above stuff, the car also came with a set of Bullitt wheels, a half-installed 5-lug swap (94-95 spindles and 99+ 11" brakes up front), axles and drums for the rear 5-lug. New front suspension components, new fuel pumps and a new windshield. The car was FULL of parts when it arrived. As was the back of his truck.
Now, for those that care. I paid $2,400...total, to my door, for all of this.

Now it's sat languishing for at least a decade prior to the previous owner getting it, and looks "battle hardened", but underneath, the only bad rust spot is right at the front of the passenger floor board. The rest is solid. I have it running, but need to run through tune-up stuff, etc.

Primary goal right now is to get it running and driving and doing some clean-up and minor cosmetic stuff.







15
Body/Appearance/Interior / Good-fitting floor mats?
The floor mats in the TBird are of some generic application, and really don't fit for squat in the car.

You guys have a source for a decent set that fit well?

I don't really need anything on them (I'd only accept a TBird emblem if it was the 83-84 style anyway), just something that works better than what I have.

What do you guys like?