Before I start spending bigger money on the car I want to see how much I can get for it, if I can break even or close I'm selling it. Here's the list to the. Craigslist ad, I'm in Westchester, NY near White Plains. I would rather sell it to one of you guys anyway. Lol
On the way home from work today I started getting a knocking/rattling sound consistent with RPMs. I take the belt off and start the car, no noise. I spin the A/C pulley and it's making noise as I spin it by hand. The noise is worse when the compressor isn't engaged and my A/C still works great.
Is there a bearing that I can replace or the pulley itself? I'm not too experienced with A/C stuff. I want to keep this as cheap a replacement as possible. Lol
I ordered new ball joints and other front end parts to do at some point over the summer but everything is still good on the car to last me until then. The only thing I'm worried about is the front wheel bearings. They are grinding on sweeping highway turns and I want to have them done now so I can continue to enjoy the car.
I don't have the time or the space to do any work involving lifting the car. What do you think I can expect to pay to have the wheel bearings done at a Mavis or Meineke type place? What's a fair price to pay for labor? I already have new bearings if they need to be replaced instead of just being re-packed.
Hey guys, now that I have the engine finally set(other than VC Gaskets and upgraded fan), I am moving on to suspension. I was going to replace end links and sway bar bushings, then have my friend rebuild the control arms (bushings and ball joints), replace shocks/struts and check the rest.
Here's the question: are all Fox Mustang front control arms a direct swap? I actually found a set of low mileage control arms with bushings and ball joints from a 4 cyl. Mustang. Can I just buy these and swap them on instead of going individual parts?
So I decided to go with the 180* T-Stat. It was a pain since hoses and clamps were original and that right bolt is so annoying but after a couple of hours I had the thermostat in with a new upper radiator and bypass hose. Drove at least 5-10 miles yesterday , all good. Drive it for 10 minutes tonight and there's a leak in the thermostat area.
I didn't put a clamp on the T-Stat side of the bypass hose so I hope that's it. But it's probably the T-Stat with my luck, how can it be fine one day and then leak the next? I sed both the housing and manifold side clean and had an adhesive backed gasket holding it in place. Are there any tricks I'm missing here? I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to drain the coolant again. Any ideas on what I'm missing would be great. Lol
Just wondering here. I havent driven the car in temps above 75ish yet and the temp gauge is always at the middle or a little below, never beyond the "O". Yesterday it was about 85 and I had the A/C on the entire time. Nothing unusual on the highway or streets but when I stopped somewhere and the car was idling for about 10 minutes it went on top of the "R" and was touching the "M", and even after a burst on the highway it barely went any lower. The car sat for a few hours, then on the way home it was a little over the middle but not as high as earlier.
I know my Mark VII would normally be a touch over the middle, but does this sound unusual considering where it runs in not much cooler weather?
Need some help here. I've got the car running great with no error codes now. Before I move on to suspension I want a nice sounding exhaust.
I'm just looking to replace the rotting aftermarket pipes and maybe dump a Flowmaster ler. Does anyone sell just the Y Pipe for these cars? They sell the cat separately or with Y Pipe only it seems. My cat is fine but the Y is close to rusting through. Can anybody point me in the right direction? I'm not looking for performance, just sound and a new system.
Also, if I decide to keep a tailpipe, where do I find that as well? Lol Seems exhaust for these cars is ignored. Will a Mark VII one work?
Hey guys, finally got time to bring the T-Bird to my friends to have O2's done and I found out he disconnected the TV cable to get to it. Now we adjusted it using this site: http://www.txchange.com/aodadj.htm and it seems good a little past mid. The only thing is the 3-2 downshift won't occur at 50, maybe 43 max.
I also saw the video everyone links on YouTube where the guy gives it max tension, then backs off a smidge and he says that's how they did it at the factory...
When driving on the highway today with the windows down slightly, I noticed it was rattling around more than usual. When i parked the drivers side was fine but the passenger side would catch only intermittently and I had to manually help it up.
While searching the site i see a lot of info about the clips olding the glass on the track and that this is a common problem but the '83-'86 window bottoms look different in pictures. Are the clips probably the problem on my T-Bird or am I going to see a different set-up when I get the door panel off?
Has anyone run their stock (or near stock) 5.0 Fox T-Bird/Cougar at a drag strip? I tried searching and can't find anything matching this. My 1990 Mark VII with nearly 180k miles and only an off road H-Pipe and Thrush welded lers ran 15.5 but thats an H.O. and a much heavier car.
Hey guys, I've posted a few times so far but I thought I should introduce my car. I bought this '86 T-Bird last month as my cruiser/occasional track car. It had 40,500 miles on it which CarFax seems to confirm. It's been in the neighborhood where I grew up its entire life so thats a plus, and a minus (Northeast car). I bought from a father and son who were the second owners trying to fix it up and had primed/sanded it with the intention of painting it.
There's not really any rust other than a section of the passenger side strut tower which was broken out and sprayed with rust inhibitor (frame is ok in that part), and the lower radiator support. Otherwise its normal for a nearly 30 year old car up here. I've done a full ignition tune up since it had original plugs and wires, oil change and recently an HO top swap (Plenum, EGR spacer and throttle body). Oh yeah, I also spray painted it with spray cans which I plan to buff with a DA polisher once it fully cures in another week or so. I am happy with the results for $60. Lol On to the pictures!
Hi guys, I've been researching here and elsewhere and I haven't found too many favorable opinions on the 7.5 rear end. The only performance upgrades I will be doing on my '86 will be the HO Upper Plenum/TB/EGR Spacer swap and probably a "performance" ler on the stock single exhaust. I do like doing the occasional burnout or powerslide and the car may see a few trips down the 1/4 mile. Do you think the stock unit would be sufficient for this? Are there any parts that will make this unit stronger? I don't even care about a T-Lok(I may consider 3.73's in the future), I just want a reliable axle that can withstand some fun.
Hi guys, I just picked up an '86 T-Bird with the 5.0. The car runs great except for the service light being on for about the first 10 minutes of driving. After that it goes away, but if I shut the car and start it right back up, the light is back. If I don't drive the car for a few days it even has a little bit of a miss/stumble within those first 10 minutes. I did a full ignition tune up when I got it, so I know it's not that.
I see different descriptions of the code, some say it's an O2 sensor problem but others indicate a rich condition. What do you guys think and what would be the be the best way to attack this?
Thanks! Been searching around the forums gaining some info. Not totally new to the game, I had a 1990 Mark VII SE a few years ago.
