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Messages - Gearjamer

4
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars FOR SALE / 1988 Cougar XR7 104k original. Black w/two tone gray leather and sunroof
This car is near Portland Oregon. It is a two owner Black 1988 Cougar XR7 with what I am told is a rare two tone gray leather interior and sunroof combo. Upgrades I have done to the car are as follows. 1988 Mark VII 5 lug conversion with 4 wheel disk brakes. I used the whole Mark rear axle so it is 3.27 now. I rebuilt the suspension with Energy Suspension Poly kit and KYB GR2 struts and Gas adjust shocks. I also used the Mark's whole true dual exhaust including the shorty headers. I am asking 2200. I have a stack of reciepts from the previous owner who had the A/C compleatly gone through including the heater core. If you know Fox bodies that can be worth the price alone. Here are some more pics. If you are seriously interested drop me a line and I will get you a contact number. -Bill





5
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / WTB 87 or 88 XR7
Are you willing to come and get it in Portland Oregon? 1988 Cougar XR7 Black with rare Light Gray/ Dark Gray two tone leather interior and sun roof. I have modified it just a little. It now has 1988 Mark VII 5 lug conversion and 4 wheel disk brakes. I rebuilt the whole suspension with Energy Suspension Poly and KYB GR2 Struts. The whole Mark VII true dual exhaust was also installed with shorty headers. I am the second owner of the car. It has 104k on it and was babied by the previous owner. I have his recipt for doing 1300!! dollars of A/C work with a new heater core. Here are some Pics. Any questions drop me a PM and I will send you a direct contact number. -Bill





6
Body/Appearance/Interior / 1988 XR7 up date: Split spokes installed
Thanks!  The front caps only took 1.5 hrs total. They are not polished yet. I made a dome pattern of the first cap so I can replicate the rest. So the other two should not be an issue. The I will polish and coat. Thanks again for the replys.

Bill
7
Body/Appearance/Interior / 1988 XR7 up date: Split spokes installed
I've posted a few things about my on going improvement of a 1988 Cougar XR7 I got for a daily driver. The car was garage kept dealer serviced by its original owner till I got i a couple years ago. Just this last week I finally got tires for the 17" split spoke Mustang wheels I had stashed in my shop. I have a Mark VII 4 wheel disk brakes with the Mark axle in back. As some of you may know the SN95 wheel caps won't fit on an older non modular hub. So I had to modify the front caps. Tell me what you think. Should I do the rear caps as well to keep a consistant look? The fronts still need some polishing.

D-side

front

rear
9
Electrical Tech / IVR part anolog vs electronic
Here is my issue. I have a 1988 Cougar XR7 with the tach and electronic cluster, not digital just all electronic. When I got the car I noticed every now and then all the gauges would max out. I would tap the clustor and they would return to normal. The temp gauge would move the most. I measured the resistance of the sending unit at temp and it read 31 ohms. I pulled the sending unit and put it in 200deg water and it read 31ohms (have a 195 t-stat). Spec for the temp sending unit is 22.5 ohms to 25 ohms at 220deg. So I thought the IVR was bad. Went to Napa and got a new one. Now the gauge is low and the fuel gauge dosen't even go to full. WTF? Are there diffrent IVRs for the various clusters? Dose anyone have a part number for the electronic cluster with tach?

Thanks,
Bill
10
Suspension/Steering / Guess what I did?
Camber, the alignment shop was able to get 3.5 deg of caster with the plates. I also put prothane rack bushings in. The car is very responsive now. Another note is the car handles and rides nice but on small bumps like the road brail in the center its a bit harsher. I think the stiffer bushings transfer small vibrations more.
11
Suspension/Steering / Guess what I did?
Quote from: Aerocoupe;336165
Just a note on the CC plates.  I am not 100% sure if the Mustang units should be used for our cars but if people have and they work then that is great.  If you don't have a set of Mustang units lying around then you can get Thunderbird specific units from Maximum Motorsports for the exact same cost as their Mustang units.  I have them on my T-Bird and my Coupe, I think they are the best money can buy.  Griggs Racing also thinks they are pretty good as they recommended them when I bought my Griggs setup for the Bird.  That is pretty good advertising when one of you major competitors recommends a part you make.

http://www.maximummotorsports.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_77&products_id=258

Also, I thought your project turned out really nice and you did a great job on the details!

Darren


I would agree with you 100% on the CC plates. The one I had are left overs from the first suspension upgrade I did. If it were not so easy to MAKE them fit I would not have used them. One note is on the passenger side I get -.94 to -1.5 deg. on the driver side I get +1.2 to -.35 deg adjustments. So to get the Driver side to match the passenger I had to grind out the shock tower holes some more. Not much but just enough to get -1 deg to match the passenger. The car is a cruiser and will never see track time. I just wanted a little more than OEM when I was done. I have a left over Global West Track link I've been toying with modifing to fit the Cougar but that will come after I install the GT40p heads and intake I have waiting on the bench.

-Bill
12
Suspension/Steering / Guess what I did?
Sweet! Your Cougar looks just like mine before the brake swap. I like the polished look of the split spokes on your '92. I have chromed splits for the Cougar. I like the polished a little better than the chrome but I only spent 200 for the wheels. I have the old wheels from the Cougar to give away for anyone who want to come and get them.
13
Suspension/Steering / Guess what I did?
Quote from: Watchdevil;336006
Great Job! The Mark wheels look nice!


Thanks! the wheels are temp. I have a set of 17" chrome split spokes off of a '98 gt I want to put on. The Mark wheels are marked for my 1969 Triumph TR6 that I'm putting a '95 SHO motor in. I'm going to call it SHOoTR6. A pun on 6 shooter. That's down the road. I have a 1968 Ranchero that needs some love and My 1985 GT Convertible is getting a custom ported GT40p (ala Explorer) intake with megasquirt fuel injection set up. When all those are done I might actually get to my 1962 Thunderbird convertible. Here are some pics of my addiction.




14
Suspension/Steering / Guess what I did?
I used the whole Mark VII diff out of an '88 LSC. If you’re going to do this pull the e-brake cables from the keyed link in front of the rear tire under the trailing edge of the doors. The e-brake cables will hook right back up on the Tbird/Cougar in the same place. Also you will use the existing control arms on the Tbird/Cougar but you will lose the quad shocks, no provision on the Lincoln axle. The diff I used is 3.27 open. I will transfer the Tlock from my old axle later. The whole operation is a bolt in affair. Even the brake hose will fit right in. I did put Ford Motorsport bushings in the upper axle. The ES would have been too firm. Since you are using the original LCA you will use the original sway bar. A Mustang rear sway is the same. In fact I measured my old Mustang GT convertible rear sway and it was exactly the same.

For the master cylinder I used a Lincoln Mark VII NON-ABS unit. I got it new from Napa 75.00. You will need to use a T-fitting in your front brake lines because the new MC has one port out for the fronts when the old MC had two. You will also need to remove the stock proportioning valve. In its place you can put an adjustable one. Maximum Motorsports has the valve and adapter kits. MM also makes the ball joint cone spacer to fit the Lincoln spindles to the stock Mustang/ T-bird / Cougar ball joint. It would be a good idea to get a GOOD brake line cutting and flaring tool. You will need to put new fittings on both brake lines where the Lincoln caliper hoses will attach as well as adapt the lines from the new MC to t-fittings and adjustable rear PV.

For the front struts use 87+ Mustang GT units. Cougar units will work but you will need .115 think spacers x2 for each side due to the new spindles having thinner strut mounting bosses. The Cougar struts will also require you to oval out the lower hole. The outer tie rods will fit fine. I also had a set of left over caster camber plates from Global West for my Mustang. These will fit but you will have to oval out the front mounting hole on the shock tower. The brake and exhaust swap took me 6 weekends to do and I have a fair bit of experience.  Go slow and pay attention to details. You’re working on the brakes of your car. Your physical being depends on doing a good job.
15
Suspension/Steering / Guess what I did?
Isn't anyone going to ask me about the 5lug conversion.:D Which is actually a full Lincoln Mark VII axle and brake swap. That's right, the whole diff from a Mark VII is under there along with the spindles and rotors up front. While I was at it I replaced all the bushings with Energy Suspension bits, New KYB GR2 struts and shocks, Moog ball joints, and outer tie rods. For good measure I also used the Mark's whole dual exhaust system. Shorty headers, H-pipe, and lers. All the exhaust stuff bolted right in. It even used the same mounting points. Only mod needed was to shorten the mid pipes between the cats and lers. Marks had a longer wheel base. I used the marks h-pipe hanger, the transmission mount was already double hump. Even the smog tube bolted right in.