Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: 88 Thunderbird Question (Read 2394 times) previous topic - next topic

88 Thunderbird Question

I have found an 88 thunderbird that is in great condition body wise an interior wise. The car has the 3.8 v6 motor in, an is in good running shape. The car has a short somewhere in the wiring system that causes the battery to drain fairly fast. My question is, can this car be made into a fairly good hotrod? I can get the car for 200 dollars from my cousin's dad. What would everyone suggest in the way of what i can do for x amount of money to make the car fairly fast. The car will not be my primary transportation, just a hobby to play with in my spare time. With that being said, im open to almost anything to try on the car. I also have the following extra parts laying around at my disposal.
1. 650 holley double pumper carb
2. Hooker equal length headers for 87-93 mustang GT
3. Factory lers from my 99 mustang GT

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #1 –
personally id do it if i had the money and i really wanted to take on the project. finding a car with a nice body and nice interior is half the battle. might as well put those parts to use get a 302 block and start building.the block is cheap and u can get one anywhere, but what exactly u want to do wiht it is your decision. if u put enough time into it u can make a pretty sweet ride out of it.

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #2 –
u can fuel inject the car very easily, just swap in the v8 harness i believe, grab a mustang computer and your good to go. just my opinion, but for  pretty cheap, you can get that thing moving pretty good. its all about coustomizing tho, most mustang stuff fits, but usualy needs to be modified a bit. brows around our cardomains, or the user rides section for photos and ideas, the options are limitless.

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #3 –
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be causing the short?  I don't know if the car had the ignition recall done on it or not, but that would be the first place i would look i assume.  I haven't went an picked up the car yet, i will go an pick it up sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Im thinking that the car has a 4 bolt lug pattern, at what level of HP should i consider going to 5 lug?  If i do go with Injection, what years should i be trying to find as far as donor wise for motor an electronic an computer?  If i do go FI will the wiring harness have to be changed from front to back?  Is that a real major task to accomplish?  Thanks for the replys so far!

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #4 –
sence your car is an 88, i believe all you have to do is unpluge your engine wiring harness. it sounds like alot, but it isnt realy, then put one from a v8 cougar or tbird 86-88 in it, and get the mustangs computer. if you want to make it mass air, get the mass air computer, meter, and plug and we can show you where to run the wires to make that work too. to give you an idea of how easy it is, i did my t-5/k-member/HO swap in a weekend. and i would replace that ign, switch as soon as i got it, then if it keeps happening try and trace it down. you dont want to come outside and find your car onfire one morning because of that dam switch, its worth the 5$ or how ever much it is to replace it.

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #5 –
Could be just a bad diode in the alternator causing the drain.
Charge it up, turn it off, unplug the alternator, and wait.

The V6 cars *might* have a better rear ratio than the V8's 2.73, but you'd have to check the doorjamb sticker to make sure. Better ratio = better acceleration, especially if you swap in a 5.0 (lo-po Bird/Cougar or hi-po Mustang).

From the Coolcats site:
http://www.coolcats.net/tech/general/axleinfo.html

Code on door sticker (AX...)
8 or M = 2.73
Y or Z = 3.08
F or R = 3.45
5 or E = 3.27
6 or W = 3.73
Death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth.

1988 5.0 Bird, mostly stock, partly not, now gone to T-Bird heaven.
1990 Volvo 740GL. 114 tire-shredding horsies, baby!

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #6 –
Quote from: MasterBlaster
Could be just a bad diode in the alternator causing the drain.
Charge it up, turn it off, unplug the alternator, and wait.

The V6 cars *might* have a better rear ratio than the V8's 2.73, but you'd have to check the doorjamb sticker to make sure. Better ratio = better acceleration, especially if you swap in a 5.0 (lo-po Bird/Cougar or hi-po Mustang).

From the Coolcats site:
http://www.coolcats.net/tech/general/axleinfo.html

Code on door sticker (AX...)
8 or M = 2.73
Y or Z = 3.08
F or R = 3.45
5 or E = 3.27
6 or W = 3.73


I may get the car running, an drive it up to a local autozone parts store, an get them to run a free code check, just to see if anything pops up.  The car is an automatic, so more than likely, i will be keeping it auto.  I would like to build a 351 an stick it in the car.  What tranny an rear end gear ratio would everyone suggest?  Like i said the car is just a hobby, an is not a source of transportation.  I may drive it to work ever once in a blue moon, but i only live about 3 miles from work so, im really open to fairly radical ideas:giggle:

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #7 –
Does that car have an aftermarket radio? I had a sony unit go bad on me and it would drain the battery in less than 8 hours.
84 Turbo coupe 2.3T Modded with 88 upper and lower intake, 88 injectors, E6 manifold, T3-4 AR.60 turbo, 31X12X3 FMIC, Homemade MBC , Greddy knock off BPV.
4 eyes see better than 2! 
Da Bird!

FreeBird

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Nate
sence your car is an 88, i believe all you have to do is unpluge your engine wiring harness. it sounds like alot, but it isnt realy, then put one from a v8 cougar or tbird 86-88 in it, and get the mustangs computer. if you want to make it mass air, get the mass air computer, meter, and plug and we can show you where to run the wires to make that work too. to give you an idea of how easy it is, i did my t-5/k-member/HO swap in a weekend. and i would replace that ign, switch as soon as i got it, then if it keeps happening try and trace it down. you dont want to come outside and find your car onfire one morning because of that dam switch, its worth the 5$ or how ever much it is to replace it.

Actualy Nate he will want to use one from an 88, as it will be completely plug in.  The other years require modification.
One 88

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #9 –
Quote from: ipsd
Does that car have an aftermarket radio? I had a sony unit go bad on me and it would drain the battery in less than 8 hours.


The factory original i believe, i haven't taken ownership of the car just yet, but i will be in about a week or 2
 

88 Thunderbird Question

Reply #10 –
Car ended up getting sold before i could go an pay for the car!
But im still looking for a car in either an 87 or 88 TC.