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Topic: Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project (Read 2216 times) previous topic - next topic

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

I got the bumper cover, header panel and right fender on today. It's starting to look like a car again, and not a redneck lawn ornament :hick:

I also got the headlights and fog lights rewired. I installed an auxiliary fuse/relay box from a Crown Vic Police Interceptor. These Police Interceptors were delivered to us new, pre-wired for equipment by a company in Quebec, but that equipment didn't meet RCMP standards so we pulled it all out and installed our own stuff. It was not a matter of the stuff not being "Robust" enough, it was more a matter of the RCMP wanting every car wired the same to aid in repairs.

Three main-feed 10-gauge wires go to the battery terminal on the starter solenoid. Two are on one 30-amp maxi-fuse (a circuit breaker, actually) for the headlights (I put the high and low beams on one main fuse because only one circuit can be active at once), and one is on a 20-amp ATO fuse for the fog lights. There's a separate 40-amp relay each for high and low beams, and an individual 20-amp relay for each fog light. The relay's high current circuits are then fed to an individual fuse for each light bulb (building cop cars has taught me that you can never over protect a circuit). The headlight relays are triggered by the stock high and low beam wires, which then light up the appropriate bulb elements. The fog light relays are triggered by a stock TC fog light switch that is in turn tapped into the ign circuit off the ignition switch. This ensures that I cannot forget to turn 'em off and kill the battery :D

There was absolutely no room in the engine compartment to mount this fuse/relay box, so I had to mount it to the rad support (in case you're wondering why the rad brackets are missing I had to remove them to get at the wiring harness).

The reason I did this was that I've never liked the idea of the headlight switch and high/low beam switch carrying the full current
 of the bulbs (and in stock TC form, the current of the fog lights as well!). In my setup the switches are only required to carry enough current to trigger relays. This gives the added bonuses that the headlights are now on easily accessible fuses instead of fusible links, and the path from the battery to the headlight bulbs is much, much shorter, meaning less voltage drop, meaning brighter headlights with stock 55/65w bulbs.

Pics: #1 is the newly installed body parts. #2 is the fuse/relay panel with covers on, #3 is with covers off
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #1 –
Nice work! Looks "factory" with the Ford logos and what not. I need to do the same to Layla, turning on the foglights pops the fuse (I have SilverStar bulbs). Glad to see you're going with TC nose as well, she's starting to look pretty sharp.

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #2 –
Nice

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #3 –
lookin good, can I barrow your garage sometime?

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #4 –
Great work.Making progres feels good doesn't it.I'm finally making a little progress myself.I just need nice weather.I don't have a heated garage anymore,which makes all the difference.If I did,My car would be nearly finished and ready for paint.Are you keeping yours white,or going to a new color?Keep up the good work,and keep us posted.
'88 Sport--T-5,MGW shifter,Trick Flow R intake,Ed Curtis cam,Trick Flow heads,Scorpion rockers,75mm Accufab t-body,3G,mini starter,Taurus fan,BBK long tube headers,O/R H-Pipe, Flowamaster Super 44's, deep and deeper Cobra R wheels, Mass Air and 24's,8.8 with 3.73's,140 mph speedo,Mach 1 chin spoiler,SN-95 springs,CHE control arms,aluminum drive shaft and a lot more..

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #5 –
Quote from: 88turbo;129668
lookin good, can I barrow your garage sometime?

Only if I can borrow your weather :D

Quote from: vinnietbird;129670
Great work.Making progres feels good doesn't it.I'm finally making a little progress myself.I just need nice weather.I don't have a heated garage anymore,which makes all the difference.If I did,My car would be nearly finished and ready for paint.Are you keeping yours white,or going to a new color?Keep up the good work,and keep us posted.

I'm gonna go with a two-tone. White above the moldings, charcoal grey below 'em. Kinda like an '87 XR-7 look. I'm leaning toward painting the snowflakes white as well, kinda like... um... the 88 XR-7 look. Cripes, I'm turning this Bird into a Cat...
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #6 –
LOL, I assume then that the moldings will be Grey to match the bottom? What color insert, or are you leaving it chrome?

And clean off that rad support man! :hick:

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #7 –
looking good man!
RIP 1988 and 1990 Lincoln Mark VII LSC
I welcomed the dark side and currently am driving a 2000 Dodge Durango SLT plus, with a 5.9, Code named project "Night Runner"
Shes black on black, fully loaded, with headers, 180 tstat, e fan, straight exhaust into a cherry bomb vortex ler, full tune up, ported intake and T/B, MSD coil, and round aircleaner.
Mods to come: Fully rebuilt and heavily modded 46RE, and a richmond rachet locker.
my $300 beater ;)
R.I.P Kayleigh Raposa 12/18/90 - 2/24/07

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Aerobird Motorsports;129683
LOL, I assume then that the moldings will be Grey to match the bottom? What color insert, or are you leaving it chrome?

And clean off that rad support man! :hick:

I'm thinking the insert will either be red or blue. The only thing I'm certain of is it ain't gonna be chrome. Red would maintain a more "stock" note, but blue would compliment the interior (the porno red interior was swapped out for a blue TC int). As for the color of the molding itself, nothing other than black had ever occurred to me... until now...

...Maybe I will paint it grey. I dunno. My first concern is getting it off the doors and quarter panels without ruining it. I want it off the car for the paint job, which is why I hadn't installed it for the pic above. I'll also be pulling all the window moldings, the things in the roof seams, the quarter windows, the lights and the chicken emblems off the C-pillars. Bitch is gonna be nekkid when I start throwing paint around :shakeass:. I HATE the looks of a car that's been painted with the moldings and lights simply taped up.

As for the rad support, I almost didn't post that pic because of it :flip:. I actually did wipe it down with some brake cleaner and installed the freshly sandblasted/painted rad brackets for a second shot but the camera's batteries died. The whole engine compartment will be cleaned when it's warm enough to use the hose and pressure washer, but for now it's dirty, so deal with it
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #9 –
So...you got any more of those aux relay boxes? ;)
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #10 –
Looking good, man. Keep those pictures coming.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Chuck W;129754
So...you got any more of those aux relay boxes? ;)

I'll take a look, Chuck, but it'll take awhile - I know I did have a few, but where they're at is a different matter, and I can't get into the shed they're in thanks to a frozen snow bank.
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #12 –
If you're going to paint the moldings, leave them on the car. I've seen both ways done on these and it looks 100000000 times better with the paint laid on while they are on (color usually matches a LOT better as well). Layla's will stay black/red and so they will be off the car.


I think the White top with Gunmetal from the moldings down would be HOT! Blue insert to match the interior FTW.

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #13 –
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;129851
I'll take a look, Chuck, but it'll take awhile - I know I did have a few, but where they're at is a different matter, and I can't get into the shed they're in thanks to a frozen snow bank.


Just let me know.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo - '85 Marquis LTS - '86 LTD Wagon

Made a little progress on the 'Bird, and finished another project

Reply #14 –
A concept drawing of my paint scheme. I don't use Photochop, so it's an MSPaint chop:
2015 Mustang GT Premium - 5.0, 6-speed, Guard Green - too much awesome for one car

1988 5.0 Thunderbird :birdsmily: SOLD SEPT 11 2010: TC front clip/hood ♣ Body & paint completed Oct 2007 ♣ 3.55 TC rear end and front brakes ♣ TC interior ♣ CHE rear control arms (adjustable lowers) ♣ 2001 Bullitt springs ♣ Energy suspension poly busings ♣ Kenne Brown subframe connectors ♣ CWE engine mounts ♣ Thundercat sequential turn signals ♣ Explorer overhead console (temp/compass display) ♣ 2.25" off-road dual exhaust ♣ T-5 transmission swap completed Jan 2009 ♣