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Topic: Total noob here, saying hi (Read 1161 times) previous topic - next topic

Total noob here, saying hi

What's up everybody. I just became the 2nd owner of this 87 T-bird LX last Wednesday. It was traded in at the dealership I work for by some old guy in his 80's. It was very well maintained, just inspected in May, oil changed 300 miles ago, new tires, exhaust, new oem headlights. And even had a full tank of gas!!
I've always been a Chevy guy, just because it's what I grew up around. In general tho, I'm just a car guy. When I saw this T-bird it was love at first sight. It's got the power windows/doorlocks/mirrors/seat, trunk popper, locking fuel door, sunroof. The A/C blows nice and cold. I tend to like cars that are a little off the mainstream. I still have my first car in which i leaned to drive in; a '79 Chevy Monte Carlo and I've got a big old bomb of a '69 Impala 4dr Hardtop. I also used to own an '82 Malibu.
Anyway, It's gonna be a learning experience for sure. Hopefully I don't bug anybody with too many questions, I'm usually the expert when it comes to Chevy's. New wheels are first on the list for this thing as 2 days of listening to these wire hubs clang and chatter down the road is driving me crazy, then I want to add a small amp and maybe an 8" or 10" sub
Here's some pics right before it left the dealership and came home with me



79 Monte Carlo Landau--350/TH350 2K stall, 7.5 posi/3.73's...built with other people's "junk"
87 Thunderbird LX--3.8/AOD: stock DD:down and out with a blown motor (sucky esshag engines)
69 Impala 4dr Hardtop--327/glide: stock, parked and left for dead
84 Thunderbird LX--new project: donating it's engine to the 87 and then getting a v8 of a different kind???

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #1
Badass color man. Welcome to our little corner of the net. BTW is that a 6 cyl or a 5.0?

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #2
Welcome aboard.Do you have any future plans for the old Bird?
'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..

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #3
Looks like a very clean car.  Welcome!

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #4
What is up with that two tone paint?  is that factory?

Eric
do you know about this?

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #5
Yeah, I was going to post that up scott. If it is I haven't seen it before

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #6
lovin the two tone!

if i ever paint my TC it will be a two tone divided exactly like that.
gumby - beauty may fade, but stupid is forever!

 

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #7
It's a 6cyl, i have no plans to change until it blows up.
Not sure if the two tone paint was factory, it was repainted at some point as u can tell from the over spray and such in the door and hood jams. Even so i love the color scheme, I'm not too keen on the red pin striping, but it's growing on me.
Future plans are pretty much to find some alloy wheels, add a small sub woofer, and upgrade the exhaust.
I took it out on it's first long drive today to Carlisle which is about a 70 mile drive for me. It really gave me a scare on the way home as there was all this grayish/white smoke coming out of the back. I pulled over expecting the worst, turns out it was only the water moisture from the A/C dripping down onto the exhaust.
I was also disappointed to find out my digital speedo maxes out at 85 even though it seems to accelerate pretty hard beyond that
79 Monte Carlo Landau--350/TH350 2K stall, 7.5 posi/3.73's...built with other people's "junk"
87 Thunderbird LX--3.8/AOD: stock DD:down and out with a blown motor (sucky esshag engines)
69 Impala 4dr Hardtop--327/glide: stock, parked and left for dead
84 Thunderbird LX--new project: donating it's engine to the 87 and then getting a v8 of a different kind???

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #8
Haha it's a rough day in every new Fox Tbird/Cougar owner's life when he or she finds the embarassing speedometer limit.

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #9
Quote from: 87BlueBird;151397

I was also disappointed to find out my digital speedo maxes out at 85 even though it seems to accelerate pretty hard beyond that


There is a mod you can do to fix that!

http://www.coolcats.net/tech/advanced/199speedo.html
1987 Cougar XR7 5.0 SOLD
1992 Ranger 4.0
2018 Hyundai Elantra
2019 Ram Rebel

Total noob here, saying hi

Reply #10
Very nice 'Bird - it looks clean, and most importantly, not rusty. I've seen Thunderbirds with that paint scheme (pretty sure a member of this board has one) and have always liked it. The red pinstripe looks good to me (gives the car some contrast, kinda like the red stripe in Turbo Coupe trim) but I think I'd lose the ones on the hood and header panel. I'd be losing those fog lights, too - they can't be very effective aimed all wall-eyed like that, and some smaller ones mounted in the bumper slots would look sooo much better. Those ones are just too big for the car (I had an identical set on my old Dakota truck).

Glad to see you plan on upgrading the wheels - you'll notice a big difference in looks as well as ride/handling (if you go with 15" or better). I've always wondered what Ford was thinking, coming up with a groundbreaking design like the T-Bird, then slapping wheels that look like they belong on a Dodge Diplomat on 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 ♣