My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

January 07, 2008, 11:09:01 PM

So, for the lack of any better place to put it, I thought I'd throw up a bit of a story about my 1986 Thunderbird. I acquired the car from my father, who bought it all-but new back in 1987 (One owner, mysteriously traded it in after about 6 months... we found out why 3 years later)
Turns out these cars have one flaw-- Ford Technicians. After a routine check up at the dealer, one of their techs overtightened a body bolt, piercing the main harness. Now at first, this really didn't cause any troubles. But, as time went on, it got weirder and weirder. At first, the car would sputter while driving, or shut off and pop right back on. Then, a few months later, it'd be sitting in our driveway, a parking lot, wherever; No one in it, no keys, nothing, and it would just choose to start right up and idle, as if you had remote start :hick: . Well, after countless trips to the dealer, and no luck fixing the problem, (Mind you, they changed EVERYTHING but the motor and harness) We finally get the shiznits of it and send it down to our local dealer, stating "Either you find the problem, or your eating the car and refunding what we paid."
Two weeks later, they finish tearing the main harness apart to find the aforementioned bolt wedged into the harness, shorting out god knows what. After some tweaks and a few rolls if Vinyl Tape, she was good as new (literally, considering it was only 4 years old at this point

)
Ever since, the car has run fine for years, only needing your occasional tuneup, oil changes every 3000, and of course, an alternator every 2, 2.5 years (It's a pig, I know...) And after 250,000 miles, it needed it's first trans swap (3 speed auto mind you - f*ing heavy) So we grab one from a local salvage yard, out of a 86 Cougar with only about 80,000 on it. So, we throw it in, and it of course runs great. Of course, this only lasted for 90 miles or so because some local kids thought it'd be a swell idea to include our car in their spree of thefts back in '95 or so, stealing it and basically taking out every gear but reverse. Did you ever try driving 10 miles in reverse to avoid paying for a tow? Yea, apparently neither had the cop, so he was laughing his ass off at us all the way home (I could see his face the whole time form the passenger seat...) Fun times though, really :D I'll never forget it.
So, within a week, we were back to square one with the trans... So we hit up our local s yard, of course finding a less than stellar tranny with about 120,000 on it, still not in bad shape. We tear it out, bring it home and swap it in, and for the second time that week, had it fired up and running strong. (With added bonus mud and scratches to boot!) That tranny to this day is still in the car, which now has over 310,000 miles on it doesn't miss a shift, ever. I love this car, since I learned to drive in it, got my license in it, and took many a memorable trip in it. Sadly, her story doesn't end happily.
After sitting for roughly two years (2003-2005-ish) from the lack of an inspection, I had sold my car at the time and needed transportation, hence how I acquired the car; My father had since been given a 1991 Tbird as a gift, since my friend's father thought it had a cracked block when in reality the head gasket had been mashed from factory right along the coolant journal on the passenger back corner. (Ran great, drank coolant... coincidence?) Slapped in a new set of gaskets from the heads up, and to this day it runs just as great as new. (only had about 40,000 on it when we got it, now I think about 120,000 last I looked)
So I was given the car, which only needed some bodywork here and there to pass inspection (Our lower panels do not take kindly to Eastern PA's road salt...) Got it inspected, and drove it for about 3 months until April 2006, when fate had it out for me and my baby.
It was a warm, drizzly Sunday morning, when I woke up early (8 A.M., lol) to head up to Hershey Park for a company event. I left the house around 9, going to pick up a friend. Now, where I was living at the time, roads were well paved, but treacherously slick with oil, and curvy to boot... Well, I had gotten about 2 miles away from my place when I rounded a right-bound S curve at about 20, and to my sheer disgust, lost all steering and plowed headfirst into a Subaru Wagon. Now, normally at slow speeds, these bumpers would just absorb the shock, maybe scarring the paint, but no... I had to hit her so oddly pen 15wards, the bumper shocks didn't even react-- the force shoved the whole front cowl to the right about 7 inches, murdering two headlamps and a bunch of fiberglass, pretty much totaling my front grill.
This thus brings us to the present, where my baby still sits, patiently waiting for a transfer into a new body, or by some miracle being pulled straight and having panels changed or perhaps a new clip. Hard to say really, haven't torn it apart much (lack of space)

On the upswing, it still runs strong, no smoke, and I can still walk outside and fire it up without even so much as a second tap on the key. Hell, I drove it home for the last 3 miles of the tow home since our F150 decided to die on the way there (clogged Fuel filter) and it didn't even rub tires :burnout:

And now, since I'm sure your eyes are bleeding from reading, Pictures!! (Of why I hate wet roads):

Also, Don't mind the terrible paint job. That's the result of absolutely no paint left, and using about 10 cans of spray primer and 4 cans of paint. I'll get it professionally done next time, I promise :D

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #1 – January 08, 2008, 02:10:12 AM

Wow. All I can about that. I realy hope it all works out.

long live the 4 eyes!!!

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #2 – January 08, 2008, 04:16:06 PM

And so, I got bored today and decided to make a video of it, since it did sit for the last 3 months solid without being cranked. Amazing.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7552572641401604081

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #3 – January 08, 2008, 11:24:17 PM

3.8 v-6. I was hoping to see another 5.0. But more power to ya. Welcome to the board. Just go out and get a new hood
(83-88 cougar or thunderbird) a new front fender(83-86 tbird/cougar) and a new front clip(83-86 thunderbird, cougar fits but operantly looks alittle off...) and get 'er back on the road!

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #4 – January 09, 2008, 04:48:51 PM

-so........why did the steering dissappear?????

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #5 – January 09, 2008, 10:36:24 PM

Quote from: shorangerbird;196748

-so........why did the steering dissappear?????

Telly Savalis tires of course. :D

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #6 – January 09, 2008, 11:06:21 PM

Quote from: shorangerbird;196748

-so........why did the steering dissappear?????

Oh no, it's still there... just wobbly as hell xD The coolant overflow wailed it in the crash, bending and slightly mashing it in further on the shaft (Gotta love those compression-press pulleys)

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #7 – January 10, 2008, 09:18:57 AM

Quote from: TurboChicken;196831

Oh no, it's still there

no, you said you lost all steering capabilities....what caused it????

My Life Story, or at least My Elan's

Reply #8 – January 10, 2008, 12:09:08 PM

Quote from: shorangerbird;196873

no, you said you lost all steering capabilities....what caused it????

Ah, in the accident! :hick: Sorry about that... It was because it had just started raining, and the oil hadn't washed to the sides of the road yet. Lititz is terrible for that, with their massive amounts of traffic. It was that bad, at first the cop tried telling me I had popped an oil line or something because you could see all the telltale rainbow colors on the ground right around the car (and on up the street)