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Reply #330 –
Quote from: 1Bad88tbird;310785
I'm with you on color, I really like the combo on my car. It's the factory colors but I think the black and grey looks great. I have a chance to buy an 04 Mustang Mach One, compition orange with only 15k miles on it. A friend of mine is selling it and would really like for me to have it since he knows I'll take great care of it and he knows how bad I'd love to have it. But the timing is all wrong. I'm still laid off, and Sharrie's going to be needing a newer dd, as well as planning on getting married this summer, so another toy just isn't going to work right now. I'm thinking of trying to see if he'll hang onto it for a few more years until our Fusion is paid off then I'd be able to get it. So we'll see.


I like the black and gray too... These Birds have perfect lines for the two-tone combo. I switch back and forth between liking the Grabber Colors and the subtle sophiticated look of darker colors...

One of my favorite colors is the Mustang's Alloy Gray. I seen a Shelby GT500 in the Ford showroom with that color some time ago and I wanted to die all over it!

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Reply #331 –
Oh yeah, grey looks great on Mustangs! In 87 or 88 a local Ford dealer had a new Mustang Gt that was lite grey, it might have been called dove grey, I fell in love with it! I'd drool every time I went past it!!

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Reply #332 –
I had a 1985 Camaro Z28 that was a beautiful gray with silver rockers and aero skirts... My obsessive compulsive ass wanted it painted Corvette red... So it happened...

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Reply #333 –
That's a nice combo on those as well. I hope you where happy with the red once it was done.

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Reply #334 –
Quote from: 1Bad88tbird;310794
That's a nice combo on those as well. I hope you where happy with the red once it was done.


I actually was... That shade of red was a new color for the Corvette and Camaro for 1987... And of course red Ferrari's were the dream cars back then thanks to Magnum PI and Miami Vice...

I went so far as to paint the front windshield pillar gloss black so that it would look like glass that matched the T-tops...

That was the only new car I ever had which I made it almost all the way through the length of the loan before trading it... It would have been paid for within six more months... What did I do? I bought a *fabulous* 1989 Grand Prix that I guarantee you has long since been recycled into something... The only thing I ever had to do with that car was replace the brake linings. That was a reliable car! The plastic interior is another story... Basically I went through one new dashboard and a center console top... The dash cracked under the AC vents because that dash pad vibrated enough over bumps to make it do so... And I put an elbow through the top surface of the console switch area and cracked it. I hated the black vinyl then but now I would die for it over cloth...

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Reply #335 –
I agree, it looked good! Did it have the 305 or the 350? I had a couple of friends that had the iroc z's, one was the 305 the other the 350. The 350 really hauled! I worked for a large dealership back in the day and we had gotten a firebird/ta GTA with the 350, I was taking it between dealerships and stepped on it a little to hard and got it sideways real quick! Man that thing would run! The wheels you had on your camaro look like the ones on the GTA. I always liked those cars but I've always been a ford man. I have owned a couple non ford cars but I've always gone back.

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Reply #337 –
Quote from: 1Bad88tbird;310805
I agree, it looked good! Did it have the 305 or the 350? I had a couple of friends that had the iroc z's, one was the 305 the other the 350. The 350 really hauled! I worked for a large dealership back in the day and we had gotten a firebird/ta GTA with the 350, I was taking it between dealerships and stepped on it a little to hard and got it sideways real quick! Man that thing would run! The wheels you had on your camaro look like the ones on the GTA. I always liked those cars but I've always been a ford man. I have owned a couple non ford cars but I've always gone back.


I always liked Fords since I was a tot. I was brought home in a 1966 Mustang when I was born. I did not become a GM guy until I was overwhelmed with the Ferrari-like styling of the then new for 1983 Camaro and Firebirds which had T-tops I coveted. The sleek fresh style blew me away back then and made the Fox Mustangs look like boxy old refrigerators with no shagy styling details. All through the 1980's up to 1994 I bought a series of F-body GM cars because that was the expressive styles that I liked at the time.

Back then I did not even care as much about our beloved Aero Birds and Cats when they were new. While I was happy that the Bird and Cat went from the boxy look to a sleek new aero look, it was controversial to me for awhile until many years later I got used to the then odd aero shapes. Also for me then the Birds and Cats seemed more like formal personal luxury cars so getting a bigger and more sedan-like car didn't appeal to me. I wanted to feel like I was crusing in something as sporty and expressive as a Ferrari!  However, Ford blood always ran through me. I always wanted Ford to replace the Fox Box Mustang with something sleek, more expressive with some recognizable Mustang styling cues thrown in. In late 1993 I saw Ford finally build a new Mustang that looked like a Mustang again mixed with a modern Ford theme, I just had to have it. I went and looked at one at the first public showing and I just had to have one. When the time was right, I traded my 1992 Firebird in off a 1994 Mustang Convertible in Laser Red that had to be driven off the showroom floor.

I have pretty much tried to stay with Fords ever since whether they were new or used. My only exception out of neccessity a few years ago was buying a used Nissan Sentra, Lumina & Cavalier because I needed ultra cheap transportation until I could get to a place I coudl afford nicer cars again. Now I just cannot see myself in anything but a Ford of some type. I just don't feel comfortable unless I have a Ford in my posession. I have always had a strong passion for all the legendary Fords of yesteryear. Until the classic looking 2005 Mustang came around I wondered if I would ever like a new Ford of any type again because all they did was build sedans, SUV's and trucks.

Back in 1997 when I bought a used 1985 Tbird out of desperation for needing a car, I wanted to find something that would kind of make me feel like the 1994 Mustang that I had to sacrifice to make ends meet. Little did I realize I would soon develop a passion for that old used Tbird which lead me to the loyalty that I feel towards Fords in general.

My 85 Camaro started as a regular Z28 with the standard 305 V8 non-HO. I liked the IROC-Z package very much but I got this car because I could better afford it over the higher optioned IROC-Z. I was just happy to have this new Camaro at the time. When the car was still gray with the silver rockers, I added the IROC-Z stripe package just above the  silver rockers. The stripe was red with black accent and it looked cool to me being a  Gray car with silver rockers and red IROC-Z perimeter stripes. I also added the red IROC-Z door decals. When I later painted the car red I just added the silver IROC-Z door decals and left off having any rocker stripes. Poser IROC-Z I know. I believe all the first IROC-Z's came with the 5.0 HO carb engine standard with Tuned Port Injection optional. In 1987 the 350 TPI became available.

I liked some of the Firebird specific styling touches so much that later I got a set of Enkei gold snowflake wheels and got rid of some of the all black look of the interior. I liked the Pontiac gray interior accents at the time over the all black Chevy theme, so I got a Firebird leather wheel and stuck a standard Camaro RH dash emblem over the Pontiac name embossment on the horn pad. I also swapped out the interchangable Firebird gray leather T-shift  and handbrake grip. To finish off the theme I painted the gauge cluster trim, HVAC-radio trim and top surfaces of the console the same Pontiac dark gray as the steering wheel shifter, and handbrake grip. I also two-toned the protruding dual left and right switch plate bezelson each side of the gauge cluster. The switch plate insets were light gray to match the kidney shaped horn switches on the steering wheel while the borders of the switch plates were painted the darker gray.

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Reply #338 –
Nice thread! New to the site and really enjoy what your doing.

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Reply #339 –
Quote from: capri1979;310911
Nice thread! New to the site and really enjoy what your doing.


Thanks man! Welcome to the site! Gotta love the Fox Capri's!

Now if I can get to the point I can start driving mine on the road safely! I have only driven it around the neighborhood but I am afraid to go anywhere too far.

I have two days off in a row for a change... Guess what I will be doing? Working on the Bird some more!

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Reply #340 –
I just found these pictures after digging in a box to scan some family photos... I forgot I had them. This shows off the taillamp modification detail. I liked the 87-88 taillamps so much that I took the lenses off this Bird, laid masking tape over the back side of the lens, used a protractor with an Xacto knife taped to it and cut out three circles each lens. I weeded the area surrounding the circles and painted the inside of the lens black then removed the masking circles after the paint dried. It turned out very good!

One other thing I tried with the taillamps before this was that I installed amber bulbs where the back-ups are and wired the turnsignals to flash there. I was actually able to retain the back-up light function by drilling a hole in the lens housing beside the back-up socket opening, then installing side marker bulb sockets and a #912 bright high mount stop lamp bulb. I changed it back to the original function after doing the circles in the taillamp lenses.

I am seriously thinking about something I could at some point with the Bird I have now. I could get a set of 1985-86 taillamps, remove the lenses and find a set of triple LED  lamps that would fit inside the housing and install a sequential flashing kit to operate them. I love sequential taillamps... I have them installed on my 08 Mustang.

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Reply #341 –
Those taillights did look good. That's how I did my headlight covers with the Bird emblem. I've always liked the sequential taillights myself. I have a kit on my bird too.

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Reply #342 –
Quote from: 1Bad88tbird;311015
Those taillights did look good. That's how I did my headlight covers with the Bird emblem. I've always liked the sequential taillights myself. I have a kit on my bird too.


Hey I just took a look at your pics! Nice job on the headlamp covers. I like that the light shows through them. Too bad they could not be covers that automatically retract. I always did like the dual birds in flight theme for placment of those emblems. It was most common on the taillamps but there were a few years that they were part of the headlamp doors, like 1967-69 and 1977-82.

I also like the placement of the quarter panel bird above the top of the rear seats where it dips.

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Reply #343 –
Thanks! I come up with some good ideas once in a while. lol!!! I still can't drive with them on at night. They still block to much light. It does look cool at night with them lit up, plus I have red neon under it for the evening shows. I think with the lights and stereo I have I think I might have to start checking into the 3g alt. I see everyone switching to. Although I haven't had any trouble with the original style yet. I also bought an auto pull down for the trunk off a lincoln that I want to figure out how to make work for it. I just think it would be a cool option.

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Reply #344 –
Quote from: 1Bad88tbird;311183
Thanks! I come up with some good ideas once in a while. lol!!! I still can't drive with them on at night. They still block to much light. It does look cool at night with them lit up, plus I have red neon under it for the evening shows. I think with the lights and stereo I have I think I might have to start checking into the 3g alt. I see everyone switching to. Although I haven't had any trouble with the original style yet. I also bought an auto pull down for the trunk off a lincoln that I want to figure out how to make work for it. I just think it would be a cool option.


I never thought of trying to adapt a trunk pull down to a Tbird... I would think start looking for a Mark VII first to see how close the parts might be adaptable.

At some point I am going to get bored with a completed restoration and it's just like me to start looking for things like that to do.