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Reply #60 – July 20, 2009, 12:16:12 PM

Quote from: Live Fast;282930

The darker carpet would show less dirt but the lighter color looks great too!

I like the sn95 dash in your car but the steering wheel looked out of place then, looks much better with the stock dash!

Its coming along great! Keep it up!

Yeah I sure was torn between using the sn95 dash and keeping the original one. I really like the sn95 dash in the AeroBird, esecially since the 1958-63 models had the dual cowl dashes that preceded the Mustang. The sn95 dash ended up being too much of a hack job and jury rig to give it integrity. I would have been better off swapping a dash from a later Tbird or Fox Mustang because those are pretty much designed to fit. The sn95 was redesigned so much from the Fox Mustang that nothing aligned well requireing too much fabrication. In the pictures, the only thing holding the sn95 dash to the Tbird dash frame was three screws... One on each end and one inside the right side of the glove box opeing. At that point I just was satisfied to amuse myself with the possibility and see what it could look like. I thought about the issue of the old thin steering wheel and I pondered other possibilities of using a later model wheel from a Tbird, however later model Fords mount the wheels with with a center bolt instead of a nut. Again more effort to make things work that were not designed to work together in the first place. I did like how the 89 Tbird steering wheel shroud looked with the sn95 dash.

I am still pleased I am able to use the original dash after all. Looking at my 08 Mustang, I do see somewhat of a similarity in basic dash design, basically the horizontal full width theme with the "T" shape that extends into the center stack trim.

I do love the 1985-88 Tbird dash and that would be an easy swap. However I do like the idea of preserving the original two-year only simpler dash just to appreciate it for what it was and maintain the model year intergrity. I do love the vinyl knee pads!

With many of the cars I have owned I always got excited to try an updated part design here and there. I even wanted to do some of that with my 08 Mustang console using 2010 parts. However I decided to just leave it alone because it's not worth it to me to deal with mismatches and the extra expense.

When I had my 1989 Z28, I do remember when the Camaro updated the instrument cluster trim in 1990 after the cars were fitted with steering wheel airbags. I was able to make the cluster trim fit along with the additional padded knee bar but it was not long after I felt like putting it back the way it was. I guess I am just that way and I always have to remind myself that I usually go back using the original design. Sometimes I just have to entertain a thought and once I resolve it, I let go of it and it does not remain important anymore.

I am rambling on here with thoughts I know...

One thing I have no regrets about is deciding to go with the four spoke 1983 steering wheel. I just always hated the A frame wheel with no spokes at 3 and 9 to rest my hands. I need the cruise control function so using a three spoke Mustang SVO style wheel was out of the question, though I do like that wheel. With the four spoke wheel I am hoping when recovering with a leather wrap I can somehow have it made to where it is padded thicker for a more substantial less-thin rimmed feel.

I am also hoping I can settle on some OEM wheel rims to replace the TRX ones. I really like the ones Vinnie just bought for his 'Bird but at this stage I really just want something to use to get going without resorting to non-OEM look rims like what my step-mother had on it when I picked up the car.

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Reply #61 – July 20, 2009, 01:14:34 PM

I didn't know all those pieces came out. The light blue interior is pretty. It looks so much more wholesome than my red velvet. It looks like a nice car.

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Reply #62 – July 20, 2009, 01:33:02 PM

Quote from: Katmaglia;282945

It looks so much more wholesome than my red velvet.

Now THAT is funny...

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Reply #63 – July 20, 2009, 09:11:11 PM

Quote from: Chuck W;282947

Now THAT is funny...

LOL! Now that is funny!

I had w red in my 1985 Tbird. I loved it!

The color I have is Oxford Gray. I guess it looks kinda bluey because of the pictures but it's a nice lighter shade of gray, a little different that the run of the mill gray you see in most modern cars.

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Reply #64 – July 20, 2009, 09:21:28 PM

Did some more work today. I painted the brake booster which the finish had been ate up with brake fluid. Hopefully that booster will work okay once I start using it again.

I finished more of the dash assembly. I noticed since I did away with the premium sound amplifier which is dead, the wiring harness contained the connector and wires for the dash clock. I am puzzled how this can be rewired into the system. There are only two wires for the clock. Logic tells me that there should be three. One a ground, the other constant 12v+ and 12+ with the ignition on. That is not the case here and I am not sure how to make it function again. I tried jumping the clock wires to 12V+ and ground and it did not work.

I also reinstalled the passenger seat track onto the seat and mounted it back in the car until I can get the carpet.

I changed out the cracked LH taillamp for a used one I bought off eBay.

I took a look at the underside of the rear of the car. It seems the rust I was worried about is sitting right on the surface and can be brushed away. Nothing has penetrated the factory primer and coatings.

Time to turn my attention to the mechanicals. This will be a long road!

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Reply #65 – July 21, 2009, 11:11:38 PM

I got my virgin Tbird steering wheel emblem trim today! I am very happy! It took all of 10 seconds to install it! The one thing I noticed is that since it is from a 1980-82 model, it has a nice brushed aluminum perimeter with the black inset unlike the 1983 models which were all black or with woodgrain perimeter.

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Reply #66 – July 25, 2009, 10:49:12 PM

Here is a couple of pictures of the new steering wheel center trim!

Also one new side profile shot of the Bird...

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Reply #67 – July 30, 2009, 06:17:23 AM

Yaller gonna probably laugh at me but I settled on a set of wheel covers instead of rims for the interim time until I get to the place that I can get the Bird completely restored and refinished to blow money on rims like Vinnie's. The wheel covers are a nice set from a 1980-82 Tbird. I am going to get some 14" steel wheels. For some reason I like many of the old wheel covers Thunderbird's used over the decades. I even experimented with my paint brush program to see what some of them would look like on the car.

1957, 1958, 1980-82

I found a set of 1957 on eBay but I stopped bidding on them because right now I just didn't want to pay too much for something I may change later. I did think the retro-classic look was nice with the bullet centers and white Ford circle inset.

I found the set of 1980-82 wheel covers in good condition. Keep in mind my car is sitting in an uneven spot in my driveway and looks jacked on the passenger side.

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Reply #68 – July 30, 2009, 06:23:39 AM

Others considered 1980-82 Luxury, 1983-86 Standard, 1981-82 Granada "Mercedes style"

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Reply #69 – July 30, 2009, 06:26:55 AM

Others considered:

Fairmont Turbine, Granada/Maverick and classic Mercury radial finned.

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Reply #70 – July 30, 2009, 06:30:31 AM

Not having resolved my no run condition, I replaced the master cylinder and fix all my bulbs out in the instrument cluster that were not making good contact in the bulb sockets. I changed out the instrument lighting to blue bulbs so they look blue and not green. Surprised it only took four bulbs for that. I may go back at a later time and buy all LED's to replace them.

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Reply #71 – August 04, 2009, 02:53:54 PM

Hey, when you did the rotary panel conversion, did you reuse your old cable, or the one out of the donor car?

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Reply #72 – August 04, 2009, 04:27:46 PM

Absolutely NONE of those wheel/hubcap options are a good choice.Nice wheels (factory style especially) are out there,super cheap.The only hubcaps I've ever seen that look good are dog dishes on muscle cars,and some 5 spokes on old Shelbys.

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Reply #73 – August 04, 2009, 10:17:00 PM

Quote from: jrad235;285211

Hey, when you did the rotary panel conversion, did you reuse your old cable, or the one out of the donor car?

Since I am still having problems with the no-run condition I turned my attention away to some things I can make progress on.

I just completed the work on the rotary panel today. Previously, I wired up all the connectors. Now I had to turn attention to making the cable work. Not as hard as I thought it was going to be considering I am using the original Tbird cable.

I cut the multi-looped Tbird cable end off and run it through the hole in the slider on the hot-cold gear-slide mechanism. I left the original cable grommet-clip in place but set it to the inside of the Taurus grommet-clip opening. The Tbird grommet-clip base where it meets the cable sleeve fits inside the Taurus cable clip opening. It protrudes to the outside of the Taurus grommet-clip base. I secured it on the outside with a simple small hose clamp. It works perfectly but the Tbird hot-cold flap does not have the travel range that the Taurus does so cold is 9 o'clock and hot is 3 o'clock.

It was very easy to connect the vacuum lines. There is a large vacuum connecter junction to the left and behind the glovebox. I unplugged it and ran the long Taurus hoses to it. It was as simple for me as sliding them into the vaccum connector junction. Now all I need is an engine that runs to create vacuum to test it all out.

The wiring connectors to the fan and mode switches was simple, no splicing. All I did was remove the terminals from the old connectors and reinstall them into the Taurus ones. Direct swap. The Tbird fan switch connector is different than the Taurus one which is square. All you have to do is match up the same colored wires to the same position. The mode switch connector is the same for both cars, however you have to switch positions of a couple wires in the Taurus connector. The panel backlighting connector is a must splice since it is completely different.

With that success, it was time to relocate the rear desfroster switch. I snagged a rectangular one out of the same salvage yard Taurus. Since I completely did away with the premium sound amplifier which was inoperable, I opened up the premium sound on-off switch opening just enough to fit the Taurus rear defroster switch in. The two large main wires were easy to swap the terminals from the old connector to the Taurus one, but I did have to splice the other three wires. The Taurus rear defroster switch has one extra wire for backlighting with the dash lights. I simply tied that into the wire that illuminates the hole inside the cigarette lighter. I tested the switch out and it works perfectly.

After working on all of that I decided to remove the headliner and all the inside roof rail trim, pillar trim and interior quarter panels. I removed the rear window shelf carpet as well. I cleaned everything. I also sed clean the backing board for the headliner so the new one will stick. I stripped the material off the sunvisors as well.

While the car was gutted, I ran wire for the 3rd brake lamp to the rear package tray.

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Reply #74 – August 04, 2009, 10:31:08 PM

Todays pictures...