new 87 bird.

Topic: new 87 bird. (Read 11449 times) previous topic - next topic

new 87 bird.

October 28, 2012, 09:18:48 PM

I'm back everyone, at least temporarly.

87 bird, 187k, 5.0 base, was wrecked with a tc front end swapped on. Drives alright, and was right in my price range. My buddy was gonna junk it, so I bought it off him for $50 more then the junkyard would give me. Has a couple small problems, the trans is missing od, but it will do for now. Gonna save up for a engine swap and 5speed over the winter. Probably be a daily driver, or just project car. Haven't decided yet.

new 87 bird.

Reply #1 – May 06, 2013, 03:23:49 AM

can't sleep, so I figured I'd update a bit.

http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?35400-sn-95-v-6-t-5-behind-a-5.0

my t-5 swap.

I've gotten new tires. no pics yet, but front is 235/65/r15, rears are 275/60/r-15 on some 10 holes. barely rubs at full suspension travel. I hit a set of railroad tracks and didn't break for them. put a small cut in the tread. need to roll the quarters. car sucked the wheels up well, doesn't look out of place and didn't give me any rake.

power steering rack is cracked. planning on doing manual steering instead.

found my vibration that kept getting worse. my buddy that swapped on the tc front end didn't tighten ANY bolts down. the studs that poke through the header panel are all missing now.

next weekend, planning to roll the fenders with a baseball bat, try to find a 4-eye front end, and rewire the lights. also need a fuseable link replaced soon. the extension cord I spliced in makes me nervous with no fuse to it.

starter splinoid went out. swapped the one off my wagon for now. fun stuff in t-bird land.

new 87 bird.

Reply #2 – May 06, 2013, 05:50:40 PM

Quote from: Haystack;414541

can't sleep, the extension cord I spliced in makes me nervous with no fuse to it.

I'd not sleep till I had that fixed..

new 87 bird.

Reply #3 – May 06, 2013, 08:10:51 PM

Ive been pulling the battery cable off overtime I park it. need to get to either a junkyard or parts store sometime this week. it gets old.

new 87 bird.

Reply #4 – May 06, 2013, 10:04:25 PM

Yeah, for real. Reminds me...Ford tracked us down, sent us a recall card for the Mountaineer to get the cruise replaced. I need to get it taken care of...hell, it's free. lol

new 87 bird.

Reply #5 – May 06, 2013, 11:23:53 PM

its a trick. that's just what they want you to think...

new 87 bird.

Reply #6 – May 08, 2013, 11:36:37 PM

ditching the non-functioning ac and power steering will leave me with a couple issues with the belt routing. I think I found a way around it by taking apart the tensioner and changing it so that it pulls instead of pushes. this seems like the best way to keep the smog stuff I've found.

new 87 bird.

Reply #7 – May 14, 2013, 01:19:23 AM

well, cleaning under the rack and k-member, can't find the leak. looks like ill be pulling the rack out. sorta undecided between going power or manual steering. dont want to drop the coin for either. I can get a 80 mustang manual rack for less the $100, but the steering shaft/adapters for the different spines are over $200. power rack is $300ish. if I swap the rack ill do the pump too since everything else would be new anyways.

ballots, strut and springs are all fine. decided my rattle/ vibration was the exhaust. I am partially right... drivers side motor mount is broken. almost sheared completely off. drivers side motor is being held up my exhaust manifold against the motor mount. I see chuck mounts with a limiter chain in my future.

new front bumper, deleted courtesy lamps and added correct trim over the holes. junkyard fuseable link swapped in. couldn't find a fox battery box, so I got one from a v-6 sn-95 stang. bolted in, but seems to be ment for a smaller battery. mine fit fine.

replaced radiator and now have a functioning overflow again.

one thing at a time...

new 87 bird.

Reply #8 – June 16, 2013, 07:06:47 PM

been working off and on.

swapped motor mounts, power steering lines, and a new alt. the crownvic one plugged right in, but the.different.clocking of the alt.caused a wire and connector for the regulator to break.

I ended up with a "new" replacement. also bought a replacement pigtail and spliced it in. the new motor mounts made a big difference. the old top half was completely gone on drivers side. both mounts were broken.completely. car launches much better. I can get a solid.60mph chirp in second now, and light up a tire at any speed in first. I have a stock sized 195/60/14 on the back. my 275/60's rubbed a touch when I hit some unexpected rail road tracks. gonna leave it like this till I roll the fenders.

mechanically, the car feels 100% (knock on wood...). only minor annoyances now. needs an alignment, barely pulls to the left on the freeway.

now ill that's left is to finish the interior trim panels and then either minor bodywork, or more likely some h.o. stuff will start making its way onto the car. might see if I can run the stock s.o. with the t-5 at the track just to get a baseline on a baseline"performance" number. all is good here in tbird land.

new 87 bird.

Reply #9 – July 07, 2013, 01:13:06 AM

http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid33.photobucket.com/albums/d82/bosenKevin_02/video-2013-07-06-21-49-11.mp4

quick video. ment to just take off quick, but a light rain made things a bit slippery. didn't mean to peel out in first, and you can tell its a bit slippery because of the.slight chirp in second. love the way the car sounds though.

almost embarrassing how slow a stock s.o. with 220k or so really is.

new 87 bird.

Reply #10 – July 07, 2013, 02:59:14 PM

if your going to run only the alternator and water pump, the best way to do it is to get a standard rotation pump and timing cover. you can use the tensioner as factory installed then or you can use a turnbuckle to tension the belt. I have done both with no issues

new 87 bird.

Reply #11 – August 26, 2013, 02:53:07 AM

couple updates.

several times I thought I had my power steering leak fixed. now it randomly dumps all fluid while the car sits, and doesn't leak at all while running. I've been several months without any fluid gone, then sometimes have to add once a week. this is going to become a priority before the snow flies. undecided between new rack or junkyarding it. if I keep the a.c., not much point in killing the power steering.

gonna keep a.c. for now. kids bitch with the window down.

the suspension is starting to feel a bit loose now. guess that 230k is starting to catch up with the car. not sure how far I'm gonna go fixing it, but shocks and strut are cheap, and ill be pulling the steering rack anyways.

the cheapie front rotors are warped. they always had a bit of a wobble, but I've done a couple of panic stops which have made them much worse.

I have a feeling the timing is off a bit. wondering if i was lucky enough to get the nylon timing gear on this car. it will also start to overheat if I beat the out of it. if I stay under 1/2 throttle it cools well and will not run hot. but it should be running cooler with a 180° thermostat in there. Polly gonna do a new timing gear and waterpump. been toying with the idea of a electric fan. thinking id need a 3g alt if i go that way.

overall, The car is holding up very well considering the amount of abuse I put through.

sitting at about 230 k miles. another 4k and I Can say its been to the moon. then I just gotta work on getting it.back

new 87 bird.

Reply #12 – September 29, 2013, 12:30:27 AM

got some new parts I've been collecting over the last couple months.

explorer upper and lower
60mm throttle body and egr.
h.o. cam
sd h.o. computer
mark 7 h-pipe
19# fuel injectors

still waiting to get some other parts, have some lx tails and mid pipes on back order. said they might come in Monday. only thing I'm really missing is some shorties, couple gaskets, and I wanna do a double roller chain and waterpump while I have it all ripped out.
power steering rack is ready to get picked up. not sure if I'm going to go with new tie rods or not. my wiggly suspension ended up being two dry rotted tires. the side wall was separating.

this winter I have a couple big plans. gonna swap sn-95 springs and maybe che adjustable arms for the rear with some air shocks out back. wire it for a trailer, and if I get bored, some gt40 heads with new springs

car now has approximately 235k miles. its been to the moon, now I just gotta work on getting it back order;).

new 87 bird.

Reply #13 – September 30, 2013, 12:14:38 AM

I can't get over how much larger everything is on the explorer intake.

new 87 bird.

Reply #14 – October 02, 2013, 07:39:48 PM

I just finished reading this thread and the t5 swap what an adventure your having with this car, great work!