Help me make a decision please

Topic: Help me make a decision please (Read 2148 times) previous topic - next topic

Help me make a decision please

January 03, 2006, 04:46:05 PM

Okay, I now have 3 toy cars. This 87 5.0L Thunderbird I bought was intended to be used for winter driving only but because of what people I know are telling me about it I think I'm getting the itch to "tweak" it some. Problem is I need to get rid of 2 cars by this spring. One is modified so much that driving it daily would just be stupid considering it is a car type that gets broken into regularly. Getting these questions answered may make the picture a bit clearer to make my decision on what to sell later this year.

Question #1
What year range do I look for as far as 5.0L performance bolt on stuff? Will any aftermarket item such as heads, intake manifold, superchargers, exc. work on the 5.0L that is in my car?

Question #2
If I understand this correct, most performance suspension parts that would bolt on an 87-88 Mustang should work on my T-Bird, correct?

Question #3
Being my car is a 4 wheel lug nut type, I have not found squat as far as performance aftermarket wheels and tire combinations go. Is there a 4 to 5 lug wheel adaptor I can get so my range of aftermarket wheel choice goes up some? Or do I have to
swap rotors and drums to a 5-lug type. If so what year of car do I have to look for?

Any help on these questions would be great.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #1 – January 03, 2006, 05:02:45 PM

most 87-95 5.0 mustang parts will work. I woud recommend that you do the h.O.swap/conversion first. For the suspension, it depends on the part really. Most performance tbird/cougar parts can still be found for the same price or cheaper

For the adaptars, you can get them, but there are lots of problems with that. They arent very safe, specially if you are going to beat on the car at all.

What are the other two cars? it would help with the decision, if it does come to our decisions.

sounds like your other cars are already pretty modded.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #2 – January 03, 2006, 07:58:06 PM

The other two cars are a Custom Cal look 72 VW Bug. This car is completely restored but the motor is not very powerfull at this point. It’s just a 1776cc with dual baby Webbers. Possible future plans are to beef up the transaxle to handle a 2200cc.
These acrs are great in the sense that they are so easy to work on it’s nutty. No computer or sensors to mess with and at a mere 1800 pounds you don’t need that much power to get that car going quick.

The other is a 98 Dodge Neon RT. I bought it new with the intension of just having a daily sporty fun car to drive around in. No plans was to modify it but as some of you probably know one thing lead to another and before I knew it, it is now a completely different animal. The 2.0L was swapped out for a Stratus 2.4L. Then came nitrous making 198 whp with 229 ft/lbs of torque. Then came a Hahn Racecraft Stage 2 turbo with front mount intercooler upgrade. Now it makes a consistent 258 whp with 289 ft/lbs of torque at 8 psi. Keep in mind this is with a completely stock from valve cover down 2.4L. However I do have a set of SRT-4 pistons and rods that slap right in that will take it between 325 to 380 whp. 4 people in our car club have done this and they are all over 320 whp running at 16-18 psi. And, that’s just the motor, never mind all the suspension tweaks done to it. This is a fast car with handeling that is equally impresive.
The down side to this car and the reason I’m dragging my hiny on installing the forged internals is that during the time of modifying the car it became the highest among broken into and stolen cars in our city. I thought this was just a trend but it does not seem to want to change. Nearly every other week just on our car group alone someone writes to say how their car got broken into or how it was stolen.

This is why the T-bird as sparked an interest as being one hell of a sleeper. You can spot a fast Mustang a mile away but a fast T-Bird? Not so easy. Anyway that is where I’m coming from.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #3 – January 03, 2006, 08:59:04 PM

Help me make a decision please

Reply #4 – January 04, 2006, 01:33:17 AM

Here you go. The Bug is a bit hard to get to totaly but you get the idea.

Then there is the Neon RT

Haystack
"I woud recommend that you do the h.O.swap/conversion first."

You mean from a Mustang?

"For the adaptars, you can get them, but there are lots of problems with that. They arent very safe, specially if you are going to beat on the car at all."

So how do I convert to 5 lug?

Thanks again

Help me make a decision please

Reply #5 – January 04, 2006, 01:50:59 AM

check out this site it will help you out coolcats or try the search out here lots of good stuff

Help me make a decision please

Reply #6 – January 04, 2006, 10:15:46 AM

hmm i like the bug honestly. How about a porshce engine conversion? should bolt right in.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #7 – January 04, 2006, 03:05:40 PM

got any pics of the bird? the other 2 cars are pretty nice.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #8 – January 05, 2006, 02:10:03 AM

eewwww a neon.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #9 – January 05, 2006, 03:43:07 AM

Are you in a rush to do the 5 lug conversion? I should be getting my adapters within the next couple of days but I don't think I'm going to put them on until spring seeing as how my car isn't garaged, just covered for the winter. I can let you know how it all works out then or I can take pics and maybe put one on the car when I get them and let you know how that all works out. The place I'm getting them from is located in Florida, you could get wheels from them and have them drilled to the 4 lug too if you wanted. I was going to go that route but if I ever decide to get a different set of wheels having the 5 lug adapters would help in finding some around my way not to mention easier to sell the other wheels. Here's the page with the wheel adapaters.
http://www.autogainesville.com/wheels/wheel_adapters.htm

Help me make a decision please

Reply #10 – January 05, 2006, 06:54:07 AM

Quote from: CougarSE

eewwww a neon.

Shush. Those first gen's, especially R/T's are very nice cars. I'd sort of prefer one over my '05.

Dutchman, both very nice cars. It's unfortunate that you've got to get rid of both of them (if I read correctly.) If you had a choice, I'd say get rid of the neon, (I know, I just defended it) only because the Beetle appears so much more complete and only stands to go up in value. I'm a big fan of both of the cars, as well as the ones we all love here.

Help me make a decision please

Reply #11 – January 05, 2006, 09:07:55 AM

I want your neon.

Look up wheels for an 86-93 mustang, that will broaden your search.

As for you want for engine modding, youll need to start with a mustaang engine, and MAF compter. Once you do that, youre able to whatever you want, be it heads, cam, forced induction, or any of that.

Suspension wise, it all depends on what you want to do. Im going to be putting in a mustang k-member and control arms in my car, so i can run the better motor mounts, SN95 (94-98 in my case) mustang spindles, brakes, shocks and struts, ans springs, SN95 rear axles and brakes and probably the CHE rear control arms for the tbird/cougars.

Before you start modding the suspension, i highly recommend subframe connectors, and getting the torque box's reinforced, these cars are rather flexible, and is you stiffen the suspension, the body flex's more

Help me make a decision please

Reply #12 – January 05, 2006, 12:22:56 PM

sweet...sounds like your in a bind. the neon isnt going too be worth anything other than street value. its a sweet car but the longer you put off selling it the less your likely too get. the tbird likely already isnt worth anything and any money you put into it is pretty much gone. the bug, realy doesnt do much for me althoug hits a sweet little car. id sell that and continue too use the neon as a daily driver and mod the tbird as long as its in nice enough shape. find yourself a nice donor lincoln mark vii or stang too give yourself a nice head start on the tbird.....no matter what you do man, its in your heart, its your choice. do what makes you happy. if youve never driven anything like a stang mayby its time too track somebody down thats got one and take it for a rip too make sure its "for you"......cause its not for everybody...

Help me make a decision please

Reply #13 – January 06, 2006, 03:04:55 AM

Thanks for all your input I do appreciate it. It's always great to get another perspective. Yes most everyone that sees the bug say not to sell it. The Neon is usually a toss up until someone takes a ride in it and then it's, "holy shiznit I want it!!" I guess I wanted cheap performance and I got it. I just never figured on having to worry about it being broken into or stolen everywhere I take it. It sucks and it's getting old fast. But enough with me bitching about it.

Basically what I'm hearing is that I need to start from scratch motor wise if I want to get this T-Bird moving out of it's own way. I thought the 5.0L was just a detuned version of what's in the Mustang but I guess there is more to it than that. What is the difference between the 5.0L I have and the 5.0L in the Mustang. And why can't I just buy performance heads and intake manifolds and just put them on my engine?

As far as suspension goes, I thought most anything that is for a Fox chassis Mustang would bolt right on this chassis. Again what are the differences between the two?

Basically what I wanted to do is to do slight to moderate performance modifications like changing heads, intake and exhaust to my engine I have now using performance parts for the Mustang. Then possibly adding a supercharger down the road.
Suspension wise I just would like to drop it a bit using stiffer springs, better shocks and struts and going to all urethane bushings to get rid of that loose wiggly feeling it has. Again using Mustang / T-Bird parts that are available. Is this realistic or am I just living in a pipe dream?

Help me make a decision please

Reply #14 – January 06, 2006, 03:11:07 AM

You are extremely realistic. The 5.0 SO is not a bad motor, in fact if you threw the same aftermarket heads/cam/intake combo on it and a Mustang, the Bird would make more power. The 5.0 SO has higher compression pistons BUT the are cast and NOT condusive to boost (factory Ford forged pistons suck too). So, just rebuild it before the blower and you'll be fine. As fas as suspension, everything that is not the same is made anyways, so you can replace any single piece with something better. I say dump the Neon and Bug, and flw with the Birds man!