NewB to the forums

Topic: NewB to the forums (Read 1793 times) previous topic - next topic

NewB to the forums

July 17, 2006, 03:43:16 PM

Hi all, Ive been watching the forums here on and off for a while, picking up information and opinions. I have a 1985 Thunderbird élan that I have been driving for nearly 4 years now. I finally decided to stop sitting on the sidelines, just watching, and actually join in. I do have a CarDomain page, it's listed in my sig. You can see all the pictures of "Natalie" there but I figured I would post a few here too.

It took me a year to do the body work and repair all the dents and scratches that were in the body when I bought it. The biggest problem was the "clear coat" that Ford applied to the paint. It was all flaking off like a sunburn and it took a really long time to clean up. I did a lot of the detail painting myself since I was on a tight college budget. Maaco did the Viper Race Yellow with their single stage polyurethane paint for just over $300. Over the next few months I did details and some small fixes to the car. It has just over 111000 miles on it, original engine. I added some fog lamps, a small sub in the backseat, sequential turn signals, thunderbird decals (from bobwhitedecals.com), and a true dual exhaust (curtesy of my friends at Midas, when everyone else in town said it couldnt be done.)

I still have plenty of work to do though. Mostly little things, the wiper blades dont stop in the down position (I know how to fix it, Im just lazy), the passenger power window motor squeals when the window goes down, the driver side power door will not lock/unlock when button is pushed, passenger side arm rest keeps falling off, the gear indicator on the dash doesnt line up right (Ive "fixed" this 3 times now, I give up), there is this really annoying rattling sound coming from the right rear corner of the car when I go over bumps and I cant figure out for the life of me what is making it, and I cant seem to figure out how to set the autodim feature on my highbeams!

Aside from the constant dripping of oil from a Windsor 302 engine (which I think was designed to happen by the engineers, as well as the retarded placement of spark plugs in relation to heater hoses under the hood, but thats a different complaint) there isnt anything I cant handle if I ever get away from working on my pinball machine or playing on my computer.

3 hours after getting her back from paint.

Stripe applied, trim painted, decals applied, my dads 30th Anniversary Cougar XR7 in the background.

Here is what I would like to do eventually. Eventually when I have a lot of money just lying around. I always liked the hard top convertibles of the 50's, so I thought it would be cool to cut the top off my car, make a fiberglass copy of it and put the same porthole windows on the side and turn my car into a convertible. Obviously it would take a lot more time and money than I have right now, but its on the list of "Things to Do."

NewB to the forums

Reply #1 – July 17, 2006, 03:54:55 PM

oooo purdy biiiiiird

welcome to the boards

NewB to the forums

Reply #2 – July 17, 2006, 06:44:42 PM

Lovin the color. I would also like to see your idea come into play. Welcome to the boards

NewB to the forums

Reply #3 – July 17, 2006, 07:46:42 PM

That is a nice car right there. Keep up the good work!!

NewB to the forums

Reply #4 – July 17, 2006, 07:50:14 PM

Welcome. Nice Bird.

NewB to the forums

Reply #5 – July 17, 2006, 08:27:04 PM

What teh car in the very back of the pictures?

NewB to the forums

Reply #6 – July 17, 2006, 08:32:01 PM

Rivera? thats what i was thinking... wut is it?

NewB to the forums

Reply #7 – July 17, 2006, 10:17:22 PM

Welcome to the site,
Victor will have a fit over the COLOR and it is a 4 EYE . LOl

NewB to the forums

Reply #8 – July 17, 2006, 11:20:34 PM

nice bird welcome!

not a fan of the strip but its a nice car

NewB to the forums

Reply #9 – July 17, 2006, 11:32:51 PM

Is that a factory sunroof?

Nice Elan, and welcome to the forums.

NewB to the forums

Reply #10 – July 18, 2006, 12:00:15 AM

Yeah, its a factory sunroof. That doesnt mean it doesnt leak though... In heavy rain I still get a little wet spot on the arm rest.

So I take it Victor isnt a big fan of yellow? To be honest, I didnt know until about 10 seconds before I handed over the keys to my car what color I wanted it painted. It used to be red, but of the 5 or 6 other Fox Birds in town, 3 are red. I wanted something that would stand out. And I sure got it. I have met people all around town and after they find out I drive the yellow Bird everyone is always like "So its YOU! Man I see you everywhere!" Yeah, my car blends into a crowd like a 400 pound pink hamster in a pet store.

As for the car in the background, that is my neighbors Grand AM. I forget what year it is, but that thing has been sitting in that exact spot since they moved into that house. Nice lookin car if he would ever actually get around to fixing it up like he says he wants to.

Thanks for the nice welcome, I hope my technical expertise will come in handy! If not... I hope my sense of humor will!

NewB to the forums

Reply #11 – July 18, 2006, 12:35:19 PM

Nice bird! Did that quote from Maaco also include painting the door jambs and under the hood and trunk?

I like your dad's car too. I'd love to have one of those 30th Cougars.

NewB to the forums

Reply #12 – July 18, 2006, 12:52:11 PM

No, Maaco just painted the exterior, I bought a quart of the paint at a local shop and used a brush to do the door jambs and the trunk. I didnt even mess with under the hood because it was so dirty that I would have spent more time trying to clean it. Halfassed I know, but I was on a very limited budget and I plan on having it all redone professionally someday. But as long as you dont look too closely at the doors you cant even tell.

NewB to the forums

Reply #13 – July 18, 2006, 02:10:24 PM

You got the 5.0 CFI? Or did you seitch to carb or EFI?

NewB to the forums

Reply #14 – July 18, 2006, 02:36:57 PM

5.0 EFI

That caused a few of its own problems a couple years ago when I got my hands on a cheap Edelbrock Performer for a 302. I figured it would fit the Bird no problem, about half way into removing the old manifold did I realize that there werent nearly as many ports and taps in the new manifold as I was disconnecting on the old one. DOH!

I sold the Edelbrock to a guy at WyoTech and actually made $10, so it wasnt so bad.