Minuit

Chapter Two: One Word Sometimes I need to be reminded I still own a 1996 white Ford Thunderbird, so no shame in it if anyone else has forgotten too... Anyway, for those who have kept up with my life, I have recently made a big move career wise and life wise. I'm at my own place now, with a 2-car garage and a 1200 square foot 2-bay shop. I guess that means my stupid projects are back on! Anyway, resurrecting the car was a simple matter of dropping a new battery in, airing up one tire, and recharging the A/C. And getting some earplugs for my nose, because damn. This car stank when I was driving it (thanks, mice) and it has gotten no better in the 2 years I thought I was gonna scrap it. A couple of trips around the block to inspire even the slightest bit of confidence and a new plate later, and... Considering I've started it once since 2020, the drive to Alabama couldn't have gone any better. The brakes are actually really good, the alignment hasn't magically fixed itself so it pulls to the left a bit, but otherwise I was really most of the way through getting this thing sorted before the transmission (more precisely, the torque converter clutch) really started giving up on me. Which gets me to... ThunderCobraFalconBird The automatic versions of these cars have a peculiar feature. One thing that I have come to notice over my ownership of this car is that the MN12 chassis donated much of its DNA to later Ford platforms, even if Ford didn't care much to admit it. You see a lot of it in late model Mustangs. If you look at an SN95 Cobra IRS next to a Thunderbird unit, the inspirations are obvious, even if the Cobra unit is simplified and geared for Mustang use. Hell, you can even bolt a Thunderbird rear brake caliper onto a Mustang. There's one dimension that's of particular interest to this project, though. The distance from the rear of the engine block to the hole in the floor for the automatic shifter. It's within a quarter of an inch of the same on a manual transmission Mustang starting in 2005 possibly to the present day. What does that mean for me? A manual transmission for a 2005 and later Mustang will not only directly bolt up to my engine, but the shifter will be located exactly where the automatic transmission shifter is currently. Do you see where I'm going here? In the lower third of this picture, you're looking at the rarest automotive parts I own. Nothing Comanche related even comes close. The CD player Jeep radios didn't even come close. This set of clutch and brake pedals came from a '94 or '95 manual Super Coupe, and I've been looking for them for four years. Between those two model years, the Super Coupe Club of America can only account for around 1500 cars. What's this clutch pedal going to be hooked up to, you may ask? Let it be my honor to introduce you to the Tremec T-56 Magnum XL. Intended as a direct replacement for the 5-speed transmissions in 2005-2010 Mustangs, by pure, dumb, happenstance this transmission is practically a direct fit for this car. The factory driveshaft can be retained with a new 31-spline slip yoke and a 7" shortening (or more likely - I start with an aluminum one out of a Crown Victoria cop car and shorten it 4"), the approximately 32,000 pulse-per-mile speedometer digital speedometer output must be converted to an 8,000 pulse per mile analog output, the Super Coupe clutch system needs to be adapted to the Mustang style internal slave, and that's about it to get the transmission in the car. What Else? Let's start at the front of the car and go to the back. Headlights I don't remember if I ever bitched about it in this thread, but the headlights in this car are horrible. We're going to do something about that. If you know you know. After having a car with projector HIDs I can't go back: Morimoto Bi-Xenon lighting will be making an appearance in this thread, for off-road use only of course. I would say I'm ordering a used set of headlights to dick around with adapting the halogen housings, but it's honestly cheaper to buy a new set of aftermarket lights, and probably easier to get them apart as well. I also think I'd like some form of DRL. There might be some custom "Headlight Control Module" funny business coming up to prevent this from turning into a wiring rat's nest. Engine The propulsion is decidedly outdated. That's not the highest priority item, a fully functioning transmission is, but eventually I want to have some fun and dig in the Ford parts bin. I want to build up an all-aluminum DOHC Modular engine based on the Teksid block found in the sister car to this, the Lincoln Mark VIII. Swaps to the DOHC engine are almost routine in the Thunderbird community, but there's a dizzying amount of OEM and aftermarket parts to choose from (C heads are better on a naturally aspirated daily driver than B heads, adapter plates from a '99 and a '99 only Lincoln Continental allow you to install a B head manifold on C heads while also deleting the IMRCs, and 96-98 Cobra intake cams are the best all around OEM option... stuff like that ). The engine build is a fun topic to think about, but the engine in the car right now works, and it's best to keep it that way and wait before I mess with too much all at once. But one thing's for sure: you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be taking that stupid sea of plastic off and letting that sexy intake show. Honestly, the early Mark VIII intake isn't the best of all the DOHC modular intakes out there, but I'm glad it's the only one that would fit under my hood just for looks alone. Brakes/Wheels The brake and wheel hub situation took the most deliberation of all before I actually decided on something. Ford decided to use a 5x4.25" wheel bolt pattern for these cars with a 36mm offset and a 63.4mm hub bore. Good damn luck finding anything good looking, OEM or otherwise, that comes even close to those specs!!! The largest wheels these cars ever came with were 16x7. Decent semi-performance tires in this car's size simply don't exist anymore. I thought I had an option: the wheels from a P3 Volvo. The pattern and hub bore matched, and I wanted an idea of whether I could live with the huge difference in offset you get from putting a wheel from a modern FWD-based platform on a 30 year old RWD car. Here's a Magni from my S80, 18x8 +55mm offset: Not doing it for me. That's not counting the fact that the center cap doesn't fit, the wheel hits the spindle, and the tire hits the spring. But the bolt pattern is right, so that's something. After a lot of head scratching, a lot of browsing of very ugly aftermarket wheels, and more back and forth than anyone can possibly imagine, I decided to take the easy way out: ...and decide to install Mustang hubs. The front is very uncomplicated. Purchase new Mustang wheel bearing and axle nut. Install new wheel bearing and axle nut. The rear is somewhat more complicated. I can either buy $250 a piece rear Cobra hubs from Ford or $160 a piece rear hubs from another company, both of which require wheel bearings to be pressed on rather than being a complete assembly like the front (WTF Ford?), at which point the 10.2" Thunderbird rotors are no longer compatible unless I choose to re-drill a 5x4.5 bolt pattern in them. I'd rather not, so the natural choice is the 11.6" Cobra rear rotors. Well, to use those, it's another $125 to another small vendor for a set of relocation brackets that will position the Thunderbird rear caliper in the correct position over the Cobra rotor. I could make these, but honestly, someone has to support the people who support these cars, and I wish some of the vendors I pay thousands at work would turn out quality like this: If I'm gonna use Cobra brakes in the back, why not use Cobra brakes up front? Those brakes require a bare minimum of 17" wheels, by the way. I refuse to join the trend of people putting Cobra R wheels on Thunderbirds. In fact, if they made a 17" version of the directional swoopy Grandma specials this car came with, I'd run 'em. Unfortunately, no such luck. However, I want to keep the '90s look of this car. So with that being said, I think the best fit are these SN95 Mustang wheels from approximately 1997, 17x8 +30mm offset. That should give excellent fitment in the wheel wells with no clearance concerns, give plenty of tire choice, and not clue anyone in that something isn't quite right about this car... until they see that the brakes barely fit under them, but I'm a fan of that kind of "clue" I think there's even a Thunderbird OEM center cap that fits 'em. Suspension Suspension wise, it's tricky. My ideal is a recreation of the factory sport package. You can throw those cars around pretty well, but they're not back breaking. In an ideal world I'd just go down to the Ford dealer and buy the parts for the Sport package version of this car, but no such luck. That stuff was out of production 20 years ago and certain things are worth more than gold now. The springs show up fairly often in certain model years of cars and are easily found by reading the trim tag on the door jamb. Rear shocks are a direct bolt on from the Mustang Cobra, no surprise there if you've been reading this post. Addco makes an excellent rear sway bar option, and that's what a lot of people go with now that it's not so easy to just go to the junkyard and rob a rear sway bar out of a Super Coupe. The front sway bar is a mega pain in the @$$ to replace, and is generally adequate anyway. Front shocks, you're up the crick if you want a bolt-in performance solution. It's either pay out the @$$ for adjustable coilovers from one source, make your own from 350Z coilovers (an interesting solution), or make your own from hollowing out a Thunderbird shock and putting a Mitsubishi 3000GT front shock insert inside of it. So let's just leave it at "do nothing" for right now, shall we? Interior I have it stripped down completely right now: Everything capable of holding a smell is either in the trash or will be receiving a deep cleaning. The carpet both inside the car and in the trunk is completely junk thanks to many years of drink spills, mouse turds, and other fun stuff. The insulation on the floor will need to be scraped off and trashed, and new vibration damper and heat shielding will be applied in its place where it counts. I recall the transmission tunnel getting very hot in this car thanks to the exhaust, so I may experiment with some products that have come out in the years since I was in the game. The Taurus SHO/Super Coupe seats are practically required for anyone building a sporty Thunderbird, and for good reason. The stock seats in this one are in very good condition (if maybe a bit smelly) and comfortable, but not extremely supportive or adjustable. The SC seats are awesome. The originals will make excellent chairs after a few trips through the wash. Also, the Super Coupe back seat folds down, something I've grown to require. Seen here re-upholstered in perforated leather by a company that makes reproduction covers. NOS Premium Cassette radio with CD changer control. Part number even maps to a 1996 Thunderbird. Oh yeah, I'm going full stupid with this. I've had that particular piece of the puzzle for a few years now. Some Super Coupes had 145 MPH speedometers, but they can be converted to be whatever you want by switching out the gauge faces and resistors. I may or may not seek out the real deal, put some new odometer gears in it, and correct it to the mileage for this car. That's all for tonight folks, come back tomorrow night for a conclusion to what might? be the first exciting thing I've said in this build thread since I started it? To be Continued...

Yes.

The display is actually several components held together by the sheet metal cover you can see. That has tabs at each corner that can be bent up on the back of the circuit board, two on each "short side" of the glass that can be seen from the side, and the components (a paper diffuser, a plastic deflector/light pipe, the sheet metal display cover that holds everything in, and a hook-shaped bulb cover) will all fall out if you bend the tabs on the outer cover and bend the bottom of it out so it's parallel with the circuit board. Once the outer cover is off, replacing the bulbs can be made a little easier by bending the leads on the LCD outward to give you more space to work. All of that bending seems destructive but the outer cover can be bent back into shape and reused with care. Clear as mud? I really should make a video about these damn things some day. Source: I've changed bulbs on at least 200 of this exact radio.

Someone send me a failed TCU and I'll look at it.

You can see what looks like a drop of brake fluid forming on the master cylinder rod in this pic.

I had an idea in my head about trying to make an internal "box" for the speaker (low-passed and being used as a "sub" in my case) that follows the contour of the B-pillar, but it would be a complex fabrication for sure and I don't even know if there's enough space to have any volume worth talking about behind the trims and working around the seat belt mechanism.

Grafting a Jensen Accusound bezel in place of the regular "grille" part on the B-pillar plastic might get you some extra room while not looking out of place.

What is the available mounting depth? I've been having dirty thoughts about a completely invisible OEM style install using a pair of slim mount 6.5" subs, and my truck is a state away right now so I can't measure.

I have three, two fully working. They're exactly as cool as you think they are. I've also had the same thoughts about moving the HVAC controls, but eventually decided on just the top unit and a DSP for equalization. The full unit will be a bitchin' shop radio some day though.

If you were making good contact with your test leads (and you're sure of it) that pin being simply bent wouldn't affect the reading. If the pin is broken in some other way that can't be seen, that could cause extra resistance. In use, that pin may or may not be making good contact at all times, so I would 100% replace that pair of contacts at least. You wouldn't have to replace the whole connector if you can get it apart without breaking it. Those connectors use crimped-on seals on the strain relief of the contact and require a semi-specialized crimper. An Amazon special would work just fine here, and the one I recommend is this. I've made literally tens of thousands of crimps with mine and it hasn't skipped a single beat.

Mouser for the genuine Aptiv (the current name of Delphi) stuff.

Plus a 1200 sqft shop with wood heater and 240V.

To all of those I've been unintentionally blowing off... there's a reason. The 90+ minute drive each way was getting to me. I'll gradually be bringing stuff over. The '91 MJ will be coming with, the '89 will be staying at home to become my dad's project.

OK, time to expand a little... This (somewhat sooner than planned) acquisition is the result of a few things all happening at about the same time. In my opinion, my parents deserve a nicer, safer car than what they have now (a base model ex-fleet Impala that I found out has had the side airbags deleted and a 20 year old Northstar Cadillac), and something that that could trust to go on day trips, which they really can't in either of their current cars. The S60 has given me 20,000 miles of faultless service, and I'd change the oil and drive across the country in it today. I've also gotten my feet planted in my new job, and my mental state, bank account, and everything else is better for it. I'm busy, but I wouldn't go back for a second. Finished in Electric Silver Metallic, this S80 is a one-owner, almost fully-loaded car with an almost perfect service history and signs that it was truly loved by its original owners. Anyway, that means it's a T6, and in pre-4-cylinder Volvo speak, that means a 3.0L turbocharged inline 6 good for 300 horsepower and 325 ft-lb of torque, all wheel drive, and a 6 speed automatic. The S80 is not exactly a common car, especially if you're as picky about condition and options as me. Tennessee isn't exactly Volvo Country to begin with, and not many of those that we have are 2012 or newer (much improved infotainment and dashboard), most of those aren't T6s (the alternative is a "blah" 3.2L non-turbo inline 6), most of those don't have the Platinum trim level (which gets you the excellent 625W premium sound system, a backup camera, and some other stuff), most of those don't have the Technology package (adaptive cruise control with automatic braking, xenon headlights, and some other stuff), and most of those that do either have no service history or are white. The way I see it is this: Before the S60 everything I drove was either a Comanche or old and ratty, sometimes both. The S60 was my first nice car. This is my first nice car. With the S60 I proved I didn't need to fear the extra maintenance requirements of a European car. Now it's time for one with all of the bells and whistles. Plus, it looks good in my spot at work. So, I went to Georgia for the S60. How far did I have to go to find this one? A suburb of Cincinnatti! This made me concerned about corrosion, and while I haven't put the car on jackstands yet, sticking my head underneath has thus far revealed nothing to be concerned about. I haven't seen a bit of corrosion on the entire car, so I don't think this car actually saw Ohio winters. There's a handful of exterior scratches, and all seem to have been immediately touched up. Waking up at 3:30, picking up my usual road trip buddy at 5:30, arriving at around noon, spending several hours doing paperwork, and not getting home until nearly midnight made for a brutal Saturday, but when you're looking for a very particular sort of car, it's just part of the hunt. I also found the original dealership brochure in the glove box, where they circled the wheels they wanted: I probably would've gone for the ones on the right, but judging by the seat memory settings, the first owner was a little old lady. You might think that a 4,000 lb (DAMN!) car with a 300 horsepower 6-cylinder engine would get terrible gas mileage. So did I: I have so far averaged 27.5 mpg in 75/25 highway/city driving, which is nearly what I get in the smaller, slower S60. Thus far I have not been able to pinpoint anything I don't like about this car. I also can't think of anything I need to fix on this car. The S60 needed about $1000 worth of repairs and maintenance including a timing belt before I felt good about it. On this, a VIDA scan reveals a dead battery (revealed by a bunch of weird codes being set in almost every module at the same time) in 2017, some miscellaneous stuff further back, and not a single current active code. It's going to be time for the 100,000 mile service soon, which according to the Volvo schedule is just an oil change and air filter replacement. This car, in a revolutionary twist, came with paperwork proving that all of the services were done on time, but since I'm me, I've decided on the following: - Oil change (8 QUARTS!) - Air filter replacement - Cabin air filter replacement (This also has the fancy activated charcoal multi-layer filter system, a must for someone with seasonal allergies as bad as mine) - Full AWD system service: transmission fluid change, transfer case fluid change, active coupling motor cleaning, rear differential fluid change. Not part of regular maintenance schedule, but "sealed for life" is bull$#!&. I'll also take the opportunity to reset the transmission adaptation. - New wiper blades. I don't know what happened to make the current blades make the windshield dirtier every time they wipe. But damn. - New hood and trunk struts. The hood struts still have some life left, the trunk struts are borderline. - Tires are General Altimax RT43s. Not a bad tire, but these are 6 years old, worn down to about 35% tread, and noisy. Gotta fix that. - A trip to the dealer to have the navigation maps updated to the newest version, as the current maps are from 2014. So, since there's nothing I really need to do to this car, and even the maintenance items I have planned might be going overboard just a little bit, I have to do something, right? Allow me to introduce you to the line of Genuine Volvo Accessories! European S60s had this fantastic looking spoiler as an accessory, but in my opinion it looks just as good on the S80. The real question, is am I brave enough to drill into my trunk? It has the rear camera, but I'd really like to add the front camera. Pretty spendy, though. One downside of this generation of Volvo is the leather dye - it tends to prematurely wear. The leather itself is plenty durable, but the dye comes off. The driver seat on this car is showing some bare leather, and so is the steering wheel. Here's the fix to the steering wheel part. Also pretty spendy, but I've heard that the R-design steering wheel feels great. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not 100% in love with the wheels. I don't exactly dislike them, but two of them have curb rash, and I'm going to need tires relatively soon. Volvo offers no less than 17 styles of 18" wheel (and several 19" and 17" options, but I'm staying with the original size) that will fit this car, and some of them I really like. I'm likewise not totally sold on the genuine wood interior trim. From the factory, US spec cars normally came with non-wood trim only if they had the sport package, but the dealer would happily sell you a kit of interior trim in several different patterns. Not all of these are available, but I think the "sanded silver" shown below, found typically on the extremely rare Sport package, looks particularly nice: Anyway, that's about it for right now. I own two Volvos now. I owe money on one, and I'm still trying to get used to that.

Those seats look outlandishly comfy.

Not only no, hell no. The 97+ XJ with all of its safety improvements over the MJ and similar era XJs scored a "Marginal" in the IIHS's 40 mph moderate overlap front crash test... by 1997 standards. What they considered marginal then would be "beyond deathtrap" now. https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/Jeep/cherokee-4-door-suv/1997 That's with airbags, with additional structural improvements that didn't exist in the MJ's time. The 1995-1996 airbag is mechanical and completely standalone. It's inertially fired by a mechanism inside of the airbag itself, which would make it a good candidate for an easy swap. But an airbag can only do so much when the entire structure of the vehicle will collapse around you in a crash. And yes, this also means that the airbag will go off if you drop it hard enough.

Not many '91 Sportrucks out there. Does yours still have the 90s-tastic stripes?

Mine was. It no longer is, to say the least. My 89 had a mono AM radio and 2 speakers.

I love it.

The Jensen door panels fit a lot better over the speaker. You can get them in factory black too, from an '87 Limited.

It's not retained by anything and is super easy to knock off by accident without ever knowing you did it.

@schardeinyou might know - I see clips inside the doors of ~1994-1996 XJs that look tantalizingly close to the jack handle clip for our trucks. Any idea if they're the same?