A Tale Of Two Birds

[TaurusKev 1089]

Well, you can't just have one...

 

So today, I was driving this home:

 

 

 

And now home in her driveway.

A 1989 Thunderbird.

 

But it gets better! :D

 

 

 

Best part of this entire car, it's a SC

 

Prior to taking ownership of this car:

 

Seller's photos

 

 

I love this car. It has some rough ends, but here's what I know, it needs a new camshaft position sensor as verified by a SC owner, when really pushing the car to the true limit, it malfunctions, which is due to Cam position sensor. Easy fix.

 

Has cancer (Rust) But not horrible. I think I have less cancer on this 89 T-Bird than I do on my 95 Taurus. So the owner has been very good with this car.

 

And a ton of electrical issues to make a VW look good to go with it.

 

I went through tons of papers, this car has had a healthy diet of parts and money thrown at it. I swear a ton of parts were replaced at least once in the lifetime. Supercharger has been rebuilt, motor mounts have been replaced, although I was suggested to replace em anyway. Radiator was replaced, suspension work was done, modules were replaced, crank position sensor was replaced, this thing wasn't cheap to own. Now, it's my turn to try to put it on a diet and prevent her from eating so much parts and money

 

But it was either this, a Taurus SHO w/ 5 Speed, or a land yacht (Either Town Car or a Roadmaster) Obviously the MN-12 won.

 

Either way, this is a welcome addition to my cars. It's such a dream to drive too.

[Brian_05_SEL 1418]

Supercharger whistle is a truly intoxicating sound.

[Vash 219]

Always thought it would be great fun to have one of those. Good luck with it!

[Spridget 498]

Supercharger whistle whine is a truly intoxicating addictive sound.

First time I rode in a SuperBird I was hooked. My next experience was driving my buddy's '03 Cobra. I found it impossible to keep my foot out of the throttle. "WaaaaAAAAHHHH!" My Kompressor makes the same noise, albeit quieter. Still fun to make it cry. Congrats on the car!

[Bull Geek 812]

How fast does it do a 1/4 mile?  Limited Slip rear?  MN-12s are fantastic handling cars, so you will surely enjoy the drive.  Cool car, easy color to maintain, eye catching car too.  Congratulations and enjoy!!!  I've seen ONE S/C MN-12 at Pull A Part once.  Such a cool design.  

 

Now you have 2 Essex in the household!

[TaurusKev 1089]

I guess stock, it does 0-60 in 6.9 1/4 mile: 14.9

 

Now mine has some decent modifications such pulleys for the supercharger. Larger crank, smaller pulley for supercharger. So that probably helps it a bit. Cold air intake always makes a supercharger happy.

 

The previous owner has no mentions of a LSD, so I will assume it has none. But what he mentioned in his for sale post was:

Professionally fully rebuilt and ported super charger by Embree Machine at 108k
Supercharger over drive pulley
B&M ripper shifter
Cervini's fiberglass hood
ZR cold air intake
High flow cats with larger down pipes
Flow tech terminator resonator
Rear muffler delete
Clutch replaced with new clutch from ford at 90k
Water pump at 93k
Eibach pro kit springs
Tokico adjustable shocks/struts
Excellent brakes
Synthetic oil since I have owned it
5 speed Transmission works perfectly
Alpine stereo cd
AC professionally converted to 134a in 2001 for $900
New battery
Many other new parts

 

And yep! I have one Essex that'll get smoked by anything that walks past it, and one Essex that many vehicles can't keep up with

 

Oh and my fiancee loves it, so that's a bigger win

[zenriddles 148]

I see no mention of head gaskets.

 

Plan for it.

 

Kinda like cams on a V8 SHO - it just happens. Always.

 

Nice purchase.

[machausta 155]

IIRC that car has Scott Hrback's gauges, and a 3.27 limited slip (check the axle code in the door jamb).

 

I love those SCs, but you should be on the lookout for a magnum powers blower as the M90s aren't the best design.

[machausta 155]

Is the automatic belt retractor 'stuck' yet? If not, then it shouldn't be too long before you end up having to he-man it in place and belt up manually.

[TaurusKev 1089]

I honestly don't know. The seat belt on driver side does not work, AND!! The Door Ajar light does not work either. Makes me think a bad switch in door. And I'm all familiar with AutoBelt. I love AutoBelt. Had em in my Escort and I've rebuilt those.

And yes. No mention of head gaskets

But I knew that going in. And honestly. The beating it took from Chris (A TCCOA/SCCOA member) yesterday, I am shocked my head gaskets didn't blow

[2000_Gold_Taurus 61]

 

And a ton of electrical issues to make a VW look good to go with it.

 

 

What's with that? Show the *** some love.

 

Oh, nice car by the way!

[Stocker 126]

Knew it had to be a Super Coupe. Looks nice!

 

How much did it cost, if you don't mind me asking?

[Brian_05_SEL 1418]

$1500.

Kevin got a phenomenal deal.

[Stocker 126]

 

So the bottom really has fallen out of the RWD car market...

[TaurusKev 1089]

Lol, it needs work though, it's far from perfect.

 

 

Also, I found this, I am not quite sure what this commercial is for...

 

 

But all I can tell there are tons of women who seem to be super turned on by the Thunderbird SC, and they love the guy who presumably owns the Thunderbird.

[Kodachrome Wolf 476]

 

So the bottom really has fallen out of the RWD car market...

What market?

 

I kid, I kid, but in all seriousness, the RWD market as a whole is a dwindling sector with most cars these days being FWD and such.

[Stocker 126]

But still... I was car-shopping from when I turned 16 until I bought the CVPI and reached a point of sufficient automotive contentment that I didn't need to anymore. The prices of these cars were reasonable higher back then (if memory serves), and there was a lot more supply. Cash For "Clunkers" shot prices up a bit but they seemed to have come back down after a few years. I can't see demand having changed much since it took a certain kind of person to want them 10 years ago, as it does today. Unless it's reached the point where most of the people who want one have one?

 

I still can't believe I bought the LTD for $1750, not in the shape it's in. There was a guy on GMN who couldn't sell a very nice Mark VI until he knocked the price down to $2500. Hell, if it's all this cheap now I should start playing the lottery so I can buy property and have a place to accumulate them.

 

 

Lol, it needs work though, it's far from perfect.

 

But still, the body looks really nice, the interior looks really nice, and you drove it home. And it's a Super Coupe.

 

I would've expected at least $3000 for that.

[TaurusKev 1089]

Well, it does have a bit of rust underneath, and a bit of rust everywhere else. Body is clean though.

 

However, here's an example of issues:

 

Automatic Seatbelts. When opening driver's door, the seatbelt does not function. However, the Door Ajar light ALSO does not function. Yet the multimeter shows Door ajar switch is fine. And even when shorting out circuit manually, no change. Seatbelt and Door Ajar light did not work.

 

Another issue: Interior Light/Mirror circuit - Interior lights do not function when opening/closing any door. When removing door jamb switch, there is no power on the always hot that would turn lights on. However, flip interior lights on manually, they come to life, and power is present at circuit at door jamb switch. Also, power mirrors do not work unless lights are manually turned on, and driver's door is open. So interior lights are getting powered off another circuit, presumably head light circuit. This also affects the dinger for the key in ignition. If the door is open, car is off, no ding. Turn lights on, chimes comes to life. I have ideas of what the issue is, but I have yet to have time to dig into circuits to figure that out.

 

Another issue: Never had head gaskets replaced. So those will go. The owner understood I would be the right one for this car.

[Stocker 126]

I remember when base-model Foxes and MN-12s, beaten half to death, were going for over $1500.

[TaurusKev 1089]

Tons of progress!

 

 

Found out why my interior light circuit was ****** up. Wasn't the previous owner's fault either!

 

 

Had the car in shambles too

 

 

And, my door ajar/power seat belt issue:

 

 

Broken circuits.

 

 

Nothing a bit of solder can't fix! Had to extend the wire.

 

 

Completed, and all circuits normal now

 

Also redid the whole stereo.

 

The Alpine sounded like s**t because it was using the factory amp... He wired the stereo into it, so I bypassed it all. But I also put the Pioneer in so I could have auxiliary input

Since he sabotaged part of the premium harness, I just cut it in half, soldered em together and did behind the stereo too. Now sounds much better!

 

 

Also, redid the cluster. I couldn't stand the gauges at night. This is much better at night.

 

 

 

[machausta 155]

I like it

[TaurusKev 1089]

Thanks!

 

I fixed a few things today, fixed the head lights. When I redid the electrical, I loosened the wire harness for headlights that went into MFS. Corrected that.

 

Replaced the cam position sensor, I had the car die on me which sucked. Pulled over, shut it down, restarted it, and it came back to life. I feel like changing my crank position sensor too just to be safe... Apparently these are issues.

 

I also registered the vehicle today with EA Tags. But... The temp tag is valid till December. I might leave the temp tag so I can get a wee bit more use during the winter

 

 

I love that rear end.

 

 

And how I lost my head lights.

Seems many harnesses in my car look like this

[njackson580 56]

Thats is definitely a sexy hind side.

[Brian_05_SEL 1418]

He's gonna have Expanded-Use Antique Vehicle plates on this car, just like Scarlett.

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/vehicles/license_plate_guide/antiqueexpand.html

[Roach 209]

Congrats! Love the SC, and that's a cleeean one! Love that hood too!