fordrodsteven

From what I understand this is inventory and projects from the company that used to be "Bob's Thunderbird Parts" in Florida. All going to be auctioned off. https://forums.fordthunderbirdforum.com/threads/55-66-huge-lot-of-bodies-frames-axles-brakes-interior-powertrain-and-a-whole-lot-more.7274/

Do you have a set of fresh air ducts? They go under the front fenders and up over the tires.

I too thought TC was for an MG-TC. If I saw T&C I would have thought Town & Country as I the Chrysler with the wood sides. Anyway, when I saw fogies and the acronym broken out it reminded me of a place where I go for breakfast on Wednesday mornings. The ROMEO's are there every Wednesday - Retired Old Men Eating Out.

When I learned I could not buy an exhaust system for the car I took mine to one of those muffler shops that will bend one up and install. I could have specified a muffler with the dual outlet but decided instead for a single with a nice chrome tip. They bent it up to follow right where the original system went and I am very happy with the installation.

I know! …. And it's a lot of good information. Fantastico!!!

I just saw an article that stated the electric cars suffer from a huge drop in distance in the cold weather we have had as of late. Many of the cars, according to the article, lose almost half of their distance. The article mentioned that one way to help was to precondition the car (warm the interior) while still plugged in to the grid. That way you are not using power for heat as much and the car can use the power to travel further.

I saw a photo once where someone had done exactly that. They took off the padded door on the console and just installed the other one (with the built in cup holder) in it's place.

It took me a while to find it but it certainly was Dave who had done the LED swap! DAVES89 643 Senior Member Members 643 6,215 posts Location: Menasha, Wi. Posted December 11, 2015 I bought a relay harness from Octane Lighting on Amazon. It is the H4 100 watt harness. It was $25.00 plus freight. It works well and is in both '89 Reattas. Takes a lot of heat off the headlight switch. It's mostly plug and play after you extend a lead or two. The Truck-lite headlights are a different matter. I think they were $350.00 for a pair. They come with a short pigtail that has to be extended. But they fit right in with no clearance issues.

Sorry if I chapped anyone's hide. I was thinking "it's a parts car" for not an unreasonable price. I, for one already have too many cars/projects. I am not interested in it. As a matter of fact I would like to sell mine. I went back to look at the listing and it appears that it may be at a salvage yard and they are trying to sell it as a complete car.

In case someone might be interested I saw a 1990 red / tan convertible for sale on E-bay. Ad says located in Delaware. It is going for no reserve bidding ends on Saturday night 01-12-2019. Currently bid is at $610. I says it needs a little work. It needs at least rebuild headlight actuators, new top and new tires. The seller mentions intermittent engine light and ABS light.

Thank You Ron. I never felt that the problems I had with the car were really significant for a 30 year old car. I have worked on many cars that were in worse shape with only half of the age on them. Even though my Reatta was somewhat neglected before I got it, the car has stood the test of time very well. It's just that I have that 64 year old car that I've owned (and not driven) for 44 years that I would like to build the way I want so I can enjoy it to the fullest. I have no intention of abandoning the Reatta guys. You guys are the best! It comes down to me trying to keep up and upkeep four cars and not being able to drive all of them enough to keep them "exercised"!

I look (lurk) at this site every day. Sometimes if I see something where I can help I log in and type my reply. I know that I have used this site and the ROJ many times when I was working to try to get my '88 Reatta functioning properly and make it roadworthy here in Massachusetts. My car functions very well and does not require much work to keep it "up to snuff". It is currently put away for winter storage waiting for me to pull it back out in the spring. Then I'll be detailing it every week and driving to local car shows at least once a week. I have found that if I drive it more frequently it "behaves" much better. As in; all the buttons and switches seem to work better. The car also seems to run better the more I use it. I am currently VERY involved in another "project" car and don't work on the Reatta unless it becomes an absolute necessity. Ronnie, you and others have helped me greatly when I have hit a point where I was a little stumped with something. I have the manuals and ability to fix most anything on the car but coming here has saved me a bundle of time when I was starting any repairs. I personally think you have done a fine job as moderator for this forum and also on the ROJ. FYI - I have mentioned that my wife keeps asking me to let the Reatta go. She has suggested donating it to get a tax write off. I told her I will not donate it because I would rather it go to a good home (for use as a driver or for parts). I'm pretty sure the car now needs the AC compressor replaced. I am on the fence about fixing it or selling it for less (probably $1,000) and a new owner can either fix it (and have a very good driver) or use it for parts. The reason is because I would rather spend my time and money on my "project" car.

I have always been able to get parts. I think the longest I ever waited for a part was less than a week. Sometimes I took a week to find a part because I was trying to find the best price. That said. I did take my car to get the A/C compressor replaced and converted to 134A. It was two weeks before they had the right parts and had it back together then they could not get the AC to function. After four weeks of going back and forth with them I took the car back from them with a non-functioning AC. I went through the troubleshooting per the manual and compared my results with a couple of guys on the web sites. I came to this website and the ROJ. We finally determined the reason my AC would not engage was because the power steering pressure switch was bad. A new switch (less than $10 at the local Auto Zone) and my system worked perfectly. The mechanic could not get it to function for 4 weeks. With the guys here and my manual I had it functioning in one day.

Merry Christmas! Even though I "lurk" here more often than I sign in it's good to see this site is staying fairly active during the winter months. Many sites seem to go stagnant during the winter months. I know I don't work on my cars or outside projects. It's great guys, Just keep it going!

If I were personally looking at this scenario I would go for the '88. Any car is only original once. It sounds as if the '88 has been ravaged less than the '91. I do not find the Teves system to be that concerning. I have also found that the parts that are completely unobtanium for an '88 are also the same unobtainium parts for a '91. If you are not afraid of working on your own car the most important thing you can do is get a shop manual. The troubleshooting procedures will take you through any system on the car and you can fix it. There is also a WEALTH of information and knowledgeable people right here on this web site.

Odd... I don't remember any need to remove the dipstick when I pulled my transmission out but.... I was going the other way and pulling my transmission out the bottom.

Makes me chuckle that it will actually be "driver" vehicle in the neighborhood but you will always probably refer to it as a "parts car"

Thank you, I really am very happy with the garage / work space. I had been thinking about insulating but put those thoughts aside. I kind of went WAY over budget when I was building the garage. There were a lot of fees involved and then time waiting for town meetings to get special variances due to property line setback. The foundation ended up being the full amount of my original planned budget. I originally planned on spending about $35-$40K but ended up at just over $100K. My wife was not very appreciative of the hit on the 401K. I still have a bit to spend on some equipment and the rebuild of my '55 Bird. I decided to spend on that rather than insulate.

Last year I noticed my key switch was getting sticky and trying to remain in the start position when I let go after startup. Then after I got my annual inspection sticker I noticed that the high beam function was no longer working. I did some troubleshooting. I had all the parts to tear into the column and found the best way to fix it was to remove the column. After a bit of research I decided it would just be easier to get another column and swap it out. Lo and behold after the swap my high beams worked again. I am a happy camper! Anyway I guess what I'm getting at is I did quite a bit of research and decided the easiest route was to change out the whole column. My wife and I made a one day road trip from northeastern Massachusetts to New York just south of the western end of Massachusetts. The steering column I got from the salvage yard was a bit scratched but the steering wheel is better than the one I had.

Lol! A little far to come use the lift but it would be a nice road trip. Here's another pic of this structure. It's about 100 feet from the back door of the house. The lift is in the one car bay. I currently have the Tee Bird off the frame and on a rotisserie behind the window / entry door.

I saw this car at that dealer about 4 miles from my house. It is inside in the showroom window. It is definitely blue and white. (not gray).

bought my two post 9,000 lb lift from Greg Smith Equipment. They have locations all around the US. I paid right at $2100 dollars. I put it up myself. I am SOOOOO glad I have it. It sure beats trying to get a car up a little bit then crawling around on the floor!

Not anything I did to my car today due to it being in winter storage right now but..... I was driving with my wife. I pulled up to a light at an intersection. There is a car dealer on the corner and they frequently have old and older cars sitting in a lower showroom that is visible from street level. I think they also store cars for people during the winter but I'm not certain. Anyway. I looked to my right and just inside I saw a Maui Blue Reatta convertible (white top) sitting there.

Rock auto dot com - strut bellows Range in price from $10.31 to $13.21 depending on which you want to buy. First though, I would check through ROJ and buy through Amazon if possible. (If I remember correctly this helps support the ROJ and keeps it available on line as the very valuable resource that it is.)

Is there some specific thing you need information on? I will try to help if I can. I have old Motor's manuals and some Chilton's manuals. I am now retired and have been working on cars and motorcycles from my pre-teen years. I never had a bullet bird. I had a '66 convertible and I am currently working on building a modified "55. The winter is closing in so I probably won't be in the garage too much for the next few months. (no heat out there). Heck there's no heat in my house right now either. I live in the area that was affected by the Columbia Gas overpressurization event back on Sept. 13th. I'm going to swing over to the vintage Thunderbird site to see if I can help with some of the questions on your list.