Ultimate sin...

zfink

Registered User
Just bought my first American car. 1989 T-bird...NON-SC, AUTO....:(
I was in a real tunery 95 jetta with lots of mods. The tbird is all stock came with 45,000 miles. I apologize it's not a SC but I hope I can be generaly accepted all the same. I'm hoping someone can tell me how to loose the monster truck styling of the car with the best suspension... I appreciate all the help and support in this big step for a little guy... :D


I'll post pics as soon as I can get some high speed internet...boo for dial up!
 
Thought you were talking about something else ...

I wouldnt be too picky with spring selection for a "non-performance" vehicle - unless of course you plan on replacing that NA v6 engine eventually.


- Dan
 
No one needs to know whats under the hood... :)

As long as it looks good. They can assume. Why did ford come up with such a strange lug pattern? I thought they would be the same as a mustang. Anyone know where I could pick up a set of converters to do this? Is it a common thing to do? Also what's the best sounding exaust for a t-bird? Is it a no no to just throw a glasspack on it?

I apologize for being a noob, It's the first time I'm mature enough to do everything right and clean on a car instead of wire ties and duck tape. So I appreciate any feed back. :D
 
Decided to upload pics to get more hits. I'll clean the car up and take some soon. I've added a few things to spice it up a notch...but this is how it looked when I first picked it up.


Thunderbird004.jpg

Thunderbird014.jpg

Thunderbird007.jpg
 
Forgot to post a pic of what I'm coming from. This is my old car.
Photoshootwithchris043.jpg


I need to know what to do with this tbird!!!! I can't find coilovers.... I need answers..please help me!
 
coilovers

Rear shocks are separate from the shocks hence no coilovers. Fronts are complete struts hence no coilovers. If you are looking to lower it, look for lowering springs, to stiffen it look for HD shocks and struts.
 
Why did ford come up with such a strange lug pattern? I thought they would be the same as a mustang. Anyone know where I could pick up a set of converters to do this? Is it a common thing to do?

It's not that weird ... just different from what you might expect. It's the same pattern as Taurus, Windstar, Continental, and others. The T-Bird suspension design requires a high positive offset, like FWD cars usually have. By now, the Mustang has moved to a higher offset as well, but I think it used to be less. Ford may have done it because they didn't want people swapping wheels with the wrong offsets. Who knows?

Anyway, it's very possible to swap to the Mustang pattern. You need Mustang front hubs (I think 94+?), Cobra (99+) rear hubs, and new hub nuts all around. Try to get ABS-equipped front hubs. You may also have to re-position the ABS sensor rings on the front.

Also what's the best sounding exaust for a t-bird? Is it a no no to just throw a glasspack on it?

This V6 does not sound good with open pipes or without a resonator. (Your opinion may vary.) You can get a complete cat-back (with or without resonator included) from Flowmaster for the 89-91 cars. It's a little expensive ($500+ for everything). You would also need to rig a hanger for the passenger side tailpipe, as the NA models don't have one.

Good luck with your new car! I had one much like yours for 6 years. I really enjoyed it. I could feel the difference in weight between that and an SC, which was nice.
 
That is a sharp looking 89 v6 na car. Around here I haven't seen one looking that nice unless it was a SC that someone took really good care of. Usually the v6 NA cars are abused and left in the boneyard with a blown headgasket. If it hasn't had headgaskets replaced yet make sure to just go ahead and do it. The water pump on my 91 blew all of the sudden too.
Alan
 
You could pick up those Eibach's that Dahoopd has listed in the Technical section on Ebay .. only $99 plus $30 for shipping - made specifically for V6 NA Tbirds. Only a 1.2 inch drop tho - pointless on a V6 NA Tbird if you want my honest opinion, I wouldnt bother with any kind of "Performance" upgrades on a car like this - Keep the money you will be saving from driving this fuel efficient car. Otherwise, enjoy .. car looks nice and clean.

- Dan
 
Wow!! Hey thanks everybody. I never thought I'd get this much positive feedback. I've had some bad expieriences with other forums. ...I think I'll like it here..haha. As for the guys who think it should be left alone....??? COME ON!!! haha. I gotta do something with it. It's the car freak in me. I suppose I'll settle for throwing some clean wheels on it and the exaust refered on here and maybe an ebay intake or something. I'll keep you guys posted. Still waiting for a sunny day to take pics of my new additions. :)

Just a little heads up, I used to detail cars for a living. So i've waxed plenty of cars. picked up some ICE wax and did a job on the tbird...I've never had a better wax job. If anyone is looking into a high quality wax it's definitly what I would recomend.


So has it been found out how many dead bodies can fit in the trunk yet? :cool:
 
Can I see pics of your car with them on? How expensive? Where did you get them? Like the ride? Worth it?
 
Can I see pics of your car with them on? How expensive? Where did you get them? Like the ride? Worth it?

Sure....pics below.

I have around $700 for just the fronts.

Here is where I got them....not sure if they are in business anymore.
These were specialy made for our cars.
These were available in a group buy a couple years ago.
Here is the info from who made them....
D & D Race Technologies
Denny & Dawn Barwald
www.dndracetech.com
Denny Cell:320-310-2218
Dawn Cell:320-310-2221
Office:320-629-4769
Fax:775-244-5586

15990 Rice Road
Brook Park, MN 55007


The ride is real nice....no matter where I set the ride height, the ride is the same.
These are 90/10's 12 way adjustable shocks.

worth it?
to me yeah, a lot of other people no. I use my car strictly for the track.
but when driven on the street, it rides like a normal car.


pics..

here is the lowest I can go...

57665.jpg



a little more conservative on the ride height..

DSC_0335.jpg



another shot..

DSC_0280.jpg
 
Wow!! Hey thanks everybody. I never thought I'd get this much positive feedback. I've had some bad expieriences with other forums. ...I think I'll like it here..haha. As for the guys who think it should be left alone....??? COME ON!!! haha. I gotta do something with it. It's the car freak in me. I suppose I'll settle for throwing some clean wheels on it and the exaust refered on here and maybe an ebay intake or something. I'll keep you guys posted. Still waiting for a sunny day to take pics of my new additions. :)

Just a little heads up, I used to detail cars for a living. So i've waxed plenty of cars. picked up some ICE wax and did a job on the tbird...I've never had a better wax job. If anyone is looking into a high quality wax it's definitly what I would recomend.


So has it been found out how many dead bodies can fit in the trunk yet? :cool:

Have you been on to the www.TCCOA.com website yet ??? There are A LOT more people with 3.8 NA's over there that actually do a few little "performance" upgrades like installing the 3.8 Split Port engine, etc ..

Otherwise, what some people like to do to make the car LOOK GOOD - and low, goto www.baggedbirds.com .. a few 3.8 NA cars that arent made to go Fast, but look great and are very low.

- Dan
 
Wheels

Congratulations on your purchase of the T-Bird. As far as wheels go, Lincoln LS, Jaguar x-types, and s-types also use the same bolt pattern as the T-Bird so finding a good set of wheels shouldn't be too difficult. Also, where in VA are you located?

Brando
 
I did about every bolt-on you could do to the 93 3.8 car I had. Please do not spend money expecting to get the car to be faster when your done, it just doesn't respond unfortunately.

Best exhaust sound follows, get some high-flow cats and a magnaflow resonator, have all new pipes bent from your manifolds back, without mufflers. These cars have a resonator right after the cats. It is easiest to get the standard magnaflow resonator that flows to a single pipe, then whoever builds your exhaust can branch it back out into dual pipes towards the back of the car, which is how the SC's are.

Other than that, I would put some Cobra R's on it, tint the wondows, and be done with it. I like the style of the SC front bumpers much better, but your car is in such great shape for the age, I would just try to keep it original and from rusting.
 
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THanks everyone...the car's growing on me...I've been constantly researching things to do. I think the exaust you've described is the most commonly used. Sounds like a plan to me. I go to Radford University but live in Culpeper VA when im not in school. Can any of you guys tell me what color the car is? I can't find any sites with the color name of it and left the original window sticker back home. I appreciate it guys. Hopefully this weekend I can wash it off and take those pics I wanna take to show you my new pinstripes. :)
 
If I were to powder coat the stock wheels that are on there what do you guys think would be the best looking color?
 
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