Is this worth it?

micah_jones

Registered User
Well, I found a guy that is selling a 1990 Super Coupe 35th anniversary for $1000. The car looks like its in good shape, one dent, and the seats are torn up but other than that it looks good. It has 92k miles on it, and is currently inspected right now, so if it needs anything, it shouldnt be much. Do you guys think this is worth it or should I keep looking for a different car? How much do these cars cost to maintain? I am on a sort of tight budget, so constant 3-400 dollar fixes are not what I want.
 
Well, I found a guy that is selling a 1990 Super Coupe 35th anniversary for $1000. The car looks like its in good shape, one dent, and the seats are torn up but other than that it looks good. It has 92k miles on it, and is currently inspected right now, so if it needs anything, it shouldnt be much. Do you guys think this is worth it or should I keep looking for a different car? How much do these cars cost to maintain? I am on a sort of tight budget, so constant 3-400 dollar fixes are not what I want.

Thats probably a good deal, even better if its a manual, but being on a tight budget a sc is not likely to be a good choice for you especially if you plan on this be your daily driver. Its almost a 20 yr old car.
 
the cost depends on how good you are with your hands, the cost to keep it going will be alot less if you can wrench on it by yourself


but if you dont want it as a DD post up where it is and im sure some1 here will snach it up


good luck we always need more members
 
I agree with all the previous responses. I believe the main point is it's a 20 year old car and will be needing everything eventually, but if it's between an SC and another older car that will need repairs as well I don't think there will really be much difference there.
I have owned several now and can tell you that every one of them has needed complete front end rebuilds, motor mounts, abs accumulator, speedometer gear replacement, various a/c problems, steering rack and/or pump leaks, valve cover leaks, and window motor gear plugs, window glass put back in clips, sc snout seal replaced, 3 belts, plugs and wires. Then things that are generic to all cars in the $1,000 and under range like tires and a battery.
Now that being said I have also gone very long periods driving a couple of them without doing anything except oil changes and such. I've also only had one that blew a head gasket and it was at well over 200,000 miles.
You probably won't be needing $300 repairs all the time but I would say $50-$100 fairly regularly if some things are overdue when you get it.
 
You probably won't be needing $300 repairs all the time but I would say $50-$100 fairly regularly if some things are overdue when you get it.


That's exactly how I would put it - assuming you can do the work yourself.

Micah - are you from the southern Indiana area by chance? I had a friend from high school named Micah Jones that was into Fords...
 
Thanks for all the input guys. To be honest, I am not even buying the car because its a thunderbird, but because its only 1k for a nice looking car with only 92k miles on it. What is the average mileage these things last before they start dying off? I am hoping it will take me to 115k without many troubles. Is that a reasonable dream with one of these cars?

Micah - are you from the southern Indiana area by chance? I had a friend from high school named Micah Jones that was into Fords...

Lol, no Micah is my real name, but Jones is not my last name. That was just a joke between a few of my buddies back when Mike Jones was popular. That is strange though.

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention, it is automatic sadly, not standard. I dont mind that though, I just need a car for at least a year or two.
 
What is the average mileage these things last before they start dying off? I am hoping it will take me to 115k without many troubles. Is that a reasonable dream with one of these cars?
I would say having low miles lowers your risk of failure on many parts but just the age of the car/parts says some things will eventually fail. It's a crap shoot to when something is going to break but a well maintained car can easily click off 20,000 miles. Then again anything could go tomorrow.

One thing to be careful of with the auto trans is to make sure the plastic grommet holding the throttle valve cable(coming from the trans) to the throttle linkage is in good shape. You should pick one up from the Ford dealer to have on hand for when the grommet breaks, you do not want to drive with that cable unattached. That cable controls pressures within the trans and will burn it up fairly fast if it's not doing it's job, trust me I know.
 
I would say having low miles lowers your risk of failure on many parts but just the age of the car/parts says some things will eventually fail. It's a crap shoot to when something is going to break but a well maintained car can easily click off 20,000 miles. Then again anything could go tomorrow.

One thing to be careful of with the auto trans is to make sure the plastic grommet holding the throttle valve cable(coming from the trans) to the throttle linkage is in good shape. You should pick one up from the Ford dealer to have on hand for when the grommet breaks, you do not want to drive with that cable unattached. That cable controls pressures within the trans and will burn it up fairly fast if it's not doing it's job, trust me I know.

What are some other things I should look for when checking out the car to make sure its in good shape? It is inspected and on the road right now, so I figured it shouldnt need TOO much if any work at all.
 
Kurt is right, you never really know. From what I can tell, MOST SC's will need headgaskets somewhere between the mileage of 90k-150k. I have one that appeared to never have them changed up to 255k. :eek: But the remaining three all needed headgaskets between 100k and 130k. So, if you don't want to have to do anything to the car, I'd ask that first off. Also, ask about the water pump, as I've had several of those go bad in the same area. Transmission, it's hard to tell, but do check on that bushing Kurt mentioned. Some car's will have the original plastic/rubber one, some might have the copper replacement. Front suspension should feel tight and quiet, most T-bird's I've seen with around 150k have had or needed to have new upper ball joints(control arms) and sway bar endlinks.

Overall, I think SC's are as dependable as most any other car on the road and parts ARE NOT overly expensive for the most part. There are a couple of exceptions, but since the base t-bird's share many parts, there's plenty of them available at good prices. Even so, the specific parts aren't usually too bad either.What might get you is if you take your car's to a mechanic...I'm sure they see $$$$$$$$ signs when the see an $C. :rolleyes:
 
[QUOTEIt is inspected and on the road right now, so I figured it shouldnt need TOO much if any work at all. ][/QUOTE]
What all does the inspection cover? Worst case scenarios are balancer, head gaskets, or transmission.
 
Well, I am still waiting for the owner to get back to me, but in the meantime, what are some websites that are cheap and reliable to buy parts from for these cars? What are some bolt-ons I can get for it to give it a little more get-up and go?
 
Well, I am still waiting for the owner to get back to me, but in the meantime, what are some websites that are cheap and reliable to buy parts from for these cars? What are some bolt-ons I can get for it to give it a little more get-up and go?

My friend...you've come to the right place!

Most autoparts stores have the parts you'll need....a few might be special order, but most everything isn't too hard to get. For everything else, if you search the forums, you'll be able to find an answer...all depends on the part.

Underdrive pullies, sc overdrive pullies, exhaust upgrades, later model supercharger are a few. If you're wanted to upgrade, you might check out some of the member pages to see what others have done - there are many many options and combos. Spinningwheels-sc.com and supercoupeperformance.com are some places to start looking. I myself watched the classifieds on this site to get most everything I have for my car - which took a few years. :rolleyes:
 
What are some bolt-ons I can get for it to give it a little more get-up and go?
Well, somebody has to say it, might as well be me. Search function.

As far as parts, personally I really try to go with the reliable(knowlegeable) and not really worry about the cheap. Cheap for upgrades is to find used parts, primarily in the classifieds here.
 
Are there many websites that sell new parts? What is a good underdrive pulley I can buy, and about how much do they run?
 
What are some other things I should look for when checking out the car to make sure its in good shape?

<a href="http://knol.google.com/k/engine-rebuilding-04/ford-thunderbird-super-coupe-buyer-s/1bwyjv3a0qzy/2">Try this link...</a>
 
This is off topic, but I registered like a week ago and still cant see all of the forums on this site. The Audio section is the main one I wanna see. When will this become available?
 
Got the car today, and boy am I glad I did. It is a fun car and I love all of the advanced things it has for its age(full power seats, power everything, sunroof, etc...) I am guessing this thing was the fully loaded version back in 90. Anyways, it does show its age though. There is a VERY annoying creaking/squeaking coming from the back of the car. It seems like maybe it is from the back windows but I have no clue. It sounds like a bunch of turkeys are gobbling in my trunk when I hit a bump :eek: Also, the transmission I guess is out of an 87 LTD or something like that? I dont remember for sure. Is this the same tranny as what is supposed to be in there? It sort of jerks a bit when it shifts up after I let off the gas. Anyways, I am officially a PROUD SC owner!! :cool::D
 
Sweet! Congrats! :D

I think the 87 LTD's had AOD's (automatics trans) also, but I'm pretty sure the SC's AOD was built a bit beefier. I know they're not identical either way, however.
 
Back
Top