North American Turbocoupe Organization

ok, so i have ALWAYS had 87/88 cars. so anything pertaining to the 4-eye cars i have always skimmed/ignored cause i never had one. well, thanks to mike, i have one, and my information has been consistently wrong when i assume things about the earlier cars. so im going to just ask here, and hope you fellas know whats what.

the build date is Oct, 1985. it is an 86 thunderbird TC.

question #1: What would have been 'optioned out' on this model year? mine has leather, climate control, dual power seats, premium sound, auto dim lights, power antenna, rear courtesy lights, 5 speed, no sunroof. is this an every option car? or could you have gotten a factory moon roof in early 86?

Question #2 What engine computer should this have?

Question #3 Should this be a single or dual fuel pump system?

Question #4 What injectors SHOULD be in there stock?

Question #5 Big VAM or Small VAM?

Question #6 Would the vin tell me if this was supposed to be an automatic car?

Question #7 Assuming this was a factory 5 speed car, what rear end should be in there, a 7.5 or an 8.8, and what ratio would it be? (the tag is destroyed, i tried).

Question #8 What size should the fuel tank be? 18 gal or 22 gal, or something else?

anything would be helpful, thank you in advance!

-J0N

1: There was a power moonroof option at some point in '86, but I don't know if it was all year or not.
2: PC1
3: Single
4: 35# Brown Tops
5: Small VAM
6: VIN has no specification for auto/manual
7: 7.5" with 3.45 gear ratio
8: 18

Ok, so it probably is a check off car. cool, i now have two.

PC1, is that worth upgrading to an La series? what if i also wanted to go big VAM?

Single is good, it needs replaced anyways.

brown tops with a small VAM...interesting.

pretty sure its a factory 5 Speed car.

7.5, ugh!

just put 18.5 gals in it, so that makes sense.

thanks B!

-J0N

Personally, I don't think upgrading to an LA-series pcm is worth it at this point in time, but if you want a big VAM then you'd have to upgrade. It's not all that involved. I've done it, but I did it because I got a PCM and VAM real cheap and my original VAM was bad anyways. Need to add a few wires and swap a few wires on the PCM connector, add the ACT sensor, tap in to VSS and BOO signals, etc. IMHO it'd be better to Pimp it and do away with the VAM altogether, but that's just me. In the past, the swap was more worth the effort because it allowed the PCM to be tuned, but nowadays you can just replace it instead.

The 7.5 ain't bad - still a trac-lok. Swapping to an 8.8" is easy, though. if you keep the drum brake setup it's almost plug & play. When I did it, I used the 8.8" rear and axles (with the exciter rings knocked off) from an '87 T-Bird, and my brake drums had to be replaced with '83-'84 drums because the later axles are longer and the earlier drums have a raised hat, unlike the '85-'86 drums. If you tried to use the '86 axles in the 8.8 rear the bearing surface on the axles won't line up right with the bearing in the axle housing - I think it's too short.

Does your car have a buck tag? Mine does, but I've never bothered trying to decode it. It may say something about the tranny on there.

Hey I just remembered we have this VIN Decoder now! Plug in your VIN and see what you get.
http://turbotbird.com/vin-decoder/

Ok, i plan to go blow through VAM on this car anyways, so the small vam may not make any difference. not looking for huge power, just similar to what i had in my old 87. if the PCM is already running 35# injectors, i dont see the reason to change it either. i can drop in 46# CFI injectors, add a bigger pump, a FMIC, the blow through VAM mod i came up with, and tune it with an AFPR, vam spring and bypass screw, and a AEM WB02. should net me 280 to the tires. that'll be fine for this car.

that wont be fine for the 7.5 that already has axial play, pinion play, and slop in the yoke...

-J0N