North American Turbocoupe Organization

Full Version: 1987 TC, M5 Seattle area
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Hello.  I wanted to give a quick intro since I'll be using this forum for information as I restore this 87 that I just picked up.

A little about me.

I love turbo rigs.  I currently own a 1989 Dodge Caravan SE.  2.5L turbo, 5 speed manual, convert a bed option in the back.  All factory.

A buddy sent me a link to the 1987 TC that I just hauled back tonight.

She's rough but it looks complete, straight and runs *barely*.

230,xxx miles, note pad in the glove box with all service done since new, date, mileage etc.

5 speed.  Looks bone stock.

Paint is trashed.  Interior is filthy.  Amazingly enough the headliner is MOSTLY in tact.  Just starting to sag in the rear.  Honestly surprised it's still there at all.  

Unfortunately the person I got it from had it parked in their back yard.  4 or 5 pit bulls roam / tear up that back yard and used this car as their watch tower.  In other words they would sit on the hood / roof.  There's mud and scratches / paw prints all over it.  Oh well, paint was trashed anyhow.

It also sat for the last coupe years with no drivers window.  Somehow the seat looks fine *just dirty* and the rest of the interior looks good too, again just dirty.

I pulled the left tail light cover off before hauling it home.  I know all too well how they sort of just fall off and didn't want to lose it.


Years ago *roughly 25* I had a 1984 Thunderbird Elan 5.0.  As a young man I blew the AOD in the first month or so.  After replacing it 2 more times during the next year I got fed up with it and converted it to a 5 speed with a T5 from a 5.0 Mustang and pedals etc etc from a 1984 TC.

After the transmission conversion the next thing I blew was the 3.08 open rear end.  I installed a 3.45 from a 1984 TC.

After the rear end got slightly upgraded I then proceeded to blow up the TBI 5.0 engine.  I then converted it to ~1988 5.0 from a Tbird.  Engine, EFI and all.

After all that the car was then able to take my daily flogging and lasted years.  Eventually I sold it and bought a 1990 Mustang 5.0 Sport LX.

Since then I've had so many different vehicles I definitely can't remember them all but do remember the special ones.

1990 5.0 Sport LX.  Heads, cam, intake etc etc etc.  Was respectable quick back in the day.  Slow by todays standards.

1993 GS-R.  Um......yeah figured out that wasn't my style after a few months.

1995 Pontiac Firebird Firehawk.  5.7, T56 315hp trim.  That was a fun car.

1999 Mustang GT, 5 speed.  Slow in comparison to the Firehawk.

2000 Pontiac Trans Am WS6.  408ci procharged engine, T56.  Holy $hit that thing was brutal.

2010 CTS-V A6.  Pulley, injectors, exhaust.  Damned nice, fun car.

Several more sporty ones not really worth mentioning.

During ALL this time I've ALWAYS wanted a TC.  The reason I never really got one was I never had property to store it, they'd go for too much when I did find one at a salvage / abandoned vehicle auction etc etc.

Anyhow I'm going to plug away at this one slowly.  #1 is figure out why it runs like doo doo.  I can't see any coolant in the radiator.  I'm going to venture a guess that the head gasket is blown.  I also see oil leaking all down the head / block from the valve cover on the right side.

Apparently there's now an option to do some tuning on the EECIV!  Quadrahorse?  Looks like a Moates product.  I run their Ostrich on my turbo Caravan and think that one is a great product so hopefully the Quadrahorse is good also.

Anyhow I'll be lurking around on here, reading, studying etc.

Thanks!
I forgot to mention, and this is totally related to the Turbo Coupe.

I had a 1986 XR4Ti M5 back in the day. I was working in a wrecking yard and this guy drove it in and wanted to scrap it because it wouldn't pass emissions and he was quoted some ridiculous amount for a full new exhaust system.

Needless to say we bought it and I bought it from my work place.

I am very familiar with the 2.3 / 2.5 lima engines. Besides the XR4Ti I've had several Rangers with the 2.5
Welcome!

Interesting story about how you came to get your TC. I have owned around 30 cars in my lifetime (kind of lost count over the years), and my 88 TC is definitely my favorite of them all. My TC was also pretty rough when I picked it up for cheap back in 2000, and it took me almost 2 years to get it looking good and putting out some decent horsepower. Since then I have put over 100K nearly trouble free miles on it.