'88 Turbo Coupe (Build Thread)

If you want interior plastic, You should not be looking for a Turbo coupe in the junkyard.  You should be looking for thunderbirds, and maybe not in the junkyard.  The interiors, some colors (most of them?) fade pretty bad.  if you could find a thunderbird in somebody's basement that would be 10X better.  Obviously the articulated seats in good condition and the right color are a challenge.  Not going to be in every t-bird and hard to ship. Somebody in the club might have them.  They got robbed out a lot, unfortunately, for any and all vehicles.

It's not easy to find older cars at pick-n-pull.  Their business model is they get a car picked over for a few weeks and that's it.  It's a brief window.  If you watch for them over the next 10 years, yes, you can get some deals, yes.  You just have to bide your time.  If you go to car-part.com you'll see everybody in Texas who's got a TC in the junkyard and most of those will have been in the junkyard for years.

I appreciate that. The local yard that had been around for the last 60 years recently got bought up and the land cleared so for the first time in 20 years I have to find a new place to source parts. I'm leaning toward some lightweight door cards that can easily be fabricated and a carpet dash cover for the immediate time frame. And Spittinfire, thanks for the offer but a blue dash in a red on red car already hurts my brain lol, and I actually need the plastic around the base of the boot, I am gonna make my own boot

Ordered some cheap tires from Discount in 215/60/15, same as what is already on it. New wheels and tires beginning of next year.

Welcome to NATO!

I have a permanent search for Turbo Coupe parts set up on eBay, it has been active since 2002. That’s probably your best source after people on here that have extra parts. EBay will be for the most part overpriced and expensive. I have gathered a LOT of spares over the years when they were more reasonably priced. Often, you’ll find a seller that just doesn’t realize the value of the parts he has (hello, low mileage Warner ISHI turbo for $150! A $45 rebuild kit [to be safe] and you’re all set).

Also keep in mind that for most everything except the body and trim parts, Fox Body Mustangs from the late 80s were a good source, and there are many many more Mustang owners than TC ones (**sniff sniff**  ), so that is likely a still viable option.

There is a website that offers parts from cars in salvage yards. The problem is, it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve seen another TC on the road, or even an LX model. That means, as firebirdparts points out, you’re not going to find ANY in a salvage yard—and if you do, due to age and deterioration, it likely won’t be in very good shape.

Many of us on here have collector car insurance, which covers the car for repair or replacement up to a high $$ figure. If the vehicle is considered a total loss, that insurance company will step in and you’ll never see that car’s parts.