Age old crap of stripping and junking TCs

http://www.turboford.net/ubb/ultimatebb....6;t=011965

I may not be spending much time wrenching on a TC and I'm not even driving one right now, but I'm still holding on to it until I can. This guy just amazes me putting "Save a Bird!" at the end of the post when he's the one that stripped all of the important parts out of it! I know it's happened again and again and is nothing new, but I still got irritated about this one, especially when it's a moonroof car with a "straight body".

I think it's gotten to the point where it's no longer smart to advise people to drop whole engines in from a donor because they're taking them out of good factory TFs often because of "the love for the Mustang" and it being a MARGINALLY lighter chassis in most cases. There are plenty of turbo engine parts everywhere it seems like, most of the complete engines around need rebuilds anyway, so people should find their own **** engine parts to do a rebuild to turbo spec.

Some people say that this makes our cars more valuable but I disagree. I think it simply shows more people that our cars are worthless and only good to be parted out to support some Mustang project. I am definitely not a purist, either. I think our cars gain value when people see fit to keep them and put them in top shape or modify them and make them look different or interesting.

Anyway, just a rant, I know I've been playing with the SVO and Merkur lately, but I have big plans for the TC that might happen one day if I get the time, I'm just trying to stay focused on college right now.

two sides of this...

1-Remember, this IS America...one can do what he wants. now, trying to pass himself off as someone who wishes to save a TC, after pretty much destroying one, thats kinda BS...

2-moon roof, 5spd, straight, blah blah blah. its still just a 20 yr old battleship. if those options are so damn desireable, then someone will save it. if not, then it proves that nobody, even purists, really care...

see, if you have a TC, great. personally, i love em. cant beat the ride, the looks, the gizmos. but its a boat. sure, it isnt much heavier, but it longer, and a bit wider.

heres the real issue, "off the shelf" is what drives the mustang industry, and the TC people just dont have that option. stang guys can get every piece of sheetmetal delivered to their door, brand new. cant do that with a TC. want a 4 inch cowl hood, in fibergalss? got a fox stang? $300 to your door by friday. got a t-bird? $600+ and itll be 4-6 weeks. want a full drag suspension? for that stang, theres kits for under $400, whereas for a TC, you have to piece it together, and it may or may not work corretly. custom fit drag wings, wheels, lights, glass, cages, weld in SFC's, bolt in racing tanks, grills, dashes, full interiors, its all there for the fox stang, out of one magazine that was $4. you cant get any of that for a bird, its all custom, and therefore expensive, time consuming, and for the average joe, not nearly as good.

a 2.3T drag TC is a nice thought, but given the market, its not practical on a budget, unless your simply passionate about the birds. hes not. i am, you are, some others are. but to expect every guy who comes across a decent TC, which has every part he needs to do a budget 10.5 car on a 2.3T platform to try and save a car he cares nothing about, is self serving, and pompus. to try and piece all that crap together from ebay will TRIPLE his costs, or more. why should he? he wants a 2.3T stang, and with this boat of a car he got cheap, he can have one. he has no reason to care if you think its ok or not.

to even give anyone a chance to come get it, for FREE, and even to go as far as making it a roller for easy transport, is far beyond where i would go. would you even go as far as putting in the open stang rear to make it a roller?

its a shame, but its not a crime. let it go guys...

-J0N

Hmm, he said its "silver blue"

I wonder if that could be the ever so elusive "other" Mach 1 color???

I don't give a crap about drag racing, I really don't....so your references to it mean nothing to me, but for what it's worth the parts are available, all you could want for drag racing, drag racing is easy to get parts for, and most of the parts DO in fact interchange. The TC is NOT a boat and I'm tired of people that care about TCs saying this. It makes me so angry to hear that, the weight difference is really not that large, and is minimal if you compare option to option and compare sound deadening, etc. But I really did not mean to have the argument with you here, but it just upsets me. The SN95 stuff bolts on in the front and basically any Mustang axle bolts in to the rear, so what really is the issue? It's only about perception, there's little basis in reality.

Anyone with half a brain doesn't give a darn about all that stupid stuff in magazines. You know what convinced me on TCs and how they could be cool? If you remember the guy who went by the name of Joneser or something to that effect, had the tangerine TC with white pony wheels, that had a large effect, and also people like Glenn Hawkins'(I think?) blue TC and a few others in the showroom that show me how awesome these cars can look.

well, sorry, but i DO intend to argue...its my nature. and if you didnt, then your reply wasnt necessary. i like a good spar, and will continue it till the new ideas stop...

YOU dont care about drags, but the guy who stripped your beloved moonroof car does. the references mean everything, cause they are the SOLE motives for going with the swap instead of the bird. just trying to give you his perspective. if you dont want it fine, dont bring it up at all.

theres interchange, and then theres bolt on and go. SN95 stuff is not bolt on and go, its modifiable to make work, and its decent at best. SN95 stuff isnt all the great on SN95's, hence the reason people upgrade those too.

the weight difference stock is minimal, true. ever gutted a TC? a stang? the weight difference is the same 300lbs fully gutted for fully gutted as it is stock for stock. your still stuck with an extra fat man in the back seat, knocking 3/10th off, and lowering your max lateral G's. its just not optimal for a race car of any kind, unless its your passion to make it so.

a 68 bronco will corner like mad and run 9's too, but itll cost 30,000 to get it there. a stang will do it with $5000...theres a cost vs. return ratio with a stang that a T-BIRD will NEVER meet, EVER.

and yes, IT IS about perception. to a stupid mustang freak, a TC *LOOKS* like a boat, like grandpas weekender, like it needs a luggage rack and car bra. even if it was LIGHTER, it get stripped for a stang.

the magazine reference was to point out that you can and almost always could build a 10 sec stang over the phone. walmart tools, and a $4000 jegs bill, three weeks of assembly and a morons worth of tuning, and BOOM. try that with a TC...itll go 15's, maybe. stangs are just plain easier to deal with. i dont like it, you dont like it, but its the truth.

i want you to understand something else too. i hate stangs, stang owners, stang builders, stang everything. i had one, and guess what? i hated it too...i just take offense to someone getting all butt hurt cause someone chose the easy way. like you never have?

-J0N

In my opinion, the SN95 pieces bolt right on, control arms, spindles, struts, coilover kits. BTW, I'm referring to aftermarket parts here generally so I'm not considering OEM parts in the first place, as they won't perform any better than the OEM T-Bird parts typically but they give you far more options.

I don't need you to play devil's advocate, I'm well aware of the issues. I wanted to put this post up anyway to bring it up, every once in a while we should be aware of it and MAYBE someone will be inspired to take on a project.

There is a perceived lack of performance with a TC simply because people won't spend the time on it that they'll spend with Mustangs. I don't believe in any massive performance disadvantages.

A quote from the main NATO page about our reason for existance:

Dedicated to preserving the 1983-1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupes

Doesn't mean anyone's right or wrong, it's just our reason for being. That being said, I would hope that our members would lean towards preservation, not destruction, and wouldn't get all argumentative about it.

Just my 3¢ worth.

The whole stripping/parting thing urkes me too.Especially if it was a nice car,like the one mentioned.In the end though,Turbo Coupes aren't cult classic cars,they are expendable.Try parting an SVO,you'll be hunted down by a lynch mob and stoned to death.Only a few are passionate about TC's.

If it makes anyone feel any better Id love to go and get that car and put it back togather... The only problem is that its on the left coast and Im on the right coast.
Its the same thing as mine but according to the description alot better. If it was 200 miles from me I would be swapping out patrs right now and saying fairwell to my rather rundown TC.
Ive always like mustangs and t-birds... cougars not so much... My grandmother had an 86 with a 3.8 and i loved that thing it was just a rust bucket so I didnt bother with it. So now I have an 88 and to tell ya the truth I like it better than a stang simply because you dont see tc's everyday... I see mustangs all day long, there nice and all but rather be the odd man out and go with a little more taste and style with the t-bird.

i still maintain this: dollar for dollar, mod for mod, part for part, hour for hour, ths stang will be faster, lighter, cheaper, quicker, and FAR more practical. the TC will be better in OUR eyes, but the numbers wont line up.

im sorry i got involved, its just seems unamerican to call someone out over stripping a car...at least its american. not like its a TR5 swap...

-J0N