I miss my XR7 already and it's not even gone yet!!

WOW I sold my XR7 for 900.00 and all the paper work is done title sent to new owner etc. and it's sitting in my driveway waiting to be picked up and driven to illinois. But man I miss it already knowing it will soon be gone. I will get to work on it for the last time tommorow when I throw in fresh plugs and go over everything for the trip to illinois, it's going to be in the upper 40's tommorow. Too bad I can't drive it though, it always responds great to fresh plugs! If the body was in better shape I would have kept it, the engine runs great but I needed the money and it would have cost a good 2,000 to do the body correctly. I will be driving a 90 Ford taurus for awhile but will be looking for another cougar either a newer V8 XR7 or a MINT light blue 86 2.3 Turbo XR7 that I know of in Mass. It is beautiful original and looks like it is 5 years old! Just spying it out and waiting for the for sale sign to go up or I may make an offer. But I will always miss my original Canyon Red 85 XR7-Goodbye my Love-

So what about the guy who's buying it? Does he just need a beater or is he into 2.3s?

Originally posted by JLockhart:
So what about the guy who's buying it? Does he just need a beater or is he into 2.3s?

Well, he is definatley a "Ford guy" He races a 351 that does 13's. He has a thunderbird and a mustang LX. From the sounds of it the Cougar drivetrain is going into the LX! Then I think he is going to drop a 5.0 into the Cougar and get it as light as he can and do the body over. He sounds like he is going to have a lot of fun with the project so I am happy for him. Whats new with your T-Bird Jack-latest 1/4 times, mods etc.?

TurboCougar,

Since he is pulling the drivetrain out of it and not restoring the car, ask him if he would be willing to sell me the body tag off the radiator support.

Brent Abrams


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1985 Cougar XR-7 5-speed: Child & Albert 5.7" Super Sports Rods, Custom Wiseco Pistons bored .030" Over, Childs & Albert ZGS Rings, ARP head studs, main studs & rod bolts, Ported Big Valve Head w/Ranger Roller Cam, Port Matched Intake w/ ’88 Upper, Motorsport Front Mount Intercooler, Ported E6, Esslinger Main Strap Kit, Original T3, Gillis Boost Valve, 3" DP w/No Cat & ’88 TC OEM Dual Exhaust, K&N, ’88 TC Front A-arms & Spindles w/ 73mm Calipers, ’88 TC Rear w/Disc Brakes, 3:73 Gears, Eibach Pro Kit, Koni's, Energy Suspension sway bar bushings, Hella headlight conversion, 140 Speedo.
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1986 asc/McLaren EuroCoupe - 1 of 47 made
1971 Ranchero
Hi-Jumper Sandrail w/2.3L Turbo Power

BAC,
What's with the body tag?
I should be getting an 85 XR7 in a few weeks.
If the tag's there I'll hook you up. I'm just gonna be parting the car anyway.

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87 Turbo Coupe, 5-speed, boost at 18 PSI, K&N in finder, tangerine paint, shaved door handles, locks and emblems, painted interior trim(same as exterior), tiger print headliner, visors and door panels, Autometer gauges, 5.6" monitor & Playstation 2, lowered, white pony wheels...did I forget anything?
87 Turbo Coupe, 5-speed
White with blue pearl, interior trim peices painted (same as exterior), shaved trunk emblems and bleeder valve...so far
90 Notchback--turbo project!

JONESER,

I called it a body tag, but the correct name for it is "buck tag"
It located on the front of the upper radiator support.

To make a long story short, about 12 years ago when I installed the Motorsport front mount intercooler on my car the buck tag was in the way of the intercooler mounting bracket, so I removed it and put it in a box on the shelf in the garage.
A few years ago when my wife and I moved into our current house, the contents of the garage were packed up like everything else we had but like so many other things, it has been "lost in the move".

I want to reproduce my original one so I am attempting to get 5-10 of them from other '85 XR-7's to use as templates so that I can make it as accurate as possible.

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Brent Abrams


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1985 Cougar XR-7 5-speed: Child & Albert 5.7" Super Sports Rods, Custom Wiseco Pistons bored .030" Over, Childs & Albert ZGS Rings, ARP head studs, main studs & rod bolts, Ported Big Valve Head w/Ranger Roller Cam, Port Matched Intake w/ ’88 Upper, Motorsport Front Mount Intercooler, Ported E6, Esslinger Main Strap Kit, Original T3, Gillis Boost Valve, 3" DP w/No Cat & ’88 TC OEM Dual Exhaust, K&N, ’88 TC Front A-arms & Spindles w/ 73mm Calipers, ’88 TC Rear w/Disc Brakes, 3:73 Gears, Eibach Pro Kit, Koni's, Energy Suspension sway bar bushings, Hella headlight conversion, 140 Speedo.
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1986 asc/McLaren EuroCoupe - 1 of 47 made
1971 Ranchero
Hi-Jumper Sandrail w/2.3L Turbo Power

[This message has been edited by BCA (edited 01-10-2002).]

John,

Sorry, just now read your question. As far as my bird, it has been sitting since last May which totally pisses me off! I blew the head gasket in San Antonio and limped it back home to Dallas with my girlfriend and 5 year old daughter (very stressful). With 220k miles, the original shortblock had a fair amount of blowby, so of course rebuild time. In the meantime I finally decided I would not spend a penny on the car until I got out of credit card debt, which has been going on for 16 years. Anyway, got the debt paid off and started buying parts but then bought a house with my girlfriend so I'm broke again and busy with house projects. But I told my honey that I need a hp fix pretty soon or I'll freak out!
Anyway, long story short, the house has a shop out back dedicated to the bird, I am going to do everything myself other than machine work. I've got most of the parts I need to kick some serious ass, including the T3/T4, 255lph FP, adj regulator, 3" exhaust etc. I'm currently porting and polishing the head, and plan to take a week off at the beginning of March to put it all together. Trust me, as soon as it's together again I'll be taking it to the track. Stay tuned.

Jack

Originally posted by JLockhart:
John,

Sorry, just now read your question. As far as my bird, it has been sitting since last May which totally pisses me off! I blew the head gasket in San Antonio and limped it back home to Dallas with my girlfriend and 5 year old daughter (very stressful). With 220k miles, the original shortblock had a fair amount of blowby, so of course rebuild time. In the meantime I finally decided I would not spend a penny on the car until I got out of credit card debt, which has been going on for 16 years. Anyway, got the debt paid off and started buying parts but then bought a house with my girlfriend so I'm broke again and busy with house projects. But I told my honey that I need a hp fix pretty soon or I'll freak out!
Anyway, long story short, the house has a shop out back dedicated to the bird, I am going to do everything myself other than machine work. I've got most of the parts I need to kick some serious ass, including the T3/T4, 255lph FP, adj regulator, 3" exhaust etc. I'm currently porting and polishing the head, and plan to take a week off at the beginning of March to put it all together. Trust me, as soon as it's together again I'll be taking it to the track. Stay tuned.

Jack

Sounds good and I am sure you'll be faster than before. I am looking into another XR7 I recently discovered but don't know if I should spend the money on it and use it as my daily driver. Its an 86 with rebuilt engine bored .030 over with a motorsport cam, that the owner says flat out screams. Its got 120K on the body and 5K on the motor. I already checked the Vin and its got a clean history. No dents or body damage. I don't know if I should buy it. My other car would be a 90 Taurus if I didnt. He is asking 800 or BO. It sounds like a prety good deal but I have yet to see the car in person It needs gas tank straps a starter and possibly a vlavle cover gasket to stop an oil leak comming from "somewhere in front of the engine" Whats your opinion? I'd rather buy this car than drive a 90 Taurus.

Lets see... drive a 86 XR7 or a 90 Taurus.... a hard decision.... NOT.

Talk the guy down to $500 or so, and buy it! Ever done much repair work on a FWD V6? They are a PITA to work on compared to a good old RWD car (although the Taurus 3.0 Vulcan is about the easiest FWD V6 to work on compared to most other FWD V6 cars).

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Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 20 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 00 Windstar (wifes vehicle)

Well, if at all possible, I'd want to buy the nicest XR7 I could, simply because if you can find one in mint condition, it will only go for a few thousand, and you could easily spend that on just a paint job and other cosmetics to make a rough one nice. If you have another car to drive now, you might want to wait until a really mint one comes along. I like to watch autotrader.com for cream puffs.

Good luck!