North American Turbocoupe Organization



It's a new car!!!!
Keman Offline
Member
#1
Holy mother of god. That's all I can say! This thing is a completely new car. It actually andles now! Like, really well! I'm amazed, it feels like it can transition better than the audi. I can take the wheel and jerk it back and forth and it feels go-kartish, just darting to where you point it. All this on crappy no-name all-seasons??

Over the weekend, I did the following:

removed mechanical clutch fan- was too big, noisy, excessive. I installed the dual 15" electric fan setup that I used to run on the Mustang. I had it laying around for years now and they spin up using the stock dual electric fan electronics just fine.

Installed REAL a/c hoses. I broke down and purchased motorcraft pieces. Triple o-ring designs, now. The ones I had made were leaking. I evacuated it and charged it with R134a, and it blows colder than ever now. One of the lines that I didn't make prior contained the oriface/filter pinched inside, non-removable. Now that said line has been replaced, I have a new oriface designed for r134a and a clean filter screen, I'm getting much better performance as a retrofit system-- it blows VERY cold now.

Installed Monroe Sensetrac Struts/Shocks. The electronic programed ride control system still functioned, but the tokiko shocks were blown and I can't find replacements. When they could be found, they cost around $350 each .. which is more than I can spend. As a passenger car shock, these are quite nice! I'm very happy with the ride, it's smooth and sporty, and for $13/rears and $43 fronts, it's money well spent.

Installed new sway bar endlinks. The old ones were completely gone on one side, to the point of wearing a groove into the control arm. There was no bushing material! It had fallen off I guess. This would be the source of the clunk... and why the car felt very odd. I had some new spare ones laying around from the mustang and on they went!

New rotors, pads, brake fluid, bearings, seals. The old rotors had pink Mobil 1 grease packed in them. Someone really did take care of this car, I sure wish I could find the original owner. This was someones baby once, I just know it. Noone puts Mobil 1 grease into their wheel bearings unless they really care about their car.

Replaced the fuel pump. I found a Walbro unit inside the tank! I'm not sure what the output capacity is, but I think it may be dying. My fuel pressure was leaning out under boost and it doesn't now with the 170 lph in place. I think the filler neck in the tank is leaking now, I can smell gas at every stoplight. I was careful with the O ring at the top of the tank, and used some silicone grease on it and the filler. But. Something isn't sealing right. [Image: frown.gif] These gas tanks seem to always come out a couple times for pump replacement, it never fails...

Replaced the timing belt. It was off about 45 degrees!!! It had slipped, advancing the cam a huge amount. When I timed the engine after getting the car, I was wondering why it was at like 25 degrees BTDC with the spout disconnected. I put it at 10, but that didn't fix the cam in relation to the crank. The engine runs totally different now, it's still a rattlebox but it pulls like a freight train at 15 psi.

Put a 6.25" fan on top of the intercooler. Hey, now when it's at a stoplight the turbo directly under the intercooler isn't making it an interHEATER. It used to get hot enough to burn my hand after just a minute of not driving. We'll see how long the fan lives in that spot. I should put a 5 minute delay timer on it after I shut off the ignition.

New spark plugs. Old ones were at .045" ... and this engine is picky about plug gaps. Cheap autolite 764's @ .030" is what you want. It had some AC delcos of who knows what heat range in it.

Oilchange-- Mobil 1 Truck & SUV 5W-40 (Formerely known as Delvac 1) all the way. I run this oil in everything now, the mustang, the audi, and the thunderbird. It is fantastic oil, and $19.88 for 5 quart jugs at any wal-mart (I cannot find it anywhere else).

Next I think I'm going to 'borrow' the Accel 300+ MSD unit out of the mustang. It bolts in using the factory wiring harnesses, so it shouldn't be a big deal to temporarily swap out.

Unfortunately I cracked my windshield when R&Ring the hood. Caught it at the corner while mounting it, my friend holding it slipped and it took a chunk out of the edge, which has since drawn a 3" crack. Brand new windshield. Argh.

800 grit + 2000 grit wet-sanded the headlights. They are no longer yellow, they are crystal clear as I used plastic polish following that. The problem is the left lens reflector is actually rusted inside. Ford sells replacements for $42 each so I'm just going to snag the drivers side one.

Parking brake is non functional still. I adjusted it, it gets taught, it pulls the arms in the calipers, but they do nothing. Has anyone tried fixing/rebuilding thunderbird rear calipers? I can get front calipers fully loaded with pads for $19. But the rears, the cheapest I can find is $85. The calipers don't look to be in bad shape, I just think the parking brake ajusters under the pistons are broken or something.

Oh, the absolute best park-- I fixed the electric trunk/fuel door buttons. They were disconnected down at the passenger kick panel from when I did the heater core last winter. Whoops. So now that I could get into the trunk (my key doesn't fit it), I was able to look up the keyless entry code that's printed on the passenger trunk hinge......

... so I push the buttons on the keypad, and they all light up, the interior lights come on, and when I push the last button the door unlocks. I push it again and the trunk pops, and the other button and the passenger door unlocks. I push the last two buttons and they all lock. Outstanding!!! The system actually still works!

I'm afraid that the thunderbird is now earning a spot in my heart, I can't drive it like a battering ram anymore. It's just too nice of a car at this point. It just rides and drives so well I'm religating it to my daily commuter from this point forward. My commute is nearly 50mi/day, and it's getting 28 mpg on the highway. At $2.92/gallon these repairs could pay for themselves in short order compared to what I get in the audi.

Keman
Springfield, VA
Eric "Keman" Uratchko
1990 Mustang 5.8 GR-40
1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe 5sp
2005 Audi S4 Avant MT6
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ERIC J snowbird Offline
Posting Freak
#2
Holy cow! did you get any sleep this weekend?If you can do all that I'm offering a free weekend at Casa de Eric(Airfair not incuded) [Image: biggrin.gif] maybe mine would get done.

------------------
Eric J
Proud NATO member(However, I'm very suspicious of any organization that would accept me as a member)
88 TC 5spd (someday I may even be able to drive it)
01 F250 SD powerstroke(turbo deezill)
05 Buick Terazza(wife's)
'Keep yer touque on,Eh!'
- ERIC J
87 Black 5speed, 88 Black 5speed.
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Keman Offline
Member
#3
Quote:Originally posted by ERIC J snowbird:
Holy cow! did you get any sleep this weekend?If you can do all that I'm offering a free weekend at Casa de Eric(Airfair not incuded) [Image: biggrin.gif] maybe mine would get done.


Well, not much sleep. Hehehe.

Saturday I started at about noon, I was home by 1AM. Sunday I started at about noon and was done by 10pm.

I've done a lot of this stuff in the past, but I tended to take my time doing things carefully, inspecting everything and diagnosing as well as replacing stuff. I hadn't expected the swaybar endlinks to be toast, for instance. I also didn't expect to have to pull the distributer out and rotate it one tooth to get the engine to start so I could time it.

So.. things took a little longer than they could have. And it was also around 90 degrees outside with high humidity. I am.. very sore today. Tongue

Keman
Springfield, VA
Eric "Keman" Uratchko
1990 Mustang 5.8 GR-40
1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe 5sp
2005 Audi S4 Avant MT6
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slamjammer Offline
Member
#4
Where can you getfront calipers with pads for $19 for 88 tc?
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Keman Offline
Member
#5
Quote:Originally posted by slamjammer:
Where can you getfront calipers with pads for $19 for 88 tc?
www.partsamerica.com _had_ them for $19. They're now $20, unloaded, and only 60mm. They are always updating the catalog-- just last week there was a kit for the fuel pump install, now there is none.

They're now $29 unloaded, and $48 loaded for reman calipers.

Keman
Springfield, VA
Eric "Keman" Uratchko
1990 Mustang 5.8 GR-40
1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe 5sp
2005 Audi S4 Avant MT6
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#6
Rear Caliper Rebuild - http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/87-88...ebuild.htm
Pete Dunham


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Keman Offline
Member
#7
Quote:Originally posted by Pete D:
Rear Caliper Rebuild - http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/87-88...ebuild.htm

Any idea where I can get the parts for a rebuild like that?

I've found some caliper rebuild kits but they only seem to come with some piston seals and dust boots. I'm thinking that the e-brake actuators are stripped. The fact that I can turn the e-brake actuators and there is no pressure applied to the pistons is not a good thing. I'll probably end up having to get new calipers. Whee.

The flex brake lines are looking cracked at the ends too. Might as well toss those too...

Keman
Springfield, VA
Eric "Keman" Uratchko
1990 Mustang 5.8 GR-40
1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe 5sp
2005 Audi S4 Avant MT6
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#8
I haven't seen the person who wrote that ARTICLE on the boards for awhile. I emailED him to see if I can get a response as to where he got his rebuild kits and about the E bake actuators. I do know that he said it's almost better to just buy the rebuilt assemblies. I'll post here if I get a reply.

here is more info: http://natomessageboard.com/Forum1/HTML/010155.html
Pete Dunham


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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#9
I got a response for the man that wrote the article. He said he got his rear caliper rebuild kits from Auto Zone. He said they had to order them ,but he lives in a small town.

He did not relate to "E brake Actuators being stripped" He wondered what you were talking. I kind of agree but I'm not real familiar with the rears. The cables are the actuators as I understand it, but I could be wrong
Pete Dunham


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Keman Offline
Member
#10
Quote:Originally posted by Pete D:
I got a response for the man that wrote the article. He said he got his rear caliper rebuild kits from Auto Zone. He said they had to order them ,but he lives in a small town.

He did not relate to "E brake Actuators being stripped" He wondered what you were talking. I kind of agree but I'm not real familiar with the rears. The cables are the actuators as I understand it, but I could be wrong

Basically I can turn the 'cams' for lack of better terms, and nothing happens. No pressure is applied to the pistons. I know the pistons screw inwards when you put in new pads, as part of this mechanism, and that it's self adjusting in that no matter where the piston is, if the ebrake actuator is rotated, the puston is pushed out from where it was X amount.

My problem is that X amount is nothing ... presumably because the self-adjusting mechanism is stripped/broken/worn out.

Keman
Springfield, VA
Eric "Keman" Uratchko
1990 Mustang 5.8 GR-40
1988 Thunderbird Turbocoupe 5sp
2005 Audi S4 Avant MT6
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