North American Turbocoupe Organization



New member nursing a bird back to health
Highwayhoosier Offline
Junior Member
#1
Hello to all! As I surfed the forums here and elsewhere in anticipation of picking up my Tbird, I realized I enjoyed the human interest story behind the cars as much as anything else. I figure I'm not unique in that way, so I'll share mine:
My wife and I have fond memories of an 88 TC I had when we got married in '04. I traded it away about a year later and haven't driven a fox of my own since. My wife learned to drive a stick in that car, and probably liked it even more than I did. Needing to add another vehicle I decided to find something I wanted rather than something utilitarian. About a month ago I saved an 86 GT from going to the scrapyard; paid $200 for it and trailered it home. My brother was aquatinted to the previous and vouched that it had been running and driving recently until it spark and the owner gave up on it. So, I picked it up after dark one night and didn't realize out bad the body was until the next morning. It was immediately dubbed the 'Rustang.' Floor were literally gone, replaced by hand shaped sheet metal. I had a few half-hearted attempts at getting it going, but could never get any spark and started looking for a rolling chassis to but the running gear in. At least as an 86 it has a roller cam, double hump cross member, and 8.8, so it's a pretty good donor.
Enter an 86 TC on Craigslist in SW Michigan. Add was for $400, that it was an auto, and complete but would tart and hadn't been driven regularly in two years. So, I took a trailer and made the 85 mile trip to see it, thinking if nothing else I could put the 5.0 in it. Checked out the body and the underside, both were acceptable. And didn't even bother to look inside. I was installing a battery to attempt starting it, when the guy said nobody else who called wanted it after the learned it was a stick. What!? Looked insides d sure enough, it was a 5 speed! I couldn't believe my good fortune! Couldn't get the starter to turn over and a pull start didn't work either. Turns out a fuel line is leaking in the rear. Anyway, I loaded it up and brought it home l, as giddy as a teenager the whole way back.
I'll have to fix those two issues and get the passenger window to roll back up and fix the latch on the drivers door so it will stay closed, but I figure the tinkering is half the fun anyway. End goal is to do a mild resto-mod and make a good cruiser out of it. I'm more interested in making a good driver, than doing any serious performance mods. I'd love to swap on an 87-88 TC front bumper and doors (for the flush side glass) as I think the 87-88's are one of the most beautiful automotive designs out there. Would love to do the rear disc swap as well and figure I'll sell or trade the mustang for what I'm looking for.
Anyway, I'll post a few pics once I figure out how to and cannot wait for that first drive!

Tom
86 TC 5 Speed
Black w/ blue interior
Cone filter and a glass pack
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