Stumpwso
Joined:
Jun 2019
Abilene, TX
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I owned an 84 Elan for about 6 years back in my younger days. I should have never sold it! Now, I'm getting a little nostalgic for it and I want to get another Tbird. This time though, I want to get either a Turbo or Super Coupe.
My overall knowledge on Tbirds is not great. How do I go about learning the basics, like what year I want, what to look for, what to look out for, etc? Kind of a Turbo Coupe for Dummies if you will.
I have been reading the forum, but I feel like I don't know enough to gain much from the specific topics.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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anasazi4st
Joined:
Feb 2015
Phoenix, AZ
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(06-22-2019, 07:54 PM)Stumpwso Wrote: I owned an 84 Elan for about 6 years back in my younger days. I should have never sold it! Now, I'm getting a little nostalgic for it and I want to get another Tbird. This time though, I want to get either a Turbo or Super Coupe.
My overall knowledge on Tbirds is not great. How do I go about learning the basics, like what year I want, what to look for, what to look out for, etc? Kind of a Turbo Coupe for Dummies if you will.
I have been reading the forum, but I feel like I don't know enough to gain much from the specific topics.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Generally speaking, four things would determine which Turbo or Super Coupe you get: 1) What you like; 2) What’s available; 3a) what you can afford, and therefore 3b) how much work you want to put into it. (Obviously the more work it will require the less expensive it will probably be.) #2 is likely going to be the biggest determining factor, with #3 a close second.
Hemmings Motor News had a listing for a 1988 Turbo Coupe with absurdly low mileage for around $29,000, absurdly low considering the car is 31 years old. eBay recently featured an Ohio auction in which a Turbo Coupe with 40,000 miles sold for just under 6 grand—but unlike the first one which was in showroom condition, the latter one had some minor damage.
I can’t tell you much about Super Coupes. The original models featured a Supercharger, but later models did not. Simply put: A turbocharger gets its power from exhaust gas, which means there is a lag before the turbo spools up...but there is no loss of horsepower to it, as exhaust gas is produced anyway—it packs the cylinders with air for power (more air density means more force when the fuel/air mixture is ignited). The supercharger runs off the engine and does the same thing, but robs the engine of some power to run it, similar to an air conditioning compressor.
If you remember the second Mad Max movie (“Road Warrior”), he drove “one of the last great V-8 Interceptors”, which had a supercharger. He would have to shut it off when he wanted to conserve precious and rare fuel (for that time period).
Another proud dues-paying member.
1987 Turbo Coupe w/T5OD, 8.8 axle, grey smoke; most options. Got it in 1991 with 41K miles: 3 turbos, 2 heater cores, 3 T5OD full rebuilds, 6 clutches, 1 head gasket, 2 Teves II ABS units, etc. later....
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