North American Turbocoupe Organization



Restoration project
Thor Power Offline
Senior Member
#1
Just a general question. Has anyone, or better yet, how far has anyone taken their T-Bird in rebuilding the whole car. I think we have a unibody, so I have taken everything off the car except the doors and main body. Has anyone taken the body, or shell off the frame? Would it be necessary?
88 Sports "Thor" disassembled
88 Grey 5spd Turbocoupe "Hooptie" ('09 Calendar) Parted out & crushed.(Tbird Heaven)
88 Black 5spd Turbocoupe Parted out & crushed. (Tbird Heaven)
88 Red 5spd Turbocoupe (newest member)
02 Lincoln Continental (road warrior)
06 Mercury Grand Marguis (custom duals like the Marauder)
Reply

Thor Power Offline
Senior Member
#2
Oh yea, I have a 1988 T-Bird and the body is in above average state.
88 Sports "Thor" disassembled
88 Grey 5spd Turbocoupe "Hooptie" ('09 Calendar) Parted out & crushed.(Tbird Heaven)
88 Black 5spd Turbocoupe Parted out & crushed. (Tbird Heaven)
88 Red 5spd Turbocoupe (newest member)
02 Lincoln Continental (road warrior)
06 Mercury Grand Marguis (custom duals like the Marauder)
Reply

FLSTCI71 Offline
Senior Member
#3
As you said, it's a unibody, so there really isn't a separate frame. Just look underneath, if you pull the rear end and front suspension, you're done. The cars are a little hard to move around in that condition though. LOL. If your car is in above average condition and you're in Texas (no rust, I assume), how far apart do you need it to be? What is your ultimate goal, road race, drag race, trailered show car, a nice street cruiser or a daily driver? Your desired end result should help you determine how crazy you want to get in the restoration process and how far apart you need to take it.
1987 Turbo Coupe - Son's car
1987 Super Coupe - Son's project car
1934 Ford - My project car
Reply

Thor Power Offline
Senior Member
#4
Point well taken. I want it to be a nice street cruiser with a higher than average road worthiness. I'll call it a resto-mod. It is in solid condition.
88 Sports "Thor" disassembled
88 Grey 5spd Turbocoupe "Hooptie" ('09 Calendar) Parted out & crushed.(Tbird Heaven)
88 Black 5spd Turbocoupe Parted out & crushed. (Tbird Heaven)
88 Red 5spd Turbocoupe (newest member)
02 Lincoln Continental (road warrior)
06 Mercury Grand Marguis (custom duals like the Marauder)
Reply

turbot-bird Offline
Senior Member
#5
Thats kind of what mines turning into, only thing I haven't taken off at some point is the front suspension, doors, and dash
88TC undergoing transformation
Amsoil Dealer
NATO Vendor
My site
My Pictures
Reply

FLSTCI71 Offline
Senior Member
#6
I don't think Thor would have to pull the doors for the paint work. (You should post up a few pics so we could see what you have to work with.) Ignoring the runing gear and suspension for now, as that is a whole 'nother topic, the body shouldn't need every nut and bolt to be disassembled. My recommendation would be to pull the lights and trim for painting, but leave the doors and fenders on. That can save on huge alignment headaches later. Painting the jambs is up to you, it all depends on how much time and/or money you want to spend. We left my son's TC mostly together when I shot it in my shop and I think it turned out okay. We didn't do the jambs as he just wanted a nice driver, just like you.

http://natomessageboard.com/uploads/0000...Little.JPG

http://natomessageboard.com/uploads/0000...Little.JPG
1987 Turbo Coupe - Son's car
1987 Super Coupe - Son's project car
1934 Ford - My project car
Reply

BigNug Offline
Member
#7
My 85 TC came out of Colorado with 47K miles on it. It was in great shape other than liquor store parking lot dings. When I got it home I stripped off all of the trim , headligts, tail lights and etc. Then took it in for a paint job and body work. Turned out perfect. Next I stripped out the interior and had a new headliner put in along with carpet and a complete leater interior. This car is used in the summer only as the under carriage looks as good as the day it came out of the factory (winter storage is important in this respect as the garage floor sweats really bad in the spring) I use the car for my trips up to Northern Minnesota in the nice months. Car now has 73K on it and now I'm slowlydoing things to the motor(nothing radical)at this time. This spring I want to do the 5 lug conversion cause I need new tires and I want to upgrade at this time. I love this car and hope to keep it for a long time. So with that being said, do what you want to the car and enjoy. The beauty part about America is, that you can piss away your money however you see fit. God bless our Troops for making that possible. I'm done.
Bignug
Reply

Thor Power Offline
Senior Member
#8
This is mostly what I've done to Thor so far.

Click or cut and paste link. Photobucket password is thunderbird

http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n...ion=guestlogin

First set of pictures are of Thor in 2006. The engine removal and start of my resto-mods are in Feb 2008

Let me know if that worked
88 Sports "Thor" disassembled
88 Grey 5spd Turbocoupe "Hooptie" ('09 Calendar) Parted out & crushed.(Tbird Heaven)
88 Black 5spd Turbocoupe Parted out & crushed. (Tbird Heaven)
88 Red 5spd Turbocoupe (newest member)
02 Lincoln Continental (road warrior)
06 Mercury Grand Marguis (custom duals like the Marauder)
Reply

Pete D Offline
Administrator
#9
not working for me. What's the user name? I tried "Thor" and "Thor Power"
Pete Dunham


Reply

Thor Power Offline
Senior Member
#10
Sorry. When you click the link, the user name is "thorpower" (one word) and the password is "thunderbird". Try that.
88 Sports "Thor" disassembled
88 Grey 5spd Turbocoupe "Hooptie" ('09 Calendar) Parted out & crushed.(Tbird Heaven)
88 Black 5spd Turbocoupe Parted out & crushed. (Tbird Heaven)
88 Red 5spd Turbocoupe (newest member)
02 Lincoln Continental (road warrior)
06 Mercury Grand Marguis (custom duals like the Marauder)
Reply





Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)



Theme © iAndrew 2018 - Software MyBB