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General => Archive & Library (Read Only) => Topic started by: HAVI on February 27, 2008, 04:59:54 PM

Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on February 27, 2008, 04:59:54 PM
the light grey is from a 1987 XR7, the dark grey is from a turbo coupe.  Both are 1987.  Do they make the light grey in the tbird window shape?  Or is it a Merc color only?
Title: different color greys
Post by: Haystack on February 27, 2008, 08:01:56 PM
i'll take a picture of my tbird next time i work on my car...
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on February 27, 2008, 08:15:02 PM
Not to take away from your post, but when I stripped the inside of my cougar, all the moulded panels were stamped t-bird on the backs.
Just thought that was weird.
Title: different color greys
Post by: t3skidoo on February 27, 2008, 09:00:03 PM
I think Ford molded in one color (grey) and painted all the rest.
Title: different color greys
Post by: TurboCoupe50 on February 27, 2008, 09:27:15 PM
Quote from: t3skidoo;206678
I think Ford molded in one color (grey) and painted all the rest.

Nope, I've NEVER seen painted interior parts(least that Krylon Clem hadn't worked on)...

Quote from: HAVI;206632
the light grey is from a 1987 XR7, the dark grey is from a turbo coupe.  Both are 1987.  Do they make the light grey in the tbird window shape?  Or is it a Merc color only?

My '87 Sport had the light gray interior... Don't think that color was avail in '88 or in TCs...
Title: different color greys
Post by: CougarSE on February 27, 2008, 09:45:40 PM
Yup Light gray was available in 88 Tbirds.  8birdy8's car was light gray.
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on February 27, 2008, 09:56:48 PM
Mine are moulded red, but the dash is half painted. and there's 2 diff. reds
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on February 27, 2008, 10:07:59 PM
Quote
Nope, I've NEVER seen painted interior parts(least that Krylon Clem hadn't worked on)...


Here's my 2 tone red dash

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee79/daminc/IMG_2833.jpg)
Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on February 27, 2008, 10:26:15 PM
thanks, guys.  In looking in the local JY's, I have yet to see another car with light grey.  But, if they're out there, I'm looking for some interior pieces to make my cougar interior work in my TC.
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on February 27, 2008, 10:31:36 PM
You can always paint some to match until you find the real ones
Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on February 27, 2008, 11:00:36 PM
That's why I got the dark grey panels for now.  But I don't have any package tray yet, and I'm thinking I can trim the headliner.  Everything else should fit...I hope.
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on February 27, 2008, 11:13:50 PM
The lighter grey is Smoke Grey...it was available in 1986-88 and was part of the two-tone Raven interiors.

The darker panel is Raven.

You can definitely find the T-Bird panel in Smoke Grey. My old '88 Sport had them in that color.

Quote
Not to take away from your post, but when I stripped the inside of my cougar, all the moulded panels were stamped t-bird on the backs.
Just thought that was weird.

LOL It is but that's the way it was done...most every part on these cars had T-Bird prefixes and stampings. Very few parts were ever stamped 'Cougar' anywhere.
Title: I have.
Post by: t3skidoo on February 27, 2008, 11:52:31 PM
Quote from: TurboCoupe50;206683
Nope, I've NEVER seen painted interior parts(least that Krylon Clem hadn't worked on)...



My '87 Sport had the light gray interior... Don't think that color was avail in '88 or in TCs...


I bought a spare panel that goes directly below the steering column from a dealer.  My interior is grey, they had a tan color.  I told them I wanted "grey", they said that was the only color available.  (I think they were lying.) 

Bought it anyway, and started playing around with it.  It was painted, the molded color matched my interior.
Title: different color greys
Post by: thunderjet302 on February 28, 2008, 01:16:49 AM
Yep my 88 T-bird has a smoke gray interior (same color as the light gray). Everything is smoke gray but the dash which is raven on top and smoke gray on the bottom.
Title: different color greys
Post by: V8Demon on February 28, 2008, 02:12:54 AM
Quote
Yep my 88 T-bird has a smoke gray interior (same color as the light gray). Everything is smoke gray but the dash which is raven on top and smoke gray on the bottom.


Same setup on my Coug.  'Cept the headliner & door carpet are now black:hick:
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on February 28, 2008, 07:30:43 AM
I guess they used the same 2 tone concept with the red and probably the rest of the colors
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on February 28, 2008, 09:20:22 AM
Quote
I bought a spare panel that goes directly below the steering column from a dealer. My interior is grey, they had a tan color. I told them I wanted "grey", they said that was the only color available. (I think they were lying.)

At that point...they probably weren't. When the cars were new you could order any interior part in any color. As the years went on, Ford's supah-awesome warehouses ran out of some colored parts and only those which were in decent supply were listed for ordering from then on. I was told in 1989 that, if I wanted a third brake light for my '84, a common thing for people to do at the time, I had to order it in Smoke Grey only (they were listing for an '86, paint to match). This was only three model years after the '86 was new. Door cups were the same way...in 1992 I bought a new pair and they were Smoke Grey only, paint to match. So it's not just you...it's just the way that Ford in their infinite (un)wisdom stocked parts.

Quote
I guess they used the same 2 tone concept with the red and probably the rest of the colors
Generally, yes, but there have been some exceptions. I believe 1985 was the oddball year, with some solid colored dashes. In 1986 they theoretically all went two-tone and that basically continued through 1988. I have seen lots of examples of solid-colored dashes though, mostly in Smoke Grey but sometimes in Canyon or Porno Red also. It seems there was no rhyme or reason with that as well. My dealer books outline what color was supposed to go where. That doesn't mean they all were like that, though. This is Ford we're talking about, and you know how things are with Fords:

(http://www.coolcats.net/ximages/ford.jpg)

;)

The theory behind the darker dash top was to keep the sun's reflection on the windshield from becoming too glaring. It worked well...but at the expense of the darker color holding in heat, and thereby warping then cracking the plastic dashboard.
Title: different color greys
Post by: DVP on February 28, 2008, 09:32:00 AM
Quote from: HAVI;206702
thanks, guys.  In looking in the local JY's, I have yet to see another car with light grey.  But, if they're out there, I'm looking for some interior pieces to make my cougar interior work in my TC.


The Cougar with the manual windows was gone... there were two other 87-88 Birds though. You need anything else? Ill see about the gray interior. these had red and other one was brown
Title: different color greys
Post by: flipnbird on February 28, 2008, 12:54:24 PM
my 88 sport has the light grey panels also
Title: different color greys
Post by: TurboCoupe50 on February 28, 2008, 02:33:32 PM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;206756
I have seen lots of examples of solid-colored dashes though, mostly in Smoke Grey but sometimes in Canyon or Porno Red also. It seems there was no rhyme or reason with that as well. My dealer books outline what color was supposed to go where. That doesn't mean they all were like that, though. This is Ford we're talking about, and you know how things are with Fords:


None of the 14 '87-'88 TC I've owned had a two tone dash or any different color in the interior, excepting for gray headliners in the raven interior cars...

Thinking back they've all been red, blue(some of each in leather and cloth), or black(all cloth)... I've seen the gray/raven leather and also all sand beige interiors(never seen one of those in leather, least that I remember)... Remember I'm talking TCs...
Title: different color greys
Post by: V8Demon on February 28, 2008, 02:50:31 PM
BOTH Cougars I've owned had 2 tone dashes.  This one (smoke grey interior) and my old V-6 with the red interior.
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on February 28, 2008, 03:37:09 PM
I believe the 1987-88 dark blue dashes were monochromatic...makes sense. I don't recall seeing an all-Smoke Grey dash. Some of the reds were two-tone, some weren't. Taupe...those might have been all solid. 1985-86 Regatta blue was definitely two-tone. 1985 Charcoal...that's in Ric's car, that was one color I think. The tan was definitely two-tone.

Basically if the dash was all dark, it didn't get a darker top so it was all monochromatic.

I'll double check my literature.
Title: different color greys
Post by: Chooglin on February 28, 2008, 04:13:39 PM
Quote from: daminc;206694
Here's my 2 tone red dash

(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee79/daminc/IMG_2833.jpg)


I am looking at getting those same gauges,how do you like them?

sorry for the subject change
Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on February 28, 2008, 08:19:03 PM
My dash is two tone, grey and raven.  The rest is all grey.  Unfortunately the dash now has 3 hairline cracks in the top.  I may experiment with a different dash in the future.  But right now the easiest route to go is grey for me.

And thanks for the replies.
Title: different color greys
Post by: FLSTCI71 on February 29, 2008, 09:49:37 PM
I don't think the light gray was available on a TC, only LX and Cougar. I've got the original Ford interior/exterior color manuals out in the shop, so I guess I should scope them out and see what they say.
Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on February 29, 2008, 09:56:17 PM
Mike, I think you're right.  Noone has stepped up saying they had a grey in their TC.    Perhaps I could be the first, lol.
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on February 29, 2008, 10:07:46 PM
Quote
I am looking at getting those same gauges,how do you like them?

They're OK. a little small, but you just need to see the needle position anyway.
Didn't know they still made them. when the car goes back together I'll get the square digital gauges.
I only got those because they had the same colors as the dash gauges.
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on February 29, 2008, 11:03:18 PM
From the 1987 Cougar dealer book:

INSTRUMENT PANEL
Dark Smoke/Smoke
Dark Scarlet/Scarlet
Shadow Blue (one color only)
Buckskin/Sand Beige
Dark Taupe/Taupe

Presumably these would be the same on Thunderbird Base/LX/Sport.

The Turbo Coupe should have been all Raven in color.
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on February 29, 2008, 11:33:28 PM
Interesting.

Both my '87 Sport and my '88 T-Bird, both with porno-red interiors, had the two-tone dash and I didn't even realize it. Everything else was bright red, but the dashes were definitely two-tone. You can see it in the pics below.

My old '85 'Bird was a medium grey (not as dark as raven, but not light grey either) and it was one-tone. I remember that for sure because my buddy's '85 T-Bird had a two-tone beige/brown dash with beige interior and I thought it looked weird. Both of our cars were light sage green metallic, and I remember him being jealous of my grey interior (which, I later found out, was very rare in a light sage green car).

My 88 LS had the same colour interior that the '85 T-Bird had, and I'm pretty sure its dash was one-tone as well. Truth be told, though, I wasn't even aware that my porno red cars had two-tones until I read this thread and looked at the pics of my cars :hick:

It's possible that Canadian cars had different colours available as well. I know GM offered different colour options on Saturns in the USA - we would often be surprised to see a two-tone SC2 roll in, with US plates of course, because two-tone wasn't available here. If GM did it I wouldn't be surprised that Ford did.

Also, original interior plastic panels in Saturns were cast in their colours, but replacement panels were always grey and "paint to match". I, as well as all Saturn mechanics, have much experience with this because Saturn interiors were remarkably flimsy and clips were always breaking off, making entire panel replacement necessary. Again, if GM did it I wouldn't be surprised that Ford did as well.

My only-just-now-dicovered two-tone porno red dashes (the one with the floor shifter was the '87 Sport):
Title: different color greys
Post by: Carpimp1987 on February 29, 2008, 11:51:56 PM
Paint it whatever color you need till you find the part you need.
Title: not to be a hijacker
Post by: t3skidoo on March 01, 2008, 12:41:52 AM
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;207059
Interesting.

Both my '87 Sport and my '88 T-Bird, both with porno-red interiors, had the two-tone dash and I didn't even realize it. Everything else was bright red, but the dashes were definitely two-tone. You can see it in the pics below.

....



What's the source of that overhead console?
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 01, 2008, 09:07:06 AM
'94 Explorer. The exterior temp sensor is from an '00 Chevy Blazer (the same company makes consoles for Ford and Chev so sensors are interchangeable).
Title: different color greys
Post by: daminc on March 01, 2008, 09:08:47 AM
I think you need to paint that console. now you have 3 reds in your car.
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 01, 2008, 02:08:58 PM
Quote
My old '85 'Bird was a medium grey (not as dark as raven, but not light grey either) and it was one-tone.

Carm, that would have been Charcoal Grey, which would make sense then why it would be just one color. I'm not sure about any changes in interior colors for Canada...never found anything to list that, although to be fair I've never seen anything listed for the contrary. More than likely it's a model-year thing rather than a country thing.

It is difficult to keep up with the small changes that Ford made on these cars from year to year. It's no surprise if people just don't know things or get confused. Hell, there's only about a handful of people here who really know differences to spot them and also give a  about them at the same time. :)

GREYS
Charcoal Grey spanned from 1983-85. That's two different interior styles.
Oxford Grey (light) was 1983-85. Two interior styles.
Smoke was 1986-88. Two body styles, replaced Oxford and Charcoal greys.
Raven was Turbo Coupe only, 1987-88, almost black in color.

REDS
Canyon (Medium) Red was from 1983-86. Again, two interior styles.
Scarlet (aka Porno) Red was 1987-88 only, replaced Canyon Red.

TANS
Desert Tan was 1983-84 only.
Sand Beige was 1985-88. Two body styles, replaced Desert Tan.

How about these for oddballs...be glad you're not hunting for interior panels for these...

BROWNS/TANS
Walnut (brown) was 1983 only. Thank God. ;)
Wheat was 1984 only. Creamy yellow.
Taupe was 1986-87 only. Two different body styles. Very nice color, somewhat underappreciated, but a real stunner in person.
Cinnabar was 1988 only. Just one model year. It replaced Taupe and was more of an intense Taupe brown. Exceptional color, especially with a one-year-only Rose Quartz exterior.

It's much easier to keep track of the blues...each was only two model years, none spanned an interior change or body style change:

BLUES
Academy Blue - 1983-84
Regatta Blue - 1985-86
Shadow Blue - 1987-88

Unfortunately this was the 1980's, where browns, blues and burgundys ruled the interior scene. Some of the colors were strange, looking back, but most have held up quite well actually. At the very least, we can be proud that we never had boring interior colors. Three different greys, three different blues, a very nice tan (Sand Beige), later on an almost-black (Raven)...pretty nice variety, and worlds beyond what's available today in most vehicles. You're lucky to get anything beyond tan, black and grey now.
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 01, 2008, 05:09:17 PM
Daminc: The console actually matches the headliner almost perfectly - it's the camera flash that makes it look brighter. You're right, though, I do have to paint it - I'm switching the interior over to black :D

Eric: I know of two discrepancies in your colour list, maybe a Canada thing:

1) I know where there's an '88 LX (VIN code 62) with floor shifter and TC seats with the raven interior - I've been trying to buy it as a parts car for nearly a decade (it's got a full body kit on it). The car is two-tone silver on the outside and raven inside, and the interior is MINT. The body is ROTTEN though, and it's sitting sunken into the ground behind a house just outside of Dartmouth, NS. I found the car when I bought my 10-holes from the guy. He won't sell that God-ed car, though - claims he's gonna restore it, even though it's well beyond restoration

2) I test drove an '88 V6 Cougar with a brown interior a few years ago (actually it had to have been half a decade ago or more, since I bought my 88 T-Bird in March '03). It was a V6 car with console (no shifter) and was two-tone brown and beige outside. It was definitely brown (not beige) inside, and I really liked it. The rest of the car was ola, mainly because the whole right side of the car had been sideswiped, but the inside was very nice.

It's odd - while most manufacturers only offer beige, black or tan nowadays, Ford offered a large assortment of colours right into the mid 90's. I've seen MN12's with green (!), brown, beige, blue, red, light grey, and dark grey interiors.

I couldn't believe my eyes the time I saw an MN12 Cougar with the green leather interior a few years ago (it was absolutely stunning, with a deep forest green metallic exterior), and you often see all of these colours available in Lincolns. I think the green surprised me because I'd never seen it in a Fox and couldn't believe that Ford would reintroduce the colour in the 90's.
Title: different color greys
Post by: gumby on March 01, 2008, 05:47:30 PM
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;207115
Ford offered a large assortment of colours right into the mid 90's. I've seen MN12's with green (!), brown, beige, blue, red, light grey, and dark grey interiors.

I couldn't believe my eyes the time I saw an MN12 Cougar with the green leather interior a few years ago (it was absolutely stunning, with a deep forest green metallic exterior), and you often see all of these colours available in Lincolns. I think the green surprised me because I'd never seen it in a Fox and couldn't believe that Ford would reintroduce the colour in the 90's.

ive seen 95-01 style explorers with the green interior too; and 95-97 rangers with blue. both rarely seen, but very nice indeed. problem is they are rare cause people dont order them, so in turn manufactures stop offerin them. tan, grey, black...bleh.
Title: different color greys
Post by: V8Demon on March 01, 2008, 05:55:05 PM
I see you moved your Cruise control functions Carm;)

Very Nice!  How hard was the wiring for that?
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 01, 2008, 08:10:50 PM
The cruise button relocation was easy. One wire in the column had to be cut (I believe the blue one) and rerouted to the new button spot, two had to be spliced into (a purple and a black - but not cut, else the horn wouldn't work) with new branches to the new buttons. I've since moved 'em back though - I got tired of the aftermarket wheel and installed a stock TC one.

Actually, when I moved 'em it was only out of necessity - the slip rings in my original wheel exploded, forcing me to install the aftermarket wheel to begin with :hick:
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 01, 2008, 11:32:49 PM
Carm, I don't have Ford books for 1987-88, only Lincoln-Mercury, so I can't confirm Raven. It's possible that it was in other T-Birds but I remember reading somewhere that it was supposed to be Turbo Coupe-only. Brent could confirm that.

The brown interior on the '88 was definitely Cinnabar. It's a gorgeous color. Much different from the 1983 brown. ;)
Title: different color greys
Post by: V8Demon on March 11, 2008, 09:20:16 AM
Thanks for the info on the cruise wires Carm ;)

I finally found a sttering wheel from an '85 Mustang and am deciding whether to move the buttons or do a swap which involves a stalk type style cruise control...


As far as the green interior in am MN-12...My brother in laws recently departed '95 Cougar 4.6 had that very color.  Everyone who saw it for the first time always was amazed by it:burnout:
Title: different color greys
Post by: thunderjet302 on March 12, 2008, 12:19:11 AM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;207179
Carm, I don't have Ford books for 1987-88, only Lincoln-Mercury, so I can't confirm Raven. It's possible that it was in other T-Birds but I remember reading somewhere that it was supposed to be Turbo Coupe-only. Brent could confirm that.

The brown interior on the '88 was definitely Cinnabar. It's a gorgeous color. Much different from the 1983 brown. ;)


I'm pretty sure that you could only get a LX with a Raven interior in 87. In 88 it was off the options list for the LX. That's in the US at least ;)
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 12, 2008, 08:40:59 AM
This was definitely an 88 LX, as confirmed by the VIN (and buttstuffogue cluster). If I'm ever out that way again I'll have to take some pics. That's a big "if" though - I've pretty much given up the pursuit of buying it...
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 12, 2008, 09:19:28 AM
Hmmm....my understanding was that the full Raven interior (all black) was TC only, and that on the Sport and perhaps the LX, the Raven seats were available but otherwise the interior was mostly Smoke. For earlier turbo cars (1986) there was a Raven option, but it was more of a Smoke/Raven combo. The only ones I've ever heard about to be ALL Raven was the TC, and that may have been 1988 only. All cars with the Smoke interior should have had a Raven dash top though.

Again, I don't have any Ford-only books but Brent should be able to corroborate some of this. It would have been nice to have the full Raven interior available to other models...that's a gorgeous color.
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 12, 2008, 12:30:59 PM
My interior will be all black as soon as the weather warms up enough to paint :D True black, though, not "almost black". I've already done the dash and door panels, gotta do the side panels and dye the soft stuff (seats, headliner, carpet) now...

As for the LX in question: The plastic, headliner, carpet and dash were definitely raven but now that I think back the seats were the two-tone raven Sport seats (dark on the outsides and a lighter grey in the middle). I've never actually seen full raven black seats, I thought they were all two-tone. Granted, I don't see many fox 'Birds or Cats at all around here anymore...

Nother question: Has anyone ever seen a two-tone dash with two different colours? I am 100% certain that I've seen a 85-86 car with tan interior, but the dash was two-tone dark grey (top) and beige (bottom). I don't remember where or when I saw it, but I did see it, in person. I do remember it was weird looking. I seem to remember taking some parts off it for my buddy's '85.
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 12, 2008, 12:37:18 PM
Carm, were the seats in that LX cloth? They were all a lighter Smoke with the blue...I mean, Raven, surround. ;) The all leather seats were real dark, still two tone but much darker than the cloth seats.

I have seen a Raven top with a colored dash. In fact that's how my convertible was from the factory...Canyon Red interior with a Raven dash top. That was 1985-86 only, it seems. Really it didn't bother me much and actually looked pretty nice:

(http://www.coolcats.net/eric/86convertible/images/2000_conv04.jpg)

(Yes, I did go a little crazy with the Armor-All, thank you.) ;)
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 12, 2008, 03:06:38 PM
It does look good with canyon red. It didn't look good with tan :hick: That canyon red is actually a really nice colour. Pity Ford replaced it with porno red, which was too bright for my taste.

The seats were cloth, and they were, as you describe, more "blue" than "raven" :D In fact the blue (soon to be black) Sport seats in my car could almost pass for raven (not 2 tone tho), since raven fades to blue anyway...
Title: different color greys
Post by: 302 PWR on March 12, 2008, 07:15:21 PM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;208785
Carm, were the seats in that LX cloth? They were all a lighter Smoke with the blue...I mean, Raven, surround. ;) The all leather seats were real dark, still two tone but much darker than the cloth seats.

I have seen a Raven top with a colored dash. In fact that's how my convertible was from the factory...Canyon Red interior with a Raven dash top. That was 1985-86 only, it seems. Really it didn't bother me much and actually looked pretty nice:

(http://www.coolcats.net/eric/86convertible/images/2000_conv04.jpg)

(Yes, I did go a little crazy with the Armor-All, thank you.) ;)


Door lock buttons from a Taurus/Sable?
Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on March 12, 2008, 07:37:49 PM
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;208782
My interior will be all black as soon as the weather warms up enough to paint :D True black, though, not "almost black". I've already done the dash and door panels, gotta do the side panels and dye the soft stuff (seats, headliner, carpet) now...

I'm curious how this turns out, as I plan on doin the same, if I'm not satisfied with the smoke grey after the car gets painted.  Carm, did you use a paint with flexibilizer (or something like that)?
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 12, 2008, 07:43:07 PM
I'm using interior trim paint for the hard stuff and spray dye for the soft stuff. The interior trim paint seems to stick well - it stayed on the dash while I was manhandling it to get it back in the car without suffering so much as a scratch
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 12, 2008, 08:43:24 PM
Quote from: 302 PWR
Door lock buttons from a Taurus/Sable?

Yep, good eye. A little tpuppies and a plastic welder is all it takes.
Title: different color greys
Post by: thunderjet302 on March 13, 2008, 06:02:59 PM
Here's an odd one for ya.
 
A guy I know has an 87 LX with 40,000 original miles. The car is red and MINT. He has the factory build sheet. His car has the following interior set up:
TC style seats in red leather
Full console
TC style door panels
Floor shifter
Full digi dash.

As far as all the information I have goes it was possible to order a LX in 87 with a full Tc style interior (minus the buttstuffog dash) but the sport got the base interior and seats with a console, floor shifter, and digi dash. Now in 88 you couldn't get a LX with a console or TC style seats or the raven interior (you could get an LX with a raven interior in 87). The Sport in 88 came with a TC style interior but the base door panels. Confused yet? :wtf:
Title: different color greys
Post by: TurboCoupe50 on March 13, 2008, 11:02:41 PM
Quote from: Thunder Chicken;208760
This was definitely an 88 LX, as confirmed by the VIN (and buttstuffogue cluster). If I'm ever out that way again I'll have to take some pics. That's a big "if" though - I've pretty much given up the pursuit of buying it...

I thought only the Sport and TC had the buttstuffogue cluster???

Quote from: EricCoolCats;208762
Hmmm...The only ones I've ever heard about to be ALL Raven was the TC, and that may have been 1988 only.

I had three '87 TCs, all had a full raven cloth interior... This included the Silver TC Paul bought, others were black and white...
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 14, 2008, 08:31:00 AM
Quote from: TurboCoupe50;209047
I thought only the Sport and TC had the buttstuffogue cluster???

I had thought that too, in fact I'd thought only the TC and '88 Sport got the TC style seats and floor shifter (87 Sport got "normal" seats with floor shifter). VIN said it was an '88 LX though, and the guy that has it said it was all original. Of course he thought the ground effects and TC hood were OE too, as he says they were on the car when his buddy bought it new, so God only knows what the real history on the car is. I can see a dealership installing ground effects and maybe a TC hood, but a whole interior?
Title: different color greys
Post by: TurboCoupe50 on March 14, 2008, 09:48:41 AM
And I've seen a '69 Torino that had a "Y" code 390 2V engine(not avail in '69) per the VIN ID, but was sportin' a 351... On closer inspection I found the car had a swapped VIN plate from a '68...
Title: different color greys
Post by: BCA on March 14, 2008, 11:02:57 AM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;208762
Hmmm....my understanding was that the full Raven interior (all black) was TC only, and that on the Sport and perhaps the LX, the Raven seats were available but otherwise the interior was mostly Smoke. For earlier turbo cars (1986) there was a Raven option, but it was more of a Smoke/Raven combo. The only ones I've ever heard about to be ALL Raven was the TC, and that may have been 1988 only. All cars with the Smoke interior should have had a Raven dash top though.


According to the 1988 book I have, the Articulated Seats were standard equipment and only available on Sport and Turbo Coupe.
It also states that the Sport seats had a Medium Grey color code of BG (cloth) or FG (leather), the Turbo Coupe’s Raven color codes were BH (cloth) and FH (leather).
Here is a picture of a 1988 TC cloth interior in Raven. The dash is indeed all Raven and not two-tone as on the other colors, but the seat and door panel inserts are a lighter grey color. 1987 Turbo Coupe interiors were the same as 1988.

Brent
:cougarsmily:
Title: different color greys
Post by: Thunder Chicken on March 14, 2008, 01:58:24 PM
That is the exact interior that the 88 LX I'm talking about had (except it was automatic, of course). Same colour, same seats (except the LX had dual power), same door panels, same everything.
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 17, 2008, 10:47:34 AM
Quote from: BCA
According to the 1988 book I have, the Articulated Seats were standard equipment and only available on Sport and Turbo Coupe.
It also states that the Sport seats had a Medium Grey color code of BG (cloth) or FG (leather), the Turbo Coupe’s Raven color codes were BH (cloth) and FH (leather).

So what are the actual differences in the seats between a Sport and a Turbo Coupe, besides the codes? They're both fully articulated with the same functions. They even look identical, especially in the cloth. I mean, they both fade to blue just the same, correct? ;)
Title: different color greys
Post by: BCA on March 17, 2008, 11:11:22 AM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;209545
So what are the actual differences in the seats between a Sport and a Turbo Coupe, besides the codes? They're both fully articulated with the same functions. They even look identical, especially in the cloth. I mean, they both fade to blue just the same, correct? ;)


Besides the codes, I don't know that there is a difference. AFAIK, the seats are the same between the two models and it's just the trim codes that change.
I wonder though if the seats (and the material) are actually different. Could it be that the Medium Grey for the Sport and the Raven for the Turbo Coupe are close enough that Ford just used the same exact seats for both interiors? It sure would make sense for simplifying things on the assembly line.
I don't have any good photos of a nice clean '88 Sport interior to compare though.

Brent
:cougarsmily:
Title: different color greys
Post by: BCA on March 17, 2008, 04:36:53 PM
I found a Medium Grey '88 Sport on Cardomain and if you look past the typical fading to blue of the Charcoal fabric, it looks convincing to me that Ford used the same seats (and material) in both cars.

Brent
:cougarsmily:
Title: different color greys
Post by: P71 on March 17, 2008, 05:58:13 PM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;206756
Generally, yes, but there have been some exceptions. I believe 1985 was the oddball year, with some solid colored dashes. In 1986 they theoretically all went two-tone and that basically continued through 1988. I have seen lots of examples of solid-colored dashes though, mostly in Smoke Grey but sometimes in Canyon or Porno Red also. It seems there was no rhyme or reason with that as well. My dealer books outline what color was supposed to go where. That doesn't mean they all were like that, though.


Just an observation, all of my Charcoal/Raven interiors had solid Raven (the dark gray) dashboards (86, 87, 88 TC's) and all of my Shadow Blue interiors had solid Shadow Blue dashboards (87 and 88 TC's, 87 Sport).

All of my Scarlet Red (porno red) interiors had the 2-tone dash with the darker color on top (87 and 88 TC's, 88 Cougar LS). Jon's 87 TC (Gold on tan) has the tan TC interior, and it's dash has a brown top.

Basically, I think the dark colors (Raven, Shadow Blue) didn't need the 2-tone and stuck with a solid dash throughout.
Title: different color greys
Post by: thunderjet302 on March 17, 2008, 07:16:50 PM
Check out the interior on this XR7: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-Mercury-Cougar-XR7_W0QQitemZ250225726264QQihZ015QQcategoryZ6339QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Title: different color greys
Post by: HAVI on March 17, 2008, 07:52:18 PM
Somebody'll buy it and put it in their own personal garage/museum.  Unfortunately it's not me.
Title: different color greys
Post by: BCA on March 18, 2008, 11:49:50 AM
Quote from: EricCoolCats;207179
Carm, I don't have Ford books for 1987-88, only Lincoln-Mercury, so I can't confirm Raven. It's possible that it was in other T-Birds but I remember reading somewhere that it was supposed to be Turbo Coupe-only. Brent could confirm that.


Ok, I looked in my '87 & '88 books last night and this is what I found concerning “greys”.

In 1987 Raven Charcoal (code H) available on Turbo Coupe and LX models, however it was only available on LX models when the optional Articulated Seats were ordered.
In 1988 the book implies that the Raven (again code H, but now just called Raven) was a Turbo Coupe only color, and that the LX and Sport were limited to Medium Grey (code G). This may be true for the majority of the interior trim, however it appears to me that the seat colors themselves were the same (Raven) between the two models.

Brent
:cougarsmily:
Title: different color greys
Post by: EricCoolCats on March 18, 2008, 12:23:31 PM
Brent, that pretty much clarifies everything. Thanks for looking that up.
Title: different color greys
Post by: 88TurboCoupeman01 on July 25, 2008, 09:45:02 PM
I think the dark grey looks better.
Title: different color greys
Post by: RunninWild on April 03, 2009, 12:57:07 PM
I hvae the light greay on my 88 Tbird base...
Title: different color greys
Post by: THOR50 on March 12, 2011, 08:30:46 PM
I think the interior with the lighter colors have two tone dash boards to cut the reflection from the windshield, just a thought.
From what I've seen the dark dashes are a single color.