All, I know that with all the wheel/tire size options that these cars had, there was a nominal tire diameter on which the speed and distance was calculated. Most seemed to fall around, say, 25.6" give or take maybe 1/2". Was there any compensation made for these different sizes in the speedo cable gears, or would the same gear be used no matter what tire was being run? Meaning, were the indicated speeds of some cars more accurate than others? On cars with the TRX option, that tire was only around 24.9" diameter, while a car with 215/70R14's was almost 25.9" diameter. If I put a 24.9" tire (225/50R16) on a car set up for 25.9", am I just going to have to live with the variation, or can it be corrected? Thanks.
I've always liked the Birds/Cougars with the vent windows, but they definitely are in the minority. Anybody know why there were so few? Was it an expensive option? Were they just unpopular? Does it give them any more collectible value since there were so few? The car I'm considering buying (fingers crossed) is an '86 Cougar (not sure of trim level) with 3.8, C5, and vent windows. Has the typical options (PW, PDL, driver's PS, P/mirrors, rear defrost, 14" wheels with wire spoke covers). Anything about those options that makes it rare? I was just curious. It's tan with a darker cocoa-colored cloth upholstery. And, it's got black mirrors instead of chrome. I thought black mirrors were a T-bird thing. Thanks for any feedback.
Hey all, Been "years" since I've been here, so please excuse my absence. I hopefully am about to purchase an 86 Cougar with what sounds like a burnt-up C5 trans. I will not be financially able to afford a rebuild on the C5. I have found both C4's and FMX's in my area for pretty reasonable prices. I haven't found any C5's. Oh, and it will be going behind the 3.8. My question is, are either of those a good candidate to swap, if I'm on a tight budget? I've read that the C5 is basically a C4 with a lockup converter. Would I need to swap the flywheel? I don't believe that Ford ever put a C4 behind the 3.8 from the factory, did they? Anyway, I appreciate any advice. Glad to hopefully have a reason to return to the site. Take care.
Hello all, On the way home today I thought of a very weird swap, and one that would definitely not fall under the definition of an upgrade in terms of power. It would kinda fall under the fuel-pinching, lack-of-power, do-it-just-because-it-might-not-have-been-done-before sort of category. Here goes. Weren't there at least 2 different diesel 4's that came in Rangers? They would have to mount pretty similarly to the 2.3, wouldn't they? Well, why not make a diesel Fox? I could see this combo getting 30+ mpg. You just wouldn't win many races, that's for sure. You'd almost surely want a 5-speed, and a steep rear end in it to at least be able to leave from a stoplight somewhat normally. Wasn't one of the Ranger diesels a turbo, too? For those of us who want to set up our own personal still and run a car on french fry oil, might be a neat project. Whaddaya think?
Hey all, Maybe I'm slow, but I've just started noticing the new Pontiac G8. Our local Pontiac/GMC dealer keeps a couple parked right down on Main Street in my town. I kept wondering why a GM dealer was displaying BMW's with the other Pontiacs. Man, there is no doubt of the influence of that car! It is a dead ringer for a 3- or 5- series 4-door Beemer. What did it replace, the Grand Prix? It's a very good-looking car. Anybody know much more about it? Thanks.
Hey guys, Warning - non-Fox related question! Those who might be offended, please look away now. Seriously, about 3 or 4 blocks from my house is a '78/'79 Olds 442. I'm totally guessing all of this, but this car is obviously the person's only vehicle and is still in nearly new looking condition. Theory #2 is that it's an older person who probably bought the car new. Why else would it still be a daily driver? I would think if the owner was a car nut like most of us are, it would be put away or at least not be the only vehicle in the driveway. It's black with the gold 442 trim. It's the "fastback" Cutlass body (probably not the right term in GM-speak). I'm not sure if it's a '78 or '79. It's still a 2-headlighter; I think in '80, all Cutlasses went to 4 headlights. Even though I'll always be a Ford lover, and especially a Cougar/T'bird/Mustang fan, I've also always loved the '78-'88 GM G-bodies and would add one to my collection, provided that I actually ever have the money to have a collection. They just have a classic shape and style. I take my dog walking past this Olds 2 or 3 times a week, and one day I'm going to stop and knock on the door and meet the owner, and tell them that I'm going to take their car off of their hands someday. Isn't this a fairly rare car? I know it's not an actual musclecar-era 442, but it still looks tough. Any comments?
Hey all, I hope you'll forgive me for throwing a non-Fox question in here, but I feel sure that one of you guys has some expertise here. I've had a component set (6 1/2" mids, surface-mount tweeters, and active crossover) that I've never installed after several years. I was holding out for an installation into a Fox car, but since it still looks like it'll be a while before I can get one, I'm gonna put them in my '98 F150. My question is, is there a good source of ignition-switched power somewhere in the door (my Lariat has all the power options) to jump off of, or should I just run dedicated power and fish it through the door's wire conduit? I've hooked more than my share of sound systems up, but an active crossover is still unknown territory. I don't even have an amp in my truck right now; will this speaker setup sound OK with just head unit output? Or are you expected to run this system with an external amp? Thanks for any pointers.
Hello, After over 2 years of being Fox-car-less and honestly not even having the means to buy one if I found it, I have ran across an ad for an '86 V6 Cougar that supposedly only needs a fuel pump to be in good running condition. He says the paint is faded (he calls it gold, which must be Sand Beige?) as well as the interior, and the right front fender has decent dent in it. It has the C5 3-speed (wish it had OD), wire wheel covers, and the half-vinyl top (which I definitely like). It's over 150 miles from me and I've bugged the out of the seller, who also doesn't have internet or digital photo access. His price in the classified ad said $500 OBO, but he just told me he'd take $300 and that I'm the only person who's called about it. It also has a clean title. Oh, and very little rust. Basically, if I go to the trouble of renting a dolly and driving that distance, I expect to be bringing it home, and I really have no way to see it any other way. Can I go wrong at that price? What am I in for in replacing the fuel pump? Since it has the vinyl top, does that make it an LS? According to Cool Cats, the only paint color to get a beige-colored vinyl top is the Sand Beige Metallic, which I'm guessing probably only came on LS's?
Thanks for any replies, and I hope I can join the actual car-owning ranks of the members on this forum sometime soon. Later.
Hey all, It might be a stretch to refer to this tire as a T-bird/Cougar part, but it is a good-looking tire with between 7/32 and 8/32 of tread. I'm guessing that's probably 70% to 80% of original. It's a General Exclaim (M+S, 95H). I believe that was the common size tire on the Mustang Cobra's with 17"s. The diameter is around 25.7", which is kinda the standard diameter for most Fox cars. So anybody who's put a set of 17" Cobra wheels (or any 17" wheel for that matter) on their Fox, this would be the tire you need! I'd like to get $25 for it, plus shipping. I live in Madisonville, KY 42431. It's a good-looking tire for the money. Give me a shout!
Hey all, I know this question has absolutely NOTHING to do with a Fox car or even a Ford for that matter, but please bear with me. As bad as I'd like to have a Fox car (money not being an object, hee hee), I would be much better served having a smaller econobox that gets 35+ mpg since I put 400 miles/week on my '98 F150 to work and back. I've found a '93 Geo Storm on Craigslist near me that apparently only needs a fuel pump to be driveable. He describes it as in good shape in and out, not rusted, interior good, not wrecked, etc. SO, here's the question: what kind of job is replacing a fuel pump on a Storm? Is it so hard that it's easier to just sell the car? Are the pumps expensive? Even though it's a small, semi-gutless car, it's still slightly sporty and not entirely dorky looking, and should get near the mileage I'm looking for. The price he's asking sounds good, at least until I know more about the fuel pump replacement. Can anybody help me out? Thanks.
Hey all, I've got a non-Fox related question for somebody, but it is a Ford. It's a '99 Explorer Limited with the ever-popular 5.0 (GT40P heads, ha ha) and AWD. Anyway, last night I cranked it up and noticed that the temp gauge buried all the way to the red, and it had been sitting parked for hours in 50 degree temperatures. I shut it off immediately and got out and popped the hood. No excessive temps could be felt around the motor. I popped the radiator cap and no huge fountain of boiling steam. I'm HOPING it's just a faulty gauge or sending unit. However, it makes me really nervous to be without a reliable temp gauge, because this vehicle spends a lot of time on the road making trips, and it's the family vehicle. Also, it's had the CHECK ENGINE light on for over 2 years with a clogged EGR code that I just have never taken it in for, and has never affected how it runs. But, I don't have the good old Check Engine dummy light to tell me if it actually is overheating. It's probably already thrown a code and I just can't see it. Has anybody else had this happen to them, and if so, what do you suspect it is and/or how hard/expensive is it to fix? It did it a few times this morning, and it does finally settle back down to where it should be. Thanks for any help.
Hey all, I may have some available funds to re-shod my '98 F150 and wondered if I could get some opinions/advice on a few candidates. I'm trying to choose between Bridgestone Dueler H/P's, Toyo Proxes, and Falken Ziex ST/01(?)'s. They each have some pretty good specs. I'm going for a sporty aggressive look that gives a comfortable ride but that will also give me a few miles. One of the 3 has a wear rating of 500+, and the other 2 are 420. By the way, I'm looking at 275/60R17's. On Ebay, they each seem to run around $108 to $110 apiece give or take, so they've got to be somewhat similar in performance. I currently have BFGoodrich Long Trail Radial T/A's, and even though they've been good tires, they just look a little industrial, and even though they claim to be a 60-series tire, they sure look more like a 70. I even think they are a good bit more expensive than the sportier tires I am looking at. What are any suggestions or experience anybody has with these tires? Thanks for your help.
Hey guys, I've got a question that could have to do with a Fox car (but it doesn't, it pertains to my '98 F150) regarding an aftermarket amplifier. I've gone without tunes in my truck since last summer when my dash unit was stolen out of my truck. It was just a Kenwood CD/MP3/Sirius indash with a small 40W amp under the passenger seat pushing the rear factory speakers. Pretty simple system. Well, I just got around to re-installing its replacement this weekend (the exact model to be exact). I've done these installations a dozen times or more. Everything works just right except for the amp under the seat. I am getting no power out of it even though there's no reason I shouldn't be. The "remote" signal wire is connected from the indash deck, I've got a good hot connection to the battery, and I've got it grounded to the chassis. Still nothing! This same setup worked perfectly before the first unit was stolen. Just to make sure it wasn't just the amp going bad, I have another larger amp that I connected, and the same thing. No power. What is up? All I can think of is that the replacement deck (which I bought second-handed off of Ebay) has a problem with the remote signal output. Am I right in saying that the amp will not power up unless the remote signal tells it to? So if I have a hot +12V and a good ground and it still doesn't power up, it has to be the deck, right? I finally just said "forget it" and just wired up all four speakers right to the indash unit and skipped the amp. I would really appreciate any input or suggestions, because this drove me nuts all afternoon, and it should have been a simple problem. Thanks for any help.
Fordman3
P.S. Somebody help me track down CougarSE. I'm hopefully a lot closer to taking his '83 Cougar off his hands unless he's already sold it. I've wrote a time or two and PM'ed and haven't heard back from him. Thanks.
Hey guys, I know this forum isn't meant for MN12's, but I have a question for somebody anyway. Would Mark VIII seats fit an MN12 Cougar/Bird? My gut would say yes, but I could be wrong. Thanks.
Hey all, What flavor of 5.0 would a '92 T-bird be packing? Is it really an HO? There is a car that has been parked in the backyard of my neighbor's house ever since I moved in back in September and hasn't moved. I've got no idea what its problem is, I just know it belongs to the elderly neighbor-lady's grandson. I've thought about inquiring about it. The car itself is in very good shape, running condition notwithstanding. Would it be worth checking on? If you had to guess (assuming it has some sort of drivetrain problem), what are the typical downfalls of that car? Are the 5.0's known for blown head gaskets like the V6's? I know the trannies have a rep. Thanks for any info or advice.
