Last post by Ductape91 -
The alternator in the thunderbird still currently works but is making noise and the threaded hole is stripped out so instead of rebuilding it and having other issues later(its pretty rusted up on the inside from sitting around for years) im just going to replace it. My wiring is in good shape no issues there. Was looking for opinions on which path i should walk down here.
My current available options are the following,
A factory rebuilt nos 60 amp unit. An upgraded output 1g external regulator alternator. 3g alternator upgrade.
The factory rebuilt one is old nos but is probably fine since it was just sitting on a shelf for years. Just bolt in and go. I cant remember if i had the 60 or 65 amp unit, and ofcourse i have pics of everthing else on the car i messed with except the alternator. Im not going with some parts store rebuild because of reputation and experience with them.
The upgraded output 1g alternators i find go up to 100 amps with 3 wire connections, without having to mess with new or cutting wires but are all in the 12/6 oclock position and would require the front part of case to be swapped. Sounds simple and was apparently common but i cant find a single example of someone doing this.
The 3g seems to be the most beneficial and gets recommended alot but i have a few caveats about doing this swap. Mainly its the wire cutting and possible bracket grinding. I really dont "need" 130 amps since im carbed and not running anything that isnt stock. Im considering a fan down the road but the upgraded 1g could handle this without all the snipping/adding wires and all that. The 95 amp ones would work without grinding but the rest still applies. For such a common upgrade i couldnt find a single pic of a pre-86 v6 car with it, im sure they are out there but all the kits out are for 5.0 cars anyway.
I already have the nos one and a powermaster 7078, nothing for the 3g except some harness i could use if i had to.
Last post by Chuck W -
So, I forgot to post this up when I found it a couple weeks ago, but this is the slug that put the hole in the top of the car. NOT a handgun round...
Evidently it didn't enter the cabin, but just ricocheted out after it hit the car. I found it while I was cleaning up the spot while putting a new carport up.
I'm hoping to get with my buddy on the roof wrap before things get wintery around here. If not it'll have to wait until spring and the roads are clear of the inevitable salt coating they're sure to get.
Last post by james cassity -
the 83 digi cluster.... so little information out there on these displays,, or should i say available working units. I'd say your propably one of a handful of ppl on earth who has one.
Last post by james cassity -
who here saves back their seeds from gardening>>?
I have *********WAY TOO MANY********** and its a sin to waste them.
I want this to be a serious topic for serious times by serious people who are not asleep. I am considering a zero dollar cost idea to network us all together on one platform that will eventually piss off the globalists.
Last post by Ductape91 -
Back at the garage today for a few things, though mostly the non functional drivers window.
After removing alot more scews than the last time i remember having to do this i removed the door panel and handle to expose the vapor mat and such.
After pulling that stuff off while trying not to ruin it and removing the door speaker i got to see where the motor was.
Maybe im crazy but i dont remember my 86 having the motor in the middle of the door like that, though that was a long time ago. Now as you can see in the upcoming pics there are factory dimples on the door for you to drill thru to get to the bolts, i wish my hands were smaller because i hated drilling holes in my car even though thats what they are there for.
I used a step drill and made the holes 1/2", which was enough for my nut driver to get thru and reach the bolts. The bolts themselves were 5/16, which was smaller than i was expecting them to be. No drama in removal of the motor itself, just came right out thru the speaker hole. While i was in there trying to clean the metal shavings and leaves and whatnot, i got what i could of them, i checked the speaker wire and the connector was corroded, as was the speaker plug end. The speaker itself has seen better days and was missing 90% of the outer ring stuff.
Bummer. Guess ill have to replace that, if i can find it, and the other door probably is similar so that means i got to plan for both. Back to the window motor it was as i suspected, the 3 plastic things broke into pieces which renders the window useless.
Atleast the motor is good because i hear the replacements arent that good. I wish i couldve washed out all the old grease since the replacement gear set barely came with any but im confident i got all the broken bits out. It is what it is. Threw it back together and works like a charm. If i had grease i wouldve greased up the rails for the window mechanism but ill try to remember that when i have to pull the panels back off to replace the speaker.
Side note, i swear there were these little plugs you could get from ford that went into the holes you had to drill but couldnt find them, would like to put something in there when i go back in there.
Success, She works. Gauge went down from under 3/4 full during my drive and while idling in the garage for like an hour playing around with the car in there.
Probably wouldve helped to have a before pic but i left my phone at the garage when i took it out, and had to come back for it. Got back and started ripping the door off to fix that but the gauge reads and moves like its supposed to.
Now the real work begins, making another based on my own posts and info here to see how repeatable it is for the next guy.
Last post by Mikey97D -
A lot of folks say to only use Ford Motorcraft ignition parts because aftermarket items can be problematic. Use copper plugs. NGK 2238 or Motorcraft SP447 AGSF32C, there's some others that are good too. You'll want to decrease the spark plug gap too according to how much boost you run in the car to avoid spark blowout. I am currently running .028" with 17 psi that is probably lower than it needs to be.
Last post by EricCoolCats -
Yeah so we're trying to get our forum a little more modern, both front-side and back-end, and over the next few weeks we'll be experimenting with stuff. You might see some down time, or a white screen of death, or perhaps something will disappear. For all this, we apologize in advance. We are NOT shutting down the site, we have no intentions to ditch it, but we do need to get it compliant for future updates.
Our main issue right now is that even though the board software is at the latest version and is supposedly compatible with PHP 8.1, we have been unsuccessful to get it running at that version, so we remain at an older PHP version (7.3). For that, we are getting charged an extra $5/mo US, which is $60/year for...nothing, except maintaining an old PHP version. Hence the reason why we're trying to get the board updated, so that we can skip that fee and just have a single yearly hosting cost instead.
For now, we've installed some new themes which are kinda cool but have also messed up a few things. Our advice if you're having trouble: use the dropdown menu at the top for a different theme selection. It seems to work-ish for now. You can also try flushing out your browser's cache as well.
Again, we're sorry that things have to get done on a live site in this fashion. Message boards are tricky, not fun at all. But we gotta do what we gotta do.
