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Messages - fordman3

1
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: There's Another Cougar in Town!
Thought I'd also share about the weird vibe I got from the guys in the shop when I went to the front desk and asked if I could go to the car and take some pics.  They kinda wanted to say no, but then reluctantly agreed.  But once out there, the guy with me wanted to show me everything about the car.  He was actually helping me take the pics.  Such a clean car!  It has less than 70k miles, interior is as near perfect for a 33 year old car as I've ever seen (leather was still smooth as a baby's butt).  Under the hood looked like the day it was built, too.  It didn't seem to have too many options, besides the leather (and factory or not sunroof), beyond my GS.  No EATC, no auto headlights, no keyless entry, no passenger power seat, no graphic EQ.  I sent Eric the pics I took, and I'm hoping he can attach them to the thread.  Later.
3
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: There's Another Cougar in Town!
Eric,
The crazy thing is, I might be older than you (I'm 50).  But when it comes to my favorite cars, I've been known to do some unorthodox things as if I was a whole lot younger.  By that I mean, I'm still doing them!  If I see any car I'm interested in (sitting on a lot, I mean), the first thing I do is check the doors.  If they're crazy enough to not lock them, I'm looking inside.  I don't mean or do any harm, it's just how curious I am.  It may get me shot one day, who knows?  I figure, they left those doors open for me to check it out.  That said, if I do get good pics of this sunroof car, it will only be after I get authorization.  If it is aftermarket, it's a super good job.  I'll keep you posted.
4
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: There's Another Cougar in Town!
Eric,
One more thought/question.  Would the factory power roof option have a unique code that I could find somewhere, assuming I get to poke around in the car?  Old GM cars used to have all their option codes in the glovebox as I recall.  Thanks again.
5
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: There's Another Cougar in Town!
Eric,
I'm going to call the brake shop back and see if they'll give me the owner's name/number, and see if she would let me take some pics.  I'm sure that's going to sound like a weird request.  The car seems to be covered in dried grass (odd if it's been kept indoors).  I thought maybe I could offer to wash the car in exchange for some photo ops.  What us car fans will do for our favorites, huh?

From memory, I don't recall seeing a roof console with switches in it.  Just a single toggle switch, maybe.  The sunshade I saw had no slots for ventilation.  It was solid fabric-covered, just like the headliner.  Like I have in my '05 Merc Mountaineer.  It did have the color-matched rubber or vinyl trim around the opening.  I couldn't tell if the entire headliner was lowered or not.  Is it possible that this is a very high-quality aftermarket unit?

First I'll ask for contact info, try to get permission for pictures, and see what history or other info I can get.  It's going to be interesting, for sure.
6
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: There's Another Cougar in Town!
To whoever asked my location, I'm in Madisonville, KY.  To Eric, would you like me to ask if I could take some pics of the car that maybe you might want to include on your page?  It would be great if I could do that with the doors open, but of course I could only do that with permission.  I feel only slightly guilty when poking around it in the dark with no one obviously watching, and even then I'm probably still on a camera somewhere.  Of course the doors are locked, so I wouldn't be getting in without someone allowing me to anyway.  I have no idea of its mileage, but there is literally not one speck of rust I can find anywhere, at least on external sheetmetal.  I'm betting the miles are low.  The leather interior looks crack and wear free.  If it were for sale, and the owner knew the rarity and considered its condition, I couldn't touch it anyway.  So Eric, if it were the 1986-only power roof option, would it have the sliding sunshade?  I could make out what looked like a single power switch right in front of the power window in the roof.  This is the only Fox Cougar I've ever seen with a sunroof, so I have no idea what original or aftermarket looks like.

P.S.  My name is also Eric, even though most members here go by usernames.  I just thought I would share.  Sorry if that's breaking protocol.
7
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: There's Another Cougar in Town!
Well, I called the shop and asked about it.  It is a customer's car getting brake work done.  It was towed to the shop.  He's fairly sure it is not for sale.  He thinks he heard it's been sitting in a garage on blocks for a while, which might explain why the whitewalls still look new.  I went back and read Eric's option descriptions, and if it really is a factory sunroof car, it must be pretty rare.  It does not look like a hack job.  From the inside I could make out the sliding cover that matched the headliner color.  Couldn't see where the controls were (I was looking at it in the dark with a cellphone flashlight).  I asked the guy to tell the owner that there was someone in town who really liked her car and would love to talk to her about it.  Anybody else ever seen a sunroof car?
8
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / There's Another Cougar in Town!
I was at my local station gassing up the other day when I looked across the street at the custom wheel/brake shop and saw a familiar outline of a car parked around the back of the shop.  Just when I thought I might have had the only Fox Cougar in my little town, there's a silver '86 that looks to be in almost perfect exterior condition (you know I had to drive over and be nosy and look it over).  It's an LS, not one bit of rust I can see or body damage, gray leather interior, 5.0, and the holy grail is what I believe to be the rare factory sunroof.  It has the 14's with whitewalls and wire covers.  The most current sticker on the tag read 2009.  It 'appeared' to have new tires (yes, 14" whitewalls) on this 10-yr-off-the-road car.  I have no idea of its running condition or if it's a customer's car being serviced, or it's for sale, etc.  I intend to do a little more inquiring.  I'll keep everyone posted.
9
Other Vehicles / F150/Expedition Seat Swap
Undertook a little project this past weekend.  The story begins back in Dec 2010 when I totaled my beloved '98 F150 Lariat truck.  Only had liability insurance, so I robbed every part off of it I thought was worth a dime, then sped the rest.  Took the leather Captain's Chairs out of it, thinking they'd sell in no time.  Forward to present time, still had the seats in the shed, never sold.  Recently bought an '01 Expedition Eddie Bauer from brother-in-law.  Power driver's seat motor had stripped-out gears, so seat was stuck in full backward position.  OK for me at 6'1", but wife couldn't reach pedals.  Yanked Expedition seat out, and dug out F150 seat from back of shed.  Took the frame/motor assembly off the F150 seat (this motor hasn't moved in over 8 years) and swapped to the Expy seat.  Wire harnesses were not the same.  Expy has the memory seat option, so there's a whole module under that seat that the F150 didn't have.  So I finally figured out how to connect the Expy harness into the F150 frame, and re-installed seat.  Plugged everything in, and started pushing buttons.  At first, I could hear motor trying to turn, but no front/rear motion.  Gave everything a good soaking with WD40, and slowly it started freeing up.  Still doesn't move super smoothly or quickly, but at least now I have front/rear motion, and the memory function is working.  I felt pretty proud.  But now wife is able to drive it!  Maybe I made a mistake.....
10
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / Re: AOD Driveshaft and Pedal Assembly
Well, I found one of my items.  Plan to go tomorrow to get the clutch pedal assembly; $50 and includes an adjustable quadrant (not exactly sure what that means or if I'm saying it right, but I guess I'll learn soon).  Now I just need the 3.8 AOD driveshaft.  Somebody holler if you have one.  Thanks.
11
General Fox T-Bird/Cougar Discussion / Re: Ready for this one?
Dude, what a bad run of luck!  I guess it's a good idea to keep a donor car at all times.  Yeah, at some point you may want to let it go into semi-retirement.  I'm all about using a car up til it's got nothing left to give, but I guess there is a point where the money saved up front starts catching up with you.  I've got an '86 Cougar (to be on the road soon, I hope), an '01 Expedition, an '02 Focus, '03 Ram 1500, and an '05 Mountaineer.  I just calculated it; that comes to an average of 19.6 years old for my vehicles.  And the Cougar has by far the lowest miles.  Expy and Mountaineer are both 200k+.  Ram and Focus are each in the 170k range.  Cougar has 119k.  Good luck!
13
T-Bird/Cougar Parts & Cars WANTED / AOD Driveshaft and Pedal Assembly
As some of you advised me, I'm having a little trouble finding the parts I need for my 5sp install in my '86 Cougar.  I need an AOD driveshaft to go behind my T5.  My car came with the C5 trans, so my driveshaft is too long.  Hoping I can find one instead of cutting mine down.  I don't know if there's a length difference between AOD shafts from 3.8's and 5.0's??  Haystack told me an AOD shaft should go right in without having to cut it.

Also, can't seem to find a clutch pedal assembly from a Foxbody Mustang.  Had one located but didn't get it fast enough and he sold the whole car.  I thought Foxbody 'stangs were still everywhere, but my point of reference may be off slightly.

If anybody has either of these or can point me in the right direction, I'd greatly appreciate it.  Thanks.
14
LEADS on T-Bird/Cougar Stuff For Sale / Re: radio hvac bezel
Well, I guess I was wrong.  I thought I yanked more parts out of the '83 I had years ago.  Must not have took the radio bezel.  I do have a great set of upper trim (woodgrain) for the gauge cluster and the passenger side.  Sorry about that.  Later.