Skip to main content
Topic: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage (Read 4559 times) previous topic - next topic

1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Some pics of my 83 thunderbird for digestion. Havent had time to go tinker with it since i got it, but trying to make some since i got a bunch of parts to throw at it.










"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #1
I see nothing...... lol
Mike

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #2
Amazingly clean survivor. How many miles on it?

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #3

 :dunno:
Pics are linked offsite thru imgbb, are they being blocked for you?

Amazingly clean survivor. How many miles on it?


28k, it was the one that was for sale out near pittsburg last month or so ago. Not mint but nice original car. I have my 84 gt turbo vert as well im still working on making right but wanted another tbird since i miss being able to just get in something and drive it without worrying about trouble finding parts for it when something breaks.
Its weird how much newer this car feels than my daily driver, the seats feel firm like in a new car. I noticed when looking for the build sheet there was plastic under the passenger seat that looks like it was just put on, i saw an auction for what is claimed to be similar nos seats that has the same plastic covering the passenger seat bottom on it as well.
When i get time to ill pull it out and take decent pics of it.
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #4
Nice find. The interior looks immaculate.
Good luck and enjoy it.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
1988 T/C body with a 5.0 transplant. Motor has a Vortech V-2 supercharger, Edlebrock Performer RPM II intake, heads, FRPP F-303 cam, Comp Cams roller rockers, Power Pipe, LMAF, full Mac exhaust, lowered, Koni's, 5 lug conversion, Cobra wheels, 13" Cobra brakes, etc.
SOLD September 2020. Will miss this car after 19 years of building/driving/showing it off. Time for a new chapter in my life.
Dynoed 446 horse/409 torque at the wheels.
2003 Tenth Anniversary Cobra Convertible. 1 of 369 Torch Red made.
2021 Chevrolet 3500 dually, crew cab Duramax.

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #5
I see nothing...... lol

 :dunno:
Pics are linked offsite thru imgbb, are they being blocked for you?

Amazingly clean survivor. How many miles on it?




Work PC, probably blocking it.
Mike

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #6
Had some time to go mess around with it today, some pics from the bottom.













Starts up and idles but conks out when in gear, found this in the carb while investigating stuff.



Its the cardboard disk that seals the cap on some bottles of stuff. Surprises are always fun. Its not the actual problem so im gonna have to go thru the carb, replace the base and gasket since i got all that stuff just sitting there waiting to be done.
Would have but i dont have any tools there right now they are at my mustangs garage.
Got wires, original plugs and steel valve covers and cork gaskets im going to throw on to keep me busy as well.
Tried out the radio too finally with a tape adapter and was underwhelmed at the weak sound(my other tbirds radio was pretty decent i recall) but when i was in the glovebox looking to put the owners manual in i closed it and the sound really picked up bigtime.
Loose wires im hoping, i got the troubleshooting books just havent gone thru them yet.
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #7
Looks pretty clean. Shame about that 3.8, though.  :toothless:

Did they just spray black paint on whatever they could see with the front wheels off?
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #8
Looks pretty clean. Shame about that 3.8, though.  :toothless:

Did they just spray black paint on whatever they could see with the front wheels off?

I dont mind the 3.8 since im used to them at this point, just got to work my muscle memory some. Never had a 5.0 and probably never will.
Nothing but problems hunting down stock parts for my turbo car but nobody cares about these so plenty of stuff for them cheap.

I was thinking the same about the paint, when the car was on the towtruck i looked at the wheelwells and thought "is this supposed to be undercoating sprayed in here, why did they spray into these like this?", i dont have any pics of them since its too tight in the garage but when i pull it out ill shoot a few of them, they looked like liners to me at first.
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #9
I was thinking the same about the paint, when the car was on the towtruck i looked at the wheelwells and thought "is this supposed to be undercoating sprayed in here, why did they spray into these like this?", i dont have any pics of them since its too tight in the garage but when i pull it out ill shoot a few of them, they looked like liners to me at first.

Looking at your pics from under it, you can see that only the outer portions of the spring and strut are coated, and same about the upper side of the LCAs.
Long live the 4-eyes!  - '83 Tbird Turbo

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #10
That’s a very nice survivor! I think a set of 10 hole wheels would look great on it while keeping a factory appearance. LMR is reproducing them I believe. You could always keep/store the originals. Awesome car 👍
87 Tbird LX w/Factory floor shifter:D   3G upgrade. Tinted Windows...85 Mustang GT steering wheel(non-cruise) 17'' Saleen SC style wheels,Front/Rear TC sway bars/poly bushings & Mustang GT steering rack...'05 Mustang V6 springs...93 Cobra MC & booster, MM adjustable C/C plates,  Work  In  Progress.......  ( On The Shelf---HO computer, 19lb injectors, HO cam, BBK headers, Explorer Intake, Cold Air Intake ,Phantom Gauges, Stinger stainless exhaust pipes )
 S O L D

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #11
That’s a very nice survivor! I think a set of 10 hole wheels would look great on it while keeping a factory appearance. LMR is reproducing them I believe. You could always keep/store the originals. Awesome car 👍

Thanks for the compliments.
I actually like the phone dial rims the most on these cars, if i were going to get rims those would be the ones i look for, but i do know that the 10 holes were available in a few different sizes so those have tire options.
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #12
I was thinking the same about the paint, when the car was on the towtruck i looked at the wheelwells and thought "is this supposed to be undercoating sprayed in here, why did they spray into these like this?", i dont have any pics of them since its too tight in the garage but when i pull it out ill shoot a few of them, they looked like liners to me at first.

Looking at your pics from under it, you can see that only the outer portions of the spring and strut are coated, and same about the upper side of the LCAs.


You cant tell in these pics because of the angle but the rears particularly it looks like some kind of coating was done to the wheel wells.
Standing on the side with the wheels at head height on the towtruck it was very noticeable.
I was sorta distracted at the time trying to figure out how to release the parking brake on this thing to get it off the truck since it didnt have the handle i was expecting to see(has the auto release with the tiny little handle, never saw that before so didnt know that was the release).
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #13
Overspray from a collision repair or just a refresh paint job?  Front fenders should have inner liners so undercoating up front is not common but I am not saying someone didn't go that route as not all the pencils in the can are sharp.  Regardless the car is super clean.

83 351W TKO'd T-Bird on the bottle


93 331 Mustang Coupe - 368 rwhp

Re: 1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage

Reply #14
Overspray from a collision repair or just a refresh paint job?  Front fenders should have inner liners so undercoating up front is not common but I am not saying someone didn't go that route as not all the pencils in the can are sharp.  Regardless the car is super clean.

There are a few touch ups to the paint around the car that would have been done if they repainted it.
If you look under the hood you see the front support inner fender area(around the battery) kinda sticks out a bit but my other tbird did there too i recall, i think its from bumping into stuff not from a legit collision. There are alot of unpainted metal things abound i saw looking around that im pretty sure were supposed to be(like the radiator brackets and sway bar parts), so who knows exactly.
Im waiting for a new carb to come so i can sort it out in the sunlight and inspect it properly and not crawling around it in a tight dark garage.
"Beating the hell out of other peoples cars since 1999"
1983 Ford Thunderbird Heritage
1984 Ford Mustang GT Turbo Convertible