I had an '88 Thunderbird LX 5.0 Sports Coupe that I bought new. Awesome car. I drove it until 2006 and then gave it to my grand son for his first car. He still has it. Only mods I ever did to it was a disc brake kit, in 2002, for the rear wheels.
I have a '91 5.0 Mustang Conv. and an 88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, and frankly could not imagine the 5.0 making my modded bird any more enjoyable. They are different and I like the Tbird on the open road better and the Mustang in town better.
@@sergeantmasson3669 Very, very true. I live in a fairly remote part of the West (Bend, Oregon) with many wide open roads that the Tbird cab use the aero to great advantage. It will accelerate easily right past 100 and cruise at 85. My Mustang, no way and would not be enjoyable, but with 4:10 gears it's a rip around town.
Oh my gosh I love these turbo coupes, my all time favorite car, I might be the only 15 year old in the world that appreciates these, but holy cow what a clean well kept car, 👍👍👌
The radiator gets enough airflow so that big 302 doesn't overheat? I'd have thought they'd need more airflow. I have an '87 with a 302. Left it sit for waaaaay too long and now I'm trying to work the various bugs out of it. Great job!
It will get poor airflow in traffic and will overheat that way so I have the electric fan on a manual override switch so I can have it constantly running in idle traffic :) on the highway has no issues with airflow, I assume the hood scoops assist with that. Thanks!!
@@23027 OK - May update! Finally pulled codes - Only have one: Code 34, EGR. But sometimes it'll shut off when engine is warm, idling at a stop sign. So I'm replacing the EGR valve, sensor and the ignition control module. Pulled spark plugs today. They all look perfectly normal. Center electrodes are worn at the edges but not too bad at all. Parts should arrive mid-week. Hope to give it a test drive (and badly needed bath!) by beginning of June!
@@RicoCantrell Several aftermarket companies have headlights and tail lights for those Thunderbirds. I gave my '88 Thunderbird LX 5.0 Sports Coupe, that I bought new, to my grand son. This past June, we bought new aftermarket headlights and tail lights plus converted to LED bulbs.
Explorer92, why not a 5.8w HO crate engine? I put one if those into a '71 Maverick Grabber. 385 hp right out of the box. As I recall, it was under $3000 purchase price. I added a few performance mods to it and brought the hp up to 450. C6 transmission, 9" rear with 3:50 Detroit-Locker gears, 4 wheels disc brakes from a Lincoln Versailles, and 1965 Thunderbird sequential tail lights which is what early Shelby GT Mustangs had. My oldest daughter has the car now.
@@sergeantmasson3669 Crate engines now start at 10,000, efi and new transmission, headers etc. and your at 20,000 plus. I had to swap out a 7.5 rear end with an 8.8, added disc brakes new 5 lug wheels, rusted out trunk and window sill repairs quickly added up. How was it fitting that 5.8 in the Maverick.
@@Celticman197 WRONG ! Ford 5.8W HO crate engines can be bought for far less than $10,000. In fact, many are under $7000. Fitting the 5.8w HO into the '71 Maverick Grabber wasn't difficult at all. We trimmed back the spring towers a bit for headers clearance and had to use a low-profile air-cleaner. We also used a 4 core radiator as a caution instead of the 2 core 5.0 original radiator. The car has never had a "running hot" problem even when the A/C is on. My daughter's only complaint is the lack of traction sometimes. The Wheels are 15x7 Magnum 500 and the tires are Michelin 215/70/R15. We changed the front springs and added another leaf to the rear springs to lift the car 2" higher for tire clearances but it's barely noticed.
That is correct! It's a factory option keyless entry system that can lock, unlock D or P doors or pop the trunk lid open depending which number you press after inputting your unique code. Mine still works :)
Too bad ford did not turbocharged their V6 3.8 to do battle with the Grand National back then I'm sure it could have easily matched performance but a Grand National kill this car
The GN was a beast with its own category! No way this TBird could have completed with that at the time. Ford did have the Supercharged 3.8 Supercoupe though in 89. Maybe that was their answer? Other than their iconic 5.0 stangs of course!!
