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View Full Version : 1986 Thunderchicken SR86 project- SUPER SLOW BUILD



Drewstang
12-13-2014, 06:22 AM
Back story-
My first car was a 1985 Thunderbird with a 5.0 and AOD trans. I bought it when I was 15 and after fighting with the CFI system for months it kept stalling out at red lights. I also went through one 7.5 rear end and one 5.0 oil pump and timing chain in the matter of 18 months. My parents made me sell the car once I bought a 1993 Mustang LX even though I had big plans for the T-bird. I've always wanted to "finish" the idea I had in my mind and now I'm older and have a little more money I want to get started.

I started looking on craigslist and forums last year once I had cleared my garage of all projects. I was ready to start and found this 1985 V6 car for cheap on the Fox T-bird Cougar forums. The body is straight, has no rust, and came with a ton of parts. Every car I found around here was rusted out or beat to hell. A friend of mine picked it up and brought it home for me. I quickly decided to go with a 1994-95 dash and console mainly because this car didn't have a dash or main harness in it. I eventually picked up a 1986 Mustang GT with T-tops that wound up being a rust bucket. Then I bought a 1992 Mustang Coupe roller for cheap and while looking for parts for it found a 1991 5.0 5 speed Hatchback for cheap. So, the T-bird is sidelined and in the planning stages. I have a bookmark folder thats growing by the week for links to parts and vendors and I'm nearing $20k of parts in my spreadsheet. I've also got a vendor working on a rendering for me and I hope it will keep me focused on the project.

For now, this is the only decent pic I have of the car while I was mocking up the dash frame. I have since purchased fenders and many other parts and I'll spread them out for pics later on.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/3AC8C38839934F5E977DF9FA111930C4_zpsvkzr-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/Durty%20Souf%20Skunk%20Worx/3AC8C388-3993-4F5E-977D-F9FA111930C4_zpsvkzr3nuc.jpg.html)

My plan for the car is a Pro-touring / resto mod style build. Without boring you guys with more details the plan is to do some subtle mods to the body, convert to LED lighting, 18" CCW wheels, 14" big brakes, air ride from Ride Tech, a few suspension goodies from Maximum Motorsports, a painless style harness, Vintage Air HVAC, and to propel this 3500lb beast a Coyote 5.0 with a 6R80 6 speed auto trans. Sponsors are welcome, lol. For now progress will be slow, like oh my God is this guy ever going to update this thread slow. I've got to clear the way for this car to make its way into the garage.

Drewstang
12-26-2014, 06:46 PM
Latest update, I had to move the car to a friends house. We've had some issues with a neighbor and we live in the city. Ordinances here only allow 1 running vehicle per licensed driver in the house. No vehicles in "disrepair" maybe stored outside of a garage or carport. To avoid fines and all that fun I've moved this project and my 91 Hatchback Mustang to the country. Once I make some room here I'll bring it back and get going on it. On a side note, I did pull the old C5 auto trans and driveshaft so it would be a little lighter.

Mach Par
12-28-2014, 01:30 PM
Nice, Drew. My wife said you needed a place to put the cars. I think she said something about putting them at my house.

RMMiller
12-28-2014, 03:48 PM
Man I'm glad I live where I do! No way I would live somewhere I could only have one car per licensed driver. Granted, I live where we have CCR's but my garage is big enough for all my crap and I have a nice spot behind my fence for additional parking so I'm good.

Good luck with that Bird, I've always liked those cars and it should be pretty cool once you finish.

Drewstang
12-28-2014, 08:51 PM
Nice, Drew. My wife said you needed a place to put the cars. I think she said something about putting them at my house.
Sup there Ben. She did offer the space but I took them to Roby's house in B-town. Hopefully I can start bringing them home in the spring. Thanks for the offer though.

RMMiller- We can't wait until we get out of this city. Its so bassakwards here. I hope to get back on it in the spring.

Drewstang
12-30-2014, 05:37 PM
I've been going nuts around here with nothing to do. When I moved the car I left the tail lights and other stuff at my house. Part of my plan is to bring parts of the car into the 21st century. This includes the lighting which I want to update to all LED lighting. I started looking at the tail lights and since I like to take stuff apart I sat down and started to clean out the old lens sealant that always fails. How do I know? My first car dropped a tail light lens in a busy intersection one cold morning.

I've got the outer lens off and removing the sealant.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/526F832C733946EAA94A51621645B1CA_zpsvkjz-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/526F832C-7339-46EA-A94A-51621645B1CA_zpsvkjzdqae.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/B27EFFBA91CE4B6A81E55EDB9EFBF330_zpsw4ls-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/B27EFFBA-91CE-4B6A-81E5-5EDB9EFBF330_zpsw4lsjmbg.jpg.html)

Next, I want to see what this looks like with out the diffuser inside. A couple careful prys and pops and it came out, not in one piece unfortunately.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/BBF968C15708440E8A33B992A5AD8750_zpsolxw-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/BBF968C1-5708-440E-8A33-B992A5AD8750_zpsolxwlegh.jpg.html)

Ok, so its apart and the diffuser is out. I'm betting these will look awesome polished up and with a touch of black tint in the clear.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/14FAFA73342C4060AAE19708C85E5808_zpsu8ed-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/14FAFA73-342C-4060-AAE1-9708C85E5808_zpsu8eds055.jpg.html)

But that textured plastic above the lens is annoying me. If it was smoothed out and painted satin or gloss black it would blend in better. Some 220 grit and a block will knock it down flat enough to fill with primer.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/70FA6278FA994D5E8A5A54EBE635B44F_zpsfoiy-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/70FA6278-FA99-4D5E-8A5A-54EBE635B44F_zpsfoiynp44.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/6F87CD5B396243A8BAE021B2880EDA10_zps6abe-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/6F87CD5B-3962-43A8-BAE0-21B2880EDA10_zps6abemxvi.jpg.html)

I need to start polishing the lens which means the trim needs to come off and the emblem masked up.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/A78044DE83EC482593F4F847D5C5CC10_zpssj5q-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/A78044DE-83EC-4825-93F4-F847D5C5CC10_zpssj5q1ukq.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/9C292EC746EF431592D1B7432B057F35_zpsi7dm-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/9C292EC7-46EF-4315-92D1-B7432B057F35_zpsi7dmxmfi.jpg.html)

Drewstang
12-30-2014, 05:44 PM
This is where someone is going to say you're not supposed to do that. Let me say Kentucky doesn't have a very detailed inspection, if lights come on and the horn and wipers work you pass. I'm shaving these casting numbers and mold lines off these lights to make them as smooth as possible.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/560CCD89571243C2B4478BDC77A2268D_zpsqgbj-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/560CCD89-5712-43C2-B447-8BDC77A2268D_zpsqgbjyru3.jpg.html)

Started using the 3M polishing kit and cleaning up the scuffed old lens.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/9E119A10B2B84C069EB6CC5150585136_zpswxd9-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/9E119A10-B2B8-4C06-9EB6-CC5150585136_zpswxd9s4yp.jpg.html)

Found a decent low spot and molding line at the outside edge of the lens.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/550FE5FBDF1D45059B4C2259F5209E59_zps7rbh-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/550FE5FB-DF1D-4505-9B4C-2259F5209E59_zps7rbhgptq.jpg.html)

Its mostly gone
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/12/970B127381AC4C08966689B0D47F096D_zpsbmes-1.jpg (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Drewstang/media/970B1273-81AC-4C08-9666-89B0D47F096D_zpsbmes1wpu.jpg.html)

And this is where I stopped for the night. The primer is drying on the housing and it needs a few spots of filler. I'm going to run over the lens again tomorrow with 500 grit then switch to 800 and buff out the marks. Once the housing is smooth I'm going to decide flat or gloss black and shoot it with base then clear when I do the lenses. I need to find some LED boards that will fit inside these housings, maybe the 67-68 Impala conversion will fit.

Drewstang
12-31-2014, 04:25 PM
I did some reading and realized that using spray bomb primer is probably going to bite me in the ass later on. I'm going to sand it off and I'm picking up some SPI epoxy primer later this week. I'll probably grab a quart of clear while I'm at it.

The_Jed
01-05-2015, 03:34 PM
Nice!

Drewstang
01-05-2015, 07:43 PM
Thanks, that's a nice Mark VII in your avatar.

firstbird
01-05-2015, 08:40 PM
Sweeeeeeet My first car was a 87' bird. Good luck with the project, I think these cars are the perfect 80's car to put some pro touring touches.

Drewstang
01-06-2015, 02:34 PM
Thanks. I've got a pic in my head, I just need to get it down on paper so I can keep focus. These cars were very aerodynamic for the day and the lines look great.

The_Jed
01-06-2015, 04:57 PM
Any more pics of the Thunderchicken?
Is there a thread for your Mustang(s)?

Drewstang
01-07-2015, 02:34 PM
No current pics of the T-bird, my Turbo coupe is 2 hours away. The Mustangs are projects too and no threads on them yet.

Drewstang
02-05-2018, 06:54 AM
Three years later, the car still sits. I've gathered a ton of parts from craigslist and ideas from here. Soon it will come home temporarily and the build will begin.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2018/02/25227090037_1a14c786cd_k-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/EreqYe)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/EreqYe) by andystang93 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/129720500@N02/), on Flickr