Project? TBird SC vs. Monte SS

[fishtail8]

Along the same lines, how about Cougar? The parents had an '87 20th anniversary one. Fully loaded, with a 5.0L that would have taken all the Mustang mods. I don't imagine a 5spd swap would be that hard. Throw a Vortec on it and cruise in luxury. I would have kept that old girl.....

[85_SS]

I'm biased, but I'd go with a g-body. As mentioned, the 83-88 SS never came with a standard trans, but the swap isn't very difficult and is becoming more and more common. You may even come across one already swapped if you're lucky.

That being said, a friend of mine used to have a Tbird SuperCoupe and it was a beautiful car.

[ANIMOSITY]

I say go with the bird. Plenty of everything else on the road. Plus the later bird had IRS in them. Ford also built a one-off t-bird that was going to come from SVT,blown 4.6 backed by a t-45. Ive seen a few birds that ran and handled nice.

If you look hard enough you might find the rare mid 90s bird that ford had done that had about 6inches taken out of the center. I think there were only maybe ten made, but thet had no motors. You could build one of them or a clone. Just my 2cents.

[fastback]

I'd build a Fox-bodied Bird (big surprise, right). Do a pro-charged 347 stroker with a six speed. Bolt in the Cobra IRS and Cobra brakes, like mine. Do coilovers, or Air-Ride and you're all set.

To get started on a budget, throw in a stock 5.0/5spd combo from a Mustang. It all bolts right in. Bolt-ons to make a 5.0 scream are endless.

The Mustang 8.8 rear bolts right in, but is 1.5" narrower than the T-Bird rear. It provides added strength, Traction Loc and more room for more rear tire.

Grab a set of spindles, axles and brakes from an SN95 Mustang. They go for like 250.00 at the junkyard. Now you have 5 lug four wheel disc. From there, when you have a few bucks, you can upgrade the rotors and calipers to Cobra spec.

Some subframe connectors from the Mustang fit, but you'll need to check on which ones. To be safe, Maximum Motorsports makes T-Bird specific connectors. In fact, Maximum Motorsports makes a lot of T-Bird parts. I'm running Mustang upper and lower rear control arms. You need the adjustable ones to get your pinion angle right.

Mustang springs and struts bolt right on, but you need a special bracket to make Mustang rear shocks work. No biggie, just use T-Bird rear shocks instead.

Mustang headers and H-pipe will work, but you need to have tailpipes made, as the Bird is longer than the Mustang.

Check out this blown small block '88 TurboCoupe...

[ProTouring442]

I'd build a Fox-bodied Bird (big surprise, right). Do a pro-charged 347 stroker with a six speed. Bolt in the Cobra IRS and Cobra brakes, like mine. Do coilovers, or Air-Ride and you're all set.

To get started on a budget, throw in a stock 5.0/5spd combo from a Mustang. It all bolts right in. Bolt-ons to make a 5.0 scream are endless.

The Mustang 8.8 rear bolts right in, but is 1.5" narrower than the T-Bird rear. It provides added strength, Traction Loc and more room for more rear tire.

Grab a set of spindles, axles and brakes from an SN95 Mustang. They go for like 250.00 at the junkyard. Now you have 5 lug four wheel disc. From there, when you have a few bucks, you can upgrade the rotors and calipers to Cobra spec.

Some subframe connectors from the Mustang fit, but you'll need to check on which ones. To be safe, Maximum Motorsports makes T-Bird specific connectors. In fact, Maximum Motorsports makes a lot of T-Bird parts. I'm running Mustang upper and lower rear control arms. You need the adjustable ones to get your pinion angle right.

Mustang springs and struts bolt right on, but you need a special bracket to make Mustang rear shocks work. No biggie, just use T-Bird rear shocks instead.

Mustang headers and H-pipe will work, but you need to have tailpipes made, as the Bird is longer than the Mustang.

Check out this blown small block '88 TurboCoupe...

Damn that looks nice!

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[kursed56]

It does look good and a lot of good info there also.

[fast Ed]

Depends on what the goals are for the car. The SC has the advantage of being a very comfortable cruiser with good handling out of the box compared to the Monte, and you can get a stick from the factory. However as mentioned they can be expensive to maintain and modify compared to a G-body Chev.


cheers
Ed N.