What to do?

[4bangen]

Ok here is my delema. Most of you have seen pictures of my little red 89 n/a vert. Ive had the car for a long time and am pritty attached to her. I reseved a phone call yesterday from a frend who wants to build a vert for his wife, he wants my car, and is willing to traid strait up for his mint all stock 88(i think its an 88 or 89) thunderbird turbo coupe. my stang is an automatic with a failing a4ld(shocker!) power everything, and I had plans to drop the 2.3t Im building in it and swap the trans for a c4 or do a 5speed swap. his turbo coupe is a 5speed has 4wheel disk brakes power everything and is realy clean. It needs exast but thats about it. He says it even has adjustable suspention. Its low milage and has been maintained with only ford parts. He is a personal friend with Jack Roush and Is a trust worthy guy. Now the only thing holding me back is this was my first stang(have had 3 others) and there is alot of sentamental value to this car, although I m still pritty far from making it turbo. Is the T-bird the way to go? I plan on driving it today and will check back tomorrow. any input from you all would be great, I want to traid but am afraid Ill regret getting rid of my babby
How well do the birds handle? would it be a good autoX car?
this is when I need you guys with birds to chime in and tell me how much you love them.
Matt

 

[Stinger]

If you are even the least bit confused as to what to do then I'd wonder about your sanity...sounds like getting the TC is a no brainer.

The TC will handle tons better than your mustang (stock for stock). It's also a much nicer car in every way.

 

[SVO1]

The sentimental part is the killer.
My 87 has been with me for a long time. I sold it back in 98 and regretted it everyday.
I bought it again in 01 and it was all beat to hell by then.
Now it is almost done becoming the car I always wanted it to be.
Was it a smart choice? No, But I was sorry for the car and all the bs emotions attached to it.
I think if you are having doubts on getting rid of it, then you should not.
However I can say from the outside the TC is the best deal by far, but in the end you have to do what you feel is the best.

 

[evintho]

Grab the TC! Believe me, I understand sentimental value. I bought my Dodge in 1987 for $100. 17 years and $30k later I sold it. My blood, sweat and tears were in that car! Almost cried as it drove away. A week later I forgot about it and moved on to Thunderstang. It's only a car! 'Verts are a dime a dozen out there. Go ahead and trade. The sorrow of selling the 'vert will be quickly replaced by the joy of the turbo'd TC! You'll spend alot of money and time trying to get the 'vert to the level of the TC, when you can reach that level immediately with the purchase of the TC. Do it, brother! I guarantee you won't regret it!!

 

[Red_LX]

In my completely unbiased opinion, you should get the Thunderbird

 

[4bangen]

desition made

Well I bet all of you have been on the edge of your seats waiting to find out what im going to do
well I made up my mind. Im going to sell the stang and buy a Kia Reo


Just kidding guys,I saw the tbird last night and I can only say it was verry easy to make the deal. That car is oh so nice, It has fresh paint leather intior and it is pritty much loaded. all the a/c is new and you could eat off of the engine compartment.the seats are ripped but that wont be hard to fix. The only thing that will need amediate attention is the exast rusted off after the Y. I will post pics as soon as I take delivory of the car. Oh and it is an 88. Now Im just scared something will happen to my stang before the trade goes down Man Im afraid to drie her.
well thanks for the good honist input guys and I am happy to say that I will be boosting a whole lot sooner that I thought.
now one last thing how much more does this turbo coupe way than my vert?
maybee I should go on a diet, to make up for the differance.

 

[evintho]

View attachment 490672

 

[4bangen]

update

the tc is resting peacefully at home finaly. This thing is cleen. pics will come this after noon or tomorrow, depends on when I get to cleen it up. I picked it up saterday night, had to put a few gallons of gas in it to get it started. The car was covered in tree sap so I couldnt see verry well. But I could see well enough to hit 15psi. real quick. its defanently a fun car. I need to get insurance on it this week so I can get the exhast put on. and start driving the hell out of it. I have a ported E6 on the motor I was building, and a 3inch down pipe. Those will be the first things to go on. from there out Im not sure. Well thats it for now. untill I post pics, keep an eye on this thread.

 

[egnorant]

If!

If you get the urge to go back to a vert, give me a call. I have lots of verts and turbo coupes and I am only about 150 miles away!!
Bruce

 

[4bangen]

If you get the urge to go back to a vert, give me a call. I have lots of verts and turbo coupes and I am only about 150 miles away!!
Bruce

good to know. My wife my kill you, if I get one from you, but I just may be willing to take that risk

 

[SVO1]

pics? dang it is after 3!!!!

 

[4bangen]

ok here are the pics

wow yall are an pushy croud!!!!!

here is the front and back

 

[4bangen]

the motor and that face Im growing to love.

 

[4bangen]

brushed aluminum trim and two tone leather any one?
I realy like this car and am going to have alot of fun with her.
and now I am truely a prefomance car owner. and so far I dont miss my stang.

 

[evintho]

SCORE!!!! Excellent move! I can tell, you're already enjoying it. They're a blast to drive and look good too! When I finally finish Thunderstang, I'm gonna grab an '88 5-spd for a daily driver. They're a dime a dozen out here!

BTW, NATO says the '88 5-spd's weigh 3415 lbs. Not sure on the 'verts weight, but I'm think the two are pretty close. Have fun with your new ride!

 

[Red_LX]

Nice lookin car. If you need any ideas for what to do with it, check mine out

FYI, that isn't "real" brushed aluminum trim, it's just a decal...but it does look nice. Goes very well with the brushed aluminum gauge bezel I got off ebay.

 

[rd]

Too late, but I would have kept the Mustang. This comes from looking back over nearly 40 years, but I had and sold a 65 Mustang coupe that was my first serious car. Sold it for $400, running fine. These days you couldn't get it back in that good a shape for $20000. I still have the 79 Capri I got in 1979, and plan on keeping it forever. Imho, the Tbird is a much more complex car to keep up, more power stuff, etc, etc. Sort of a mini Eddie Bauer Explorer.

But you all here have helped be get bitten by the turbo bug, so I forgive you.

 

[Red_LX]

In 40 years a fox might be worth that much...but for now, who cares? Honestly Thunderbirds are nicer than Fox Mustangs as far as build quality goes. Although, with his car being the fully loaded model, he has a lot more electronic gizmos on his car than mine does. How many miles are on that thing anyway? I see you have the auto climate control, auto-dimming headlights, and all that stuff.

 

[4bangen]

the ticker reads 98,??? but he claims to have documentation that the rong speedo gear was put in and thus it should be 15k less. I dont care this is the first car Ive owned under 100,000. Ya it does have just about power everything, and that means more to brake, but I an ok with electrical work and my dad was an electrical enginere who lives 15 to 20 min. from me. We can fix just about anything.

 

[samickguy15]

Sweet deal in my opinion.