Milestone reached - 100K miles

tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
I searched but couldn't find a thread on this......

Last night I reached the 100,000 mile mark. I knew it was coming and I had my digital camera with me.

So it's just now broken-in! Of course I got it with around 88,500 miles already on it!
 

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tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
Hey Jeremi!

<<... bit busy having fun >>

Any chance you can throw some fun my way? Oh like maybe 3.73 gears, tranny mods, Saleen wheels and tires, etc! A blower would be the ultimate!
 

tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
Thanks!

But I don't get to put any more miles on it - it's taking a winter's nap in the garage!
 

tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
<< What are you driving ? >>

Since I no longer have to go to downtown Detroit until they call me again, I am driving both my wife's 2005 Freestar Limited minivan and my father-in-law's 1998 Toyota Corolla 5-speed manual (tight fit - tooooo small for me!!!). But he and my mother-in-law are vacationing in South America until January 12, and he'll take his little Corolla back to Grand Rapids. Leaving only the van whcih my wife uses 99.9% of the time. The 97 Tbird Limited Edition is still dead, parked in front of my house with snow on it. No takers for $500 yet as-is.

I do not want to drive the Mark in this weather.
 

tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
It died - turns out it was a burst heater hose in the back on the passenger side that was weak and sprayed coolant on the passenger side windshield. I was on WB I-94 just west of I-96 in downtown Detoilet on the phone with the wife. No place to really pull over, no cash for a tow and the wifey wasn't going to come all that way to pick me up - she doesn't ever drive to Detroit alone! Here's how I wrote it in the tccoa.com forum:

<< Gonzo's 97 Tbird Limited Edition DIED today - 20 October 2010

There's been a death in the family. My 1997 Thunderbird Limited Edition is now without a heart. The engine seized, locked up and white smoke poured out of the underhood and into the air vents in the passenger compartment. It was pinging like crazy and spraying green coolant onto the passenger side outside windshield while I was leaving downtown Detroit via I-96 west to I-94 west. I was able to make it to Merriman Rd and Ecorse Rd to a BP station and it pretty much died because I slowed down. If the light were green I would have made it further north! I just had it towed home now.

It's in front of my house in Westland and I'm hoping $500 is reasonable enough for the whole car minus the AM/FM/MiniDisc radio and speakers and the L.E. floor mats and fender badges. With a replacement engine the car will live again!

It has Magnaflow high-flow cats, a mid-mount dual in/dual out Magnaflow muffler, and true duals all the way to the chrome exhaust tips out back. There's also Eibach lowering springs at each corner that brought it down 1.5 inches. I put new performance P225/60R/15 tires this past January and they've got 95%+ tread on them. The interior is clean. The Limited Edition floormats are in OK shape, the driver's side has a hole in it from my heavy heel, and I may end up keeping the mats and the fender badges because there is a very good chance of another 97 Thunderbird in my future to transfer them to and make my own L.E. out of it.

If this car doesn't sell then some damned junkyard is going to get it and offer me $350 for it. Rather than have it destroyed and the parts living on in others I'd like to see it go to someone who can replace the engine and enjoy it. The car has 162,500 miles on it, and the tranny has 82,000 miles. The original one was replaced under warranty for "slipping".

Pics later when I get the time! Interested? Contact me at my e-mail shown below or call my AT&T cell phone at 734-637-8596.

My Tbird has served me well since 19 March 2001....... >>

As of this morning (Christmas Eve morning) it's still parked in front of my house. Still no red sticker on the window from the Westland coppers! And still no pics - haven't had the time! However, here's a pic of when it ran great!!

Merry Christmas!!
 

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sleeper

Former LOD President
That's a nice looking car. I have a friend with a SOHC 4.6 sitting in his shop, but it's out of a van. I might be interested, but $500 is a bit high for me, for a dead car. Even with a motor, I'm looking at a few hundred in fluids and gaskets, not to mention a ****load of time, to resurrect it. Between oil, ATF, coolant, gaskets and misc. minor parts I think it cost me close to $300 to swap the engine in my mark 8, not counting the engine.

How nice is it, other than the blown up engine? How old are those pics? How clean is it underneath?

If you're thinking of letting it go to a junkyard let me know and maybe we can work something out. I could really only give you a couple hundred for it, though.
 

tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
Some pics!!

Here are pics I took today 1 January 2011. It will take a couple of posts to show you all the images.

I'm still wanting to get $500 for it, I don't think it's unreasonable. The junkyard already offered me $350 but they'd make way more than $350 from parting it out. Or I can wait to find something to replace the Tbird and take advantage of a stealership that offers "$2000 for anything you can push, pull, or drag in"!

This should qualify.
 

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tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
Pics 16-20

The pics of the underside are from April 2008 when the exhaust was put on. The only rusted piece is that exhaust tank shield. It shouldn't be too much different.
 

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sleeper

Former LOD President
If it weren't all banged up I'd say $500 would be reasonable, but i'd still try to get it cheaper.

With the damage and with that many miles, with the rust, running, it's probably worth no more than $1500. There's one listed (red, even) for $1500 that doesn't appear to have any body damage (small crappy picture, though), and there are two running '96's (one "leeks" and the other has no heat or air) for $700 and $600 respectively. No pics on those, they're probably beat up good, but they run. I'd probably be in $300-$500 to fix it, and another $500 or so worth of my time and effort, so there's really no room for profit if I sell it and it's not "nicer" enough than my mark to make it worth keeping. And that's not counting a windshield and two taillights.

I'd say your best bet is to part it yourself, or pull off the exhaust and the wheels / tires and sell it to the junkyard.
 

tbirddmnd

Listening on 141.850 mHz
I know a Mexican guy in Mexicantown who owns a bump shop and he says for $2000 he'll make it look brand-new again. I've seen his work and I know he's not B.S.'ing me. That includes bumping/straightening and paint, along with a new windshield. I'd go that route if I could get an engine on the cheap, but my wife doesn't want me to spend one more cent on it.

I think you may be right though. Maybe I can take the tires/wheels, exhaust, lowering springs and then find some way to get it to the scrap yard in Wayne. I'd also keep all the Limited Edition emblems.
 

sleeper

Former LOD President
That's probably your best bet. Get whatever you want to keep and scrap the rest. It's really not worth pouring money into it - you can buy a nicer one for far less than it would cost to get it where you want it. If anything, just put a motor in it and drive it like you stole it.

If you do decide to put a motor in it I could see what my friend would want for his. It came out of a van. The van was wrecked into a wall on the highway, then driven as a work van for several more months before making the trek to arizona, serving daily driver duty for a year or so, and driving back with a '50's buick on a car dolly. THEN the van was junked, but the powertrain was still good so it's still in my buddy's shop. The trans is a spare for our lemons car, and in theory the motor is too (but i'm not sure we'd ever put that much effort into that car). The motor probably has 150k on it.
 
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