It was a matter of money placement and what to fix first..I only had so much money saved up and set aside for the car. The fuel filter was so clogged I was amazed to find the car was still able to stay running. You couldn't blow thru it nor could I feel air come out the other end when we blew the air hose thru it
The plug wires got ate up inside by the drivebelt...dont ask me how that happened but it did..The plugs looked like they hadn't been changed in years, and the rear brakes were completely shot thanks to 2 leaky wheel cylinders going out at the same time. The check engine light was on and I had the codes checked. They came back with "No EGR flow detected" so after replacing the EGR sensor, EGR Valve, and entire rear brake job, valve covers, plugs, plug wires, alternator, battery, oil sending unit, oil change, and paying my buddy to help me when I couldn't get to things myself. I had exhausted all my money I had set aside for the car. It was a matter of trying to figure out what to fix first..I only paid 1000 for the car a year ago and the usual maintenance stuff wasn't taken care of because it was a family loaner car for the guy I bought it off of from work. When someone in his family had to take their car into the shop, they borrowed the thunderbird.
Otherwise it just sat outside his house. So I didn't chalk the door problem up as a necessary concern right away since it didn't directly concern getting me from point A to Point B. | 
