new guy here saying hello

[blue95lx]

hey everyone. My name is Travis, im from Northern Virginia (just outside of dc). about two months ago my grandfather gave me his 95 thunderbird lx (4.6) due to gma's order to get rid of one of their cars. He gave it to me because i had asked him if i could have it since he got it brand new in 95.

She has 160k miles on it and drives like a dream and has been meticulously cared for. I have to say this is the finest automobile i've ever driven. I've owned a 95 mustang gt, a 98 camaro z28, two jeeps, a wrangler, and a 02 altima for a short period of time. but by far this thing has been the most pleasant suprise.

i have some performance shop background so if anyone has performance questions regarding the 4.6 i believe i could be of some major help.

right now im saying im on the P.I.M.P racing team..aka parts in many piles. my plans for this car aren't much. with 160 on the clock i have a new transmission waiting for this one to take a dump, im currently rebuilding a stock 4.6 block (this time with forged pistons and crank). as for the mods to go on over the next few weeks i have the following, flowmaster catback, hi flow catted y pipe, 3000 stall convertor, 3.73 gears, cold air intake, and a set of bfg drag radials for the rear wheels.


the summer plans are still in the works, and will solely depend on my new income and how much i can save and wha tparts i have will work.
If anyone runs into a mechanical problem if i can't answer anyone at my old shop could so id love to help where i can. and if any of you have opinions or suggestions for me and perhaps have some ideas (for my plans) for me please let me know, knowledge is king.

Take care!
Travis

[93_302HO_t-bird]

hi travis and everyone else,

My name is james I'm 19 years old with very little experince of working on cars, my dad is a retired desel and auto mechanic.
I plan on doing a few things to my t-bird.

I have a 93 5.0HO t-bird, basicly stock with a stock body kit.
High miles on body, over 200K, and decently low miles on rebuilt engine, less than 80K..

I found the car at a local pawn shop that was going out of buisness, my dad knew the owner and remebered my love for fords, particularly mustangs, told me about the car and i went and check it out and bought it 3 days later.
I wanted to ask you something based on the fact that you seem to know something about cars as a mechanical aspect.

My trans just went out, and although I'm going to have another auto trans in by the end of this month. I'm wanting to put a manual (t5) 5spd trans into the car.
Can you tell me every part that I need and how much trouble do you thing this swap/mod will be?

I plan on buying a remanufactured t5, and i know i need a clutch, pedal, I guess a fly wheel, and a few other things, could you tell me all the things i need. Would you give me your advice and your opipion.
Thanks, James B.

[jforster22]

i can see that some are starting out here so i think i will too. my name is justin im 18 i just picked up my 94 tbird with a 4.6 about 2 or 3 months ago.im sitting with 170k on the body, 30k on trans and engine. the car was originaly owned by my fathers friend. as soon as i got it i rebuilt the motor and trans. droped in mustang cams, and now it seems like a new car. also put a very nice shift kit in the trans. loving every little bit of it.

[blue95lx]

Originally Posted by 93_302HO_t-bird

hi travis and everyone else,

My name is james I'm 19 years old with very little experince of working on cars, my dad is a retired desel and auto mechanic.
I plan on doing a few things to my t-bird.

I have a 93 5.0HO t-bird, basicly stock with a stock body kit.
High miles on body, over 200K, and decently low miles on rebuilt engine, less than 80K..

I found the car at a local pawn shop that was going out of buisness, my dad knew the owner and remebered my love for fords, particularly mustangs, told me about the car and i went and check it out and bought it 3 days later.
I wanted to ask you something based on the fact that you seem to know something about cars as a mechanical aspect.

My trans just went out, and although I'm going to have another auto trans in by the end of this month. I'm wanting to put a manual (t5) 5spd trans into the car.
Can you tell me every part that I need and how much trouble do you thing this swap/mod will be?

I plan on buying a remanufactured t5, and i know i need a clutch, pedal, I guess a fly wheel, and a few other things, could you tell me all the things i need. Would you give me your advice and your opipion.
Thanks, James B.

swapping to a t5 manual is somewhat of a projet. i know slamming gears is fun, but there are ways to make an auto just as much fun, if not more so. to switch over ur looking at cutting, welding, new computer, transmission, new fly wheel, new clutch, clutch pedal, new shifter and quite a fewother odds and ends. to be honest, if you wanna have some fun, if u gotta rebuild the trans, get a build auto trans, slap a 3000 stall convertor on it,as well as a trans cooler, change the ring and pinion gears, and ull spend nearlyt eh same amount and end up shaving atleast a half second off ur ets if ur bone stock.

my honest opinion, i would say its not worth the cash, its a hell of a swap. however, there are ways to make that auto feel bad ass. that i can help you with, the auto to manual swap though, no offense to you at all, but its not worth the time to help. it would be cheaper to buy a used fox body mustang than to do the swap .

hope to be helpful and not completely shit on ur plans man, i apologize, but im just being honest.

Travis

[blue95lx]

Originally Posted by jforster22

i can see that some are starting out here so i think i will too. my name is justin im 18 i just picked up my 94 tbird with a 4.6 about 2 or 3 months ago.im sitting with 170k on the body, 30k on trans and engine. the car was originaly owned by my fathers friend. as soon as i got it i rebuilt the motor and trans. droped in mustang cams, and now it seems like a new car. also put a very nice shift kit in the trans. loving every little bit of it.

if ur planning to do some mods, look at a torque convertor to accompany that shift kit, it would be the best mod u've ever done. however, bad move with the mustang cams. ur looking at such a slight difference in the lobes between what you had stock and the mustang cams that honestly, you waisted either time and or money putting them in. the tune for these cars can handle some significantly higher cams than the gt cams. no offense to you but dude, seriously you traded two retarded babies for two autistic children. i've been grinding cams for 4.6's for a while, if you want some advice on something that can pass an emissions test and pick up 40 hp let me know, that i can do with relative ease and still be somewhat light ont he pocket book.

Travis

[93_302HO_t-bird]

thanks for the opinion! I don't mind that you were honest like you were. Atleast you were straight to the point. I've done some more research myself and came to some of my own conclusions! I've decided that if i want to persure having a manaul t-bird than I'll just going to sell the t-bird i have now and buy a SC and have a manual trans, more power to start with and the 145MPH speedometer (comes stock in 95 SC's) I've wanted! I've always wanted a mustang, I may just skip the t-bird mods and the SC plan and just buy a mustang at some point in the near future. I am going to look into the shift kit at the least, and thanks agian for your input.
Thanks, James

RIGHT NOW: I'M having another trans put in (used-135K miles) and after that I'm willing to sell for $1450 O.B.O.
xbox360gamer2k7@peoplepc.com anyone can email me for pics, info, or any questions!
If someone is interested in buying, and isn't local I can ebay to provide a more secure transaction!

[blue95lx]

Originally Posted by 93_302HO_t-bird

thanks for the opinion! I don't mind that you were honest like you were. Atleast you were straight to the point. I've done some more research myself and came to some of my own conclusions! I've decided that if i want to persure having a manaul t-bird than I'll just going to sell the t-bird i have now and buy a SC and have a manual trans, more power to start with and the 145MPH speedometer (comes stock in 95 SC's) I've wanted! I've always wanted a mustang, I may just skip the t-bird mods and the SC plan and just buy a mustang at some point in the near future. I am going to look into the shift kit at the least, and thanks agian for your input.
Thanks, James

RIGHT NOW: I'M having another trans put in (used-135K miles) and after that I'm willing to sell for $1450 O.B.O.
xbox360gamer2k7@peoplepc.com anyone can email me for pics, info, or any questions!
If someone is interested in buying, and isn't local I can ebay to provide a more secure transaction!

its not all that difficult of a swap its just time consuming and i mean if ur selling for 1500 ish, the total cost of the swap would be more than that. i figured id lay it out ther eand let u know its not as cheap n easy as some will lead you to believe.

what kind of mustang do you prefer? i can get my hands on any style, with any motor youw ant well within a "reasonable" price for whichever year model.

shoot me some pics of the tbird though, urbrightestdark@aim.com is my email. you can also hit me up on aim on that same screen name. Id love to see some pics, if i dont end up paying you for it and picking it up, im almost certain i can find someone for you for that price bro.

but honest man, on my 98 z28 i had before this i had a manual transmission, went well into the 10's with it n/a. i think my best time with the 6 spee dmanual was 10.44. i swapped to a built gm auto (4l80e, the ones they use in their rwd trucks), an aftermarket stall convertor to match where my cam was making its best power, a shift kit and a trans cooler, i ended up making money off the swap and i went from 10.44 to 10.20, then later into the 9's with the assistence of the bottle. lesson in all of it, granted i loved jamming gears, but i was hella faster with the auto set up. ive only owned manual transmission cars. since the swap in the z28 i doubt ill ever go back to a manual for a car i plan to mod.

oh and if have any other questions you can reach me quickly at the email addy above dude. i'm pretty much retired now and just over see shit so im always on the computer

Travis

[jforster22]

Originally Posted by blue95lx

if ur planning to do some mods, look at a torque convertor to accompany that shift kit, it would be the best mod u've ever done. however, bad move with the mustang cams. ur looking at such a slight difference in the lobes between what you had stock and the mustang cams that honestly, you waisted either time and or money putting them in. the tune for these cars can handle some significantly higher cams than the gt cams. no offense to you but dude, seriously you traded two retarded babies for two autistic children. i've been grinding cams for 4.6's for a while, if you want some advice on something that can pass an emissions test and pick up 40 hp let me know, that i can do with relative ease and still be somewhat light ont he pocket book.

Travis

well before i went and did it i kept hearing from alot of diffrent people that it was an easy way to make a couple extra hp and i had the engine all apart anyways so i just went ahead and did it. the car feels alot faster now. i can light up my tires anywhere.(not always a good thing) i like it personaly.

but i apricate the advice and im open to any more you may have.
thanks
-justin

[blue95lx]

Originally Posted by jforster22

well before i went and did it i kept hearing from alot of diffrent people that it was an easy way to make a couple extra hp and i had the engine all apart anyways so i just went ahead and did it. the car feels alot faster now. i can light up my tires anywhere.(not always a good thing) i like it personaly.

but i apricate the advice and im open to any more you may have.
thanks
-justin

no disrespect meant bro. my advice, if you have the motor apart again, dont listen to gt guys. if the upgrade didnt cost you for parts then ok, no worries but if it cost you anything, i hate to see people get take advantange of, and no offense meant at all but if u paid for the gt cams, you got taken advantage of. you can go to a much more "radical" cam selection, still maintaining stock like qualities and make 30-50 more hp and torque from it. then again the really all depends on how much u paid for the cams, intsall etc etc. if it were under 600 bucks then you made a very good choice. if it was more than that, well...in the end ur potential power per dollar amount got screwed right in the buttucks.

if u give me an idea of what ur goals are for the car, im positive i can really help ya plan out and save some dough in the end. again i didnt mean any disrespect, but if you got taken for a loop man i hate to see that and id be glad to help you correct it and get better gains for ur buck!

Travis

[sadukit]

hi im tommy i have a small bit of experince but i am having a hard time finding performance parts but truthly i think its because of my lack of knowledge of the 4.6 SOHC. I work for a man who runs a dealership and he got this 95tbird on trade and the bumper was ripped the paint was shot and the suspension was making a loud popping noise but it ran like a dream(exectp for a trans shudder) he sold it to me thinking it was a pos for $250 I have fixed the pop the bumper and am now i the process of repainting but i would appriciate if u could give me any suggestions on mild top end performance parts such as heads intakes anything along those lines
Thank you
Tommy