The only other things I replaced on the car where the general tune-up items and things I wanted to change for my own pleasure. The transmission died when I let it run dry, I learned an expensive lesson by never checking the fluid. I can't wait.įor me, the sentimental value is much more important than the car's monetary value. After college, and once I've got the money, the Tbird will become a drag/street car project for my dad and I to work on. I still own the thunderbird and drive it in bad weather, and plan on taking it to college with me when I go. I now drive a '97 Z28, and in comparison to the Turbo Coupe it's miles ahead. The 3speed auto without OD doesn't do any good for the gas mileage, although it doesn't really do too bad. I found out that the dependable old engine could not take an excess of boost, but no real problems because of it. The handling is somewhat mushy, but not too bad for the big boat that it is. The car is not necessarily fast, while it's not too slow. This car and I have shared so many memories that the money put into it isn't even important. I bought it for $2000 which was probably a little high, but to me it was completely worth it. To make a long story short, over the two and a half years I've owned it, the car has had around $4000 in work done on it. For this reason a lot of seals, hoses, and gaskets had gone bad. It sat in someone's garage for about 8 years, being driven very sparingly. I bought this car with my own hard earned money just a few months after turning 15. To be honest, there are probably more things that were necessary that I'm forgetting.

Small amounts of surface rust at the bottoms of the doors. It's all good though, because I could never get tired of hearing the turbo spool up. It's now kind of loud and dumps right before the rear axle.

The exhaust rusted out at the muffler connection, so I hack-sawed it off. It requires about a half quart of oil every two weeks or so. Replaced the head gasket as well as many other gaskets and seals.

85 t bird