What did you do with your Thunderbird Today?

The light panel I routed inside the trunk for years powered by the T10 bulb socket on the left side of the lid failed at some point while I was finishing up the sound system upgrades last month. To replace that, I added more light to my trunk than most people have in their entire interior using a light bar on the lid and one on the underside of the package tray.

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https://imgur.com/6yfVWkr
 
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KevinVarnes said:
Curious where you got your replacement mast from? When I got my car the power antenna didn't work. I put a new mast in from theantennasource.com. That failed about a year later and then I put another one in from the same place. Now it goes about halfway up. I've considered just putting a stationary mast in, but the cool factor of watching the antenna go up when the radio is turned on is too much for me. If I could find a good Ford NOS mast I'd pay the extra money for it, but I've had a hard time verifying the proper part number.
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eBay, not OEM but it is what I could find cheap for the moment. Thinking about this though - https://www.amazon.com/Contour-Crow...quis-Sable-Mystique-Continental/dp/B07R7X39WK
 
The mast I put in was an eBay one too and has actually outlasted the original.
 
Has anyone tried one of the new rubber masts from a F150 or Transit on our cars?
 
From my time in the electronics shop, rubber antennas don't work as well. The straight, solid mounted ones are best. The motorized ones can be iffy, especially if they're old. The worst of all was the 'embedded' one in my 83 firebird; They only work driving toward or away from the station. Marconi>> dipole, lol.
 
From what I see in the junkyards, the rubber ones (Fiesta, Focus, 2010+ Mustang,...) all seem to disintegrate with age. Also, the screw-in part at the bottom is too short. On our antennas, the thread is about 1.5" below the foot of the antenna.

I'd love to get a power antenna just for the old-school luxury vibe. Apart from that, the basic metal mast antenna actually doesn't bother me. I wish it was mounted in the back though.
 
I'm talking about the tall masts from the current trucks, not the stubby ones from the cars.
 
Irv said:
The light panel I routed inside the trunk for years powered by the T10 bulb socket on the left side of the lid failed at some point while I was finishing up the sound system upgrades last month. To replace that, I added more light to my trunk than most people have in their entire interior using a light bar on the lid and one on the underside of the package tray.

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https://imgur.com/6yfVWkr
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That looks awesome! Super clean trunk too BTW.
 
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Doing some end of year / Beginning of next math on the car. So, the ODO currently sits at 227, 580 miles tonight which means:
  • The new 5.3L engine has only 14,612 miles on it since 2013.
  • I've only driven it 3,306 miles since September of 2020.
  • The oil that I put in it in September of 2020 only has those 3,306 miles on it. Should I change it? Just for some clarity, I run Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic at 5W-40 weight. This oil was recommend to me by RobertP because of the high compression and the high temperatures that the motor likes to run at because of the high compression.
Yeah, she's a garage queen :LOL:

I remember the days when I used to give guys shit about their trailered garage queens when I was still DDing my Tbird. Well, the day has long since passed since I last DD my car. Even though she's now a garage queen at lest she's not a trailer queen. I still drive her to events.
 
Back when you were daily driving it, you didn't have nearly the same amount invested, in money or sweat. :)
 
I went out and turned over the red cougar today. I looked it over; only the gas is holding me up now. I think I know how to get rid of the gas ::zdevil:
 
Trunk Monkey said:
Doing some end of year / Beginning of next math on the car. So, the ODO currently sits at 227, 580 miles tonight which means:
  • The new 5.3L engine has only 14,612 miles on it since 2013.
  • I've only driven it 3,306 miles since September of 2020.
  • The oil that I put in it in September of 2020 only has those 3,306 miles on it. Should I change it? Just for some clarity, I run Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic at 5W-40 weight. This oil was recommend to me by RobertP because of the high compression and the high temperatures that the motor likes to run at because of the high compression.
Yeah, she's a garage queen :LOL:

I remember the days when I used to give guys shit about their trailered garage queens when I was still DDing my Tbird. Well, the day has long since passed since I last DD my car. Even though she's now a garage queen at lest she's not a trailer queen. I still drive her to events.
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I'd change it based on age. Unless it's in a climate controlled garage the temperature changes affect the oil life.
 
Oil doesnt get old. The additives/detergents get used up. This would be from condensation or fuel that ends up in the crankcase before the piston rings are fully sealed during warm up.
 
Trunk Monkey said:
That looks awesome! Super clean trunk too BTW.
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Thanks! I've been focused on the trunk area a lot lately because of the sound system upgrades and addressing whatever else I see that needs some cleanup or attention back there. The sound system upgrades were both long overdue yet something I didn't really plan to do on any particular timeline like other bigger upgrades, but now my attention has been focused on it and other stuff around it.
 
Irv said:
Thanks! I've been focused on the trunk area a lot lately because of the sound system upgrades and addressing whatever else I see that needs some cleanup or attention back there. The sound system upgrades were both long overdue yet something I didn't really plan to do on any particular timeline like other bigger upgrades, but now my attention has been focused on it and other stuff around it.
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If you haven’t yet, please start a new thread here on your sound system upgrades and refresh my memory about what you’ve done with it. Thanks!
 
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Zep5.0 said:
I'd change it based on age. Unless it's in a climate controlled garage the temperature changes affect the oil life.
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dDUBb said:
Oil doesn't get old. The additives/detergents get used up. This would be from condensation or fuel that ends up in the crankcase before the piston rings are fully sealed during warm up.
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Yes. I've decided to change it. It's about a quart low now and I'm not going to just add a quart. Best just to change it out. It saw a lot of heat last summer.

BTW, I found the Shell Rotella T6 Synthetic 5W-40 at Amazon for a good price. I ordered 3 gallons.

 
You put Diesel oil into your engine ?
 
I've heard of that; IIRC it's done because of something to do with much higher levels of detergent.
 
Diesel engine combustion temperatures are not hotter than gasoline engines. The extra detergents are formulated to remove soot. Diesel oil usually contains a lot more zinc / phosphorus. If your engine burns oil ( 1/2 quart low 🤔 ) .. it may be burning off zinc which can damage the catalytic converter.
 
dDUBb said:
Diesel engine combustion temperatures are not hotter than gasoline engines. The extra detergents are formulated to remove soot. Diesel oil usually contains a lot more zinc / phosphorus. If your engine burns oil ( 1/2 quart low 🤔 ) .. it may be burning off zinc which can damage the catalytic converter.
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What catalytic converter? ;):LOL:

I'm not sure why Rob recommended this oil besides the fact the engine has a higher than normal CR and I'm running E85. It was my understanding that this oil can handle the heat better than other oils.
 
The biggest difference between diesel and gasoline oil are the zink/phosphorous additives, detergents and anti-foaming additives(diesels actually have less than gas engine oils which might mean there’s potential aeration at higher RPMs). The weight seems like it would be the determining factor with temperature rather than gasoline vs diesel blend, I’m curious to hear Rob’s thoughts on that.

For me I just found Rotella to be a good value compared to other synthetics when I used it, and everyplace stocked it. I stopped when I put on a catted exhaust. I’m not too picky about oil otherwise.
 
I pulled up to my driveway, looked over and saw my T-Bird parked in the driveway. I looked inside (from inside my Honda) and thought to myself, "How bad are all the plastics in the car?"

It hasn't moved or even been started in ~2-1/2yrs.
 
Grog6 said:
Don't you have a pile of parts to be putting on? Being in ca, it's hard to blame the weather... :)
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Indeed I do have a big pile of parts waiting for install. I have a few projects around the house that need attention / finishing first. Afterwards, I need to do the timing belt job on my Honda as it's well overdue on its maintenance schedule, both in terms of mileage (15k over) and age (2yrs over).

Then, and only then, can I bring in my T-Bird to the garage for it's well overdue upgrades.

I'm also debating on whether or not to just do the brake upgrades now or wait for later. The current rotors have that surface rust on them. I'm not sure if that's fine or whatever. If not, then new pads and rotors will be needed. And if that's the case, I might as well spend the extra $300 or whatever (over what I'd already be buying) for the CTS-V brake upgrade.

Then there's also the issue of my MT swap. I need to get the AT rebuilt first before I bring that over for smog purposes.... because California. After she passes smog, I'll begin the MT swap and deal with getting it BAR'd for CA legal / smog purposes afterwards.

Anyway, it's also been sitting for so long that she will also need a new battery as well. For that initial move into the garage, I'm just going to use the battery from my Honda to get it started so I can move it into the garage under its own power.

That's really where I'm sitting at with my T-Bird at the present moment.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Indeed I do have a big pile of parts waiting for install. I have a few projects around the house that need attention / finishing first. Afterwards, I need to do the timing belt job on my Honda as it's well overdue on its maintenance schedule, both in terms of mileage (15k over) and age (2yrs over).

Then, and only then, can I bring in my T-Bird to the garage for it's well overdue upgrades.

I'm also debating on whether or not to just do the brake upgrades now or wait for later. The current rotors have that surface rust on them. I'm not sure if that's fine or whatever. If not, then new pads and rotors will be needed. And if that's the case, I might as well spend the extra $300 or whatever (over what I'd already be buying) for the CTS-V brake upgrade.

Then there's also the issue of my MT swap. I need to get the AT rebuilt first before I bring that over for smog purposes.... because California. After she passes smog, I'll begin the MT swap and deal with getting it BAR'd for CA legal / smog purposes afterwards.

Anyway, it's also been sitting for so long that she will also need a new battery as well. For that initial move into the garage, I'm just going to use the battery from my Honda to get it started so I can move it into the garage under its own power.

That's really where I'm sitting at with my T-Bird at the present moment.
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For the brakes, just drive around the block a few times with them slightly applied. That will get rid of the majority of the rust off.

For the trans, get a used AT from a junk yard to get you going. Then do the MT swap when you have it all ready to go. But at this point you need to get the car moving, or you may never get the ambition to finish it.
 
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