86 T-Bird Daily Driver?

[WildWill]

Good afternoon, everyone!

I am currently looking at a 1986 thunderbird 5.0, and I was wondering if it is possible to daily drive it reliably. It has fairly low miles and everything is original. I am just looking for a thunderbird that shouldn't need much work as a daily driver. Also, what kind of gas mileage would I get (driving conservatively)?

Thanks for any thoughts!

[mcm51]

Thoughts yea, where do you keep coming up with these '85-'86 T-birds ? LOL, in Florida, I have'nt seen a '83-86 Bird rolling down the road here for nearly 20 years.......But on your question about a daily driver, I don't see why not, my '95 has been a daily driver since day one, I'd take it to Calif. if I had to and never worry about it bringing me back.....In your case, as long as ya got a chillton's and can turn a few wrenches and have some time in life to spend keeping up on it......If it was me and I took over this '86 for a daily driver and I have no ideal whats been done to it, I'd swap out oil, coolant, tranny fluid and most important to me, swap out that brake fluid before ya go thru a master or wheel cylinder, it's probably never been changed before, AND depending on mileage, swap out rear-end fluid, Oh, and get some BG 44K in that tank right now so it can get working on cleaning up those injectors.......
Now with that out of the way, I've always thought that '83-'86 body style looked great and trying to keep another one road worthy, would be a service to Ford lover's everywhere.................

[WildWill]

Thanks for the response!

I must say, they are pretty hard to find here in the midwest also, but one or two pop up every once in a while, so I like to keep an eye out for them. My 85 that I currently own was my mother's first car that I have been restoring, but I have been looking for another for quite a while. I was thinking the same thing in terms of fluid changes and repairs... it would probably be a good idea to change all of the fluids and fix anything else before daily driving.

Some say I have a problem for liking the 80s birds so much, but I think I just know what I like :)

[Dansbirds]

I have used a few of them as daily drivers, really nice comfortable cars and not something everyone else is driving

. The black one had well over 100k when I sold it.

[mcm51]

@WildWill, I'm always glad that someone out there is keeping these going, I had a friend back in the '90's that had a '85 regatta blue w/ the 3.8, looks like the one in the photo minus the GT wheels(looks good), she had the spoke hubcaps, I use to do all the work on that Bird but can't be too much help today, I have'nt touched one of those Bird's in 20 years..........

@Dansbirds, Thanks for posting that photo, I'm gonna assume that is the '80 silver annv. on the end.............

[WildWill]

Thanks for the responses…
Here’s another question. As you know, I currently own an 85 5.0 that I have been restoring for the last 1.5 years (I don’t have much time or money lol). Would this work as a daily? This one is highly modified, and practically everything has been replaced at least twice lol. It is also Holley carbureted and has an aftermarket Holley fuel pump. It has been running pretty good after a tune and re-timing it, but I still worry about it since it coughs from time to time. Would a new distributor cap and spark plug wires help the coughing (I’m suspecting it’s the ignition since the fuel system is practically new)? Also, my battery light has been on, so I replaced the alternator, voltage regulator, and the stock connector from the alternator to the voltage regulator. However, the light is still on. Any advice?

Thank you!

[Dansbirds]

@WildWill, I'm always glad that someone out there is keeping these going, I had a friend back in the '90's that had a '85 regatta blue w/ the 3.8, looks like the one in the photo minus the GT wheels(looks good), she had the spoke hubcaps, I use to do all the work on that Bird but can't be too much help today, I have'nt touched one of those Bird's in 20 years..........

@Dansbirds, Thanks for posting that photo, I'm gonna assume that is the '80 silver annv. on the end.............

Yes it’s a Silver Anniversary.

[mcm51]

@WildWill, I got no ideal why battery light on, kinda sounds like some people been under that hood in the past somewhere, if they have modified somewhere in past, God knows what wire may have gotten pulled on or squeezed on just a little to much during some of this engine work, hopefully I'm wrong but you may have to live with light on.......On another note, was not a '85 5.0 come from the factory with C.F.I. vs. a carb ? If so switching from central injection to a carb. would not be a simple task, you may always be chasing a "hick-up" here or there, but ignition might not be a bad place to start...............

[mcm51]

@Dansbirds, Wow I must be getting old, I just gathered that you currently own the silver anniv., you said that you let go of that '87-88 in the photo, I just missed the connection with the '80......My brother and I are some of the few that always liked that '80-82 Bird, I could not tell you when the last time I saw one of those on the road regardless of condition, in the photo your '80 looks real clean, a couple questions if you don't mind, if I recall correctly, did'nt a silver anniv. also come with silver interior ? and did they not come with spoke hub-caps ? AND this may be pushing it but did'nt silver anniv.'s only come with the 5.0 ?

[Dansbirds]

Yes the 5.0 was how those came. You could get the interior in leather or velour. This car also had the trx wheel option. This car came from a collector in the Midwest and amazingly came with 2 sets of the trx wheels/tires. The original which are whitewalls and then the other set which are just black wall. This one also has a factory moon roof and a factory cb. It’s a car that most people have no idea what it is

[mcm51]

Thanks for that better photo, as a lifetime ford man, that's one clean '80 T-bird ya got there, and I agree, you could take that out and most people would not even know what it was, I sure would, would'nt miss it......by the photo, am I missing something or am I looking at a power antenna ? and yes, spotted that moonroof, that will make it worth more down the road...........Those mark IV's and mark V's had the c.b. option but don't think I've ever heard of them in a T-bird, but with a silver anniv. I'm not really shocked........Most younger people don't remember velour interiors, I had it in my '78 LTD II, it was a nightmare for setting wet drinks on it and if you have the velour, you know what I'm talking about...........I thought sure they used that spoke hubcap like what came on some '77-'79 Birds, never pictured a TRX wheel on a '80 Bird, I know there are a couple different TRX wheels, Mercury even had their own TRX but the 3-spoke TRX's that came on my '84 GT-350, I've never seen that style on anything but the Mustang, are you talking of the same wheel,............

[WildWill]

Thanks for the response!

I didn't even know what a velour interior was without a google search. Then I realized that i have a Velour interior lol. I am only a teenager, but the only car I can bring myself to save my money for is a 80-88 T-Bird. I just can't help wanting one for some reason. Also, @Dansbirds, beautiful '80! I am also a fan of the 80-82 despite popular opinions. @mcm51, I noticed that the 85 5.0 came with the C.F.I from the factory when reading a Chilton's book. I found it kind of odd considering the fact that there is a "5.0 Liter EFI" sticker on top of the factory air cleaner lol. And you aren't wrong, a CFI to carb swap would be a pain. My grandparents originally bought the car in '94 as a base v6. In '99 to 2000, my mother and grandfather did the 5.0 swap after the v6 blew up. If I'm correct, my grandfather did the conversion to the carb. I still have a ton of wires under the hood (they originally went to the computer apparently and emission control parts under the radiator overflow. All of the emission parts have been ripped out over the last 20 years lol). If someone could help me with that wiring, it would be greatly appreciated lol. Also, would replacing the alternator wiring to the voltage reg. all together be worth a shot? I noticed that the light turned off when the wires were wiggled to the perfect angle lol.

[mcm51]

@WildWill, yea, I always describe velour as a kinda short fuzzy feel, I've been with Ford all my life but could not tell ya when they stopped using it, mine was in red in my LTD II and one time I gave a coworker a ride to work and did not notice that she had placed her watery drink down on the velour for the 20 minute ride and I had to look at that "drink-ring" on my nice velour interior seat until the day I traded her in on a '85 GT, so if your velour is in good shape, be careful setting wet drinks down on it.......
Your mom and grand-dad must have been car people to pull a 3.8 and put that 5.0 in AND swapping that c.f.i. intake set-up to a old-time carb set-up......When fuel injection came out I too wanted nothing to do with it and stuck with the carbs that I grew up with as long as I could, BUT over the years, I'm now a full fuel injection man and really don't want nothing to do with carbs, they have to many working parts, more things that can foul-up any given time you crank the car up, and all the carb. people know what I'm talking about, with a fuel injector, it either works or it don't, keep them clean and they could go forever.....So in your case, going from c.f.i. to a carb, I'm sure there are wires/tubes under that hood that's not being used, I'd love to see under the hood, maybe you could give us a engine bay picture some time, I don't see a lot of 3.8 to 5.0 swaps..........
Oh, and as far as stickers on air cleaners, always be doubt-full as to what it says, LOL, I had a friend back in the 70's that carried about every engine size sticker there was, he could put any size c.i.d. sticker ya wanted on that air cleaner, ever since I saw that I've been leary of what air-cleaner sticker's say....lol...........

[WildWill]

I will try to get some engine bay photos sometime. Mainly, there are two knotted messes of wires that run from the passenger firewall to under the coolant overflow. There are also some on the passenger side next to the alternator/voltage regulator area. I don’t know why I couldn’t simply go bare bones since it is carbureted, but I don’t want to cut wires without help lol.