Well, since my ranger is a complete write-off, I'm in the market for a new vehicle. I think this time around I want a car, and obviously, I want a Ford. I was looking around and I'm pretty intrested in the 90-95 Thunderbirds, the V8 LX model and the 3.8 SC. Can anyone here tell me if these cars are any good? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

5.0LX, avoid the SC like the plague- I really can't emphasize that enough. Actually, I'd avoid any T-bird with a V6. I'm a fan of the '91-'93's- they seemed to cheapen the car in the later years. I've owned three of 'em over the years- loved them all. Another side note: these cars are pigs in the snow, something you should be aware of.

 

i have the 94 lx v8 in plum purple loaded with everything and i like it its got 138,000 and it will still THROW you in to your seat when you put her down
shes a runner and loves too
it does suck in snow but hey what do ya expect its rwd with 50 series tires im going to get rid of it though we need a suv in about a year or 3

 

I had a 91 5.0 tbird and it was my favorite car ever. Id go with a 5.0 if you plan to mod it. the tranny is an AOD and for engine mods, anyhting that fits a 94/95 mustang GT motor will fit it. The hood is lower than a mustang to any fox body intake manifolds wont fit... the 94 cobra intake manifold will.

93+ are better for the suspension cus they have updated front spindles and most brake kits are made for the 93+ spindles.

91s though had forged pistons made by TRW in them, 92 and 93 had cast pistons.

all of them have a very weak cam in them. it was the low emmissions cam from the 93 cobra... its junk.


the 94 and 95s had the 4.6... good motor... trannies were weak and most of them developed a torque converter shudder...

but the 96/97 if you wanna go newer got the addition of a new front face and better headlights. and a new plastic intake manifold. while it gained 10 HP and 5 ft lbs it was prone to cracking and leaking coolant. and in 97 was the first and only time they got cupholders.

all of them had odd bolt patters for the wheels. they were actually the same one used on tauruses, windstars, volvos, and jaguars (all after ford took over those divisions

if you are seriously interested is suggest you check out www.tccoa.com. that is the thunderbird and cougar club of america.... you might find a killer deal in the classifieds too!

if you need any more info, feel free to PM me. I know the 5.0 tbirds inside and out.


but on the SCs i disagree... yes, the 3.8 will pop the head gasket... but not if you build the motor right. they pop because most people feed it more boost before they make the exhaust bigger to get the boost out! you just need a good full exhaust on it and o- rings on the head gaskets.

oh yeah... and mine was great int he snow. all i had in it was a full take of gas and blizzaks on all 4 corners. i was able to drive though 8 inches of snow without a problem.

 

My dad has owned both a '93 non-SC 3.8 and a '95 4.6. Both gave no trouble at all. The 3.8 does have a reputation for blowing head gaskets.

Jim

 

I own a 95 lx 4.6 all the bells and whistles I had the trans replaced at 70k but no other trouble. I was told by a friend that you either get a good one or a bad one.

 

[QUOTE=jaydez] and in 97 was the first and only time they got cupholders.


oh yeah well my 94 has them just open the center consol lid and flip them down they suck and are in a bad position but they are there

 

I should have qualified that- i was thinking more of who owned them than what they were. It seems every one I've ever seen come in trade has had the snot beat out of it.

Yeah, but could you do it on a 12% grade? Never mind- it's a northwest kind of question.

 

My husband and I have a 90 35th Anniversary Thunderbird SC. we have had no prolems with the car except the alternator. They are very nice and easy riding cars. We have 88,000 original miles on ours and it still runs like a dream. Never had head gasket problem with ours but it was nicely maintained. Good luck in Finding one. THey are awesome cars with good power

 

My wife drove a 90 SC for about 5 years and the only problem we had with the engine was the harmonic balancer bolt broke which caused the balancer to walk out so the crank position sensor didn't see the trigger wheel and it stalled.
It had good power and got good gas mileage on the highway. Around town it used quite a bit of gas.
The 5 speed wan't great. It's the Mazda transmission, pretty much the same as in the F-150 and Ranger trucks. It's a pretty notchy shifting transmission for a car.
We had studded knobby Goodyear tires on it with a couple sandbags in the trunk and it was awesome in the snow. I wouldn't have believed that a car like that could be so good in the snow. An added bonus in snow was that the engine is torquey enough that you can start off in second gear so it makes it harder to spin the tires.
My parents have the same car except not SC and it has almost 200,000 miles on it and other than a fuel pump, brakes, u-joints, ball joints and maintenance it's never had a thing done to it.
3.8L with original head gaskets and everything.
I sure wouldn't hesitate to own another one
As a matter of fact I sorta do. My race car is a 97 T-Bird. Well it looks like one anyway.

 

My wife has a '96 Cougar XR7, loaded with just about every option. The 4.6 purrs like a kitten, and in 75,000 miles we've replaced the convertor and an alternator. There's something about that car that makes it just the right size and package for her. Don't know what we'll replace it with when the time comes...nobody makes anything like it any more. Too bad.

MR

 

I have a 91 SC love it, special ordered it...only problem I do not drive it very often, it only has 31k miles on it. Never had a problem....

 

I got Michelin Arctic-Alpin tires on the rear of my '95 Tbird LX, seems to do a decent job of getting me through the snow. For all AODE and 4R70W transmissions, which are used in '94 and newer Tbirds, Ford recommends complete drain and refill with Mercon V transmission fluid. Introduced in 1997 as a new automatic transmission fluid, Mercon V is Ford's fix for torque converter shudder. This will require removing all of the old Mercon fluid from the torque converter and transmission pan (the original pan gasket is re-usable provided it isn't ripped or damaged). The torque converter has a drain plug that is easy to gain access to from underneath the car. On the bottom of the bell housing is a rubber grommet that pops right off with a screwdriver. Take it out and you will see the torque converter. Rotate the torque converter until the drain plug is over the hole in the bell housing. I was able to use a socket attached to a breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt to rotate the engine one-handed while observing the torque converter through the hole in the bell housing. At 125,000 miles I had to replaced the front coil springs, front upper control arms, front lower control arms, and strut rods bushings. Wearing-out ball joints and bushings are quite common on these Tbirds.

 

Oh I forgot to mention, I love my Tbird...it's been pretty reliable and trouble free other than what I had mention in the above post. But I can't speak for other Tbirds owners because there may be some that had nothing but problems with theirs. I highly recommend checking out the forums at www.tccoa.com for further input about what the other Tbird owners has to say.

 

5.0 HO is an awesome motor. Very cheap to get horses. You could probably get 350hp with heads, cam, and intake. It's very straight forward to work on. I got 150K on my '91 Mustang's powerplant. Uses only 1/2 quart of oil between changes.