My Thanksgiving was better than usual...

...Because this arrived at 12 noon.





I sold a ratty black '93 Cobra to a guy in Salt Lake City, and the carrier brought this car to me and picked up the Cobra. He was kind of amused by that, apparently that doesn't happen very often in the car hauling world.

It's an '80, and the plainest Futura coupe I've yet seen. 4cyl/4spd, no air, P/S but no P/B, no passenger side mirror, driver side mirror not remote, no lighter, no bright trim around the door windows, AM radio that still works. Red interior with the crazy '70s plaid.

I spotted it on Craigslist in Billings Montana, and bought it over the phone from the owner. No rust anywhere, because they don't salt their roads, so it looks like an Arizona car - but without the usual sun damage.

Plans are a 5.0/T5, Explorer intake, Edelbrock heads, 3.27 8.8, flipped Lincoln disks, '94-'95 front spindles, 17" Mach 1 wheels, and full power with A/C. I've got a bunch of parts saved up for this that I've been buying since well before I found the car - full instrumentaion, '83 Mustang SSP cop car 140 speedo, full console from a Z7, the passenger side mirror and glass conversion, extra trim, factory air setup, etc etc. One more customer car to build, then it's on to this one.

-MJS

AWESOME! Congrats...now the question...

Flipped Lincoln disks...new to me, what's this mean?

Don

Sounds like a fun project. Keep us posted with lots of pics.

lucky! very nice find! i wouldve taken the trade also.

detroitiron2000 wrote:

AWESOME! Congrats...now the question...

Flipped Lincoln disks...new to me, what's this mean?

Don

Don,

The lincoln MK VII and Fox Continental used rear disc brakes, but they had longer axles than Mustangs. To use them on a Mustang 8.8, along with a cheapie five lug conversion, you use the shorter Ranger/Aerostar axles and you "flip" the caliper mounting brackets around, actually using the right on the left side and vice versa. That moves the calipers inboard to work with the new rotor position. It's a popular swap, and is known as the "flipped Lincoln" conversion.

-Mike S.

Sweet swap idea! First I've heard of it. I have a 1988 Tbird TC 8.8 going in mine this winter. Do you now which axles I would have to use to do a 5 lug swap? I won'tbe doing it this winter because I like my wheels and don't want to spend the cash but I also weant to go to an 18" wheel so I'll have to do the swap in a year or so.

Again...awesome car and I am so envious...

Don

detroitiron2000 wrote:

Sweet swap idea! First I've heard of it. I have a 1988 Tbird TC 8.8 going in mine this winter. Do you now which axles I would have to use to do a 5 lug swap? I won'tbe doing it this winter because I like my wheels and don't want to spend the cash but I also weant to go to an 18" wheel so I'll have to do the swap in a year or so.

Again...awesome car and I am so envious...

Don

Don,

If you want to keep the longer axles and maintain the Tbird width, you can use SN95 Mustang axles from any of them, V6, GT, or Cobra, '94-'98. These are the same length and will keep the calipers where they are. There are no rotors available that are five lug and the same offset to use on a five lug conversion with the TC rear discs, so you will have to have your rotors redrilled to the five lug pattern - not very expensive at most machine shops.

If you want to narrow the rear end down to Fairmont/Fox Mustang width, you can use Ranger left side or Aerostar right side axles, and buy a special set of caliper relocation brackets from North Race Cars to move the calipers in to match the new rotor position - they cost around $120 and you buy them directly from their site with Paypal. You still need to redrill your rotors. I would go this way, because you can then choose 18" wheels made for the SN95 Mustangs with normal available backspacing, and they will clear the fenders without rolling the lips. A 255 tire will fit easily, and perhaps a 275 as well, depending on the wheel.

-Mike S.

I've spent the last few weekends fixing minor things like the fuel sender float, choke parts, intake hose, hood ornament, misc trim items, and the rear brakes... driving around, horrible sound from the rear end, pull the drums off and the self-adjusters on BOTH sides fell out in mangled pieces. How someone even put that together wrong is beyond me. Got replacements from the boneyard and now all's well. Been adding stuff, like the trim around the door frames, and subtracting other stuff like the aftermarket cruise control and the block heater - not a necessity in AZ - realigned the hood and trunk lid, both of which were off from the factory, replaced the front lower valance with a nice one from the boneyard, and gave it a good detailing with a claybar and an orbital buff job. Touched up the nicks, fussed over some details, and there you have it.







"Hey, is that Frampton? Crank it up, man!"



2.3 liters of skull crushing fury.



The best thing you can say about the 4cyl/4spd is that it's absolutely no worse than the 6/automatic. And it shifts kinda nice, actually.



-Mike S.

you did a good job, got any hood ornaments left? mine got yanked off you can come clay bar my car though.

Looks real nice man, thats a funny little radiator too

I had the same problem with my self adjuster, except i couldn't hear it grinding over the exhaust, so it took out my pads and drum on one side... It was not awesome LOL

TealP51...thank you for outling the axle swap. The 8.8 is all new to me with this car. ALways had 9" previously. I really want to go to 17" or 18" rims in the future too. For now, due to budget limitations, I'm sticking with my 4 luggers.

Your car looks great! I wish I could find a decent front lower valance. Here in Mich the cars just rust away and the boneyards crush the 'monts as soon as they arrive. I have called every yard within 100 miles and they all say the same thing, "you want a what?"

Thanks again,
Don

Did some one say beer and steaks !!!

LMAO! Beer and steaks are waiting! I'll even go out in this 0 degree weather! ANd I like 'em thick and Angus. Beer is your choice I'm buying.

Now how can you turn that down?

Don "The Grill is Hot" Maynard