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Previous Cars: 1988 Thunderbird Sport V8
The only non-Cougar daily driver that I owned is a 1988 Ford Thunderbird V8 Sport. I know it's not a Cougar but let's just say it was a great deal that I could not pass up. In the spring of 2001 the car was sitting in the salvage yard. It looked complete and I was a little perplexed as to why it was in the yard. Turned out the previous owner needed quick cash. I made an offer, it was accepted, and it got towed home.
What I didn't know is that the transmission was completely shot. But after some searching I found a new one, got it replaced, and just drove it as-is. While it ran pretty well, it was definitely lacking in the power department.
In February 2002 the car was treated to an HO conversion with a modified exhaust system. My mechanic had the HO parts literally laying around and he was going to throw them out, or take them to the swap meet to dump off cheaply. He did the engine and exhaust work himself, and the workmanship was excellent. The car idled so smoothly that it was sometimes difficult to tell that it was even running.
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Left: When first purchased, the exterior had seen better days and was not easy to clean up. Years of dirt embedded itself into the clearcoat. This is what the car looked like after buffing half the hood.
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Left: After a LOT more buffing it was shiny once again.
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Left: The interior was also far from being presentable. I started tearing the interior apart in order to clean it. As soon as I dug in, it was obvious that the previous owner of the vehicle had a small white dog that he took everywhere. And after removing the seats, I found this. A few hours with the deep cleaning machine and it actually came out decent. Best of all, I got rid of the pungent dog smell.
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Left: The interior, fully cleaned. This car was absolutely loaded, with every option except the leather seats.
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Left: The trailer hitch was sort of a nice freebie, but I didn't trust it to haul anything, so it came off. The original 14" steel wheels were eventually replaced with 15" turbine rims.
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Left: The car saw daily driver duty through summer 2005. Unfortunately these northeast Ohio winters really took a toll on the body, and even with keeping up with salt removal, the damage was pretty extensive below the beltline. With a shift in priorities in life, I decided to sell the Thunderbird in September 2005.
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