TheHawk05’s 1987 Ford Thunderbird

History Lesson....I figured I'd share a brief story of how I came to own this Thunderbird and it's history.I'm actually the second owner of this car. It originally was purchased new by an older friend of mine back in February 1987. I actually went to the local Ford dealer with him when he took delivery and even drove it on a number of occassions when I still only had my learner's permit. Fast forward to November 1989: One night after a few too many, my friend drove this car straight into the rear of an IROC Camaro, writing off both cars in the process. Due to his DUI charge, naturally his insurance told him to have a nice life. Since he couldn't afford to fix it, he decided to put it in storage and attempt repair at a later time. Now fast forward to March 1991: Strapped for cash he agrees to sell me the car. I was working as a Bodyman/Custom Painter at the time so I had all the access to tools and equipment to fix it right. The car only had 26,000 kms on it ( roughly 16,000 miles ) and wasn't all that bad as there was no structural damage. After 3 months of working in my spare time and on weekends with help from my best friend Mike and also my parents, the car emerged looking just as you see it today (minus all the mods of course) A far cry from what it used to look like...

THE CAR: 1987 THUNDERBIRD TURBO COUPE. Paint: Sikkens Base/Clear. Purchased used in 1991 from the original owner with 26,000 kms logged. Currently has 84,000 kms logged to date. It's primarily driven on the street, but it does make the occasional visit to open track lapping events. During the spring/summer of 2003, I completed the process of swapping out the factory 2.3 turbo/intercooled four cylinder engine for a Paxton Novi 2000 Supercharged 5.0 (See the "Swap Files" for more info and details)

Here are some photos taken at some of the local tracks in my area. The first picture was taken back in 1992 before the current brakes and suspension setup.The track was Shannonville Motorsport Park. The second picture was from 1995 and was also prior to the current setup. The track is the world famous Mosport Park

"THE SWAP FILES..." Below is what is basically my journal that documented the entire process of the engine swap from start to finish.04/11/03 The first update is the removal of the 5.0 drivetrain from the donor car. After a long cold and snowy winter, we finally got some good weather so I took advantage of that to get the engine and trans out of the Mustang. The motor will be stripped down to the shortblock in preparation for being sent off for it's rebuild.

Power Improvements... Engine was once a stock 2.3 Litre Turbocharged and Intercooled four cylinder engine with the exception of lots of boost ( 20 lbs ) and a K&N Airfilter. It has since been removed, engine bay was detailed and painted and this freshly built Paxton Novi 2000 Supercharged 306 has taken it's place. See the "Swap Files" page for pics and details of the engine swap.

04/25/03 Things have progressed a little slower than I had hoped but things have been busy lately. Managed to get the motor pulled from the Bird today after working a bit at a time after work during the week to get it all disconnected. Next step is to remove all the EEC and other unneccessary wiring and parts that are not required with the 5.0. and prep the engine bay for a fresh coat of paint. Prepping will be a pain as the original owner had some crappy undercoating applied to the car. The stuff is rock hard and will probaly take me a week just to get it all off! Next update the underhood area will be painted. Ready to come out...

Videos...Note: All videos are Windows Media Video files (.wmv) and play in Windows Media Player.Idling :This video is shot from the engine bay area. Gives a good illustration of the sound of the Paxton Novi 2000 Supercharger.Idling 2 :This video is shot from the rear of the car and gives a good illustration of the sound of the exhaust and the lumpy camshaft.Gears :This video is shot from the interior of the car while accelerating hard from the bottom of 2nd gear up to 4th. Shifts were made at 5800rpm. Got up to 5000 rpm in 4th and decided to let off as the speedo was pegged at 200km/h (125mph)Awards...Kennedy Ford Spring Meet 1992 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 1994 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird)Summit Ford Fall Finale 1995 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 1997 Class Runner-up (1980-Present T-Bird) 1998 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 2000 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 2001 Class Runner-up (1980-Present T-Bird) 2002 Class Runner-up (1980-Present T-Bird) 2003 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 2004 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 2005 Class Champion (1980-Present T-Bird) 2006 Class Runner-up (1955-2005 T-Bird) 2007 Class Runner-up (1955-2005 T-Bird)Dixie Ford All Ford Show 2003 Best Non-SVT Ford 2006 Best Non-SVT FordErinwood Ford Mustang Bash 2005 Best Other FordFines Ford Show & Shine 2005 Best Thunderbird 2006 Best Thunderbird Thank You's...This car is what it is today as a result of the help and support of the following: My Mother & Father, My Wife Nicole, Mike, My apprentice and comic relief Hattey, My brother Dave, Brian (R.I.P.) and finally Derek & Peter Hanson of...

EFI Systems/Anderson Ford Motorsport PMSThe PMS connects between the main computer harness and stock computer via it's own harness. It allows you to do the following: .-Air/Fuel Mixture fully adjustable -Idle Mixture and Timing fully adjustable -Programmed Rev-Limiter up to 9,200 RPM -Total spark and rate-of-advance fully adjustable -Two progammable RPM/Throttle output accessory control switches -Tuneable Nitrous Oxide Adjustment Table -Tuneable Turbo or Supercharger Boost Adjustment Tables -Three Data Display Screens let you monitor fuel/air mixture, spark timing, injector function, oxygen sensor, manifold pressure/vacuum, boost or nitrous -Monitors and displays actual air-flow in lbs/hr or CFM (Mass Air Only)

Power Improvements... Engine was once a stock 2.3 Litre Turbocharged and Intercooled four cylinder engine with the exception of lots of boost ( 20 lbs ) and a K&N Airfilter. It has since been removed, engine bay was detailed and painted and this freshly built Paxton Novi 2000 Supercharged 306 has taken it's place. See the "Swap Files" page for pics and details of the engine swap.

Engine mods...306ci: Production 302 Roller Block Bored .030 over, decked, align honed and blueprinted. Speed Pro PowerForged pistons, Speed Pro rings, re-sized rods with ARP bolts, race prepped stock crank, Clevite 77 rod & main bearings, Powerbond SFI damper, rotating assembly fully balanced, Trick Flow main girdle w/ARP stud kit, Ford Motorsport HV Oil pump, Ford Motorsport E303 cam, Ford Motorsport lifters, Scorpion 1.6 roller rockers, Comp Cams magnum pushrods, Ford Motorsport billet timing set, Edelbrock Performer intake w/BBK 70mm throttle body, Paxton billet AFPR, Ford Motorsport 42lb/hr injectors, Air Flow Research 165 heads, ARP head studs, Paxton NOVI 2000 (10 lbs of boost), 80mm Pro-M MAF, Coolingmist water/methanol injection kit.The car has yet to be dynoed but based off the dyno results of similiar engine combos, this engine should produce power in the range of 470 RWHP. The only rollers this car has hit to date is those of the Emission-Test machine and I'm happy to report it passed with flying colours.Exhaust System...

For more info and history on DECH Motorsport, click HEREMike's DIY Turbo'd 1986 Mustang GT...Over the course of the summer of 2005 I helped my buddy Mike fab a 68mm single turbo setup for his 1986 Mustang GT. Engine already has your typical bolt on combo of Trick Flow heads, intake, etc, etc that we put together during 2004. Using his existing set of BBK shorty headers (flipped) we fabbed up everything from scratch using 2.5" and 3" sections of mandrel bent mild steel tubing using nothing more than some ingenuity, a chop saw, a grinder, some hand files and a mig welder. It was a lot of work but the kit came out great. Only required one 2.5" hole to be cut underhood and all engine accessories are in the stock location including the smog pump to keep it all smog legal. The kit fits perfect and performs flawlessly. A mere 9 lbs of boost is the current setting and the car is night and day compared to how fast it was before. It's one of the most unassuming cars I've ever driven. It idles, drives and sounds like it's stock until you hammer the throttle and the turbo kicks in at which point the scream of the turbo drowns out everything and the car just hunches up and goes like a raped ape.

TRICK FLOW Main GirdleThe Trick Flow main girdle is a support system for the engine's main bearing caps. It fastens directly on top of the main bearing caps with ARP Main studs. It's purpose is to tie all the main caps and engine block main webbing together as one unit to eliminate flex. The other ARP Hardware you see is the Head Stud kit and Rod Bolt kit.

05/16/03 As expected, prepping was a task to say the least as the previously mentioned undercoating was difficult to remove. Also found a surprise in the form a stress crack in the left fender apron in front of the strut tower. It wasn't bad so a little mig welding and metal finishing was all that was required for an undetectable repair. As you can see it's all masked and ready to paint.

06/08/03 Well it's been a month now and lots of progress has been made. I've detailed all the engine accessories and installed some of the go fast parts. The engine bay and all wiring has been finished. The engine will be back from the machine shop this week at which point I will install the intake, engine accessories and the Novi 2000!! Next couple of weeks the motor will be dropped in and fired for the first time. It's getting close!!!

Suspension and Braking Improvements... The car handles extremely well thanks to the suspension upgrades. Front springs are DECH Motorsports "Speedrive" road race spec in the front ( 1100 lbs/inch ) and Suspension Techniques in the rear. Koni "Sport" Shocks and Struts are at all 4 corners. The ride is quality is on the stiff side but still very tolerable. Even though a V8 now resides under the hood, the handling did not suffer as many naysayers assumed.

POWER PIPE & Pro-M 80mm MAFThe power pipe's design is twofold. First off it locates the mass air meter and air filter inside the fenderwell, thus giving it access to cooler air and therefore a denser air charge. Secondly, it's large 4" diameter provides unrestricted air intake for the supercharger. Power pipes have been dyno proven to provide an additional 2-3 pounds more boost compared to the box stock set up provided in most supercharger kits. Every pound of boost is generally worth 12-13 horsepower at the wheels. It's not uncommon for the addition of a power pipe to increase horsepower by as much as 40 HP. When you consider you can buy one for $150.00, that's a pretty cheap modification for the power increase.

After the suspension, brake upgrades were the next order of business. The stock brakes are good for a car that is only driven on the street but were woeful at the track. After two laps at my local track, the brake pedal would get very soft and spongey due to overheating which would boil the brake fluid in the calipers. Bleeding the brakes after every session was a ritual that got real old, real fast so improvements had to be made. Front brakes were updated by swapping the spindles for units from a '95 Mustang. This allowed the mounting of the 13" brakes from the Cobra Mustang, using it's rotors and carrier plates. Calipers are dual piston PBR ( Corvette ) with HAWK pads. Rear brakes are the stock discs that were converted to a 5 bolt pattern ( 4 lug is stock ). Brake hoses were upgraded to Aeroquip Braided stainless at all 4 corners. Needless to say the braking is much improved. Wheels & Tires are the newest upgrade. I previously ran Ford Motorsport Cobra R's and Firestone SZ50's. As much as I liked them I was bored with them...I've had them since '96 and it seems everybody runs them nowadays so I wanted something unique that nobody has done on a T-Bird. New wheels are IForged "AERO's" which are a 3 piece forged design and were custom made to my offset specifications. Sizes are 18 x 9's up front fitted with 255/40-18's and 18 x 10's at the rear fitted with 295/35-18's. Tires are BF Goodrich KDW II's.

07/05/03 Sorry, not done yet! After some delays and a problem with a part vendor, the engine took much longer than originally anticipated to return from the engine shop. I just got it back and have begun putting the engine dress and supercharger on to get it ready to drop in this week. The engine shop did a great job and the engine should provide not only lots of power but years of trouble free service. I'll put some pics up here once it's ready to go back in so you can see it in it's completed form. When the project is done I'll be updating the first page of my site with a spec sheet on the entire engine.

Northern Race Pro Radiator Not a speed part obviously, but a key component to keeping the engine cool and happy. The car ran a little on the hot side for my taste with the 3 core copper/brass rad I installed that I originally used with the 2.3. I found this through a vendor on Ebay. It's a universal model that measures 19" x 31" (HUGE!)with 2 rows of 1" cores. The engine never gets above 185* on the hottest of days sitting in traffic since I installed it, compared to the 200* it used to get up to.