- Joined
- June 3, 2003
- Messages
- 3,296
- Reaction score
- 47
- City, State
- Austin, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- OBD-1 Kenobi
Well, for a nice change of pace, a couple months ago I bought a used 2005 Ford Thunderbird with 67,000 miles. All original, and fully optioned out except for the Select Shift Transmission (which I corrected down below). Here he is when I first brought him home and Kris Guillbeaux had a heart attack
Also bought it with A 48 month, 48k mile extended warranty (first time I've ever had Ford Warranty). The car was originally owned by Ford Motor Company after manufactured date and driven till about 20K miles. After that, it was sent to auction in 06 and came to texas. 2 owners later, it was traded into my dealership in Feb 2014.
here's the autcheck report on the vin:
03/30/2005 ALLEN PARK, MI Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title# 804S0890036)
03/30/2005 ALLEN PARK, MI Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/30/2005 ALLEN PARK, MI Motor Vehicle Dept. EXCLUDED/EXEMPT
04/11/2005 Independent Source VEHICLE MANUFACTURED AND SHIPPED TO DEALER
01/04/2006 TX 21206 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION AS MANUFACTURER VEHICLE
03/03/2006 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/16/2006 ODESSA, TX 21206 Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title# 06831038777092650)
(Lien Reported)
03/01/2007 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/01/2008 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/01/2009 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/01/2010 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
07/13/2010 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
07/23/2010 ODESSA, TX 49947 Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title# 06830840370153952)
(Lien Reported)
01/01/2011 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
01/04/2012 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
01/01/2013 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
07/02/2013 ODESSA, TX 64436 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
PASSED SAFETY INSPECTION
12/26/2013 ODESSA, TX 67077 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
PASSED SAFETY INSPECTION
It actually came through my shop for a heater control valve and lubing of the tilt/telescope steering column. After I purchased it, I drove it for about 3 weeks and also took it back home to Oklahoma for a bit. On my way, i stopped by ctc auto salvage south of the texas border where hotrod magiazine filmed a Roadkill episode on the junkyard barracuda build:
and of course on the way back from Oklahoma, double rainbow!!
After the roadtrip, I found a local Cars and Coffee meetup in Austin, and convinced kris that we should go and have our vehicles on display. But had to handwash the car first:
and here is kris all happy with his mountaineer:
on the way back from cars and coffee, stopped for some beauty shots:
After that trip it was time for a trip to the dealer. Like i said, i bought Premium Care ESP on the car, so there was some legitimate concerns that needed fixed. After a couple weeks, had the following repaired:
New compressor (old one leaking)
New convertible top hydraulic cylinders (leaking)
New driver heated seat pad (heated seat inop)
New throttle body (old one lagged, electronic)
New Airbox (old one warped)
New radiator clamp (slight coolant leak)
New passenger side window regulator (old one stuck up)
New washer jets (old ones cracked)
Total cost to me: $100.00
After that, I wanted the select shift transmission because my car didn't come equipped. It seemed like a popular option, and the Lincoln LS guys have done it all the time, cause all it takes is swapping over the shifter and reprogramming the PCM. So that's what I did. Found a brand new in box OEM Shifter that matched the color interior. Total cost: $236.00
Paid one of my techs 20 bucks and he installed it for me:
And it worked right out of the box. The reprogramming solves a couple minor issues with the D4 position - when installing the shifter without reprogramming, the pcm thinks that the D4 position is actually 3rd direct - so I hooked up my WDS, found a PCM part number off the internet that had the sport calibration, and proceeded to reprogram my pcm to think it had the sport calibration. After that was done, D4 was actually 4th gear, and the manual shifting points firmed up a bit.
And that's where he sits so far. Next mod I plan is adding a Lincoln LS message center since the thunderbirds never came optioned with one
Also bought it with A 48 month, 48k mile extended warranty (first time I've ever had Ford Warranty). The car was originally owned by Ford Motor Company after manufactured date and driven till about 20K miles. After that, it was sent to auction in 06 and came to texas. 2 owners later, it was traded into my dealership in Feb 2014.
here's the autcheck report on the vin:
03/30/2005 ALLEN PARK, MI Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title# 804S0890036)
03/30/2005 ALLEN PARK, MI Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/30/2005 ALLEN PARK, MI Motor Vehicle Dept. EXCLUDED/EXEMPT
04/11/2005 Independent Source VEHICLE MANUFACTURED AND SHIPPED TO DEALER
01/04/2006 TX 21206 Auto Auction REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION AS MANUFACTURER VEHICLE
03/03/2006 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/16/2006 ODESSA, TX 21206 Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title# 06831038777092650)
(Lien Reported)
03/01/2007 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/01/2008 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/01/2009 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
03/01/2010 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
07/13/2010 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
07/23/2010 ODESSA, TX 49947 Motor Vehicle Dept. TITLE (Title# 06830840370153952)
(Lien Reported)
01/01/2011 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
01/04/2012 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
01/01/2013 ODESSA, TX Motor Vehicle Dept. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
07/02/2013 ODESSA, TX 64436 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
PASSED SAFETY INSPECTION
12/26/2013 ODESSA, TX 67077 Independent Emission Source PASSED EMISSION INSPECTION
PASSED SAFETY INSPECTION
It actually came through my shop for a heater control valve and lubing of the tilt/telescope steering column. After I purchased it, I drove it for about 3 weeks and also took it back home to Oklahoma for a bit. On my way, i stopped by ctc auto salvage south of the texas border where hotrod magiazine filmed a Roadkill episode on the junkyard barracuda build:
and of course on the way back from Oklahoma, double rainbow!!
After the roadtrip, I found a local Cars and Coffee meetup in Austin, and convinced kris that we should go and have our vehicles on display. But had to handwash the car first:
and here is kris all happy with his mountaineer:
on the way back from cars and coffee, stopped for some beauty shots:
After that trip it was time for a trip to the dealer. Like i said, i bought Premium Care ESP on the car, so there was some legitimate concerns that needed fixed. After a couple weeks, had the following repaired:
New compressor (old one leaking)
New convertible top hydraulic cylinders (leaking)
New driver heated seat pad (heated seat inop)
New throttle body (old one lagged, electronic)
New Airbox (old one warped)
New radiator clamp (slight coolant leak)
New passenger side window regulator (old one stuck up)
New washer jets (old ones cracked)
Total cost to me: $100.00
After that, I wanted the select shift transmission because my car didn't come equipped. It seemed like a popular option, and the Lincoln LS guys have done it all the time, cause all it takes is swapping over the shifter and reprogramming the PCM. So that's what I did. Found a brand new in box OEM Shifter that matched the color interior. Total cost: $236.00
Paid one of my techs 20 bucks and he installed it for me:
And it worked right out of the box. The reprogramming solves a couple minor issues with the D4 position - when installing the shifter without reprogramming, the pcm thinks that the D4 position is actually 3rd direct - so I hooked up my WDS, found a PCM part number off the internet that had the sport calibration, and proceeded to reprogram my pcm to think it had the sport calibration. After that was done, D4 was actually 4th gear, and the manual shifting points firmed up a bit.
And that's where he sits so far. Next mod I plan is adding a Lincoln LS message center since the thunderbirds never came optioned with one
