Performance upgrades for 87 88 turbo coupe Thunderbird turbocoupe
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- This video is me doing some simple performance upgrades to an 87 or 88 Ford Thunderbird turbo coupe 2.3 AOD 8.8 rear axle upgrades include Air intake ,exhaust , and more boostwith actual data to back up how much of an improvement each one was worth
- Авто та транспорт
Nothing is better then straight piping/cutting off the exhaust on a turbo car. Sounds so glorious! Then add a tune and you’re off to the races.
Exactly
83-86 Turbocoupes were fuel injected. They had a Garrett T3 instead of the Warner-Ishi IHI turbo that were on the 87 and 88. They weren't intercooled, but had a cast aluminum pipe from the turbo to throttle body that had cooling fins on it. Probably didn't do much, but it's what they had. They also had the smaller E3 turbo manifold with smaller ports from 83-85, 86-88 got the much better E6 manifold that had bigger ports.
Ok thank you
You have a great channel!!! Love the content especially the turbo coupe. I can’t wait to see what all you do with it. Keep up the good work!
Thank you
These 87-88 TC 5spd cars ate the 87-88 5.0 Mustang's lunch on the open road.
Half the motor and twice the luxury.
The looks on 'stang drivers faces when they found out was priceless.😂
Loved WOT, 15lbs boost and watching the temp gauge drop as ya smoke a camaro in the sweepers.
Legendary, up there with GNX.
Yes!!
Just found your channel from a recommendation. Totally fun stuff! The goats are great, and you driving with your son will be a forever memory!
I taught my son stick with my 88 Turbo coupe!
That’s great thank you for watching
Your videos rock! Love that we are going back to days gone by! I hope you rebuild and sell the white one!! We will be the first to make an offer! Your a great Dad getting Ralphie behind the wheel. My Dad did the same with me and i love cars to this day!
The white one is for sale !!!! In Tennessee for $2,000. Thanks I appreciate your kind words
Some people may not but I love the body style of these ol' thunder chickens! Besides the mid 70's these are my favorite
I agree
simply put,, an incredibly amazing transformation.. Well done sleeperdude.. Your wife , son, daughters and the 4 legged team are THE BEST EVER !!!
Thank you I am blessed
Thanks for bringing back the memories! My first car was a 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe just like this. A4LD, 120k miles, silver frost metallic and similar story (got it at 17). It sat outside for several years before I got it and some creatures had nested under the hood and in the trunk. Picked it up November 2003, filled it up at $1.20/gallon and off I went! Before it spun a bearing in February 2005, it had an upgraded fuel pump and manual boost controller. "Only" problems before the engine blew were the heater core (leaked), power steering pump (broke), fuel tank (rust), fuel pump (dead), and transmission (slipped). Everything else was perfect! Miss that car... next time I buy one it's gotta be a manual and sorted! Thanks again!
Thank you
i loved those old turbo coupes. great to see another one resurected!
I love them too thank you
Good to see you an the t bird again you are doing a great job love your videos
Thank you very much
These engines were infact very popular throughout the world powering all kinds of fords. From Europe to South Africa and Australia, however we never got these 2.3 turbo, they are also directly related to the mighty Ford cosworth YBT engine same block.
I love them
Great video Josh was interesting to see the changes that the mods made to the speed as u say well done great content luv yr videos 👍💖
Man your channel has exploded. I remember subbing at 9kish. You're now at 17k subs! That's insane.
Yes it has I was at 1000 subscribers this time last year but I’ve been doing UA-cam for 13 years
Look again!
Ah, you are making me miss my 86 SVO.. Loved that car, and that engine!!!!!
Some of my favorite cars
Mannn, this bring back so many fun memories . 88 dark blue, 5speed , sunroof , leather , EQ, driver and passenger 6way power seats and a lot of fun. I replace the 225/60 with 225/50 what a difference. And the fact that I had a couple of detail shops . My cars stayed clean. Would really enjoy having one today .
That’s awesome
You made the right calls on up the speed. I think the air filter and the exhaust opening. Made the difference. Great Video.
Terry
Thank you
I love it man and love the "other foxbodys" on my channel i drag race a ford fairmont
I subbed to your channel and look forward to your videos
I love Fairmonts I’ve just never owned one always had Thunderbirds cougars LTD stuff like that
On your next trip to Mexico - grab some rocks - toss them into the trunk - and back up to the garage slab and unload when you get home.
You should have the project complete in no time.
They are duty free, in case you were wondering.
That’s hilarious . Good tip
Hell yeah brother. I've always loved the look of these cars.
Me too
Awesome family, great work i look forward to it
Thank you
That was another great video. I had a 85 turbocoupe it was same injected 2.3 like 87 and 88 but it didnt have the intercooler.
Awesome !! Thank you
WOW... eastern TN is so much closer to Mexico than I had imagined... and Mexico is so much greener too. You must have found a shortcut to paradise or something.
I had the 88 TC 5 speed back in the day, Loved driving that car, great vid wish I knew all this then!
You and me both!
Several years back my buddy bought a 88 Turbocoupe from the salvage yard, got it running and it ran 9.6s in the 1/8th mile. It was a 5 speed car. Fun stuff.
I love them
2.3 pinto turbo!in Europe we had em in the 70's 80's Fords like escorts, capri's, granada's, sierra's, taunus'. Great bulletproof 4 pot engine!
That’s cool I agree
My dad had an 88 turbo coupe he bought new, manual trans, he had put a set of Goodyear eagles? On it and they gripped very well. I was around 21 years old at the time, raced my buddies 85 fox body……lost. And his 87 300zx………lost. But for what it was,it was fun to drive. A guy bought it from my dad and put a 5.0 in it. I would have left the turbo 4.
That’s a cool story
Good night brother, parachute in here on your Ford Thunderbird 88 video and I really enjoyed your content. congratulations on your work, keep improving Thunderbird, as I'm following you here in Brazil 🇧🇷 😎👍🏻
That’s awesome thank you
@@Sleeperdude You're welcome brother, we are together. Strength and honor! 💪🏻😎👍🏻
Just found your channel, very cool! I had to sub.
Thank you
23 and me referencing your wife’s family got me rolling. Love it sleeperdude.
I’m glad you liked it
You are the best man love the vid
Great job. I'm going to be going through my 88 this coming summer. I have no gauges (power to the IC is bad) but I figure since I'm doing that I might as well take the interior out, replace the headliner and get new carpet and likely to have the seats re-upholstered. Then the engine is at 189 so time for a rebuild on that, plus it leaks oil like crazy.
One thing to check for your high speed fan is where the wires go into the connector. Those can go bad because the radiator hose will rub on it and cause it to go bad. I just zip-tied the hose so it didn't rub on that.
That’s cool thanks
had 88 turbo coupe…they moved good burnout 5 speed manual fun
Those are very fun
Just found your channel, your going to do well , I laughed at the road kill deer 🦌, I did same at night time with sheep . Regards from Ireland 🇮🇪
That’s awesome I’m glad you found my channel thank you for watching
i enjoy your channel ..you made that old bird go...give Rocky a big hug..
Rocky video coming soon !!!! Thanks for watching
This gives me nostalgia from when my dad had one. I will never forget he had black interior and he is color blind so he got the blue dashboard to cover the cracks. The car was black with fade marks. When I was like 8 years old and I saw the boost gauge go up I thought it was the coolest thing ever. My dream is to 2jz swap one like my dads.
That’s awesome, great memories
@@Sleeperdude it also had no heat so i remember driving to store it at my uncles for the winter and I had a blanket. I’ll never forget the feeling of him doing a burnout and drifting on the street to my uncles house lol.
You want to find an 86 Turbo T-bird. The 85 and 86 hot air cars had a bigger turbo than the 87 or 88 and 14psi of boost with a 5 speed. They were all fuel injected but the 86 had the extra shocks on the back to prevent wheel hop like the Mustang the 85 did not. Ford Motorsports sold a Spearco branded front mount intercooler with all the Piping in the catalog along with a bleeder valve. It fit in front of the AC condenser very low in the grill to catch air from the lower valance. Ford Motorsports also offered the SVO cam in the catalog which was made by Crane cams and came with heavy duty valve springs allowing a 6500rpm redline, also an off road only 3" downpipe was available from the SVO book for the 85 and 86 T-birds with the T-4 turbo. Ford would not install the downpipe assembly on plated cars because it had no cat. I had to install it myself and had a custom 3" exhaust made with a 36" long 3" id cherry bomb. My car produced 24psi of boost and ran 14.8s in the quarter mile at 99mph. Top speed was over 155mph because I could pull by my dads Mercedes S class once it hit the speed limiter at 155mph I'm not sure what the exact top speed was. I had to run a McCloud clutch with a manual adjuster the pmastic cam adjuster couldnt hold the pressure and kept breaking and the stronger 5speed transmission from the Mustang.
Nice thanks for all the info I ran 8.0@90mph in the eighth with one in a maverick
I like your video Josh.❤ i learned a lot on you👍🇵🇭
Thank you
I have an 85, 86, 87 and 88 TCs, my favorite ones is my 85 auto and 88 manual but cant keep a trans in the 88. Ive been thru 3 t5s in that thing and it just eats 3rd gear, has a ported/polished head, bigger valves, cam but stock intake, exhaust and turbo. The 83-86 had efi, non intercooled and a T3 turbo with different a/r for manual and auto cars. 87-88 also got the 8.8 disc brakes, premium/regular fuel switch, climate control and electronic struts/shocks they went to performance setting automatically with WOT where 86 down just had posi 7.5s, drum brakes and manual HVAC controls
Thats awesome thanks for the information I really love those cars too
I can't wait to get to testing mine I just bought a 88 turbo coupe on Tuesday it's been setting since 2008 I a junkyard that lets people work on there cars. The owner had it towed there and was going to fix it but it sat until we he just gave it to the yard for basically storage fees lol. After watching y ok u vids on your car I'm thinking I'm gonna check my ignition switch it feels funky compared to my mustangs and it only powers up the accessories in side when the key is turned to accessory. Mine was really clean inside compared to yours lol only had a a little mouse nest in the trunk
That should be a good project
Amazing knowledge, plus goats! Gotta love the 80's designers - "Lets put some Tron plastic stripping all around the car, we need MORE straight lines". Yikes!
Thank you
I like the early 80s cougars they were sharp.
Yea
I got the cone filter down in front of the radiator by using a stove pipe adjustable elbow. Nice hole right in front of the old air filter to get the pipe into the void. Basic same mods on mine with 5 sp. 17 psi, cone, exhaust RR cam and it's got 263,000 trouble free (relatively) miles.
Nice
my car has the exact same story that is funny as hell. my dad parked it in 2007 and i got it out 2023 with so many chewed wires
The car is back in time memory from my grandfather plan on getting a Turbo Coupe someday
That’s awesome
Great video !! New suscriptor from Mexico
That’s awesome thanks for watching
Those headlights are getting to me. I got my 80's Ford owning relatives and car buddies to see the benefit of Meguires Plastix, preceded by 2000, or even 1000 grit wet sanding if needed on their Cougar, Taurus, and Sable headlights. I am curious if it will work in that stain on the passenger side or if the lens has to be taken off to fix that from the inside. Oh, it helped on some dash gauge lenses on a couple of 70's cars. I didn't even know my Javelin HAD a clock until I polished the lens.
I need to get on that , that’s funny
When you did those passes it reminded me of the thunderbird commercial where they flashed back to nascar. I believe they were for the 92-95 year models
That’s funny
@@Sleeperdude check out the commercials on UA-cam
Ok I will
Man, i love old Fords....
I love the turbo coupes for sure
Good setting on tunning and thightening all the wire , connector , and burning air flow , especially on the turbo ..., 9.99s at 72 mph ...! Do up until it achieved to 125mph at 10.75s ...! Regards kuala lumpur 27.08.2021 17.46pm friday * malaysia time.
Thank you for watching that far away
I bought a thermostat that fits in the radiator,has a wire for it,course I don't know where the wire goes so a toggle switch for my fans may be what I do as well lol.
I have an 85 turbo coupe. I also had an 85 when I was 18. 30 years later when I had the opportunity I got another one. Great cars. 85 through 86 were also fuel injected. Very similar if not exactly the same as your 88 except no intercooler and a different turbo. Early 85s back to 84 and 83 may have been carbureted. I also think the head is slightly different on mine. The problem you're having with the fans is the temperature sensor located in the intake the under the throttle body. The sensor needs to be replaced. Very common.
Ok thank you
83-86 was also efi. As was the gt turbo and the SVO..
It so amazing bro !!,!😎😎😎💪🏾💪🏾
Thank you I appreciate that
I sure wish we would've had a Dragy back in the day at tech school. I guess we could've gotten the G-tech pro, but who had money for that? Anyway, a Dragy would've given us some real data on our daily S10 vs. Nova races, the 17-mile and 140mph, full throttle, nitrous assisted rides in Christian's Tiburon.
We probably would’ve got killed trying to do the 60 to 130
Shweeeeeet.. Well done sir😎
Thank you very much
Working on my project blackbird now as well.. Keep posting.. Also, I would be interested in the air box if your not gonna use it..
I’m probably gonna hang onto it for now I may sale it’s at some point I will keep you in mind .
Awesome video man you should consider a t5 swap in the turbo coupe
It is going to get a t5 behind it eventually
80s turbo cars were so choked. I had a turbo 2 in my omni, it ran mid 14s @ around 94 mph stock. a good exhaust, minus the cat, upgraded Mopar Performance computer, some ignition work and an air filter and it ran 13.3 @ 105 mph. After another year or so of tweaking timing, bigger throttle body, MP intercooler, extra boost, more fuel pressure, and 102 no lead, it was running 12.7 @ 113 mph with a lowsy 2.0 60ft. Never had to open the engine up.
Those are some big gains
awesome video
Thank you
The Ford Turbo 2.3 guy up here had one in a 30 something Ford coupe with a manual that was running 12 second 1/4 mile times and another, totally juiced one in a great condition, but ugly a$$ early 80s notchback Mustang that burned Nitro Methane and he was running low 8s with that. guy made all is own intake and exhaust manifolds, experimented with turbos for years, eventually settled on a smaller one that someone else recommended and found a brilliant tuner.
I miss having a T-Bird. I seriously regret selling my Davey Allison T-Bird years ago. She would been a pretty penny today.
We all miss Thunderbirds that we have loved and lost
@@Sleeperdude I will have another one someday. If only my little one would stop costing me so much money. She broke her Nintendo Switch the other day. I told her she's beat lol
@Josh, man oh man when you went for that last test run, i said whoa slow it down buddy you're starting to drive like your wife lol i dont mean it disrespectfully just teasing because Tosh and my wife have lead feet and my wife literally calls me grandpa because i drive the speed limit as well. Love the video, would love to see u do an old S10 LS vortec 4.3L . Keep up the great videos.
That’s funny thank you
Rocky's eyes are freakin' me out, man!
They are kind of wierd
My ‘86 was fuel injected
And my ‘88 had the regular or premium fuel switch and it really made difference on the boost
Rats are only good for Chevys,haha thanks for sharing this, it's interesting to me to see what you can do with something most people would probably scrap. Always liked thunderbirds but with V8s, but this is Cool...
Thank you
The intercooled TurboCoupe is about 10-15 horsepower less than the V-8 version and if you pay attention and not rodding it, it had way better fuel mileage.
On those ramp boards there Sleeper brother..... I seen on this video at timestamp of 14:19 those rectangular concrete blocks laid down on their sides would be perfect to use in place of the ramp base boards...Then you can place the two ramp boards on top of those blocks and not on top of the garage floor at all... Then the tops of the ramp boards are closer to flat with the garage floor going in and out of the shop... Far less kicking up of the boards too... Just a quick tip... Keep up the builds man we are lovin em
That’s a good idea thanks
@@Sleeperdude NP brotha give the family hugs
Every time you pull a car out of the garage I wonder why you haven’t used dirt or gravel to build up a ramp instead of the wood that never works.
Because it needs a drain first because of water issues so I put it off
I'm am loving your channel and this project. BUT you're burning our new rubber... OUCH!! lol!
That’s funny thanks
Man that is awesome brother. The results after all the high-performance work pay it off man. Just got to figure out why the car cut off like that. I'm glad your wife came and rescued you when you was on the side of the road. I see your wife does the same thing too! buy you new pair of driving shoes. My wife does the same thing for me too. My wife love seeing my very wide feet in flip flops for some reason. She even wanted & we had a flip-flop wedding. What kind of flip-flops did you get & where did she get the at ? Good Video brother.
Thanks I am glad she remembered to rescue me, they are just some $2 Walmart flops
@@Sleeperdude there is nothing wrong with that Brothers. I got a pair of Walmart flip-flops that I bought back in the early spring too that I have for the truck 🚛 i wear. What did you do with your old pair are you throwing them away?
@@mackjenkins7721 no I will still use them
@@Sleeperdude oh that's good man. You can use those for your driving shoes on the way home from work & get those hot feet out of those boots. When I could wear boots back in the days I could not drive with boots on my feet. I either had to put on a different of footwear or Drive Barefooted 👣 home. A lot of time i had a pair of flip flops in the car with me.
Again that's practically a twin to my 88 I had yrs ago but I gotta say I think u have a good one there., body still looks good, your motor sounds good, damn that's sounds just like mine and I agree the 5spd would b interesting to do this to.. mine ran around 9psi and would reach 11psi but that was at highway speeds ( 60 - 70 ) 4th gear,, for your volts I recommend hook up a volt meter or volts guage temporarily and monitor while driving, I think my alternator looked different than yours, mine resembled the ones on 4.6 Victoria/Marquis maybe because it was a stick?
I ordered a alternator I am waiting on it now
Are you going to do more videos on this. Like to see it fixed up more mechanically.
The 2.3 will handle 19lbs on the stock motor with a few parts from a 83 TC. If i remember correctly its the vane air meter and the t3 turbo. I think the 88TC has the larger injectors and the best computer but has the smaller turbo and vane air meter.
Yeah I think your right .. thanks
@@Sleeperdude anytime. I love these motors. Me and a few friends of mine thru a 2.3T in a 93 s10. It was a blast to drive.
I bet it was
I think the 5spd. turbocoupes was a bit faster!
Did the same to my 84 Escort L only had one fan but straight wire. No fancy relay lol
Awesome
The coolant temp sensor that feeds the ECM should be in between no.2 and no.3 fuel injectors behind fuel rail ,so intercooler has to come back off , the other temp sensor or drivers side of block is for temp Guage if i remember correctly.
Ok thanks
@@Sleeperdude I want to say Volvo has a coolant sensor pipe on one of it's models, that can be used for automatic control of fans. Can be installed possibly without having to tear into the car. I'll see if I can find a link, once I'm done in "the library."
@@Sleeperdude Here's the piece I was talking about. Different video from what I referencing but same concept. ua-cam.com/video/NVysqXm81aw/v-deo.html
Fun videos!!! Surcribed
Thank you
I like Ralphie! Remind me of me as a kid.
He’s the best
Dude, I have 1985 turbo coupe, 2.3, 5 speed car. It is fuel injected, but no inner cooler. It's bone stock, with 74,000 miles. Also have an 1987, turbo coupe, 5 speed car, planning to make a killer street car and bracket race. Thanks for simple up grades, planning for more. My goal is to run mid 12 in the quarter.
That’s cool
is the 85 for sale?
@@yobfd Dude, I'm really sorry to say no. I truly dig that car, it's to cool 😎 to sell.
That relay thing is called IRC or IRL controller, there are not very many different ones and go by the bar code on it for another one, take the top off and push the relays down with your finger to test it, probably dirty contacts
Ok thank you
That’s some Rocky Top wiring for sure.
Right
I love that car
Me too
The auto cars had 3.73 gears.. you make me wish I would've kept mine stock
Don’t we all miss our old Thunderbirds
I had this same exact car. In the same exact color.
Awesome
This man is so lucky to live only a couple minutes away from Mexico 😂😂😂
That’s funny yes I am
Just some advice...find the coolant temp. Switch (which tell the high and low speed fans when to activate) and check function of temp switch, replace or repair as needed,wiring diagram will point you right to it. I can't remember if it's screwed into radiator or coolant passage on engine, its been years since i changed one on mustang svo or turbobird.
If i remember correctly temp. Switch for ecm is between no.2 and no.3 injectors , behind the fuel rail ,intercooler has to come back off . There is another coolant temp switch on other side of engine but it should be for temp. Guage ...good luck
Ok thank you
The 87/88 Turbo Coupe's ended up using Ford's left over stock from the SVO's.. Same engine, although I think they changed the cam or something as it is lower power than when it was in the SVO.. I think they were rated at 190HP whereas the SVO was 200/205 HP. And if I recall the 83-86 were fuel injected (the non SVO modded engines).. I think they were rated around 140HP..
And my SVO (86) ran 16 lbs of boost stock.. Im surprised you had to mod this car to do that.. But, I'm really missing my SVO now :-)
Good information, the autos like this had lower boost than the 5 speeds
Lol, that picture of the Mexico border was awesome! Sucks though when your car breaks down in Mexico!
Thank you I’m glad you liked it
I recognize that relay wiring set up lol
My man
Here's what you can do you can put a external relay and wire it off of a hot initially so when you start to car your fans automatically come on
Thanks
Nice🐦 I love mines🙂
Thank you
83-86 was turbo oil cooled only, no inter cooler. Brother had an 86' Cougar XR7. I believe the turbo was a garret, not a borg warner.
Ok thank you
My neighbor had a twin to your turbo coupe back in the day.
That’s cool
WHOOOOOOOO!!! Almost ready for NASCAR. Spray paint NASCAR livery?
That’s right
I believe the 83-86 turbo coupes had a different Garrett turbocharger than the 87-88’s which had an HPH(?) Turbo
83-86 we’re not carbureted.
Same multi point efi.
Biger T3 turbo instead of the IHI.
Little more lag.
Non intercooled. But did have heat sync fins on aluminum cross over pipe from turbo to intake.
Smaller injectors.
Smaller port exhaust manifold. (E3 casting number instead of E6 on later cars)
Didn’t come with the 8.8 rear till 86
Still fun cars with simple mods.
Stock bigger 83-86 T3 turbo
87-88 intercooler.
87-88 e6 ported exhaust manifold.
Slightly Bigger injectors.
Bleed valve on waste gate turned up to 16-18 psi.
Premium 93 fuel.
8.8 with 3:73 gears.
5speed
Fun little cars.
Mind would keep up with my slightly modded 5.0 fox I had at the same time.
I always did like the 4 Thunderbirds I'm looking for one now especially the same years what you got I'm out of Ohio Cincinnati little little town called Harrison Ohio
Ok cool I have the white 90 sc for sale in Tennessee $2,000.
What app are you using buddy? Loving the channel subbing now
Draggy thank you
Found a 88 thunderbird inside and engine are good but the automatic is dead cuz the fans stopped working I'm guessing so I'm using the engine in a bronco 2 but don't know what to do with the car
That was fun.
It was for me
Thous are pretty darn cool!! I wouldn’t turn one down.
Me either
Sir, you will probably find that your garage entry boards would stay put and work well if you placed them with the long way along the concrete, perhaps two tall then one tall forming a type of steps to drive into the garage.
Ok thank you