T
Tnargrant
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- Reaction score
- 6
- Thunderbird Year
- 2004
2004 Ford Thunderbird. Bought off a used car dealer in 2024 for 12.5 @ 53k miles. Silver, convertible with hard top. Hard top was immediately removed and posted up in the garage. 85lbs, I believe. I will also endeavor to reduce weight of this 4000lb slab.
Exterior decent, with negligible sun damage to the paint on the front fenders. No scratches, dents, etc.
Interior is understandable. Minor wear to the leather seats, missing the little triangular vent on the passenger side, which was fixed for 12 bucks on Amazon. E brake boot doesn't stay connected at the base. Volume knob only turns the volume to max, which is amusing and will be left as is. Use of steering wheel controls can adjust volume without issue.
I intend to document a chronological timeline of my 04 Tbird. I would offer a frank and realistic assessment of upgrades and repairs along the way.
Currently,
K&N CAI: I am absolutely positive this system draws in hotter air than the stock setup. But car goes whoosh, can now whistle, and growls when you temporarily reduce your gas mileage.
The underhood temps are pretty wild for the 11gen Tbirds, and there's little to nothing you can do about it, which makes this system relatively pointless. That said, the new sfx and how it looks underhood make this system worth the purchase. The two hoses that come with the kit required much trimming, and were absolutely murder to affix to the intake body. The rest of the install was cake.
Magical clear sunblocking film for windshield. Just go find a good tint shop that uses Llumar and get their best ceramic clear film. 200ish bucks @2ish hours for install. It absolutely defeats the heat pouring in through your windshield. You and your dash will no longer be nuked by the sun. Driving with the top up and windows down under the dead eyed new mexican sun is now more than tolerable. You will find youself holding your hand out towards your widshield feeling little to no heat, which is just one of those most perfectly satisfying things.
R1 Concepts slotted and drilled ceramic carbon fiber brakes. Replaced all 4 rotors and pads with all the fixins for just under 200 bucks on amazon. Installing them is pretty dumb and easy. Hardest part is the masochistic process of cranking down those brake pistons. Car stopped before, but rotors were a bit rusty and pads were less than 40%. They look good, though not very noticeable behind the stock rims. No noticeable improvement to braking. I'm sure the drilled and slotted rotors are slightly lighter than stock, and I'm sure they handle the removal of dust and whatnot better... But these notions are irrelevant unless you're driving your asses off at the track, there's no justification for these brakes. You should still get them. They do look cool, and that's 90% why you drive an 11th gen Tbird.
Little 12 dollar bluetooth FM radio emitter that plugs into the passenger side outlet. It works. It's cheap. Gives you access to USB ports. It lets your play your music from your phone and phone calls through the speakers. It saves you 350+ bucks off converting your 6 disc cd player to a touchscreen.
Still, upgrade the cd player to a touchscreen. This isn't actually 2004 anymore, unless you're giving your giant zip up CD organizer a last hurrah.
Replaced serpentine belt. The engineers of this vehicle had a real hate in their hearts when they engineered the engine bay. Almost zero airflow and good luck getting to this belt. Had to pull the fan assembly out, but once you can actually get to it, it's an easy job.
Plugs and boots. Replace these as you like. Every 30k whether you need to or not isn't a bad plan, considering. It's time consuming and the screw for the cover on the right side by a dipstick is just an absolute nightmare to get back down. Could have just moved the screw or dipstick a quarter inch when they designed this, but nope. Enjoy that one.
I'll post pics soon enough and continue chronicling the fixes and upgrades to this bird.
Exterior decent, with negligible sun damage to the paint on the front fenders. No scratches, dents, etc.
Interior is understandable. Minor wear to the leather seats, missing the little triangular vent on the passenger side, which was fixed for 12 bucks on Amazon. E brake boot doesn't stay connected at the base. Volume knob only turns the volume to max, which is amusing and will be left as is. Use of steering wheel controls can adjust volume without issue.
I intend to document a chronological timeline of my 04 Tbird. I would offer a frank and realistic assessment of upgrades and repairs along the way.
Currently,
K&N CAI: I am absolutely positive this system draws in hotter air than the stock setup. But car goes whoosh, can now whistle, and growls when you temporarily reduce your gas mileage.
The underhood temps are pretty wild for the 11gen Tbirds, and there's little to nothing you can do about it, which makes this system relatively pointless. That said, the new sfx and how it looks underhood make this system worth the purchase. The two hoses that come with the kit required much trimming, and were absolutely murder to affix to the intake body. The rest of the install was cake.
Magical clear sunblocking film for windshield. Just go find a good tint shop that uses Llumar and get their best ceramic clear film. 200ish bucks @2ish hours for install. It absolutely defeats the heat pouring in through your windshield. You and your dash will no longer be nuked by the sun. Driving with the top up and windows down under the dead eyed new mexican sun is now more than tolerable. You will find youself holding your hand out towards your widshield feeling little to no heat, which is just one of those most perfectly satisfying things.
R1 Concepts slotted and drilled ceramic carbon fiber brakes. Replaced all 4 rotors and pads with all the fixins for just under 200 bucks on amazon. Installing them is pretty dumb and easy. Hardest part is the masochistic process of cranking down those brake pistons. Car stopped before, but rotors were a bit rusty and pads were less than 40%. They look good, though not very noticeable behind the stock rims. No noticeable improvement to braking. I'm sure the drilled and slotted rotors are slightly lighter than stock, and I'm sure they handle the removal of dust and whatnot better... But these notions are irrelevant unless you're driving your asses off at the track, there's no justification for these brakes. You should still get them. They do look cool, and that's 90% why you drive an 11th gen Tbird.
Little 12 dollar bluetooth FM radio emitter that plugs into the passenger side outlet. It works. It's cheap. Gives you access to USB ports. It lets your play your music from your phone and phone calls through the speakers. It saves you 350+ bucks off converting your 6 disc cd player to a touchscreen.
Still, upgrade the cd player to a touchscreen. This isn't actually 2004 anymore, unless you're giving your giant zip up CD organizer a last hurrah.
Replaced serpentine belt. The engineers of this vehicle had a real hate in their hearts when they engineered the engine bay. Almost zero airflow and good luck getting to this belt. Had to pull the fan assembly out, but once you can actually get to it, it's an easy job.
Plugs and boots. Replace these as you like. Every 30k whether you need to or not isn't a bad plan, considering. It's time consuming and the screw for the cover on the right side by a dipstick is just an absolute nightmare to get back down. Could have just moved the screw or dipstick a quarter inch when they designed this, but nope. Enjoy that one.
I'll post pics soon enough and continue chronicling the fixes and upgrades to this bird.
