Questions about 1983 Thunderbird

[Ford Enthusiast]

Hi, I'm looking at the possibility of buying a 1983 Thunderbird. The price is right, but I really don't know anything about this car. So here are some questions:

1) Does a 1983 Thunderbird have an air bag? If so, was it on all models? Based on the photos of the car I'm looking to buy it doesn't appear that the steering wheel has an air bag. Is it possible that it doesn't have an air bag? (just for the record I would prefer that it doesn't)

2. Does a 1983 Thunderbird have a frame separate from the body? Or is it a uni-body construction?

I do believe that this car has a drive shaft and rear-wheel drive. It is an automatic with a 5.0 Liter V8. Is that basically a 302 cu. in.?

Just for whatever it's worth. I'm interested in restoring an "older" car. I'm far more familiar with cars from the 60's, but I haven't yet been able to find anything from the 60's to restore. I found this '83 T-bird available for basically scrap metal prices. I'm told that it does run and will move under it's own power. I saw pictures of it and it looks like a fairly easy restore assuming there isn't too much rust damage underneath. The price is so "right" I'll probably buy it just to part out if nothing else. But since it runs I might consider restoring it.

Finally the car is not close to me, and I'm having a hard time getting in contact with the seller. I'm not sure if I'll get it before someone else does, but I thought I'd post questions here just in case. I can't currently go look at the car, or even talk to the seller yet. I hope I can get a hold of him before he sells it.

Thanks,
James

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[EastTexasBird]

1. No air bags on the 1983 models that I know of.
2. It is a body on frame car, not uni-body.
It is a rear-wheel drive car and yes, it is the 302 cu. in. V-8.
I hope you are able to get the car and do the restoration on it. I have a project 1986 Thunderbird as well as a beautiful 1986 Thunderbird that I drive often.

 

[Ford Enthusiast]

2. It is a body on frame car, not uni-body.

That's the biggie for me! I much prefer to restore cars where I can do the chassis and body as totally separate units. To be honest I was afraid that 1983 might be uni-body. So it's great news to hear that it's body on frame. I hope I can get it too, but I'm having difficulty in trying to contact the seller. So far I've been sending emails and calling the phone number, but no answer or reply yet. Only time will tell. If I can get in touch with the seller and the car isn't already sold I'll definitely pick it up. I'll keep this thread posted on what happens.

 

[Ford Enthusiast]

Made a very tiny amount of progress today. The seller finally replied to an email. Said he still has the car. But thus far I still haven't been able to make contact over a voice phone. I sent him my phone number, we'll see what happens. If I can complete this deal I'll post picture of the car when I get it home. I'm excited that he still has it and has at least replied to an email. That's progress. 🙂

I was afraid the car would be gone. Someone could buy this and take it straight to the scrap yard and make money! It's that cheap! I can't lose picking this thing up. And that's why I was afraid it might already be sold. But as of now he says he still has it. Keeping my fingers crossed. I have the car hauler trailer hooked up to the truck. All I need now is an exact address and a time to be there.

 

[Ford Enthusiast]

BUMMER! Ok, the man just emailed me back and said, "Sorry it's not for sale anymore". And the ad has been taken down. I'm not sure if that means he sold it to someone else, or just changed his mind about selling it for that price?

He had it advertised for $100. I don't think that was a typo because $1000 would have probably been too much for it considering the condition, and he doesn't have the title for it.

In any case a fully functional running 1983 Thunderbird would have been a steal for $100. I would have restored that baby from the ground up.

Too bad. Oh well, better luck next time maybe. No T-bird for me!

 

[1984]

all 1980 and up t birds were unibody cars and all were rear wheel drive . if you plan to restore an 80 s bird make sure it has a fairly good interior as interior parts (most being plastic ) are very hard to find . mechanicaly there is still a pretty good supply of parts as many componets are interchangeable with similar year mustangs -good luck

 

[Ford Enthusiast]

all 1980 and up t birds were unibody cars and all were rear wheel drive .

I missed getting the car anyway. But this conflicts with the previous information that it's body on frame. If it was unibody I wouldn't have been interested in trying to restore it anyway. So you are saying that to get a body on frame it needs to be 1979 or earlier?

 

[1984]

I missed getting the car anyway. But this conflicts with the previous information that it's body on frame. If it was unibody I wouldn't have been interested in trying to restore it anyway. So you are saying that to get a body on frame it needs to be 1979 or earlier?

55-57 were body on frame .58-66 were unibody . 67-79 were body on frame as the 70's were base on several other ford models of the time from 80 on they were back to unibody platforms. 80-88 being based on the fox platform

 

[86elan]

Agreed. I've got a 1986 Thunderbird Elan with auto/5.0 and it is most certainly a uni-body car, with rear drive. I bought it new. Trying to replace power steering pump and hoses now and man what a pain trying to pressure hoses back onto rack. Fingers too big and space too tight. And whoever heard of a torque wrench to fit on a flare nut?!?

 

[7T9_Tbird]

@Ford Enthusiast ; If Your still looking for a car, I have a '79 Town Landau I can sell cheap.

 

[Excaliburss]

If you are prepared for a complete resto on a car, I would go for a 60th car ! This, because they are loved more by the car entusiasts , are much cooler and have much better value in restored condition.

 

[EastTexasBird]

I have a 1986 Thunderbird to sell.

I bought this car in Houston before the flood and got it out of there. I am just not able to get started on restoring it anytime soon. It runs and drives and will be a great restoration project for someone with the time. It has the V-8 and the automatic transmission. $1,000 obo.

 

[Ford Enthusiast]

Hi guys,

I'm not really a T-bird enthusiast specifically. I only posted to this forum because I thought I was going to get that 83' bird for $100. Too bad that fell through. That car looked like it could be restored with minimal effort.

I agree with Excaliburss that getting something older would be a far better project, especially if I'm going to put much money into it.

I just missed a 1948 Cadillac convertible. A complete car with the original flathead engine and transmission. The guy only wanted $750 for it. It was just bad timing for me, but that would have been a really nice project car to be sure.

I also saw a 1949 Ford woody wagon. It too had the original flathead engine and 3 speed stick tranny. The wood had all been removed so it was pretty ugly, but I have a complete woodshop and a sawmill, so replacing the wood wouldn't have been difficult for me. I think he wanted something like $1200 for that one.

But yeah, if I'm going to be sinking a grand in something to start on I'd want it to be quite old. At the very least something in the 60's. But if I can get something even older I'd go for that.

Did I mention the 1930 Ford Sedan that I just narrowly missed for $900! I would have LOVED to have a 1930's car.

 

[Adam T]

Hi, I'm looking at the possibility of buying a 1983 Thunderbird. The price is right, but I really don't know anything about this car. So here are some questions:

1) Does a 1983 Thunderbird have an air bag? If so, was it on all models? Based on the photos of the car I'm looking to buy it doesn't appear that the steering wheel has an air bag. Is it possible that it doesn't have an air bag? (just for the record I would prefer that it doesn't)

2. Does a 1983 Thunderbird have a frame separate from the body? Or is it a uni-body construction?

I do believe that this car has a drive shaft and rear-wheel drive. It is an automatic with a 5.0 Liter V8. Is that basically a 302 cu. in.?

Just for whatever it's worth. I'm interested in restoring an "older" car. I'm far more familiar with cars from the 60's, but I haven't yet been able to find anything from the 60's to restore. I found this '83 T-bird available for basically scrap metal prices. I'm told that it does run and will move under it's own power. I saw pictures of it and it looks like a fairly easy restore assuming there isn't too much rust damage underneath. The price is so "right" I'll probably buy it just to part out if nothing else. But since it runs I might consider restoring it.

Finally the car is not close to me, and I'm having a hard time getting in contact with the seller. I'm not sure if I'll get it before someone else does, but I thought I'd post questions here just in case. I can't currently go look at the car, or even talk to the seller yet. I hope I can get a hold of him before he sells it.

Thanks,
James

I used to own an '85. No air bag.

 

[tbird]

I used to own an '85. No air bag.

1988, Chrysler was first to offer airbags as standard equipment. I had a 1988 Dodge Daytona with Airbags.