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What did you do to your Tbird today? 2002-2005

  • Thread starter Thread starter 02thunderbirdht
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RaggTopp convertible cleaner first, then RaggTopp protectant spray. Takes a bit of prep (I used thin plastic dropcloths to protect the rest of the car from overspray). The protectant makes it water tight and restores the color.
As for the wax, I have to give a shout out to Gus Gutz! He recommended Chemical Guys products. I use the Mirror Glaze and follow with the Cherry Wax. Great stuff.

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RaggTopp convertible cleaner first, then RaggTopp protectant spray. Takes a bit of prep (I used thin plastic dropcloths to protect the rest of the car from overspray). The protectant makes it water tight and restores the color.
As for the wax, I have to give a shout out to Gus Gutz! He recommended Chemical Guys products. I use the Mirror Glaze and follow with the Cherry Wax. Great stuff.
Thanks for the shout out. DrSarabi. I am lucky to have a Chemical Guys Detail Garage a few miles from my home. They have everything for detailing your car. Most automotive stores have a 10 foot section for detailing your car but the CG Detail Garage has aisles of items. Everyone should check them out on YouTube. They have tips on everything. The paint on my car feels so soft, almost like butter.

I use CG's top cleaner and protectant. Water beads up on my soft top like on glass. Since I drive mt car daily, I used Jet seal on everything. On top of that, I use the Cherry Wet wax. I use V07 between washes to keep up the shine.
 
Replaced the battery today, DieHard Gold EP-65 on sale. Dropped in perfectly and now I have 880 CCA instead of the stock Motocraft 650 CCA. Only cranks for about 3 seconds before firing right up. Should have done this months ago.

Here's my trick. Attached my jump pack leads to the battery cables before removing from old battery. Slid out the old battery, slid in the new, reconnected cables to the new battery and then removed the jump back leads. Car never lost power so no resetting all the radio stations and no reprogramming the windows to drop.
 
I dropped mine off at Russell and Smith Ford for them to change the oil and perform whatever services needed to be done. I’ll be getting a $1,000 bill. The car only has 26,000 miles, so I was surprised that it needs new front brakes, rear rotors and a power steering fluid change.
 
Started cleaning and detailing the brakes today. Got the fronts done. I have a big oil fired forced hot air heater in my garage so it gets nice and comfortable. Lay out the tools, tune in the oldies and away we go!!!
 
Finally warmed up enough to get back out in the shop. Changed the oil, oil filter and cabin air filter. Finished painting the front brake calipers and moved to the rear calipers. Took an hour and waxed the paint in the engine compartment. Looked ok before and now it looks good, and I enjoyed it.
 
I got the wife a 2002 "Premier" two top red T-bird last week with only 18,000 miles on it - looks and runs like new...
The only deficiency I could find in it was the stock radio. I upgraded to a Kenwood 575S GPS/NAV/SIRIUS/CAR PLAY/Weblink, etc.. with a backup camera. Interestingly this car is one of the few where the backup lights work -- well, backwards. The camera trigger expects 12V when the car is in reverse and 0V when its not, the T-bird works opposite of this so I had to add a relay to "trick" the camera... I put the USB for the radio in the lower dash panel left hand cigarette lighter hole. Also got the module to make the steering wheel controls work - sweet!

I have a new center console upper A/C duct insert coming to replace the damaged one in the pictures. The triangular speakers on each side of the center console had faded to a nauseating pink over the years, I found some Ace Hardware Satin "Candy Apple" and repainted them, you can barely see them in the picture - they came out great.
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I've seen these threads on many other forums I'm apart of. Don't know if it would be as active here, but figured I would start the thread. If there is already one going, let me know.

So, what did you do to your Tbird today?

I'll start. Put the hardtop on it Sunday since we've got a week of mid 80's. Drove it to work yesterday and today. I must say, I enjoy this car so much. It's an awesome ride that gets tons of looks and is an awesome cruiser.



Replaced CD changer with new/updated electronics. Back up camera, satalite radio and a bunch of other chuff I might never function.
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Changed the wind shield. The original was getting dingy. Just couldn’t wipe it clean; as if the glass was stained out side of the whisper tracks. Anyway, got a new one, well kind of. We had one but it found a blemish. Now we have another from Alabama getting sent in.
 
Jjust got my 05 Anniversary Edition and in the last couple weeks have tuned it with the SCT X4 tuner, put in a K&N air filter and removed the intake muffler. I’m considering the Borla exhaust system but can’t seem to get past the price for a little better sound and performance. I am having fun with it!
My next task unfortunately is replacing the leaking lower front control arms.

Bob
 
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Went down the Rhode Island coast today. It was the first real road test for the work, replaced the COP's and spark plugs, I did this winter. I'm happy to say it was a beautiful ride and the engine ran smooth and strong. No issues. Celebrated by polishing it when we got back home. Looks sweet!!!
 
I took my car in to have the front end aligned. I'm going on an extended road trip soon and noticed that there was a slight pull to the left on my steering wheel. Alignment went fine but the sales rep informed me that I had a more serious problem and I wanted to share it with all of you. It appears that all of the RUBBER bushings that are associated with the upper control arms,stabilizer bars and tie rods are all deteriorated and have fallen apart. There is no need to grease them because the rubber bushings would not hold any grease. Luckily, everything appears to be tight and unworn. Probably because I'm always on pavement and I never run my car on any other roads. He did an estimate for me if I decide to replace everything. It came to about $3000. I am hoping that I can only do the rubber bushings but that will still involve A lot of labor costs. Have any of you discovered this problem?
 
Took the 007 to the shop as the AC died. Turned out to be needing a recharge and no leaks. Just in time for our record heat this weekend.
 
I've seen these threads on many other forums I'm apart of. Don't know if it would be as active here, but figured I would start the thread. If there is already one going, let me know.

So, what did you do to your Tbird today?

I'll start. Put the hardtop on it Sunday since we've got a week of mid 80's. Drove it to work yesterday and today. I must say, I enjoy this car so much. It's an awesome ride that gets tons of looks and is an awesome cruiser.

I've seen these threads on many other forums I'm apart of. Don't know if it would be as active here, but figured I would start the thread. If there is already one going, let me know.

So, what did you do to your Tbird today?

I'll start. Put the hardtop on it Sunday since we've got a week of mid 80's. Drove it to work yesterday and today. I must say, I enjoy this car so much. It's an awesome ride that gets tons of looks and is an awesome cruiser.

Well, I just joined today, and thought I'd make this reply my first post.

My dad bought his 2002 T-bird new, when he was 78. I inherited the car in November, 2013, with 149,000 miles on it, 90% of which were long freeway drives with Sacramento as home base. He took good care of it, and had regular service performed by the dealer. It's read with a black convertible top, without dents, and perhaps a minor blemish here or there. The driver's seat needs reupholstering, and the convertible top's canvas is like new, but the rear window has come lose from the opening (no leaks, though). The passenger door doesn't always auto-unlock, but I could fix that myself.

In the 5 1/2 years I've had the car, I've only put 10,000 miles on it, but I've put a lot of money into it for the common problems as seen on this forum for this car...hydraulic cooling fan pump, ignition coils, rebuild A/C system etc. Each spring, I tell myself I should sell this car. My mechanic, who knows the car well, tells me the same thing, unless I want to keep pouring money into it.

So, today, I cleaned the car inside and out, thinking I'd put it up for sale. I put the snap down boot on for the first time, and it was difficult and doesn't fit well. I understand the boots after 2002 are better fits. Problem is, the car really looks good, it has a lot of power, and it handles nice, especially for a car that feels, and is, heavy. To sell, or not to sell?
 
Well been almost three weeks since I purchased my $300 special. Initially confirmed it wasn't a motor job just coils and did safety inspection. All the parts have come in and today I got the car back from the welding shop. Front cross brace supports on the floor where rotten. Here's the before and after. Unfortunately I won't be able to start working on the car until next week but couple days in the shop I hope to have her done in in for safety inspection.
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Well today was a great day for me for a couple of reasons. first time working on a car since my accident 4 years ago, nice to get dirty and twist the old wrenches again. Was a little hard standing for long periods of time with the brace but Was a productive day. did the valve cover gasket set and plugs and all coils. There definitely was a hack in there before doing the coils. all 6 bottom top coil cover bolts missing , 1 heat shield bolt and air box bolt missing. 2 coil wire connectors broken,1 silicone together , 1 coil connector not even close to begin on tight. 7 of the 8 spark plug tubes full of oil, impressed that she even ran before lol. Sad thing is gives mechanics a bad name because the lady that owed it always took it to a local independent garage. So tomorrow look to see if i can get the connectors and bolts needed to finish the job. Even with the old crappy gas in her she runs 90% better already, not on 5 cylinders. Wednesday will hopefully have parts to finish that job and move on to fuel filter and check air con, service brakes and so on. Fun Times 🙂

Hi Everyone
Today was the second day for me in the shop and was long ( i am definitely alot slow working out of a wheel chair and in crutches then before the injuries) the name Slowwalker definitely suits me now lol, but was fun and rewarding. I really did miss getting dirty and fixing stuff. First job was last night my good friend Dave put it on the hoist for me, and I serviced the brakes at all four corners and freed up L/S rear parking brake cable .(was a little slow to return), greased any fittings i could find and did a oil change. then removed the fuel pump fuse (#17 in trunk) cranked to remove fuel pressure and took access covers off to re and re fuel filter. Then on to air con problem, checked power at compressor then pressures. empty so sealant and recharge, with that off the list i installed all cover and put tires back on and set air to 30 psi. Then last item for safety was to clean, sand and buff headlights. Last changed cabin and air filter and wiper blades. I took the car for a spin now that i was done the important stuff. With 8 new coils and plugs, valve cover gaskets were better running but it was starving for fuel. With the filters all done even with bad gas in the tank it goes like a scared cat .I guess i could of changed the motor like her garage said but i am just to old and lazy lmao. I decided i would pull the cd player out because it wasnt working and i was putting in a aftermarket kennwood system i had sitting around. Good thing i did because i needed to order a couple of adapters for my 5 1/4 speakers to use in the doors. $16 bucks plus tax from crunch fields. Cleaned up and went home and disassembled the cd player to check about the error code, found 6 dicks in 5 trays so now i know why it jammed. Tomorrow i will visit the old owner and give her her disks back she figured she would never see again. My buddy needs his shop back this weekend so i guess i wait until Monday to finish the coil job, new coil connectors and assorted bolts came in tonight to correct the hack job that i found on Monday. Speaker adapters will be in by then and i can wire that up and put the interior back together and take it in town for the safety inspection. Getting close now 🙂

Update
So I got to work on the car yesterday, I put the aftermarket head unit in and put the dash back together. I'm still waiting for my adapters to show up for the aftermarket speakers so I put the factories speakers back in until now. Next job was to replace the two broken coil connectors and 1 injector connector, install the valve cover coil covers now that I had replacement bolts. Gave the car quick wash and loaded on the car trailer to drop off at the garage today. Scheduled for Thursday for a safety inspection. So if all goes well I should be driving it Thursday. Then get the full tank of bad gas out of it down the highway LOL. Then next stop will be to get the door dents and stone dents removed from the body. One really noticeable one on drivers door and 4 smaller ones on passenger door and quarter panel. Once that's done ship it over to the detailer to work on paint I think it will need to be compounded then polished. I tested just with wax and the shine does come back but I want to get all the little scratches removed or as much removed as possible. Even though the car has 317000 km on it I would still like it to look as good as possible

Hi Everyone
I just got in the door, passed safety no problem and my buddy and I took it for a cruise and I just got home so about 200km on it. First time driving one quite impressed with how it drives considering the mileage. Obviously I've got a bunch of little things still to do and I'm hoping it's just residue from doing the valve cover gaskets and stuff but I smell a little oil burning off the motor. Sticky Servo motor for one of the blend doors, little light in the front end if you're doing 160 km an hour LOL. Even with bad gas it moves it pretty good. Tomorrow's job is head to the door ding shop and get a quote for the five defts and then get a quote to compound and polish the paint. Hardtop is on the cart and not going to put it on until Monday when I'm back up there doing more little jobs on the car. Well we saved another one from going to the Wreckers, and it's a pretty cool car to drive that's for sure. Thanks for everybody's support and info for my newbie questions

fun car to drive. did a little more cleaning and a wax, installed driving lights and new speakers. Now going to driver her all weekend lola.jpg
 
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