2nd Feb 2003, 13:45
I bought a farm out here in Kansas 3 years ago & found a 1985 T-Bird out in the barn with the engine part way dismantled. I have no idea what to do with it. I hooked up a battery charger to it & popped the trunk & found all the engine parts in there. The only thing I know about T-Birds is back in the 60's I had a 1962 T-Bird. Now there was a real car.
7th May 2003, 17:01
I've owned 2 T-Bird Turbo Coupes, which, by the way, have a 4 cylinder, not a V-8. Except for the usual things that need to be replaced on an 18 yr. old car, they've both been great! I love T-Birds, and just because you own one bad vehicle of a certain type, doesn't mean they are all that way. In fact, you can take a bone stock Turbo Coupe, spend about $500 in modifications, and absolutely FLY! I am a Bird of Prey.
6th Feb 2004, 01:41
I bought a 1985 Thunderbird a year ago Dec for 300.00 and it is still going strong, when my $4000 Dodge Dakota is setting in the back yard broke down with god knows what is wrong with it, but the Thunderbird is running and going 130 miles + everyday I'am sorry this guy got a bad one, but I love my bird.
Mike from Tennessee.
12th Feb 2004, 18:56
I would have to agree with the rest of the bunch! I've got a 1988 T-bird 5.0L with 257,800 miles... ALL ORIGINAL except for the normal service work. This car is without a doubt the "BEAST" as my wife would say.
18th Sep 2004, 17:42
I guess you just got the bad one, because I havnt had any problems with my Thunderbird. It's an '85 Turbo Coupe, and after my grandpa died it sat in the garage until I was responsible enough to drive it. Eight years later, I backed it out of the garage and have drove it just about everywhere. It has about 73,500 miles on it, and has some very minor problems, like the motor in the power window went out, but I love my Thunderbird. I've been driving it for about a month now, starts up every time, hadnt died on me once. I would recommend this car to anyone, sorry you got a bad one.
13th Dec 2005, 12:15
My wife has had 3 t-birds first was a 78 with a 302 a 84 turbo coupe and a85 with a v-6 all have been great cars, I'm sorry he got a bad one.
29th Sep 2006, 09:19
I have a 1985 T-bird 5.0 and it hasn't done anything, but out run CHEVY'S. It's still going strong and hasn't let me down.
26th Oct 2006, 00:16
I am in the process of owning a 1985 thunder bird v6 coupe with only 18,500 original miles. It is a one owner car and is as new other than a few very minor issues. My purchase price is only $1,000. It is very assuring to here so many good comments on this model. I will let you all know on how it holds up in the future.
16th Oct 2007, 20:38
I bought my first car a little more than a year ago, 1985 Thunderbird (the one that came with the V8) and aside from same age-related issues that the previous owner forget to deal with (mostly because he hadn't used it in a long time) it's been a perfect catch. Aside from having to get a brake line fixed because of age, and getting the engine tuned to be up to my state's EPA, I'm the only guy in my circle of friends who hasn't had serious car issues. Been in 2 accidents & a collision with a dumpster (yeah I'm a bad driver) and aside from a dent in the bumper, unscratched. It's built like a tank, manueverable like a fish in the water, and as 3 Civics & a PT Cruiser have learned, flies off the line.
16th Feb 2008, 22:17
On the heater core, they have to be grounded, and the factory didn't. I went through 5 before I found out this little secret. My 85, I bought it new, been great until about 190,000 miles the oil pump went and had to rebuild the motor. Great car still love driving it daily!
19th Aug 2008, 23:57
I purchased a 1985 Thunderbird V-6 from a widow who had this extra car left on her hands after her husbands death. My car had been stolen, so I needed a car right away.
It had 40,000 miles on it and I was in sales and traveled the southeast. I traded the car with 185,000 miles on it, and it was still running strong and looked great.
How many times I wish I had that car back. It has now become like the first car you ever had, you wish you had it back. I would highly recommend this car to anyone. It was fun to drive, had great pick up and never left me stranded.
One of the best cars I ever owned.
11th Dec 2008, 22:17
I got my 1985 Ford Thunderbird a few months ago from my dads friend, he gave it to me for free because I needed a project to work on at school in the mechanics shop class.
It's got a 3.8 liter V-6 in it.
When he gave it to me he said that the transmission had blown a few years back and he couldn't afford to fix it, so it just needed a transmission and it would be road worthy again.
So I brought it home and started working on it, I soon realized it needed more than a transmission!
The oil was black and smelled like burnt toast, the brakes were very worn, the head gaskets were non-existent, there were rust holes and dents through-out the car and there was a hole in the gas-tank.
I brought it to school and put it on the lift and took out the transmission. My cousin is a Ford mechanic and told me that if I sent it to him, he would fix it.
I sent it to him and he tore it apart and told me it would cost around 700$ to fix! I went to a auto-wrecker and got a used c-5 transmission and popped it in the car, hooked everything up, filled it with fluid, went to turn the key... nothing... not a sound. I put a different battery in, nothing. Changed the starter, nothing. Changed the solenoid, nothing. If anybody has any ideas on what might be wrong, feel free to give me a suggestion.
10th Oct 2002, 09:53
T- birds rock! they are the first of their kind.