88 Thunderbird Question

I have found an 88 thunderbird that is in great condition body wise an interior wise. The car has the 3.8 v6 motor in, an is in good running shape. The car has a short somewhere in the wiring system that causes the battery to drain fairly fast. My question is, can this car be made into a fairly good hotrod? I can get the car for 200 dollars from my cousin's dad. What would everyone suggest in the way of what i can do for x amount of money to make the car fairly fast. The car will not be my primary transportation, just a hobby to play with in my spare time. With that being said, im open to almost anything to try on the car. I also have the following extra parts laying around at my disposal.
1. 650 holley double pumper carb
2. Hooker equal length headers for 87-93 mustang GT
3. Factory mufflers from my 99 mustang GT

Buy it,put a 5.0 in it with a carb and have fun.You'll have to get a throttle cable,tv-cable (unlesss you go with a C-4 or something and work the fuel delivery out,but it may be a lot easier than going EFI and having to cjange out harnesses and everything else.Just a thought.

If i use a 5.0L FI motor, an get a intake an use that 650 double pumper, will that work, or will the 650 be too much for the motor? Another reason that i am considering carboration, is that for me it will be easier to work on the motor myself. Like for example, remove the heads an have them worked at a later date, i wouldn't have to deal with all that FI tricky wiring an crap.
[addsig]

For a stock 5.0,a 650 may be too big.Too much is not always a good thing.I personally like the EFI.It's really not hard at all to work on.You just have to know what you're working with,like anything else.A carb will be much easier to install and use as opposed to finding a harness and all the associated bits and pieces.If I can help,let me know.

I will vinnietbird, thanks for your replys. I think the first thing i am going to do it try to find a rear axle to swap into the car. I would like to find something with either a 3.55 or 3.73 ratio if possible. Rear disks would be a great bonus, but if not thats ok too. Do you have any suggestions as to what line of other vehicles to look for in the junkyard?

Also can anyone suggest some good books to get so i can get more familier with the 88 tbird. Those manuels are johnny on the spot sometimes when your in uncharted waters

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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: bamaredwingsfan19 on 9/8/06 12:07pm ]</font>

Find an '87 or '88 Turbo Coupe,and they will have the disc rear with those gears,plus,Traction Lock.COOL.The only manual I have is a Haynes manual,but,I haven't used it in years.I have either swapped or upgraded nearly every part on my '88 T-Bird,so I learned the car by stripping every part one piece at a time.

Look under your car at the rear end,Check the axle tag ans see what gears it has.Some V-6 cars already have 3.55 gears.