2nd Ford!

Picked up a 1996 T-Bird yesterday, I really like these cars, I bought a new one in 97 and always missed that car. This will be my daily driver, sweet!

Well, you beat me to the post. I just got my second Ford, and it is a '97 T-bird with the 4.6l V8. Real nice car. I got it a while back, but have been too busy to post about it on this forum. Now that you posted, I guess I might as well.

I got it as a second car, as a commuter car, if you will, since my Nissan truck is jacked up to the sky, floats around like a boat, and gets bad gas mileage. I didn't want to get a stinkin' Geo Metrosexual or some other "sensible" car just because gas prices are up. So, I went halfway-- commuter car that screams when stomped on.

Be sure to check out the TCCOA.com site for technical articles and answers to questions. Lots of good information there.

These are really great buys right now. There's always a flood of 12-13 year old cars ripe for the picking and cheap. Right now, these 96-97 birds prime. Share some pics.

I'm liking mine but my daughter keeps taking it from me...lol, never would have dreamed a girl that just turned 18 last week would want to drive dads red Bird...I love my kid!

Originally Posted by Mikelonis

These are really great buys right now. There's always a flood of 12-13 year old cars ripe for the picking and cheap. Right now, these 96-97 birds prime. Share some pics.

Ask and ye shall receive:



You ain't kidding about these being deals right now, Mike. They are anywhere from $1500 to $4000 depending on condition, miles, and options.

Doing my research, I found that people who owned those MN-12 birds LOVED them, and gave them outstanding reliability ratings. Now, that's true for the V8, but the V6 blows head gaskets. However, aftermarket head gaskets "fix the problem" that the earlier design had.

And, those 4.6L V8's in the 94-97 have an all "composite" intake which can break. I found that the first thing to do if you get one of those birds is to change out the intake for the one with the aluminum coolant crossover.

Great thing is that this 4.6L engine is in the current Mustangs as well as other models, so there are parts galore in the aftermarket. One of the things I am considering doing is the PI head swap. In '99 Ford changed the head design of the 4.6L for better flow (PI meaning "performance improved"). If you put the newer heads on the older engines, your compression ratio goes to a little over 10:1 and you get better flow.

Got to tell you, though, I really love driving this car. Comfortable, quick, strong and handles like a car should. What a steal!!!