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June 30, 2008 9:47 p.m. ArthurDent New Reader

Ok so I know Tempos aren't hot stuff and there isn't much in the way of go fast parts for them. Likely for good reason but I am now the (proud?) owner of a Ford Tempo coupe - of 1988 vintage. Its a 5spd manual and cost me all of $50. Had been sitting for a year but popping in a battery from my Seven it fired right up - did manage to light some weeds on fire behind it. All new brakes but high miles (363k kms) and some dog hair inside. Not sure what the heck I'll do with it - maybe flip it for a small profit or just drive it as a beater. Its actually somewhat fun to drive with the 5spd - more so than I remember.

Besides grabbing a rear sway bar from a V6 Tempo is there any low budget/junkyard upgrades? Probably more so in the handling department as the motor is high miles (but oddly runs really strong) so I don't want to upset whatever fragile balance makes it run well.

Enjoy some pictures of this beauty.

check out these repair notes. The car came with all the records surprisingly but the engine bay is filled with these notes saying what was done and when.
June 30, 2008 10:19 p.m. Volksroddin New Reader

Check the frame rails they have been know to crack. If they have cracks in them then check the inner aprins. If the aprins is crack, slowy light the car on fire and blame it on the inner-city kids. Mine was ran off the raod by some granny driving a caddy.
June 30, 2008 10:36 p.m. Wall-e SuperDork

Jackie Stewart liked them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54RNncn2qk8&NR=1

You could build a big loop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMTACdUc30g&feature=related
July 1, 2008 12:07 a.m. MrJoshua Dork

Wall-e wrote:

You could build a big loop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMTACdUc30g&feature=related

"The 1984 Tempo has the worlds most advanced engine computer, It continually monitors 7 engine functions for maximum fuel economy."

Of course when I think advanced, I always think Tempo
July 1, 2008 12:33 a.m. JeepinMatt None

Haha that reminds me of our old Tempo. My parents had a silver 88 sedan. I must have been four years old when I pulled the handle to get out and it ripped off in my hands My grandmother had a black 87 sedan that she held onto for 9 years. I remember something vague about a recall involving engine fires. Still, cool on picking up something not so common (as a performance vehicle) and fixing it up.
July 1, 2008 6:00 a.m. problemaddict New Reader

oh yes....

This guy showed this car at our local annual car show for years. "Lansdale Under the Lights" show.

I always thought it was pretty cool but didn't ever check it out in detail. Until one year he had the hood up...

I got curious and checked it out. Looking down past the motor i saw what I swear was a driveshaft!

Yep... Its still FWD!!! Full back-half pro street subframe, but with a NON functional ford 9" rear!! Must get all sorts of traction w/ those skinnies up front! hehehehehe, apparently the guy had the balls to take it to the drag strip and pull off some blistering 17sec passes! And i thought i was weird... Also amazing is the number of trophies this car has collected. Including a handful of "Best Engineered"!!!

Check out alot of pix here:

http://firsttraderegistry.com/forsale/80up/d-g/86tempo/
July 1, 2008 7:05 a.m. John Brown UltimaDork

I loved my Tempons and my Maxipaz.

I had a 1986 and 1993 Tempo and a 1994 Topaz. All three were dead reliable. There were not a lot of off the shelf mods available but you could get by. Modified KYB GAJ struts and coil over sleeves/springs allowed for suspension tuning (pre eBay but I used a ricer CiViC kit). The front suspension is a lot like the 1st gen Escort/XR4Ti affair. It sucks. Replace the bushings with Delrin and add an adjustable sleeve to modify caster. Modifications for camber plates would be helpful as well.

I used Centerline 16" wheels on mine but I recently looked at a Tempo running early SVT Contour wheels. Focus wheels work as well.

With custom brackets the brakes for any of those as well as TBird TC rear rotors can be used. They are terrible for warping rotors in stock form.

Engine performance is not stellar compared to llater cars but the tractor engine under the hood is pretty reliable. A 3.0L V6 was available that has the same bolt pattern as the SHO engine... If you are feeling frisky.
July 1, 2008 8:21 a.m. hotg54b None
July 1, 2008 8:34 a.m. Wall-e SuperDork

WOW. What a waste of a 9 inch. I would have gladly traded him my ten bolt. Atleast he has dual exhausts
July 1, 2008 8:56 a.m. jrw1621 New Reader

The yellow is the true definition of, "All Show and No Go" Seems like a lot of work for little result
July 1, 2008 11:01 a.m. seann New Reader

hotg54b wrote:

I'm afraid if I spend any more time trying to understand this builder's motivation, my head will explode. On the other hand, does it really make less since than all those street rods with big motors and blowers that just get trailered around? Some existential questions are better left unexplored, especially when it comes to show cars.
July 1, 2008 11:04 a.m. seann New Reader

Oh and getting back on topic, the obvious answer here is rally cross. That is, since miata does not apply.
July 1, 2008 2:47 p.m. Nitroracer Dork

I wonder how easy it would be to throw some turbo coupe engine parts at the car? Rally cross doesn't sound bad either.
July 1, 2008 7:33 p.m. Tyler H Dork

hotg54b wrote:

Does....not....compute. :(
July 1, 2008 7:38 p.m. TOZOVR New Reader

Funny, I saw the thread title and thought, "ha, Hopeless case? BAh! I have a Taurus and it's doing ok..." But now that I see it;s the dreaded 5 speed tempo, I'm not so sure LOL

As john brown said the SHO's run the MTX V...ato be honest it is the bane of every SHO owner LOL.

That said, if you want an SHO motor, I have one with just 38,000 miles on ity sitting on a stand in the garage LOL....
July 1, 2008 8:34 p.m. RoadWarrior New Reader

A guy in Canada built a SHOpaz a few years ago, took a lotta work iirc. ....and yes..the MTX-IV is teh lose, shame noone figured out a way to put a non horrible 5 speed gearbox in a SHO
July 2, 2008 8:53 a.m. Duke Dork

problemaddict wrote: oh yes.... Yep... Its still FWD!!! Full back-half pro street subframe, but with a NON functional ford 9" rear!! Must get all sorts of traction w/ those skinnies up front!

I don't mean to go off-topic, but there's a guy with a Celica around here that's just like that: H-U-G-E tubbed rear tires, pizza cutters up front, extreme rake, fuel cell hanging down in front of the nonfunctional pumpkin... and FWD.

The depth of human stupidity knows no bottom.
July 2, 2008 9:10 a.m. John Brown UltimaDork

Nitroracer wrote: I wonder how easy it would be to throw some turbo coupe engine parts at the car? Rally cross doesn't sound bad either.

I think the spark plugs fit... and that is about it.

Two completely different engines. I know of one Tempo that had a T3 from an XR added on a custom exhaust manifold that munched the pistons within an hour of driving. The innards of the CVH 2.3 are not meant for any types of power production.
July 2, 2008 9:37 a.m. confuZion3 HalfDork

With these two Tubbed FWD cars that we're talking about (the yellow one pictured, and the one Duke brought up), I wonder, when these guys are driving them, if they have trouble making it up hills. Don't even get me started about driving in the rain . . .

Still, I think the yellow one is kinda neat. Even as a show car, it would probably do better with an actual RWD conversion though. Judges dig functionality (sometimes).
July 2, 2008 2:17 p.m. That_Renault_Guy HalfDork

I remember laughing my arse off when I saw a huge spread on that tubbed Tempo in some Ford-specific hot rod type magazine about ten or twelve years ago.

I've tried googling for it recently but could never find anything and I was starting to doubt my own memory - I've now got that link bookmarked so I can check in on it whenever I need a laugh.

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