As the head administrator of the online Ford Tempo / Mercury Topaz car club (www.tempotopaz.com, now offline), I had strived to create a website that had the most complete documentation regarding these two cars. With all I had learned, I knew exactly what can be considered “Peak Tempo/Peak Topaz”. The 1992 Tempo GLS, Topaz XR5 or Topaz LTS. I just had to have one.
When the Tempo & Topaz were introduced in 1984, there wasn’t much available as far as sporty options. The closest thing to sporty was the optional suspension, which included the funky metric TRX rims and Michelin TRX tires (Wiki Link). In 1985, Ford introduced a new Sport package for the Tempo GL and Topaz GS, both 2- and 4-doors. The package included a higher output H.O. 2.3L engine, shorter final drive, stiffer suspension, 14” 7-spoke alloy rims, blacked out trim, and sportier interior appointments. In 1988, the Tempo/Topaz received a mid-cycle facelift and the sport package became it’s own trim level. The Tempo GLS was available as both a 2- and 4-door. The Topaz had a different trim name depending on the body style. The 2-door was called the XR5 and the 4-door was called the LTS.
1992 brought another minor refresh to Ford’s compact cars, and a big change to the GLS/XR5/LTS trims. Taking a play from the muscle car playbook, Ford wedged in a bigger engine from a larger car. The H.O. 4-cylinder was dropped, replaced with the 3.0L Vulcan V6 from the Ford Taurus. In the Tempo/Topaz, it made 130 HP (an increase of 30 HP over the H.O. 2.3L). A higher capacity 5-speed manual from the Taurus SHO was standard, with an optional 3-speed automatic. The suspension was stiffened even more and the 15” rims from the previous generation Escort GT were used. The exterior was augmented with a new front bumper featuring integrated fog lights, deeper side sills, and deeper rear bumper with a dual outlet exhaust tip. The 4-door Tempo GLS also featured a unique blacked out D-pillar. The sports interior was carried over, with the addition of a 120 MPH speedometer. Unfortunately, this last shot of adrenaline into the aging Tempo/Topaz didn’t light the sales charts on fire. In 1993, the GLS/XR5/LTS were cancelled making these a low production one year wonder.
I periodically searched Autotrader.com to find if any were for sale and where they were located. I didn’t care which variation, as long as it had a manual transmission. Many times I came up empty. Occasionally I would find one in the midwest or on the east coast, but I was only willing to trek about 1000 miles to get one.
[This is her sitting on the dealer’s lot, missing the GLS rear bumper.]
Then one day, there it was. 12 miles away at a used car lot here in San Diego. I could barely contain my excitement. I was hooked from the test drive and even though it wasn’t perfect, I had to have it. Just like a lot of cars from that era, the clear coat was flaking off on the trunk, roof and fenders. The rear bumper wasn’t the GLS rear bumper, but the one from the lesser trims. The reverse lights didn’t work. Some of the interior trim was loose or missing. I used that to negotiate a little bit off the asking price. After money exchanged hands, I now owned a car I had been searching 2 years for.
After driving the Topaz off and on for 8 years, the Tempo was (obviously) very familiar to me. That was, except for the power. The extra horsepower and torque from the V6 engine transformed the character of the car. Rowing the gears through the 5-speed manual transmission made the car a lot more fun to drive compared to the automatic in the Topaz. I surprised many cars pulling away from stoplights or when downshifting to pass on the freeway. The exhaust system had a much deeper growl than I was used to. I loved hearing the V6 growl, it almost sounded as good as the throaty GM V6 exhaust. I knew it wasn’t as powerful as newer V6-powered sedans, but I didn’t care. It compared very well to contemporary V6 powered compacts of the day. Fun torquey V6 and 5-speed manual trans in an unassuming package, I looked at it like a mini-SHO.
[Local Dyno Day. First Tempo the shop had ever dyno’d. 100HP to the wheels!]
I started to address the flaws in the car. The reverse lights ended up being a very easy fix. After removing the air filter housing, my suspicions were confirmed with a plug just resting on the transmission. When the clutch was replaced previously, the reverse switch on top of the trans wasn’t connected. Imagine my surprise when after only a few months, I managed to locate in a local junkyard a wrecked GLS in Bimini Blue with the correct rear bumper.
[Now with the correct GLS bumper on it. Blacked out D-pillar also visible here.]
I also started making a few modifications to the car. My goal with this car was to upgrade with factory looking modifications. I replaced the AM/FM Cassette with a factory Ford AM/FM CD player. I replaced the rubber shift boot with a leather shift knob and boot from a Taurus SHO. I swapped the 15” GLS rims for the 15” Cougar rims off of my Topaz. The GLS 4-door never came with a factory rear spoiler. On eBay I located the spoiler from a GLS 2-door and installed it on the trunk. Even though the car looked stock, it was still uniquely my own and just enough different for me to be satisfied with it.
[The 3.0L Vulcan V-6. Also visible is the prototype strut tower bar from a forum member.]
The next summer, the Tempo stranded me. I was on my first big road trip with the Tempo, heading to Albuquerque for a friend’s wedding. After a stop in Flagstaff, AZ for gas, the alternator light came on. I trip to the local AutoZone confirmed that the alternator was toast. You would think that since the 3.0L Vulcan was a popular engine in the Taurus, parts would be readily available. Not in this case. In order to get the Vulcan V6 into the tight Tempo engine compartment, the entire front accessory drive had to be redesigned. None of the parts stores in Flagstaff had this unique part available. It would be 3 days to get one in Flagstaff. My partner James was able to locate one in San Diego. When he arrived, we quickly went to work replacing it in the hotel parking lot. Pulling the alternator out of the box, it was clear that it was not a new part. It had greasy fingerprints all over it. Installing it confirmed, it also wasn’t working. James had been sold a core return! So the next day, we rented a tow dolly and towed the Tempo all the way back to San Diego. The manager of the store sure did get an earful the next day.
Several months later, I noticed a small puddle of coolant underneath the car. I traced the leak and found the water pump was leaking. The water pump was located on the back of the engine, next to the firewall. Replacing the water pump required removing the entire intake manifold and rear head to get to it. Man was that a pain in the ass. While the intake was off, I replaced all the spark plugs and the head gaskets as well. I wasn’t about to pull the intake off again in the near future. Other than that, I never had any other issues with the car in 4 years of ownership.
Next came time to deal with the peeling clear coat. Just as I had done with my Topaz (COAL), I did all the bodywork on my own. Lots of sanding to smooth out the clear coat. I also filled in some of the smaller nicks, scratches and a few small dents. After performing all the prep work, I took some time off work and drove back to Albuquerque for a visit with my parents. My dad and I did it again. We sprayed on several coats of Bimini Blue metallic, followed by 3 coats of clear. Once I came back to San Diego, more elbow grease polishing out the orange peel from the top clear coat for a mirror like shine.
[Looking sharp with the 16″ Mustang Pony rims on it.]
Once the repaint was complete, I turned my attention to the suspension. I replaced all 4 struts, which really tightened up the handling. Just like with my Topaz, finding custom wheels in that odd 4x108mm bolt pattern was a pain in the ass. However, a lot of Ford cars did have that bolt pattern. I decided on a set of 16×7” Mustang Pony rims from the early 90’s Fox body Mustang. It wasn’t a perfect fit however. Since these rims were from a RWD car with a different offset, they stuck out just enough that at full compression (say, when going over a speedbump) would cause the outside edge of the tires to rub the lip of the fender. A little rolling of the fender lip cured this problem. Also, a full steering lock the inside of the tire would rub on the inner fender liner. I adjusted my driving style to counter that, no more full lock turns.
[l-r: my 1993 Topaz GS — my 1992 Tempo GLS — roommate’s 1992 Topaz LTS]
After being at my job for a little more than 5 years, and a few promotions I was starting to make some decent money. While I enjoyed my two cars and loved all the work that I put into them, I was getting the urge to indulge in an automotive desires that I had since I was a young boy. Living in southern California, it was the perfect place to own a convertible. After a lengthy search, and selling off a couple of other cars, I found my convertible. The Tempo was relegated to occasional driving duty. It wasn’t too long until I listed it for sale. A young college kid purchased it. I’m not sure he knew what he bought (probably only a dozen or so folks would have), he was just looking for reliable transportation with a manual trans. I hope it served him well.
The small fwd compact with a 5 speed and a V6 was something all the domestics did. The Plymouth Duster with the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6. The Cavalier with it’s 3.1 V6. And your Tempo. All available in 1992. Also that year was the only Japanese to try it, The Mazda MX3 with the tiny 1.8 V6. Sounds like a great C/D comparison test. They didn’t do one of course. Putting a big engine in a small, big volume domestic only rates a short take as C/D calls them. The MX3 V6 got the full road test, and a long term test. Bias?, probably mine for noticing.
Thanks for your part in chronicling the legacy of the Tempo/Topaz.
The small fwd compact with a 5 speed and a V6 was something all the domestics did.
I do love a good old-fashioned parts bin special. Take an engine and transmission you already have and figure out how to make it work for mass production. Sometimes it works really well (Tempo GLS) other times it turns into an experiment where the transmission is considered a “wear item” like tires (Impala SS V8).
It would have made for a great comparison test. The Short Take was probably because the Tempo was so old (at the time) and the MX-3 was virtually brand new at the time, thus the full review.
My first year of college (1995) I had a “Creative Writing” professor who had a V6 Tempo (standard ordinary model). What I remember is that he would usually be pulling into the parking lot at the same time I was walking to breakfast. He was so aggressive the tires would be howling as he circled the parking lot looking for a spot.
Well. I find it so ironic that in your initial search for the ultimate Tempo, you found some on the East Coast. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at, or been told about, some interesting vintage car (usually something much older than a ’90s Tempo, like the ’68 Ford Cortina GT I used to own) and the only decent ones are on the West Coast. Here on the East Coast, just about all of those rusted away decades ago!
Currently, Thanks to the local Pick-N-Pull salvage yard, I’ve been doing a fun, low-budget ‘sporterizing’ on my former daily-driver – a ’98 Nissan Altima – trying to make it more interesting than the mundane commuter car it used to be. First, I installed a factory front strut-tower cross-bar. I didn’t really notice much difference in the handling, but it looks cool under the hood. Then I replaced the terminally sunburned original plastic headlights with updated, better looking clear units for a ’00-’01 version. Later, on half-price weekend at Pick-N-Pull, I got a trunk-lid in the exact color with the OE type spoiler, for less than just the spoiler would cost at most places. So no holes to drill – just swap the lock-cylinder & bolt the whole unit on. Doesn’t really make the car handle any better for how I drive. But it cures this car’s droopy-trunk styling, with one huge practical improvement – I can now see the rear of the trunk in the back window when I’m backing up!
Finally, I found a set of factory Nissan six-spoke alloy rims to replace my ugly painted plastic hubcaps.
I’m won’t be doing anything with the twin-cam four or the automatic tranny This IS a low-budget project.
But somewhere, I DO have one of those monster, stainless tailpipes I found lying at the side of the road. Some teenage kid probably had a fit after it fell off his Civic.
When I find it, it’s going on my Nissan – just for laughs!
I really love the sound and smooth power of most six-cylinder engines. But these days, the V6 in too many cars is designed to be way too hard for routine maintenance. Pulling the intake manifold to change sparkplugs is bad enough. Having to pull the heads to do a water-pump is absurd. Ford’s newest OHC V6s drive the waterpump off the timing-chain and require dissassembling the whole timing-cover/chain/guide system. Try doing that when the engine’s wedged sideways in a FWD car like the current Taurus. And if the pump fails, at the very least, coolant will leak in the oil. At worst, it could take out the timing-chain. So I try to avoid V6s nowadays.
While it’s hardly sporty, I do enjoy the peppy twin-cam four and 5-speed stick in my ’96 Toyota pickup. I often sneak a peek in parked cars I walk by, just to see if they’re a stick-shift. You can’t even order a manual tranny in most cars these days.
Happy Motoring, Mark
It’s not just V6s. The 5.4 V8 in my F-150 is terribly engineered and hard to work on. The new trucks have direct-injected twin turbo V6s. What’s my confidence that that they will be a good engine past 100K? Just about zero.
It would be refreshing to see a modern car designed for easy maintenance.
I’ll let you know when I crest 100K with my ecoboost. I’m with you on the 5.4. Mine had the cam phaser knock and the cracked manifold that was endemic to those motors. It’s kind of hard to really fault it though, as both problems showed up north of 150K miles. The turbo v6 takes up a lot less real estate under the hood, so that’s good. We’ll see.
Cam phasers, timing chain tensioners, busted spark plugs, hell they couldn’t even mount an aluminum fuel pump module to the steel frame correctly which caused that to corrode. And oh yeah don’t get the engine wet or you’ll probably take out some COPs. And that’s just the engine-related stuff, and all under 100K.
I don’t know; it’s not just V engines. I have to split the intake manifold to change spark plugs on my PT Cruiser. Don’t even ask about what’s involved in doing a timing belt.
Nice Tempo. I don’t recall ever seeing one in that configuration.
You must have a non-turbo version of your PT. I had a 03 GT and I was able to get to my sparkplugs by using some mixed extensions and a U joint for my 1/4 drive ratchet to snake thru the intake runners. Worked great!
Mark D: that sounds like the notorious Chrysler 2.7 and the GM Quad4. Why is it that bad ideas like timing chain driven water pumps never go away ???
Thats how everyone does it, I need to change the timing belt on my Citroen so the water pump will be renewed at the same time, its just two wear items in the same job no big deal.
I’m just thinking of the potential for water getting into the oil. I think it’s the same on the 2.2 in my ION as well.
Space savings?
Back when I was shopping, it was a ~10 yr old car. Still before it would have rusted away. I would venture to guess that any of them still on the road are located on the west coast or in the southwest (with a severely baked paint job).
The way you are working on your Altima sounds exactly how I approached the Tempo and the Topaz. I still love the thought of a “junkyard special” (and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible). I have so many of them planned in my head.
I still have my ’92 GLS 2dr, 5spd in my driveway. I was starting to put together a list of parts of the tempotopaz forum when the site shut down. I’m now in the process of trying to find a donor to correctly repair my passenger side rear floor. Once mine is in the road again, it will be my summer car. It’s fun to drive a unique vehicle, plenty wonder what it is and everyone knows it’s you.
More power to ya man! I wish I had my Tempo LX V-6 back, or a GLS/XR5. I had a 1991 GLS coupe 5spd that was fun, but my V-6 Tempo was an automatic.
I would love another Tempo, especially a V-6 and/or an early manual.
My first car was an ’86 GL sport 2 dr w/5spd. It was my dad’s car that he gave to me when he bought the ’92 I own now.
Emmit066
I collect these cars too. Where are you located? I’m in the midwest, Omaha, NE. You can reach me by email at ; martye3320@yahoo.com. I wish the Tempo/Topaz web site was still up. I saved an 92 2dr XR5 from the crusher.
I also have a 98 Altima. Mine is the SE model so it came with the spoiler and aluminum wheels. So far it has been very reliable with the usual maintenance required of a car with 250 000 kms. I have had to replace an axle, control arm, alternator, water pump and tune up. I like the way parts are cheap and available. What sold me on it was that it had a manual 5 speed transmission which is hard to find these days on a mid sized sedan. The price of $1700 Canadian didn’t hurt either. About my only complaint is that the fuel consumption is a little on the high side compared to other 4 cylinder cars I have owned. It does have some good passing power to compensate though.
I have some minor rust repair on one rocker panel, new tires and a cracked window to deal with as time and finances allow.
That was fun to read. I like reading about projects just to see if I could do this myself. This was your second whole car paint job. Was it more efficient than the first one? Was it more fun? Which one turned out better?
This one was more effecient, because I knew what to expect. However, the first one turned out better. There was a mishap in adding the flex agent to the paint for the bumpers, that I didnt realize until I got back to San Diego and the paint hadnt fully dried and there was a lot of dirt embedded into thr paint. Notice the bumpers are a couple of shades darker…thats why.
Cars like this really fall into a sweet spot for me. Small enough to be maneuverable; powerful enough to be fun to drive; affordable and reasonably practical. A six makes for nice smooth power(compared to most buzzy fours), and the extra displacement makes good torque so driving is nice and relaxed. Although a Hellcat is probably a blast for Saturday evenings at the strip, daily driving has got to be a hassle. Give me one of these, please in a nice, dark, gunmetal gray….
Brian, you have a cool Dad. I hope he got to take your shiny car for a spin or two with you before you headed back home.
Yeah, he’s pretty damn cool. 😎
That’s sharp, you did a great job on it. Did it get repainted in the same color it was originally? The text indicates yes but the shade looks different to me. While the original color is nice, the new color seems more sophisticated somehow and really reminds me of the Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth that was often pictured in a bluish-gray very similar to your end result.
When ordering the paint, the shop mixed it based upon the color code I gave them. The color came out a couple of shades lighter, but not drastic. If i had just been repainting a panel or two this would have been a big problem.
Yeah I’ll bet! In the end the color suits the car better, I like the result.
I would have been furious about the alternator too!
A while back I was talking to a mechanic at the garage I use, which sees many VAG products. He was working on a Jetta VR6, which had its heads off. Most engines have the timing chain or belt at the opposite end from the flywheel, you take off a cover, and the gears and chain/belt are right there. In the VR6, the chain is at the flywheel end of the engine. The guy was using a tool to fish for the chain as he was talking to me, and he said, “Whoever designed this engine hated mechanics.”
Having owned 1970’s through 1990’s Volkswagen products I can relate to that poor mechanic. The early ones were pretty easy to work on with basic tools the later ones were usually a pain in the backside. Most of the time requireing vw special tool number xxx.
Word for the wise always open the box at the store before you plunk down your cash. It is not the first time I’ve heard of someone getting home and opening their parts box to find a core or used part. Most stores have a sticker that is supposed to go on the box as soon as it comes in but it wouldn’t surprise me if in some of the cases the item was returned as “new” and someone worked the system for a free part.
Yeah I’ve fallen victim to the core in the box trick when ordering a pair of brake calipers for my ’83 Toyota Pickup. I even checked one (!) of the boxes at the store to make sure it was the right part as I had already got the wrong calipers twice.
I agree too that the caliper was probably returned as new without the clerk checking, it was covered in filth.
After reading about the Tempo/Topaz COAL, I started looking at Craigslist and a few other places to see if I could find a similar car….and I did. I found a 92 Topaz with a V6 and (unfortunately?) an automatic transmission for about $1,000. I was tempted to go look at it monday, until I saw/read how difficult this engine is to work on.
Still, after seeing what you did with your cars, it will be very hard to forget what might be a sweet daily driver.
I had a 1992 LX V-6 for about 10 years. Yes, there is a lot more room to work with in the Taurus I drive now with this engine, but the Tempo wasn’t too bad. It was easier than my 3.1L Achieva or my 2.8L Cavalier. I took the upper intake off to do the plugs, but it wasn’t hard. Much easier than working on a Ford Windstar, that’s for sure! Took me 1.5 hours to replace the drive belt on my 1997 Windstar 3.0L. The bulky 3.8L was even worse, and of course required work much more often.
Hi Brian! You and I were friends years ago on TT.com and on messenger way back. Glad you’re alive and well. Great article.
This is the 1995 Ford Taurus I drive today. I’ve done a black interior swap, you can see the 04-07 alloys, and it was factory buckets-and-console car (floor shift) with the rare (in a 1995 that wasn’t a 3.2L SHO) AX4N transaxle. Rolled over 227K the other day, its been a great car and continues as a reliable daily driver.
Brian, you are a to the bone car fiend.It’s a sickness and I hope you’re never cured.
What a great article and encouraging tale.
And you fixed the worst part of that gen Tempo’s design by blacking out that awkward D pillar. Yours looks fantastic and the whole thing looks complete.
[Of course, bla bla bla from me since I drive an ION: the textbook example of awkward lines and weird angles].
Nice to see a properly sized console and all that room in front.
What a great job on the paint and all the details. These were always well trimmed, roomy and had better dashboards than the Cavalier and Sundance/Shadow.
The blacked-out D-pillar was actually from the factory on the GLS only. i do agree that it made for a better looking roofline.
I still am a bone yard fiend, just not as much as I used to be. I have many bike yard specials planned out in my head. Haha
Keep it going, Brian. I would love to have your skills.
I feel your pain on the supposedly “new” alternator. I had one crap out on my 84 Subaru wagon just before a big road trip. Being young and dumb I took it into the dealer and had it replaced. About 500 kms into the road trip the car dies. Call the tow truck and we decide the alternator isn’t working. He was nice enough to drive me to a junk yard and pull out and install a used one. When I got back into town I was sorely tempted to toss that thing through the showroom window. Instead I got my $450 back.
Nicest Tempo ever!!
Thanks Paul!! Coming from you that means a lot.
I owned a 6/5 for 12 years. The combination is addicting. It’s similar to buying a Fairmont, albeit with a 1969 302 V8 and a 4spd close-ratio tranny. Old tech, but a bear to part with. I had so much fun with so many cars with that Tempo…
It’s why, after 19 years of owning my Taurus wagon, I’m finally thinking of pulling the Vulcan for a contemporary SHO engine and 5spd transmission – fully aware of the scarcity of parts, but just to say I did it. There are SHO wagons out there, created by people just as frustrated as I that Ford didn’t buld these in the first place. I wonder if there still is a decent SHO drivetrain car in south Florida that I could buy for my old-geezer project!
My favorite – and my wife’s favorite – cartoon is Pickles. Imagine Opal letting Earl mod their Studebaker to an R4. That is what I am up against. Wish me luck! 😀
As a lover of 80s/90s Fords, and a lover of wagons… the SHO wagon is high on the list of cars I wanted to own/create. Many times I contemplated selling off my cars and getting a Taurus Wagon to make that switch. I’ve seen several of them on the internet, and the lure is strong. But i scratched a different itch after the Tempo.
If I ever win the lottery, I would have a big collection of station wagons… an SHO wagon being one of them.
Nice Tempo! I don’t normally say that much because of my experiences with my 91 Topaz, but yours was well done. If mine hadn’t been such a pile(mechanically), I would have liked it a lot more. I liked the size and the maneuverability of the car. With the 2.3 HSC, there was more noise than power, but I had the same issue with my Cavalier with the OHV 2.2.
I have driven a Vulcan Tempo or two, but not the GLS versions. The additional power of the Vulcan really made me want to like the car, but other issues remained. One, those damned seatbelts and the other was I didn’t fit in those cars well. I’m 6 foot tall and at the time I had the Topaz I weighed about 50 lbs more, so there wasn’t a lot of room for me in there.
Great story, and although I was never a Tempo fan, your car looked great!
+1. What’s great about this particular car is that, even though it’s a rarity, it could never be considered valuable. So, for a nice, everyday beater that’s unique in it’s own way, it’s okay.
Or, put another way, it’d be a lot more fun that a boring appliance Corolla of similar condition and vintage.
Agreed. The rarity is only special to a very small sliver of the population. Almost all of these are probably now put out to pasture.
in 1992 I looked at an 84 Pontiac 6000ste that was for sale. I really liked the funky dash, custom exhaust note and how well it handled. the guy was selling it cause he had bought a tempo gls just like yours. at the time I thought the guy was nuts but after owning a nicely done 4 banger tempo in later years and reading your article I now start to get it!
You have finally presented me with a Tempo that I would like! Very nice. After a brief period where they were around, the V6/stick combo has all but disappeared.
I am glad to see that there are folks that like the tempo/Topaz, I have always liked them and respected them for what they were (basic point A to point B transportation), (of course I also like the Festiva and the Aspire too) In the area where I work there is a red 88-91(chrome grill) Tempo sedan. It has the original paint and it is very shiny. The car looks to be well taken care of and garaged. It is also owned by the original owner as it has the Maryland crest tags without the http://www.maryland.gov crap on the bottom so it looks like those tags were on the car since new.
As spirited as the V6 was in the Tempo, I wonder how it would have handled with the Mazda sourced 2.0l that was in the 93-97 Ford Probe? That engine is not the fastest engine out there but it feels a lot more powerful then it is. I have the 2.0l and the 5 speed in my 1994 Probe and that car just begs you to drive it around corners.
“When he arrived, we quickly went to work replacing it in the hotel parking lot. ”
Boy I know that feeling. Back in 2001 my father had dropped off my younger brother at a friends house in VA. On the way back the battery light came on in his 1996 Buick Century. The alternator had crapped out and took the battery with it. he limped it to a hotel and the next day I came down with a new alt and battery. However unlike your Tempo, the alt on the 3100 V6 Century was on the top and it took 10 minutes to replace. Still I know of your pain
With my 2.3L Topaz, I contemplated many an engine swap for more power. One that I eyeballed was the 2.2L Turbo out of the Ford Probe GT. Unfortunately living in CA, that was a no go. My car, being a 1993, had to have an engine that was 1993 or newer in it. So that put the first gen Probe GT out as a possible donor.
I did test drive a second gen Probe GT with the 2.5 V6 and 5-speed manual. That was definitely a fun car.
I’m also a tad curious how the Miata 2.8 from the Escort GT would’ve handled too, especially after some tuning.
*1.8
It’s amazing how the presence of an enthusiast that has done cool projects on a car can completely turn your way of thinking about a car. Sweetest Tempo I’ve ever seen!
Blacking out the kinked D-pillar does enforce the Taurus similarity more than normally.
I really liked my ’89 GLS. I wish I would have kept it. I was super excited when I took delivery and the wheels were already white!
do you know where can I get the blueprint of EGR valve hose hook ups fro 3L V6 Tempo?
do you know where can I get the blueprint of EGR valve hose hook ups for 3L V6 Tempo?
Have a 92 Topaz less than 70,000 mi. runs fine, new tires that will soon be for sale. Please contact if interested
People have transplanted the SHO V6 into the Tempo or Topaz. I’m sure the extra 90 hp makes it a screamer.
Nice ride, very well done. I worked at a Ford dealer in parts and service when these cars were new….did you know that it’s a Vulcan V6, however the block is a different part number from the Taurus!!!! Different bosses and casting! We had to find a short block for warranty work, and no the Taurus block won’t work/fit!
Hi, did you have some others hint about this set-up , i own a topaz v6 5spd 2door. I really appreciate this kind of story , so the engine block and transmission casting are tempo only? . Thanks Ron .
Hey could you tell me how did you get the fog light to work with the parking light only? I have a couple of GLS and am trying to do that to them but it’s impossible to find anything about them on the internet… Thanks!
In search for a transmission for my 93 tempo 2 dr
First, to the editor ,thanks for the tempotopaz site. I was the 100th member “Fordrace” Back in those days . so now i always own a topaz i bought it in 2014 it is a 2door v6 5spd. Second , I search for front bumper with fog lamp and the 3 pieces spoiler. Picture are welcome to homemade it.
I forgot, if any body can take picture of the floor pan (under the car), it is now missing on my car, in process to figuring out how to-remade it( i live in Québec city so it is a miracle it made it to 25 years )
Please reply to this if possible. Being so involved in the tempo world I have some questions for you. I owned a 1992 GLS Mtx 2 door back in 2003 but traded it in on a 2001 Blazer after my step dad damaged it badly in the driveway… Well I’ve stumbled across another 92 GLS 2 door manual, and there are very little resources for it.
Great write up btw.