Been Awhile... '71 Rustang

[1969_Mach1]

If you don't already have one, get yourself a Battery Tender.  It will at least double the life of your battery.  I destroyed two batteries in about four years before getting one.  With a Battery Tender my last Optima Red Top was 12 years old when I replaced it.  My local NAPA parts store tested it and said it was fine, but after 12 years I didn't have much faith in it.


Letting a battery set for long periods slowly discharging then recharging shortens its life.  As they discharge sold sulfur builds up on the plates starting from the bottom and creeping upward, and recharging doesn't completely reverse the process.  After a while too much of the plates' surface areas are covered with the sold sulfur material and the batteries capacity is significantly reduced.

[Mister 4x4]

I actually do have one, but the current state of my garage and my not being used to having it has it living in the box still.  The only accessible power outlet is the one in the ceiling my garage door opener occupies along with a 50' reel extension cord I recently installed earlier this year.

I'll hopefully figure something out sooner than later to actually use it without having power wires hanging from the ceiling all over the place.  It's bad enough having to side-step/do-si-do to get by the Mustang - having more power cords hanging from the ceiling to avoid might make it feel more like an actual jungle with vines everywhere and stuff.

Good tip, though.  I'm also a believer in Optimas.  I bought one for my '97 Ram around 10 years ago, and it's still hangin' in there after I sold the truck to a buddy almost 5 years ago.

[Mister 4x4]

Went out to a third Cars & Coffee event starting up in San Angelo yesterday!  Apparently, people weren't happy with the change in venue for C&C and decided to strike out on their own with another event - which makes 3 C&C-like events in San Angelo now.  Wow!  I heard some griping by the high-exotic/Corvette crowd that took over the original C&C and moved it away from Golden Corral to a local bar parking lot - which was to be expected, I suppose.  Hey - not everybody wants to go to lunchtime drinking events in their expensive hot rods, I guess.

   

Here's the link to my pal Stephen Horton's Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenhor...2QrzIwDuUM

[Mister 4x4]

Went out to a local car show today, benefitting charities that help homeless veterans.  Didn't place (only 13 trophies, and over 50 cars), but I had fun hangin' with the guys.

   


Facebook's being a jerk about allowing outsiders to connect - I'll post up a link to another online gallery later.

[Steven Harris]

Thanks for sharing your fun with us in the form of a few pictures.

I really appreciate it as I can rarely appreciate the opportunity to see anything of the like.

[Mister 4x4]

Last Saturday: Took Frank to a local car show.  Didn't win anything, but had a great time.  My friend Jordan Barnett bought my pal Jim's '63 1/2 Galaxie 500 XL, got it running, and brought it out to the show.  It was good to see it finally out on the road.  He's planning on continuing the vision Jim had for the car... I can't wait to see what he comes up with.









Monday: I ordered a new horn/mounting kit for my Jeep's Grant Challenger steering wheel, along with a new Mustang hat and complete set of lug nuts (since I can't seem to find the nice ones I ordered for the Mustang awhile back - lost somewhere in the garage).  It all just showed up a few minutes ago.  Wow - Summit Racing, knocking it out of the park again!

[Mustangmike]

Hey Eric,

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  Both cars look awesome but trophy appears to be in front of he wrong car (LOL)!

Anyway, the 63 1/2 Galaxy is a cool car.  That's not a 427 badge I see? 

Mike

[Mister 4x4]

The trophy is one Jordan received at a local show in Abilene a few weeks back... neither one of us got the nod this time out.

Actually, it's a 390 emblem.  Jim had wanted a 427, and was planning on stroking it to get there, along with swapping the cam, but he bought the car with a fresh rebuild - I kept telling him to just get it running so he could at least enjoy it while he was working on making it pretty... but unfortunately, his health ran out about 2 years ago.  I miss him every day... being a 'brother from another mother,' and all.

Here's a shot of it right after he got the wheels on and had spent a few weeks hand-rubbing the paint.  He pulled off the ratty vinyl top and found that the roof was Swiss cheese - a big discouragement for him, but I pushed him along and we'd started repairs on that just before we got booted from the Auto Hobby Shop closing in April 2014.  After that, it had been sitting so long in his driveway that it lost all the shiny.  But, a serious wash and wax should bring it all back again (it's enamel, after all).  Jordan has a new vinyl top for it and is working on finishing the repairs we made before getting that installed.

   

   

   

   

[Mustangmike]

I am sure locating a 427 would be a like winning lotto but hey it is still a big block car.  The car looks good both with and without the vinyl roof and the wheel choice really makes the car pop. Looking around the engine compartment I don't see any clutch rods or Z-bar so I assume it is an automatic?

[Mister 4x4]

Yes, it's an automatic.  Jim was thinking there was something wrong with it and said it wasn't dropping into final drive, but Jordan got it running and it's been doing great.  I'm just bummed that Jim didn't really get a chance to enjoy the car before he passed.

All the shiny on the engine was a result of the cool stuff he did before the shop closed and he had to park it at home.  He did a lot of cool stuff to it while he had the chance to work on it, though.