1...2...3... Follow through

This blogging thing is hard for me. Not because I find it hard to write, ask any of my professors from college, I can be as long winded as the next guy trying to fill a twelve page paper with a paragraphs worth of information (it's a finely tuned skill)

No, rather I find it hard because I don't know what to write about. I run around in my own daily life and I think, "Well that's just life, I don't want to write about that because no one wants to read about it" because it's hard to see what's extra-ordinary about your own life.

It really is. Stop for a moment and think about your life, all the things you've done, places you've been and things you've seen. They are all apart of your life, and while some of them may stand out as special to you, or maybe more romantic or more interesting, for the most part they are just your experiences of living.

Or (because I haven't used that word to death just yet) I am just overtly skeptical of my own life being of any interest to anyone not actively involved in living it with me.

All that to say, I haven't written in a while. It's not that nothing noteworthy has happened (quite the opposite really) it's just that I haven't thought to sit down and write.

So that's what this is. Me keeping up the fact that this blog exists. And not really much else!

There and back again: A Mustang Tale (Pt 2)

Are you kidding me?

I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing on my phone in my hand. The Chase app was telling me that there were no Branches or ATMs near me. I zoomed out. None in the state. I zoomed out more. None in North Carolina, none in Tennessee, and none in Alabama.

Fail.

I was crestfallen, utterly defeated feeling. I had planned to snatch this car up this weekend. Investigated my towing options, looked at rental locations, and had been forming a plan in my mind about storage options and the first few projects that I would undertake.

That was all off the table now. And I hated it. I wanted to go home, call the trip a wash and hang my head in defeat. Thankfully my wonderful wife was not so inclined.

"We've come all this way, let's still go look."

It was a simple thing really, a rather innocent little sentence in her mind. But to me, it was support, encouragement and so many other things. She so easily could have seized the chance to end this wild chase and send us home. No, instead she pushed for the quest to continue.

And continue it did!

We made some little rest stops on the way, but finally we were in the mountains, on the road the car sat off of nearing what the GPS said was our destination.

Parked on a small bridge over a river we were thwarted by a gate blocking entrance to the property. We set out on foot leaving the truck parked over the 5 foot drop to the water below on a bridge older than I am.

*knock knock knock*

No answer. A quick look around, no cars parked near the house. The barn was far away and I didn't want to just stick my head in and rummage around. So back to the truck to think...

Wait what?!

That's the wrong house number! Quick out of the driveway back on the road! What if they had come home while we wandered around their property?!

It took some effort, but we found the place. And there, right of the road, inside the barn, was a 1970 Mustang Mach 1.

Here I am giving it a close inspection

The original 351C-4V was long gone. The 351W that now sits between the shock towers is actually the third engine to be in the car

Normal Mustang rust, the battery pan and fender were completely toast. They'd need to be replaced.

I hadn't expected the hood to be so shot. The springs were frozen and the hood has been unbolted from them.

The body lines were super crisp. No signs of body damage or the use of bondo anywhere on the car.

Drivers side trunk was missing, you could see the ground below and I was told the gas tank also had issues.

Nothing in the lower window corners. Solid!

Taillight corners were solid and the whole trunk opening looked to be in good shape.

Quarter panel extensions while a little roughed up were in good shape as well.

Those are 302 headers in the trunk. They had been part of the trade that landed the 351w now in the engine bay.

Just a little bit of bubbling along the trunk lip. Still quite salvageable.

The drivers side sported the most rust damage, but here you can see that the extension still looked good.

She's a Mach 1 alright.

The worst sin here was the paint. Someone had covered the Pastel Blue paint with a quick and dirty white job at some point before this owner landed the car.

After the new motor was dropped in back in 1986 the car sat, the swap never completed. It has been here since.

Shock tower holes for greasing the suspension, a sign this car was run and run long.

The only spot of rust on the front fenders, easy to repair and hardly worth mentioning.

I wanted the car after looking it over. I don't have pictures but the car interior was the dark blue. With the exterior paint code and interior trim, this car is one of less than 400 produced like this for 1970, not even counting the Mach 1 trim.

The wonderful people selling the car really deserve every penny of the $9000 asking price. You might think that's high for a car no longer sporting the original engine (It does retain the factor 3 speed though) but the color and trim combination make it a diamond in the rough.

I had intended to pick this car up and restore it myself, but plans have changed and I wont have a garage in which to work on it. So I can only hope that someone else finds this car and puts it back to the state it deserves to be in.

1970 Mustang Mach 1

DOOR DATA PLATE INFORMATION
Serial Number 0F05M160205
0 1970
F Built at Dearborn
05 Mustang Mach I 2-Door Sportsroof
M 351-4V Engine
160205 Serial Number of this Ford scheduled for
production at Dearborn
01/70 January, 1970
63C Mustang Mach I 2-Door Sportsroof
N Pastel Blue Paint, Ford #921-A
3B Medium Blue Clarion Knit/Corinthian Vinyl Bucket
Seats
9 3.25 Conventional Rear Axle
1 Three-Speed Manual Transmission
22 Charlotte Ordering District

Your vehicle was equipped with the following features:
- Black Hood Stripe
- E70X14 Belted White Sidewall Tires
- Power Steering
- AM Radio
- Argent Styled Steel Wheels

STATISTICS
Your vehicle was one of:
731 With this Paint Code
448 With these Paint/Trim Codes
1,299 With these Engine/Transmission Codes
1,580 Ordered from this DSO
7,916 With Argent Styled Steel Wheels
For the 1970 Mustang Mach I 2-Door Sportsroof

IMPORTANT DATES
ORDER RECEIVED: --
CAR SERIALIZED: 01/21/70
BUCKED: 01/29/70
SCHEDULED FOR BUILD: 02/02/70
ACTUALLY BUILT: 01/31/70
RELEASED: 02/02/70
SOLD: 01/26/71

Craigslist Ad: http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/4679169626.html

If you do buy this car, let me know! I'd love to feature your progress here.

There and back again: A mustang tale (Pt. 1)

Two days. Eleven and a half hours, and 645 miles of driving. All to spend an hour looking at a car stuck away in a barn for nearly 30 years.

Crazy? A bit. Fun? You know it! Worth the drive? You better believe it.

Now some guys would cringe at the idea of bringing their wife with them to go look at a potential project car. And I really feel bad for them! It was an absolute blast to have my wife and best friend along for the ride. The voice of reason when "disaster" struck and a good sounding board as I struggled with important decisions and backwoods exploration.

We set out Friday night after I got home from work. And let me tell you, driving through the Kentucky country land (Or should I just say Kentucky?) at dusk in the autumn is pretty breathtaking when you're from a place where the only example of you have of green are the fresh tumbleweeds growing on the sides of the road. We were pretty smitten with it all and road in relative quiet aside from the occasional gasp and "oh my that's pretty" as we pointed out houses and pastures that the average passerby could probably care less about. Does this single us out as major tourists? You betcha. Did we care? Not a bit!

But then the sun set, and we were cloaked into almost suffocating darkness. There were no lights for miles in places, and when I say no lights, I mean NONE. Now I'm from Southern California originally, and the only way I can get somewhere with "No lights" is to close myself up in a closet. It was amazing, for about ten minutes, and then it was really boring. We only had three hours worth of driving to do this first night since we were just making the jump down to Knoxville, TN. But the last hour and a half or so was in complete darkness. We needed coffee and we needed it badly. Enough so that we settled for McDonalds coffee during one of our bathroom stops.

It was a mistake.

Really.

Big mistake.

Now I've had bad coffee before, and at times it's my own fault. Don't even get me started on the stuff that I drink at work on most days. Now I've never had something to drink that not only didn't taste like anything approaching coffee, but was, in my opinion, what liquid plastic would taste like. It was horrid. Why they call is a "Caramel Latte" and not "Brown plastic in a cup" I don't know. But avoid if at all possible. I prefer truck stop coffee over this stuff, at least it tastes like coffee.

I pushed through it though, mostly because I desperately needed caffeine like a fish needs water. And I'm still here to write this post so it didn't kill me. Looking back on it now, it didn't feel like three hours in the moment, but it also didn't feel like 3 minutes either. 

We arrived at the hotel, and after just a touch of waiting we were all checked in. A short walk, an elevator ride, and another short walk brought us to a humble little room with the basic accouterments. We settled in for the night and did our best to get to sleep.

The universe had other plans.

Sometime around 2AM in the morning we were both jerked from sleep by the sound of wailing klaxons. Fire, tornado, rampaging squirrels?! I had no idea what was going on but jumped out of bed and made for the door. Just as my hand touched the handle, the noise stopped. A tense moment of silence passed and... Nothing. Silence, Blissful, peaceful silence. I looked back towards bed. Had I imagined it all? Was this a dream? Nope, A quick query to the wife shows she heard it as well.

Hmm. Odd. Back to bed I guess.

45 minutes later. It happened again. But the tone was faster (at least that's how I remember it) and this time I only managed to crack my eyes open before it stopped and I was out again.

The morning finally came, time to throw some clothes on and head to the lobby for that promised free hot breakfast.

One word. Salt.

I'm not sure how you make pastries salty, but I think they managed it. If you could make apple juice salty they probably would have done that too. Now I know I shouldn't complain about a free meal, but afterwards I think I would have been better off just not eating. The dead was done though, now it's back upstairs for a quick shower before looking up the first destination of the day.

Oh no... Are you kidding me?!

(... to be continued)

To such great lenghts

It's not unheard of to go to great lengths for the things that matter to us. But when that thing is  a car and the great length is a long drive, well it's time like this I'm appreciative of the woman that I've been blessed to be married to.

As you can guess, we're about to embark on a trip to go look at a car that I'm hoping to buy. But with such an extensive list of requirements on my sheet, I've had to expand well beyond the bounds of my county, well to be true my state.

We're going to crack into a new state that neither of us has ever been to, and with a drive time of a little over five hours, it's easy to see that she has to love me if we're doing all of this just for a car. Now the hope is that it'll be the one, I'll seal a deal, and the ton of this blog will take on some new aspects as I begin to describe the process of going into a restoration of a classic muscle car.

I'm being intentionally obtuse about the location of the car and what it is. Call me paranoid but I don't want to risk ANYONE getting to the car before me this Saturday. There's no room for favors here, when you're hunting for a car that was made 45 years ago it's obvious there's a limited supply and an ever growing market of buyers.

Image courtesy of newscarsreview.com

On the lighter side of things, we are going to make this a multi-day trip. We'll do half of the drive tomorrow, and spend the night at a hotel at a location of our choosing. Normally, I wouldn't bother, I'm a car guy, and the thought of driving 11 hours in one day isn't that big of a deal to me. But this isn't a solo venture anymore, and I'm lucky enough to be able to include my wife. Adding the overnight stay was her idea, though now I wish I could take credit for it. A better night sleep and a happier disposition means I'll be a better negotiator when the time comes. Not to mention that it makes the whole thing feel a bit more fun, and less of a chore.

Keep your ears tuned (eyes maybe?) for the results of the adventure. I'll also do a follow on post about what to do when you go to visit your potential project car. Should be fun...

Mechanics 101: Introductions

One of my passions is cars. If this is a surprise to you, then you don't know me in person, and haven't picked that up from the fact that they few posts I have hear thus far are essentially only about cars. But I digress.

Cars are a passion, and I love to share my passions with others. I've found with cars, that they're a bit of a dying art. My father didn't teach me, they weren't big to most of my friends, and if I didn't have a hyper mechanical mindset to seek out and immerse myself in the literature I probably would have been content to know just enough to not get ripped off when I take my car in for service. And really to me that's a travesty.

As such, it is my desire to help to educate anyone seeking to learn more about cars. Maybe you're a guy that's always loved the idea of turning a wrench but don't have anyone to help get you going, maybe your a gal looking to educate yourself to keep those guys at the local oil change house from taking advantage of you, regardless of who you are, this is for you!

The goal of Mechanics 101 is to make the subject matter easy to digest, to explain it in a way that anyone, no matter their background can understand and digest. If the posts are met with positive responses, I'll look into going into deeper detail and maybe some "higher level" classes. Of course this all assumes that I keep this blog going, and the only way that happens is if I feel like some people are taking advantage of it!

So what are we going to cover in Mechanics 101? Here's a quick breakdown:

• Automobiles: Basic Anatomy
• Engines
• Suspension
• Brakes
• Fuel: Gasoline vs Diesel
• Octane Rating: What it really means
• Why should I change my oil?
• Road Trip Prep
• How do I take care of my car?

And any other topics that I think of as I go along. There's no real schedule for when I'll hit each of these topics. In all reality there's no real order I'll go in either. I just plan to hit all of them at some time or another. If you have a topic you'd like me to write, either listed or not, just let me know and I'll do my best to cover it!

Keep your eyes open for the first post sometime in the next week. It'll be Automobiles: Basic Anatomy, and it'll familiarize you with the major components of a car and a brief history of the automobile, how it came to be, what it is, and where it's going in the future. Should be a fun one!

The Search Defined... (Pt. 2)

What's the search criteria?

This is the important stuff. For me the breakdown is as follows:

Make: Ford

Model: Mustang

Trim: Fastback

Engine: I6 or V8

Trans: MT Preferred but AT acceptable with V8 Engine

Condition: Time Sensitive
Current Budget: $7500

Now to explain, where I am currently living I don't have the capacity to take on much in the way of a project car. I'm in temporary housing while I wait to transition to a new location for work. Once there I'll have a house with a garage and I can take on a true project. In the mean time, if I'm going to buy a car now it needs to meet certain other criteria. It needs to be sealed, as in, doesn't leak isn't susceptible to weather as it would have to sit outside for three months. It needs to have an intact drivetrain, makes it a lot harder to steal than just a shell that can be easily rolled. And if at all possible, it needs to run. Which if we're honest, at this price point I'm not really going to find.

For the engine, in 1969 and 1970 for was using the same rear end and transmission in all cars with the 250 I6 as they were in the V8 cars, so this makes an I6 to V8 swap pretty affordable (It's still not cheap, but it's better than other years) which means that "cheaper" I6 cars are acceptable options. 

I'd really like to have a manual transmission, but it's hard to find non-restored manual cars. As such the automatic transmission is what you are much more likely to find. But an automatic to manual swap isn't bad in price either, as long as you're willing to do the work yourself. 

In a perfect world, I'd like to find a 1970 Fastback with a 302 and 3spd manual transmission. The odds of this are slim, so I had to have some other options so that my search didn't go on for years!

It's been a week now, and I haven't found too much out here yet. But as good possibilities come up, I'll post them and explain my thoughts on what makes them a good or bad option. Stay tuned!

Image Credit: RustingMuscleCars.Com

The Search Defined...

As I alluded to in my last post, but didn't actual define, I'm searching for a  new project car. I wanted to document the search for everyone so that I could illustrate the process that I set for earlier.

The Project Defined:

What car would be my project? It's both a complicated and simple question all at once. Those who have known me for a while know that the answer is simple. A Ford Mustang! I've been head over heals for the Mustang since I was old enough to know what a car was. 

And yet, for any trust Mustang Enthusiast out there, you know that the hardest part is picking WHICH Mustang? There are so many options out there to choose from for a car that's celebrating it's 50th year of continuous production.

Image Credit: motortrend.com

For those of you unfamiliar with the Mustang lineage breakdown I'll do a really quick and dirty summation here:

1. 1964.5-1968: Classic Mustang
2. 1969-1970: Race Mustang
3. 1971-1973: Aero Mustang
4. 1974-1978: Mustang II
5. 1979-1993: Fox Body Mustang
6. 1994-2005: SN95 Mustang
7. 2006-2014: S197 Mustang

Some would break the last two eras down even more to emphasize the different body styles present in those chassis. But for this discussion it's not important. This project needs to be a new era of mustang that I haven't already owned. To recap that list:

1. 1991 Ford Mustang LX, 4 cyl, 5 spd
2. 2012 Ford Mustang GT/CS, 8 cyl, 6 spd
3. 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1, 8 cyl, Auto

With those cars in mind, and knowing that I don't want to do a 94-05 that leaves me with only the classic Mustangs, and what many would argue "aren't true Mustangs" the Mustang IIs.

Now I have a bit of a penchant for going for the odd and unique. I'm not sure why, but I get a thrill out of doing something a bit outside of the norm and expected. As such, there's a certain draw to the Mustang II. Here's a little car that it certain instances doesn't have bad styling...

Image Credit: corporate.Ford.com

And in other instances look like a Ford Pinto and a Ford Crown Victoria had some kind of odd love child...

Image Credit: MustangII.net

But, and this is where research is important, there is a major downside to being unique. And in the car world that is typically cost. While a Mustang II itself actually sells fairly cheaply, the lack of community love for the car has caused a lack of aftermarket support. Parts are expensive, and sometimes nearly impossible to find. Body panels aren't really reproduced, so you need to find a rust free example, and the small size of the car means engine options are limited. You wont really get much bigger than a 302 into one of these mini-Mustangs. I decided that while one of these cars would be awesome to own at some point in the future, they don't really fit the desired mold of what I want to go with right now.

Back to the roots!

This means the only options left are the original Mustangs and the Race Mustangs (to be fair, the race Mustangs is a bit of a self-assigned designation. I single those years out because the Mustang was used as a platform for Ford to homogenize its' racing engines for use). And in this bracket of years, for me, there is, has, and always shall be a clear winner as to which I want most. The 1970 Mustang!

Image Credit: Paintref.com

In all honesty, I knew it had to be this car. It's ALWAYS had to be this car. For the last ten years I've been lusting after this particular Muscle Car like a fourth grader lusts after cake. And this time I'm determined to not allow my impatience to steal me away from my cake.

You see the 1973 that I just sold, I bought it because I was tired of saving money and not having a project car, so I jumped in on a car I didn't know all that much about in terms of the restoration process or part availability. It met the basic criteria of Mustang + Fastback + Rust-Free (or so I thought, but that's another story) so I bought it, and I shouldn't have. Now mind you, it was (and is!) a cool car, very classic, very Mustang, and very not for me. The lines just didn't do it for me, the interior just didn't give me the same fire, and the sight of it sitting in my garage didn't give me the satisfaction that a 1970 would. Which is exactly why I sold it, I wasn't going to drop a ton of money into a car that in my head would never be what I really wanted, but rather just what I had.

Stay tuned for the search criteria...

The Search is ON!

So a few weeks ago I managed to sell my project car. It was a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1, Numbers Matching, and relatively rust free. It was a good project car, and I learned a lot about project cars from it. Enough so that I felt like I was ready to unload so that I could apply what I had learned to a new project car. I didn't feel like there was a good resource online to help explain how to buy a "good" project car, so I thought that I would set forth a list of qualities!

How do you make sure that you get a good project car?

1. Clearly define what you want before you start looking. This will be imperative to help direct your search and keep you from making a snap decision.
2. Research the car you've decided to work on. You should look not only at how many of them were produced, what they're currently selling for, but more importantly how available parts are for your desired choice. This part availability is going to directly affect your search. If there are certain parts that you know are more or less impossible to find you're not going to accept a high price tag on a car missing said parts.
3. Search for a period of time. There will be a lot of temptation to go out and buy the first car that you see that gets close to meeting your requirements and is in your price range. Unless you're after a super rare car though; DONT! Give yourself some time to search and look and really decide what it is you want in your project. Do you really want a ton of rust repair and body work to do? Or are you more interested in just having a motor to tinker with while you drive the car daily? These are important questions to answer now before you've taken the initial dive into the project.
4. So you've found a car that meets your desires list, it's in your price range, and local; now what?
1. Ask the seller for basics on the car, when did they get it, why are they selling it, what have they done since they got it? This can give you an idea if the seller is just a flipper or someone more interested in the car itself.
2. Make sure you get the VIN of that car, this will let you verify if the car is original, exactly as advertised, and help to make sure there are no legal issues with the car. Remember, sellers occasionally mis-advertise what they have, this could either be intentional or accidental, but in all cases it is the buyers responsibility to get their facts right.
3. Inspect the car from front to back. Open the door, every door, the trunk, look in every cranny and where possible, pull up carpet and look under trunk mats. Rust tends to start where you can't see it in day to day operation so make sure to really look the car over. Any imperfections found now are good opportunities to try and haggle on the price. If you're standing there in front of the seller waving a wad of bills in their face odds are they'll be more willing to try and make it work than if you try to hash it out with them over email.
4. Does the engine run?
1. No? Not a problem. Do your research ahead of time and find out what tools are required to turn the engine over by hand. Bring these tools with you to the inspection. And engine that turns over freely is not a sign of a good engine per say, but it is a sign that the engine isn't frozen. Worst case, you may need to sleeve some of the cylinders, but hopefully it's better than that!
2. Yes? Fire it up! Give the engine a moment to settle out and then listen for any irregular noises. Any excessive mechanical noise could be the sign of a larger mechanical problem, or worn or out of adjustment parts. If the engine sounds smooth and there's no issues. See if you can take if for a spin around the block.
5. On a test drive you want to take note of a few things. Does it seem like all the instrumentation works? Are the brakes firm or spongy? How does the transmission shift? None of these should really be deal breakers at this point (I mean come on, your project car runs and drives!?) but they are tools to use to try and get a lower price.
5. Price negotiations. The most important thing here is to remember to always be polite. No matter what at the end of the day you're trying to purchase someones personal possession. Remain professional, courteous, and refrain from foul language or insults. If you've done your research well you should have a good idea of what the car is worth. It's then up to you to decide if you want that particular car badly enough to risk insulting the seller with a low-ball offer. The higher the initial price of the car the more likely there is to be some wiggle room. How much will vary greatly and isn't something I can really put a number on.
6. Got the car? Awesome! Now it's time to take care of the paperwork. Title and vehicle sale process are dependent on the state of sale. So do some upfront homework. Ideally you want a vehicle with a clean and clear title.

So hopefully they gives you a better idea of how to go about buying a project car. In short order here I'll go through in detail how I'm going through this process with my current search and let you guys be a part of it each step of the way!

Happy hunting!

Life to the Machine

Blogs are hard. At least to me they are, you see I don't really know how to generate content that an audience of any notable size would actually enjoy. So instead of focusing on that, I'm just going to write on things that interest me, and anyone who wants to tag along for the ride is more than welcome to do so. So if you want to take a ride through the mind of a former Disney Imagineer turned Weapons Designer then grab a seat. The machine takes a few minutes to warm up, but once it's going... well I imagine it'll be rather hard to stop it.