Sorry to be a bore, feel free to click on by, but Growlette is not listening to me so I have nowhere else to go to air this..
Since my '66 ragtop Mustang is now residing happily with someone in Staffordshire I have been suffering what my GP cannot diagnose but which anyone in the same boat would recognise as PSD (Post 'Stang Depression). It has to do with the addictive sound and feel of a big-inch American V-8 allied to the scent of hot metal, engine oil and vinyl interior which has been in the hot sun, and presents itself as a condition resembling terminal nostalgia whenever they get out the old Doors music at the local Hole In The Wall Bar (USP=warm beer, weak drinks and ugly women).
And so it was today I have been viewing and driving a '69 Fastback straight out of Bullitt in Angeles City Philippines on the old Clark Field aiurbase. 351 cu in. motor transplanted from a '71, Crane cams, Holley carbs, auto, new tires, metallic blue new paint job, some new gauges inside replacing the stock ones (I think she's been quarter-miled at some time), radio missing, car doubtless a legacy of the US air base at Clark. As always with these old big block live-for-ever Fords, whisper-quiet mechanically, no evidence of smoke but with the bellow of an enraged bull when floored, brutal acceleration, trans takes up with a postive clonk straight away, brakes with loads of travel but work fine, some evidence of the traditional Mustang overheating (it's 34 C today), the anti-diluvian Bendix a/c works fine (the seller has a car air-con shop!), delightfully woolly one-finger p/s, lots of body rattles...
I haven't been underneath yet but rust should not be a big issue in this climate. New belts, hoses, all the electrics seem OK, electronic ignition conversion......
But, along with the exhaust note, that incomparable four-light shark-nose that was just MADE for tail-gating lesser mortals....that satisfying V-8 body wriggle when gunning the engine at the lights.....hairdressers in Beemers eat your hearts out...this is serious muscle.
Nineteen hundred quid and it's yours Guv. What should I do? Haggle for him to put back the 8-track stereo with some Grateful Dead tapes? Cough up and exhume my California Mustang parts catalog in the expectation of being a FedEx's preferred customer for the next few months? Bite the Bullitt? Sign up for the 12-step Muscle Car de-tox programme?.....join the Jim Morrison fan club.....(again).....
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Haggle and buy G. You know it makes sense..
Happy Motoring Phil I
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Buy it now!
teabelly
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G,
Strange Days. Here we are in Britain Waiting for the Sun while you say An American Prayer to end your Roadhouse Blues 'cos you Can Never Be Untrue to your Queen of the Highway. Someday Soon I feel you will Break On Through, say Hello I love You, spend your Money, murmur Come on baby light my Fire and go for a Moonlight Drive (with Growlette not some L.A. Woman).
So, don't Go Insane, get rid of the Mental Floss, watch out for those Sunday Trucker(s)(and those Philippino Crawling King Snake(8)and Take it as it Comes.
The End
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P.S.
odds are Five to One on that you will buy it as long as it doesn't make Growlette an Unhappy Girl at The End of the Night. Unlikely since she is a Twentieth Century Fox
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PhilW -
... I always thought that on this forum, some People Are Strange.
Growler -
Buy it buy it buy it buy it buy it buy it .....
andymc
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Growler,
Go and lie down in a dark room with a cup of herbal tea and contemplate.
After pondering your dilemma for 30 seconds, you'll just know what is the right to do!
No doubt in my mind what I would do: dream about the fun in store
AI
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Growler
You're a chap who generally seems to know his own mind. Why come here unless to make us jealous? Get it bought, man. If it doesn't suit you, you can always sell it on. But post a pic of it before you get rid.
And who's jim Morrison? And what relevance?
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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H,
Jim Morrison - lead singer of the Doors - late '60s, early '70s heyday (like you?) Died of drug overdose, Paris 1974(ish), buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery, Paris (have you never visited this shrine??!!)also heyday of the Mustang.
My previous posts on this must have made no sense to you (and most others I suspect!!) at all since they were composed entirely of Doors song titles!
get with it man!! (sorry - no offence, yes I am a saddo!)
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Mr Phil
...he of "Got up this morning snd got myself a beer" fame
AI
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Angle,
I always heard it as ""Woke" up this morning and I got myself a beer"
But no matter - the sentiment is the same!
Now I can't get the song out of my head!
Pedantic Phil!
www.thedoors.com/
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Absolutely right Phil !
Was is Roadhouse Blues ?
ooh err...not really motoring related but I have to say that the Doors have provided me with some of the best music to drive to: but then I am an ageing hippy
AI
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A,
Yes, Roadhouse Blues - I always thought it was written by someone like Willie Dixon or Howlin' Wolf but Doors wrote it.
Good site to check lyrics is
www.amiright.com/misheard/index.shtml
which I had to check after I posted just in case and to get title of song which I couldn't remember despite singing it in my head a million times!!
anyway - Roadhouse is motoring connected isn't it?
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Buy It.
It sounds like it'll be great to drive.
Otherwise, spend the money on a good psychotherapist :-)
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Well that\'s what he really did -- woke up this morning and got himself a beer \'n we actually have a bar here called The Roadhouse so he got a good place to go and get the blues in.
www.roadhouseclub.com
(I\'m on the hotel computer cos we\'re out of town).
Nice to have a support group when you have a habit like this man. What I have to live with. The Doors (I wasn\'t even born then but I still know every darn song they ever did!) They did \"Money\" as well, so that\'s what we do now. 200,000 Pesos down from 230. Actually I think it\'s a great car, there\'s nothing really much to go wrong with these anyway \'n big old G he knows his way round a Mustang blindfold. He\'s poking round underneath the car now. We\'ll be getting the pix of the Mustang today and I\'ll post one.
Thanks all,
Catrina aka Growlette
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Sheesh - not only does Growler come here and annoy all the snowed-under UK residents, but now his better-half comes in and picks up the baton! Nasty!
I won't mention that it is 40 degrees C outside right now (6pm) , and I'm off to the beach for a cool beer, once the traffic dies down a touch.
PS, Growlette, persuade G to spend that 'saved' 30 000 on something nice for you - he has his present, you deserve yours!
PPS. for PhilW
This is the end, beautiful friend.
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Well we had a very drunken night last night with the American Steel Bikers Club plus the leather shop making my new vest messed up the size so we're a bit late today getting the beast. I've checked out the reg papers and budgeted for some front end work plus some electricals also the a/c is a bit feeble (no joke in this climate) but oh what a lovely car. Absolute brute. Took it out yesterday on the almost empty roads of the old US air base and it still lays rubber when floored. Got pix just need to get 'em scanned when I find an internet joint.
Yes Ian Miss Philippines has exacted her penance and is muttering about trips to Victoria's Secret etc.
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"..trips to Victoria's Secret"
Shouldn't do you any harm, G. A new car like Steve McQueen's and Growlette in some skimpy stuff - don't come and complain here!
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OK, pix are posted:
groups.msn.com/honestjohn/vehicles.msnw?Page=3
.....but not of Miss Philippines in anything skimpy, car only.
Brought her back to the big city this a.m. and she saw the ton on the North Expressway weaving in and out of the sugar cane trucks but oh dear the front end has a mind of its own: Job # 1 methinks. We still have leaded gas and it's cheap (it needs to be!) Now then, I've got that Doors double CD somewhere and I've definitely got Bullitt on VHS, so that's one for the evening.....
....Growler out.
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Oh, VERY nice ...
And I'm delighted to see the well-equipped second-hand dealer's showroom, as well as the ruddy-great rock in place of the handbrake!!
Some awesome machinery there G - and just think, those 200K pesos could have been wasted on consultations with a pshrink talking to you about your potty training!
(PS, you aren't Lord Moynihan, are you?)
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Very nice indeed. But problem with the parking brake?
Rudolf
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Old Filipino custom, put a rock under a wheel....must admit with an auto I never bother with the parking brake.
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Good to see someone taking notice of the Back Room Consultancy Arm.
Enjoy.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Sorry Growler, but that's one hell of an ugly car. And those whitewall tyres will surely have to go - burn them down to scrapping depth?
And those body rattles. Is this love affair really going to last? Like a woman: has she got a good enough spread of qualities to make it a long-term relationship?
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No worries mate, I kept my '66 for 11 years before I divorced her. I know what I'm doing. As of today a front suspension kit from Mustang Parts of Oklahoma courtesy of American Express and FedEx should be winging its way here. Ferdie's Motors down the street will put that in next week and she'll be apples. The toughest part is getting the reg transferred and the police clearance papers to do so. Probably a 4 day job (3 different offices) and a trip back up North to the office where the records are and various "facilitation fees" to certain people. No vehicle docs are computerised here.
Ugly rules. Especially with 351 cubic inches, hehe.
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Well the muscle baby is out of the shop with all the front rebuilt by the local wizards.
The '69 Mustang now drives in more or less the same direction as pointed. Simple really, new balljoints and shocks and some wheel alignment courtesy of my local wrencher. Total cost has been $523 for the parts inc Fedex + customs duty from the USA + Ferdie's boys' bill (yet to come) and a case of San Miguel. Not so bad. He also changed the oil for new straight 20w/50 and believe it or not the oil filter from a 2003 Ford F-150 truck fits so we used that. Flushed out the cooling system too. That big ole 351 sounds like a sewing machine, and the burble out the back is something.
Need new tailpipes, not a problem, local muffler shop can fabricate them. If you can't get a part here, there's usually someone who can make it. No working rear lights as yet, don't know what's causing this, but I'll risk it down to my local bar tonight to watch the 6 Nations, Scot vs Eng. The cops should be out of the way in the videoke bars by then -- 1.30 a.m. hehe..
I know I'm going to love this car. Next task, search for a working 8-track player........
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