For anyone who missed it, it has been of course Independence Day 4th July for the United States and it is a remarkable fact that Thomas Jefferson crafted the Declaration of Indepence at 33 years old when you consider your lot need about 439 pages and an unelected committee of senescent balding seat warmers to regulate the size of bananas.
It is only slightly less remarkable that my '69 Mustang fast/back reported a while ago (and featured on the HJ photo-site) has today emerged from the shop with its rebuilt transmission following the intercession of Mustang Parts of Oklahoma and DHL.. It's 35 years old so its own independence day is a bit behind old TJ's. Just as size matters, so it is with cubic inches. 351 of them and a hot Crane cam to boot. I just love the way it idles and then rocks from side to side when you tweak the throttle. Got some tappet noise because of the solid lifters as opposed to the original hydraulic ones, but the valves are set right, so that's normal.
It's one mean mother.
After I did the tune-up last week the exhaust rumbles very satisfyingly and the trans does what it's supposed to following arrival of (I pulled the carb and did the valves plus oil and filter change and timing, all very simple) bits from US. My local Filipino tech did the trans, these guys are really ace, I have to say. They grovel around shirtless in high temperatures and humidity but still manage to work miracles with anything mechanical.
Not reg or insured yet but we took it for a bit of fresh air today and it responds as one would expect, i.e. kick down, it gathers its skirts for a minute and then everything in the rear view mirror gets a lot smaller without any apparent effort. If there is any automotive experience as satisfying as the surge of sheer endless power from a big American V-8 I have yet to experience it, and I've owned a few. It will of course be weekend fun not day to day transportation.
A/c is vital here, the old Bendix compressor was clapped out, so a new Nippon Denso is in place, non standard but much more efficient. I still have to get those lovely deep-set gauges in the dash working and find a way of polishing the dulled plastic dial covers (all suggestions welcome). Also the rear brake-cum-indicator red lights are not very safe or visible compared with today's laser jobs and the garage says convert the backup lights to indicators. We already rebuilt the front end with new track rod ends, shocks etc when I got it. Mustangs tend to run hot, so I'll be watching that. There's a lot of engine under there and not a lot of radiator. Had to do with design and appearance considerations I guess.
Will reg it next week and then take it up North on the newly rehabilitated tollway (superb surface built by Leighton Australia) to see what it can do. Just need to find an 8-track player to fill that hole in the dash and some Beach Boys cartridges, dig out my baggies, wax down a surfboard, get that bushy bushy blond hair-do** and we are in serious business.......
Well this is one way for me to voice my religious beliefs about there being no substitute for cubic inches without starting another 4 X 4 thread (exits stage left rapidly).
**No way (Growlette).
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... and find a way of polishingthe dulled plastic dial covers (all suggestions welcome).
Brasso? Buy a beyond-repair instrument cluster form somewhere, and try it out. I know i've used it succesfully on household perspex-type stuff.
(Yeah, ok, I NEVER thought I'd sit for a few hours with a rag wrapped round my finger, and a tin of brasso again - just the smell of the stuff gave me heebie-jeebies!)
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"Not reg or insured yet"
What group will that be, then? :-)
Sounds wonderful, G, but it must be tempting to smoke those tyres all the time...
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I'm drooling from here at such automotive nirvana. Still I have the pleasure of a mere 215cu in of Anglo-American V8 to comfort me.
And the way a car rocks on the throttle, ah, life's simple pleasures.
If it's polishing perspex, try a solution of vinegar and toothpaste, slightly acidic to breakdown dirt and mildly abrasive. I know it will smell revolting but it does the job. Try on a small area first and all that.
Also do Kenlowe export to the Philippines? :)
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Thanks for the support all. I guess HJ's example the Mustang Mach 1 351 would be the orange one with the black stripes, mine is just the regular job in metallic blue with a lot of cam and carb stuff, because it has been dragged regularly by a bunch of retured Vietnam Vets on our local airbase. I'll sort the insurance tomorrow. Kenlowe here I don't know but I'd rather not get too non-standard.
It's just the lump in the hood and way it all rocks when you press the loud pedal.
Growlette says it makes her feel, well I better not say what she says it makes her feel.
We'll pull the dash next weekend and see if we can sort it all out. All part of the fun anyway. Get some metal polish tomorrow, thanks for the tip.
The mingled fragrances of hot engine, hot vinyl, hot oil and unburnt gasoline.......
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In Central Africa we used to take out the water thermostat and take off the fan blades. The fan takes power to drive and thus adds to the engine heat and petrol consumption. Taking the thermostat out reduces the resistance of the waterways, i.e., more cooling. I ran cars for years like that. The only time the engine boiled was when I was teaching my wife to drive by going round and around the house. She panicked and got out and ran. BUT, we did not have traffic jams in that part of Africa!
I am more into Eddy Lang and Django Reinhardt. Clapton seems heavy metallish to me.
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>>>>>>I am more into Eddy Lang and Django Reinhardt. Clapton seems heavy metallish to me.
Not on the album where he plays Robert Johnson. A lot of nice bottleneck. Well worth a listen, and the man who sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads and whose tunes are replayed with due reverence by a Brit might approve.
Good point about the 'stat. Will check. So far so good but without a working temp gauge it's hard to tell how things are cooking under there. It is a very large engine bulk-wise and the rad is quite small. My '66 that I owned previously was a consistent overheater. It does detract a trifle from the poseur effect to be parked up in a lay-by with the hood up amid clouds of steam........yes I managed this on the A24 at Washington in Aug 99.
Just as with my Harley though, that exhaust rumble is a spiritual experience. Whether it will pass its emission test on Weds is another matter, but perhaps if we show up just before lunch with Growlette in skimpy t-shirt and shorts along with wind-blown glossy locks and a dab of Red Door behind the ears and suggest the tester might like to eat lunch on us, that should fix it.
Wanted: Beach Boys' Pet Sounds on 8-track. Reward to finder.
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A real late 60s car, with the Beach Boys on the sort of sound system used then? Sounds perfect -- any chance of a spin? :)
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LOL, NW nip over to Manila any time after 28th and we'll go for a blast to Angeles City (which is also a blast)......... :+)
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LOL, NW nip over to Manila any time after 28th and we'll go for a blast to Angeles City (which is also a blast)......... :+)
Thanks, I'll have to see if there's a bus there from Leeds! :)
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NW:
Qatar Airways have the best deals right now ex LHR to MNL I believe. Gulf Air might be cheaper but there's an annoying layover in Abu Dhabi of some 5 hours. Me I use Emirates because of the Irish pub in Dubai airport......then there's Air Chance of course.....but since Iraq there's a certain chill in the air(puns of all kinds intended).
However that is all irrelevant in the context of progressing Bullitt Mk. 2. Got her 3rd party insured and legal (get the papers and stickers tomorrow) I won't say what it cost in converted Sterling because you would weep into your warm English beer, i.e. not much.
Oh my goodness, the exhaust sound. The thing oozes muscle. It rocks on idle and rumbles menacingly and is challenging you all the time, like well we're sitting here do it FCS and I'm ready. It's smooth and sleazy at the traffic lights and brutal and beastly on the Expressway.
I am in automotive love, inextricably and utterly. Give me a V-8 and I'm done for. Always was.
Growlette with her unerring sharpness of vision says well this is all very nice but what's going to go wrong next?
Watch this space.
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