Last Sunday there was an exclusive photo shoot arranged by Grace & Gears two great guys, Henry and Matthew. The event is organised to allow photographers and content creators full access to vehicles without anybody getting in the way of their photography. The venue was at Hedingham Castle which is located between Sudbury and Colchester. There was twenty or so cars which were hand picked and invited by Matthew and Henry for the few hours four till eight in the evening. It was a hot day so a few hours in the evening was a welcome change to the all day event. The cars we positioned all around the grounds in strategic positions for space and aesthetically pleasing backgrounds. I ended up taking over two hundred photos many of my own car of course, but also the other cars. I was able to play around with my phones camera settings for the changing light conditions. They looked great on the phone, but when I uploaded them onto my PC they didn’t look so great, many were unceremoniously dumped. The guys kindly arranged for some food and drink trailers as well for us all too which was appreciated.
The Venue, Hedingham Castle.
I arrived a bit early, but this is where I parked up for allocated space on the Castle’s field before some of the other cars arrived.
The lower field by the picturesque lake had a few cars in lots of open space, which is where I started my photos collection of these lovely cars.
Walking back up to the main driveway as the booked in cars had already arrived, they parked them on the main driveway up to the house and the castle. Three black cars, the ever stunning Lambo, a Ferrari and an Audi.
To the left of the field was a couple of white cars.
Up at the main house was a modified photogenic beast.
Under the bridge we went back to the future
Walking back to the Castle this Ferrari was parking up, but later moved to the side of the Castle.
The little group where I was parked, we did spread out to give ourselves a bit more room. There was three blue cars this time flanked by a Prowler.
A couple of behind the scenes photos:
Then to finish of I took a few shots of my car, at various lighting conditions, I was trying to be artistic and sure it worked. Some of these images are large files and look so, so much better when opened up by clicking on them.
I will add some of these photos, not just of mine but also of the other cars and a couple of scenery shoots added to the ‘Screen Downloads’ menu in their full size resolution so you can manipulate them as you wish. The images are free to download and use, you never know you may find something you like.
Under the top menu heading ‘Screen Downloads’ where there will be two options:
‘Desktop Wallpaper Downloads’ click here for the link.
‘Mobile Wallpaper Downloads’ click here for the link.
Special thanks to Matthew, Henry, all the photographers and content creators who took part to make a great evening.
This is the first of two posts this weekend as I had two shows in one week. Last Thursday 18th June 2026 my wife sent me a couple of messages with classic cars in them. I asked what it was all about, she didn’t know, so I thought no more about it. She got home about an hour later and started to tell me that she took a detour home because of traffic and spotted a number of cars turning up on the next village to us in Tostock. I knew nothing about the show, (so I blame ‘Frosty’ for that). I did a quick online search to find there was indeed a car show just a few miles from us which started at five in the evening. I wanted to go as it was a nice evening and would only be a for three scheduled hours. For the first time my wife actually agreed to come with me in the Mustang to a car show for an evening out.
We arrived a little after five thirty and it was already busy. There was a lot of people walking around with cold beers in their hands which they had just gotten from the pub which was adjacent to he green itself. I wanted to have a cold drink too, but as the wife didn’t want to drive us home, which is understandable, I certainly won’t risk it. Cars were still turning up after my fashionably late arrival and were just parking up where there wasn’t spaces, just like me. The cars started to arriving at four in the afternoon, hence why the wife spotted them on her way home.
I was greeted by my friend John on the way in trying to find a space, he directed me into a space that wasn’t supposed to be a space. I was considerate enough to leave space should anybody want to leave before me. There was few regular cars that I recognised, and a few new ones to me too.
We decided to wander from one end of the green to the other and in no particular order I (we) just wandered up and down the lines.
There was a little section of military vehicles which was quite cool.
Apart from my car these were other Mustangs that had got parked up for the show, I managed to catch up with David who I hadn’t seen for a while which was great and the banter started immediately. The others I missed, but I will catch them next time out I’m sure.
The biggest vehicle there by a long way was this monstrous CAT that trundled down the road. Used for ‘heavy earth moving tasks’ according to Google, but now had seats in the back and brought a few people along with it. The wheels were a little under six feet tall.
That leaves Mart’s Car Of The Show. This amazing 1940/1 pick up. My wife also liked it and said that one like it would be a good candidate for another project. I think she wants me out the house, again!
After a couple of hours we left as I didn’t want to push my luck and make her regret coming out with me to a show. Will there be another show with the wife? I hope so, it’s only taken her fifteen years since I have owned my car to turn up to a show with me. Saying that, I do like my occasional nap at the odd car show, needless to say that wouldn’t happen if the wife is with me! 😀
Last weekend was new venue some sixteen miles away at Whitton Football Club’s training field. The show wasn’t that well advertised, but it was worth a go to support a new venture. The show was advertised as 10am, was that for cars to turn up or public to enter? It was for public to attend, I think. I knew where this field was, but not actually gone in there. I arrived just after 9am and couldn’t see the entrance which was marked up by a single A4 ‘sign’ pegged into the ground pointing to a narrow lane between a row of gardens on each side. I took this picture at the bottom in the ‘car park’ looking up to the top once I had parked up in the field. There was only one way in, and the same way out. If this was to be a busy show I can imagine this would be a real pain to exit or even queue to get in.
Forgive the quality of the pictures, this was my backup phone camera’s efforts and struggled a bit with the colours.
I was shown where to park passing through the gravel public car park which I reckon could hold around forty cars max. There was a big field which was fairly flat and would be great for a show. There was one side of the field with around a dozen club members, and on the other side near the entrance to the field about ten cars where I parked.
I parked next to newer Mustang just for the old vs new look, just as I was taking the photo a Ford Escort Mk 4 Cabriolet parked on the other side of me.
Wandering up the row and back down the other side of the field took all of about twenty minutes at the most.
Then the other side of the field.
I got back to my car got the chair out and waited for the public and the other cars to arrive. I waited, then waited even more, nothing. At the very most I counted twenty seven cars, a couple left at around eleven and couple came in. The entrance fee was £20 for a family ticket which was well steep. You couldn’t see the cars from where the payment was made until you walked around the corner of a hedge to see the field. If it was me; I would have wanted my money back! There was supposed to be a live band, it turned out that the live band was a couple of speakers playing 50’s & 60’s music.
The wide variety of stalls was a hot dog stall, a bloke selling hats, another selling metal plates, a race car simulator, a van selling Hot Wheels cars with a few cheap plastic Marvel figures, oh and an ice cream van.
It was a dire situation – first time I was bored at a show. The guy who owned the S197 Mustang next to me was the only person I spoke to about cars. There wasn’t many cars to chose from for my favourite.
Mart’s Car Of The Show:
The Ford Escort Mark IV Cabriolet, the irony is that this guy turned up only to fix the ice cream van that wasn’t working, technically this wasn’t part of the show. I’m just glad he was there to prop the numbers up.
A little after one I decided to go home, what a waste of time to sit in the field. Next time I may take my tablet with me to write up car show report to pass the time. But, I enjoyed the drive there and back, so it wasn’t all bad. However, this venue had potential to host a lot of cars. They needed to get their act together and get the event out there to get attendance up and more cars. The people that paid for their pitches to sell their goods would have made a loss, the guys selling the toys started to pack up at twelve and was ready to leave about the same time as me.
I wanted to leave before the big rush to leave the venue, while I was waiting in a massive long queue to get out (as it was that busy), I took a final picture before my twenty minute drive home.
On a serious note, it was a shame and I hope the organisers return next year where the event should be better supported if there was a bit more effort. The afternoon nap made up for the lost Sunday morning lie-in. The wife was pleased that I as home early though, waking from my forty winks she had found a load of ‘jobs’ for me in the garden. Of course I would, but only after I cleaned the car in the garage, which took much longer than I had expected so I was only able to do a few of the jobs 😉
Perhaps the closest car show to me is at Rougham Airfield, well what’s left of it. The control tower is the only remaining part of the airfield which is now a museum to the airfield and the squadron stationed here. There are volunteers who keep the place tidy and provide a glimpse of the WWII era with some period correct clothing. The location is a short six miles away from my house hardly time to warm the car up. The show is called “Buff The Ruff” organised by my car club ‘Bury Retro Car Club‘ and all vehicles are welcome. The show said 10am, I wasn’t sure if that was public time or time to arrive with the car. It turned out it was turn up time, to be on the safe side I arrived at a little after nine, I could of had an extra hour in bed. There was three of us there when i turned up with the same thought, when does it start. We drove onto a bit of land behind the control tower in a good position. In a line there was six of us as we were parking up now, a MK3 Escort, a MK1 Capri, First Gen Mustang (me) a Mustang II Cobra and then a white MK3 Capri, and a Model A hot rod, we got talking and promptly called it the Ford field! It didn’t stay a Ford field for long though.
By the time I finished wiping down the car it was getting on towards ten and quite a few more cars were starting to park up. The weather was overcast, warm with a light breeze and no rain was forecast.
This Ford Anglia was just like the one my Grandfather had, but it didn’t have this fancy engine.
I took a trip up the tower onto the roof to get some high angle photos just as some more cars rolled in which gave me an unusual angle to take some great shots.
This blue Charger nearly got my car of the show, a real nice car that sounded as good as it looked when it rolled in.
I took a few pics inside the tower to a couple of rooms that I hadn’t seen before. The Jeep outside had a few grenades in the back and I think a grenade launcher? I assume they were deactivated!
Marts Car Of The Show, this really nice 1984 VW Golf GTI MK II. Such a clean well loved nice tidy car. A great engine in the 1.8ltr Bosh K Jetronic, 112bhp. For it’s day this was a quick car and was the original pocket rocket with a scarce rag top. Often copied and the boy racer’s dream.
At around two thirty I made a move home as a number of other had also started to leave. I got home within minutes and for a change the fuel gauge didn’t move (much). A good show with some really nice cars and some and some nice chats with a few mates who turned up to support the show.
The background to my car is that it was brought over to the UK and stationed in RAF Lakenheath by a USAF pilot all the way from Virginia USA some three thousand eight hundred miles away. My excitement was high to see that Lakenheath Classic Car Show 2026 was back on this year. I was hoping it was going to be at the airbase itself, sadly that wasn’t case. The show itself was held in a playing field about a mile away from the base. My car was almost home, so near yet so far.
The UK is having a bit of a heatwave at the moment which makes a real nice change. But, sitting in an open field where there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky with a temperature up in the high thirties, it was hot for us Brits. My wife got up with me early and said “I have packed the cool bag, add anything extra that you may want”. I looked inside to find three bottles of water and a dog bowl!
I asked ‘What’s that all about?’ She replied with “just in caser there are any dogs there that need a drink, make sure you give them a drink”. Never mind me, she was more worried about the dogs over heating. I got my own drinks and lunch and packed it into the cool bag, and into the trunk of the car.
The show was to start at ten with drive which was about fifty minutes away. The order for today was a steady drive along the back roads scenic route to keep moving and not get stuck in any traffic. The marshals were super efficient and guided the cars straight onto the field and parked us up in turn. I got out the car and started to wipe the car down from the road dust accumulated by the trip in and set up the show board. By the time I had completed the quick wipe down it was approaching noon and I was starting to boil. I slapped on the factor fifty and drank a nicely chilled one litre bottle of water. Luckily and common sense prevailing for the day, I didn’t see any dogs being dragged around, so that meant I was now going to drink the water that was put aside for them. I had underestimated how thirsty I would get during the day.
There was a round hundred and fifty cars being hosted by the show. Some were the usual Walmart wagons, like three year old BMWs with stickers on them, a few newer Mercs and of course the boy racer specials, the Ford Focus STs, I didn’t bother with most of them. While making my way around the show, a first for me was that my phone (Samsung S26 Ultra) flashed up a warning of overheating which then stopped me taking photos. To allow the phone to cool down I went to seek out some shade and sit inside a little building for half an hour or so that was doing a roaring trade in cold beers. That’s two shows on the trot now where I was tempted, but I still resisted.
With the phone recovered, I quickly completed the rest of the lines of cars. Being so close to the air base there was a heavy bias to American iron and muscle.
There was quite a few modified cars there as well, the first two here followed me for part of the way to the show. Me doing a steady fifty five wasn’t fast enough for them, so I moved over to let them past on the country roads.
A popular car was this Skyline.
There was a few bikes and trikes too, but many didn’t stay that long.
There was a heavy Mustang contingent as I expected, so I grouped them all together here.
That leaves me with Marts Car Of The Show; which was this huge 1977 FORD LTD that looked like it had just come out of a showroom. It was like a land yacht in a great colour that continued inside. I’m not sure what garage would house this beast, I suspect it would have to be more like an aircraft hanger.
I got back to my car got the chair out, and sat down with a more cold drinks and little light lunch. The factor fifty was applied generously over the next couple of hours. I got into some great conversation with a couple behind me who had just purchased their new toy, 1947 Bentley and their story around how they got it.
The seatbelts which I do up and place on the seats just to make them look neat were so hot I couldn’t hold them and I was worried the metal buckles were going to melt the seats, literally they were that hot I had to use a couple of cloths to unclip them. At around three in the afternoon I admitted defeat – I couldn’t take the heat anymore and decided to go home. I had all the windows down while taking the scenic route home, longer by about five miles but much more enjoyable.
A great day out, in fact it was the hottest May Bank holiday since records had begun, so I was informed by the weather lady in the evening news. It was a shame I didn’t get to go on the base with the car it would have been awesome, but I know for a fact that my car was driven around these very roads in the late 1990’s.
Last weekend’s car show was on a Saturday and not a Sunday which made a pleasant change. It meant that I could write up about the show in my own time on the Sunday. Especially useful excuse when the wife wants me to cut the grass or do some DIY, I can’t keep my readers waiting now can I? The show was in the next county from from me, about a fifty minutes drive through some beautiful countryside of Thetford Forest. The show is listed as Anglo American Feltwell Classic Car Show which is always well attended. I managed to get to this show a couple of years ago and was surprised by the heavy American classics there. Feltwell is surrounded by some US airbases, two of the big bases are Mildenhall and Lakenheath, the smaller one is Feltwell itself. I like driving round this part of the country as the American cars from the bases are used on a daily basis and seen out and about. It always feels like home around Lakenheath as its where the serviceman was stationed that owned my car bought when he brought it to the UK with him. I was expecting plenty of American muscle and I wasn’t wrong.
I arrived at the location an hour or so after setting off with a couple mishaps on the way. The first being a water mains was leaking and running down an incline of a road. My nice clean car was now getting splattered with dirty water. To those behind me, it must have looked as though I was intoxicated trying to drive around the little streams trying to mitigate the dirt sticking to the car. The second issue was me missing the entrance to the show. It was ‘sign posted’ (I use that in the loosest of terms), by the odd bit of A4 paper stuck on the odd lamp post. I saw a few cars pulling into the turning in my mirrors and pulled over into into a layby. When there was a gap in the traffic I started the six point turn in the middle of the road. No sooner had I started my manoeuvres a dozen cars or so in each direction came into view, I couldn’t write it. Yep, I was that person who held everybody up! Once I turned around in what seemed like minutes, I pulled into the narrow lane and was directed onto the field. The marshal told me that they were going to keep all the Mustangs together, that was the theory but it didn’t work out that way.
The weather was holding out, with periods of sunshine and the odd cloud. I got straight to work on cleaning the car, when a couple of friends caught up with me (also fellow Mustang owners), and asked me if I needed therapy as my car had gotten dirty. I did say that I needed to lay down in a darkened room to get over the trauma though.
By the time I had finished cleaning, the show which started at ten was getting busy. Time for my wander round for the photo’s and started at the back of the field and worked my way up and down the lines.
At the end of the first line there was a nice Ford truck with a Mustang on a trailer. It didn’t get moved off the trailer, so I don’t know if it had been picked up or being delivered, but it made for a few nice shots.
Moving onto the second row of cars, many more were still coming into the show, even though it had now opened to the public.
This slammed Lincoln was getting some interest from the younger public.
The guy who owned this Thunderbird also owned a couple of other cars, namely the white Studebaker from the first batch of photos of this post.
The next row was where the Mustangs started, they were also scattered around the field, but I collated all the Mustangs here. The first one I think has an identity crisis and was trying to identify as number of Mustangs according to the grill. The limited edition Bullitt Mustangs were out in force and was parked either side of me.
Lot’s of great newer American muscle cars here too but they didn’t look out of place with the classics.
There was bunch of trucks together, I’m not sure if it was by organisation or not, but it was interesting to see how they have grown in size up to the massive orange Dodge Ram (which was also for sale at £120,000).
The rest of the cars from the lines in no particular order.
There was a number of motorbikes coming in and out throughout the day, mostly Harley Davdisons.
After my wandering up and down the lines I took a well earned break for a spot of lunch and got the chair out for some serious people watching. I was going to get a burger, but when I saw the price of £8 and heard the not so pleasant comments about them, I decided against it.
Although it has to be said the beer tent did look tempting for an ice cold beer, but I won’t drink and drive.
During my rest up watching the world go by, then I spotted them, two plod. They were wandering around the car show looking at the cars.
I heard one of them ask one guy about his number plate to which the guy said “no it’s just my show plate”. I can’t say for sure why they were there, perhaps they wanted to look at the lovely cars, or was it something more sinister? Surely they had better things to do? Everybody was on best behaviour, no revving up engines or leaving the show sideways. The plod walked past the front of my car and looked at my reg plate, I was expecting some sort of comment, although I’m allowed black plates with silver numbers. Perhaps they thought my plate was a show plate as well and didn’t bother. Regardless of what they were up to, I wouldn’t have engaged with them.
Marts Car of The Show:
This was it, a beautiful Oldsmobile Holiday. It caught my eye from a distance where I initially thought it was Chevy Bel Air. I was hoping to chat with the owner, but I didn’t catch them sadly. The car was immaculate and a seriously loved car by the looks of it.
The show was due to finish at four, but a number of cars started to leave around lunch. I got talking to few nice people and with a guy who was telling me about buying his Mustang from new in the ’60s, I love those stories. At two in the afternoon I made the decision to leave as the sun was coming out less frequently and the clouds were getting darker.
The journey home was amazing and peaceful, apart from my exhaust note through the forest on the way home. The water leak I drove through on the way here had stopped and dried up on the road where it had previously been running down. I arrived home and wiped the car down straight away to put it away. The house was quiet apart from the energetic greetings of the dogs. I plonked myself on the sofa and looked at the photo’s I had taken for this post to do a bit of quality control. Before I knew it, I had nodded off for an hour, I was only woken up by the sound of the dogs having a mental at the wife as she returned home from her hair appointment. What a great way to end the day after a great show.
I have been in conversation with magazine publishers called ‘STANG Magazine’, and sent them a few photos of my car. They have added my car to their Special Edition, Editor’s Choice November 2026 latest publication of the magazine which is available online now.
The front and back covers of their magazine.
They sent me the article they was going to publish which I have added here with their permission.
I wanted to help the guys out, so I asked them for some details about their STANG Magazine and they responded with a few paragraphs for me:
“ The new King of Mustang Magazines: How STANG just made history.
For decades, the legendary Mustang Monthly held the ultimate crown in automotive publishing. Between 1978 and 2020, they produced a staggering 502 issues over 42 years of solid Mustang content. That record was considered unbeatable as there is a new record holder.
STANG Magazine has officially broken the record for the most issues ever published by any Mustang magazine in history.
While it took the previous record-holder 42 years to reach their milestone, STANG Magazine smashed past their milestone in just 12 years. With the release of Issue #503, the crown has officially changed hands. We give a massive nod of respect to the former king, but the throne now belongs to a new era.
Fun Facts: STANG Magazine by the Numbers
1,000,000+ monthly global readers.
503+ issues published and counting.
12 years to break a 42-year-old record.
$0 spent on paid advertising.
100% free to read online.
Built For the People, By the People
STANG Magazine was built on a simple promise: to give Mustang enthusiasts exactly what they asked for. Founder and Editor-in-Chief Daniel Ramey launched the publication to break the traditional media mold.
The philosophy is straightforward:
No Ads: Zero sales pitches or corporate fluff.
No Fillers: Just pure Mustang pictures and stories.
Real Rides: Focused on daily drivers, not just “trailer queens.”
Community First: Created by Mustang owners, for Mustang owners.
A Global Grassroots Phenomenon
STANG Magazine didn’t reach the top through massive corporate backing. It grew purely through grassroots, word-of-mouth popularity. What started with passionate owners using their phones and cameras to share adventures has evolved into a global powerhouse. Today, it stands as the first Mustang publication to be available worldwide in both print and digital formats. It has reached readers in almost every single country on Earth.
The Mustang legacy is alive, well, and officially rewritten. As Daniel Ramey says: “Enjoy the ride, and who you ride with!” “
I was previously unaware of STANG magazine to be honest, but found their home page online here:
I’m not being paid for this post, I just wanted to give them a shout out and they deserve a little free exposure. After seeing the proposed article I wanted a hard copy of the magazine if it was possible and asked them for details how to go about getting one. They replied with, ‘Yes you can order one, we print them to order’, so I did two in fact. I paid via PayPal and they shipped it right to my door in just over a week. I was really impressed with the quality of the magazine, it wasn’t printed on flimsy paper, it wasn’t full of ads or random fluffiness, just high quality colour spreads front to back.
The inside cover and first leaf.
A random opening of the magazine to another article;
Towards the back a model posed with a Mustang.
The inside of the back over.
A little background from me; I used to be a printer. I served a four year apprenticeship in the city of London when I left school mid term to take the job when it came up. Once my apprenticeship was completed and signed off officially, I could be known as a ‘Master Craftsman’ for my trade. Unfortunately that trade died with the onslaught of Adobe Photoshop 3.0 (on floppy discs, remember those?) and the relentless progression of Cromalin proofing. My roots are still with the print and I still miss that job, I loved it. To this day I still enjoy printed material of books and magazines and collect special editions where I can. I don’t care what people say, nothing beats reading and holding a book, turning the pages and the smell for the experience of a good read.
Although I’m sad about Mustang Monthly no longer being in print, I can understand why. The internet has a lot to answer for with the death of many printed publications turning to online. Then on the other hand, no trees are being cut down for paper unnecessarily. I even had copies of Mustang Monthly shipped over to me in the UK and enjoyed reading them while learning a few things as well. Of course I can now read all that information online and STANG Magazine is now part of that revolution. It has to be noted that producing printed material was, and still is expensive and the printed publications (no mater what the subject) relied on advertising to make their money. Due to editing, proofing and press lead in times many publications were monthly, hence why it took so long to get the lofty numbers of Mustang Monthly, compared to online publications, which can be up for the world to see in a matter of hours. That being said, it takes nothing away from STANG Magazine and I’m personally pleased that they offer the option to have a printed copy if you wanted one. It wasn’t a cheap publication by the time it was shipped to me the UK, that isn’t STANG Magazine’s fault by any means, but when it comes to my car – it was worth it.
For a few years I have been doing some tweaks here and there on the car, one of those bigger projects was the LED bulbs all round. At the back of the car the rear licence plate bulb was the biggest pain to source one that would fit in the original factory housing. I tried many variations some were close others not so. The left pic below is the now dedicated draw now allocated for bulbs, the right pic shows the original bulb (copper bottom) in the middle, with the other trial and errors bulbs around it. Some were too long, too wide or the bulb glass (plastic) to bulbous to fit under the lamp holders glass cover itself. Then there was front focussed light, 360o light shine, light pattern, colour temperature, brightness, bottom housing fitting, wattage etc etc. Some bulbs what I thought would look good were in fact quite poor lighting options when plugged into my dummy rig to see what they would look like before I took the holder off the rear bumper and started making a mod to the wiring loom.
I spent many an hour making mods to a couple of the bulbs that had potential with the Dremel in a vain attempt to make them fit. A slight slip of the Dremel grinder ruined a promising bulb that was just a bit to wide, luckily those bulbs came in pairs.
The before and after of the grinding was fine, there was no cover for these LEDs themselves which shouldn’t be to much of a problem as the bulb sits behind a opaque glass bowl if you like. To make the bulb fit under the glass properly it would need more work on one side of the bulb fitting, in doing so it would be getting dangerously close to the LEDs themselves. Before I got carried away I quickly put it back together with the glass cover sort of half in place held by a bit of clear tape to see what it would look like at night, it wasn’t good. There was so much white light I could expect a pull over from the local plod in their donut cars as you’re not supposed to show white to the rear in the UK. This bulb was on another level and would be more like towing a WWII search light behind me.
That bulb was discarded and the original put back in for now. After many, many searches and I eventually found a match same size bulb and voltage. Best of all it was a comparable wattage to the original bulb, I placed the order which was shipped from China (of course) to the UK.
The new bulb was still quite bright, but I figured it should be OK.
This LED bulb thing is all a little bit of a moot point as I tend not to drive at night anyway. However, if I needed to, then the LED bulbs are a significant improvement for safety. The reason I mention all this now is because of a recent trip trip to Mustang Maniac where I watched as they were making a custom fit LED board for a customer’s car. They had to make bulbs from bulbs and then set the brightness. I wasn’t aware that it could be done to that degree and spent some time with Mark to see how I could make their ideas work for me.
I purchased a box of various resistors taking on board the advice I was given. This box is complete overkill of 350 pcs, I only wanted one or maybe two variations of a resistor. The complete box was the cost only a large coffee so I couldn’t complain.
There’s a lot to understand about resistors; basically wattage and resistance describe two different, but connected processes a resistor performs in a circuit. First is Ohms (Ω) tell you how much the resistor limits electrical current, a higher Ohm value means more resistance and less current flow. Second is Wattage (W) tells you how much power the resistor can safely dissipate as heat without burning out. So the Ohms value sets the electrical behaviour, while the Watt rating sets the physical durability. A resistor with the right resistance but too low a Wattage may overheat, whereas a resistor with the correct Wattage but wrong resistance will change how the circuit works. You can also fit a resistor either direction as they aren’t polarised. If you need a specific Ohm rating you can add one after the other to achieve the correct rating.
As the licence plate bulb only has a single live feed, the earth is handled via the bodywork. The live feed just needs an inline resistor so the LED’s bulb brightness is reduced as a result.
In the trunk the live is taken from the rear drive lights feed via a T-junction split and a connector. The wire then passes behind the rear bumper to the lamp holder out of direct line of sight. This will be a quick task to make up an insert male and female fitting at each end to connect it back up again. If I don’t want to use the resistor, I can just remove the inserted resistor and reconnect the original wire back to the normal live feed voltage.
When I rewired the car I didn’t use all the options of the American Autowire kit, that left me with various amounts wires of different colours and a number of connectors to go with them. A short clip from one of the coils of wire I used was the same gauge as the live feed about to be modified.
The short wire was cut in half and each end of the wire was tinned with the soldering iron. My American Autowire crimps were pulled out of retirement and used to secure the male spade connector and protected with heat shrink.
The resistor I chose was a 330 Ohms which should roughly half the output. In order to make the resistor lay flat inline; wrap the wire leg of the resistor around a small jewellers screwdriver the same size as the gauge of wire to be used forming a tight coil. I didn’t realise the picture was out of focus (sorry), but you get the idea. Trim the coil flush to make sure no sharp parts are sticking up and potentially cause a short.
Thread the new wire into the coil and add some flux, fresh solder on the iron and tap it onto the join you just created. Before the last female spade connector is added slide over the shrink wrap and then repeat the process and solder the other end of the resistor. Add a spade protector on the female spade connector and crimp. Once completed and fully heat shrunk, I checked the resistance with a multi-meter to make sure connections were solid and working.
To create the inline project that I wanted, the live feed wire needed to be modified to add the additional spade fitting rather than a direct solder of the resistor, my fail safe if you like. This additional could then be re-joined in seconds to the main loom if needed, or connect another resistor inline back to the main rear end wire harness. I remade the duel spade (T-junction) split along with the new single connection needed for the lamp holder.
With the new inline resistor in place it only added a couple of extra inches so the extra length could easily be hidden back behind the filler cap support. Here the fittings are in place to recreate the original look before I added the resistor.
With everything in place the garage door was closed and turned the lights off. I turned the car’s lights on and I could see that everything was working fine. Once the door was open again I could finish the job by wrapping the wire loom up with some cloth OEM look wire loom tape, but not on the resistor section as that may need to dissipate heat, not that it gets that hot anyway. The resistor section is insulated by the heat shrink and the rubber spade fitting covers.
Until I can get a good view in the dark and out in the open I wont be able to see if the light output is adequate or still too much. The results so seem to be what I’m after and not far away from the original bulb output, all be it a cleaner light.
With that in mind while the soldering iron was still hot and the resistors were out, I repeated the process for another inline with a resistance of 220 Ohms which will allow a little brighter light than the installed 330 Ohms. It will only take seconds to swap out which is the beauty of this idea. If the result still isn’t what I’m after, I can just knock up some more variations until I’m happy. There is no after picture of the rear loom as it’s all hidden away again, and nothing to see.
The only visible difference is the cool white light instead of the dull orange glow of the original incandescent bulb. The change to the lighting type of the cool white light picks out the silver lettering from the black background of the licence plate better for more effect.
Before & after comparison of the resistance hack:
A short and sweet little project from something that was in the back of my mind that needed addressing at some point. It’s funny how a chance conversation can lead to these little projects, all sorted for now.
The second show of the year today, but I wasn’t sure it was going to happen. One weather app said rain, the other two said cold and overcast at 17o. My wife was saying to me that I was mad at seven thirty this morning, I almost agreed with her. But, like a true trooper I powered through it. The cool bag was packed with a light lunch, but mostly drinks. The first stop this morning was going to be fuel at the Shell petrol station for a bit of open wallet surgery via a fill up of some V-Power. The guy in the next pump also had a classic Talbot Lotus was getting a fill up, we were having a chat taking our minds of the money on the display updating faster than a hundred meter stop watch. I asked “are you going to the Stonham Barns show?” He replied with no “me and a few mates were just going for a drive and some lunch”. That is awesome, enjoying his car with his mates and have a lunch looking at classic cars. The show at Stonham Barns has become a bit of local show. The show started at ten, but I got there at eight forty and there was only about tenor so other display cars there. My logic was to get in before the carnage waiting to get in. As it turned out I didn’t need to worry, I wasn’t that busy a show all day. I was directed into the main arena and direct to park next to a 1965 Mustang finished in vintage Burgundy metallic. The panels on our cars are the same, but there are some obvious exterior trim and interior changes between the two years.
I gave the car it’s customary quick detail to remove any road dust, During my ritual therapeutic dust off, the wind must have been just right as I got a waft of cooking, bacon! The burger fan was calling, my wallet was tucked in the jacket pocket while on the way, a purposeful stride with my nose leading the way. I ordered the sausage, as that looked even better than the bacon, to enhance my culinary delight I added cheese and some onions topped with a line of tomato sauce. I took a seat to enjoy my well deserved breakfast after my car cleaning. A crow flew down and was hopping around near the table, it was rewarded with small bit of the roll that I shared with it. At the price I just paid, it wasn’t going to get a lot. A sucker for wild life I relented and shared more with my new found friend. The more I gave, the bolder it got almost taking the bread out of my hand. The funny part was it hopped on the other side of the table and gave me the eye for more, that also worked and got more breakfast with me. I was trying to take a photo, and hold the roll at the same time, I think I did OK considering.
After the rather awesome roll I chatted with a few human friends I have seen for the first time this year. Then it was off to take some photos of the other cars. The show didn’t have a huge amount of cars which was a shame, but the quality of cars on show was great except for a few Walmart wagons that were allowed in, which was surprising as the info said pre ’70s.
As I was walking around the outer part of the arena more cars were coming in to park in the centre and started a couple of new rows.
Outside the arena was also getting busier as the arena was now full, I found a few of the finned beauties. I’m a bit partial to a fin it has to be said, they’re just mobile works of art.
Wandering back up the field there was only really another line.
This Pontiac caught my eye and almost got my personal winning vote.
That just leaves my winning vote; Mart’s Car of The Show. The artwork on the back of this was Ford was amazing, I hate to think how long and how much this was. The emblem on the cowl clinched it for me though!
A grey overcast day, it wasn’t full of cars, but it was pleasant with a lot of cars I hadn’t seen before and a few I had. The show was not really a family day, this was more of a true petrol head day out and spoke to lots of lovely people. I left just after two as a few other were starting to leave as well. A good show, no queue to get in and everything was very calm and civilised. My madness of getting up paid of as I enjoyed the show, even though I walking around with my jacket on. For change on the way there and and on the way home there was morons on the road that were near me and I had relaxing and gentle cruise home.
Last Sunday was the first booked car show for me at Kersey Mill a short trip fifteen miles away about thirty minutes away. This year the plan was to go the back route for a relaxing scenic drive with no pressure of the main roads. Before I had even got out of my little village or off choke at eight thirty on a Sunday morning, some idiot nearly took me out being on my side of the road coming round a corner. If I had of been doing thirty miles an hour it would have been a head on crash, best of it was he had a young kid in the front seat as well. I think I may have woken a few people up as my window was down as I expressed my displeasure in a raised tone, nothing from the driver he just carried on.
The rest of the drive was serene and enjoyable, many of the little villages that I passed through had speed limits in place so the car was just running on tick over through them, hence the longer time to get there. The marshal on the gate asked me if I was with a club which I wasn’t and directed me to field four. The trouble was I missed the entrance to the area and carried on round the corner. The marshal here was the opposite, a little bit of power had gone to his head and wouldn’t allow me to go back to the other field, about five seconds round the corner, even though nothing was coming up the path. Instead he ‘told’ me to park next to a red Alpha under a row of trees, err no! In my defiance I parked in the middle of the hard standing to keep away from tree sap and potential bird deposits. He didn’t look to impressed, I didn’t care to be honest, within a minute or so I was being surrounded with other cars with the same thoughts as me. I was next to cherry blossom tree which smelt amazing.
This is a great show with lots of different cars on display, from steam driven oldies to the less attractive couple of year old Tesco car park specials, I don’t bother taking photos of those, even with that in mind, I still ended up taking over two hundred pics.
I started taking photos in the hard standing area which was near the near the food, the smell of bacon rolls added to the lovely morning fresh air. Speaking of air this Chevy Bel Air (see what I did there) was pristine.
Walking through the end of the hard standing there was another field with lots more cars and a couple of car clubs, mainly Mini and Lotus.
My runner up car of the show is this glorious Model A, a rust patina special. This is about as original as it will ever get. Credit to the guy who drove it in.
This Mustang is modified with a wide body kit and Lambo doors, you either like the doors or you don’t. For me I can appreciate the work involved, but it’s not my thing I’m afraid.
Moving back to towards the mill itself there were some great oldies parked in prime positions at the front.
Around the side of the house were some super cars where I caught up with my Mate Craig, who has shared some of his photos with me for this post.
Either side of the main path into the mill itself there are display areas either side.
I used to play a game ‘Need for Speed Underground’ and my son used to customise this car to the max, the legendary Toyota Supra. Not seen one of these spec cars for a while.
This 1966 Plymouth Barracuda fastback was amazing, the rear glass section on this car is a work of art, I wouldn’t want to try and source one of them if it broke!
Mart’s Car of the Show
I haven’t seen an original untouched BMW M3 E30 (the proper M3) for such a long time, then this beauty parked up just behind me. A modern classic that dominated touring car racing late 80’s and early 90’s. He didn’t stay that long, but I’m glad I caught some pics of it.
Early afternoon a few cars started to leave, Craig and Lee decided to bring their cars into the show and parked up next to me and we had our own mini car show. After some lunch and a chat they went of for more car spotting and photos while I desperately tried to keep myself from falling asleep due to the early start, busy pretending to keep an eye on the cars.
Thanks to Lee, for this artistic pic. You can find him on Instagram @s2kathome
A little while later I decided to leave around three to miss the traffic as the show closed at four. Craig stood in a strategic place and caught some cars leaving.
He even managed to grab a couple of me leaving too. Thanks Craig for the pics.
I absolutely love this picture.
The drive home was just as leisurely as the drive there. What is better than a scenic route home, window open and a V8 rumble in your ears? A great day out with mates and looking forward to more. Hopefully I will catch up with Craig and Lee at more shows this year with our cars together.
After the quick detail to remove the road dust and put the car away, I plonked myself on the sofa and feel asleep for an hour (or so) cuddled up with my little dog. What a great way to end the day.
