Category: Car

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish all my readers, followers and casual browsers a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I look forward to bringing you more reviews, memorabilia, walkthroughs and of course lots of car show photos in the coming year.

My little ol’ blog has been evolving into a ‘blogsite’ over the last couple of years with my stats telling me that I’m approaching a truly amazing 1,550,000 views, which I never believed would be possible. I fund this blogsite all by myself with a small contribution from the WordPress adds (sorry) now and then which contributes to the hosting fees, registration and everything else (but doesn’t cover it all) that goes with an online presence. I can only say a huge and sincere “Thank You” to everyone for keeping me encouraged to continue and making this all worth while.

A classic blue Mustang parked in a snowy landscape with Christmas lights in the background, featuring the text 'Merry Christmas & Happy New Year' in a festive font.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, see you all in 2026.

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Classics At Glemham 2025 (part 1)

Last Sunday was the final car show of the year for me that had booked into. The show was around one hour away at Glemham Hall in Suffolk. I had arranged for my fellow petrol head Craig to join me for the final show, we were ready to set of at eight thirty after packing the car. We had a choice to travel the main roads with a fair few extra miles, or go across country scenic route. We decided on the scenic route where Craig was in charge of the navigation.

We rolled up to the event and showed the printed ticket and was directed to the ’60s section. We parked up and took a couple of quick pictures before the general public and the rest of the cars pulled in. Due to the size of the show and the number of photos I have taken I have split the show into two parts.

A blue vintage Ford Mustang parked next to a light green Volkswagen Type 2, with a car show setting in the background.

I have mentioned in a few posts now I use Craig’s pics, they are so much better than mine and you can just tell which are his due to their superior quality, here’s the first couple. This is one of the few occasions where I wound all the windows down.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked in a grassy area with its trunk open, surrounded by other vintage cars and event tents in the background.
A vintage blue Ford Mustang parked on grass at a car show, with spectators and other vehicles in the background.

This is a busy show so we decided to take a wander around the show before the public were allowed in. We were parked up around two thirds of the way down the field so we started at the end and worked our way towards the main entrance. There was some regular attendees which I skipped over to avoid duplication of other posts.

Firs up is the general view of the show.

A nostalgic scene featuring a vintage green car with its hood open, showcasing the engine. A smiling elderly man stands next to the car, wearing a straw hat and holding a cane, while a second vintage car is visible in the background under a clear blue sky.

Mart’s Car of the show will be revealed in the next post, but this Saab was my runner up.

When we left the show we stopped in a field to take a few pictures. Here is a quick taster for the end of the next post.

A classic blue Ford Mustang parked on a grassy field, showcasing its sleek design and chrome accents.

More in the next post of the amazing cars and the little ad hoc photo shoot as we left the venue.

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Helmingham Hall Car Show 2025 (part 2)

Continuing on from part one of this car show series at Helmingham Hall, Craig and I still had many lines of cars which now seemed to have no logical alignment due to the number of cars as I mentioned previously. By no means a criticism, I just think they had more than they catered for, which means more lovely machinery for us to look at.

We worked our way up the decade assigned rows in ascending order, towards the two thousand’s line I didn’t take that many photos, as to be honest there wasn’t anything really special, well maybe the the odd one or two which did catch my eye.

The timeless beauty of the Aston Martin Vantage – I may start a go fund me page to buy one of these, anybody want to start me of with a donation?

Maybe a crowd funded Chevy Camaro SS, again beautiful.

Did I mention a crowd fund for a Dodge Charger R/T? Stunning.

I remember these Lotus cars quite clearly as it was all the rage to have the JPS – John Player Special (cigarette manufacturers) livery on the Lotus cars which was made famous by the legend of Ayrton Senna. Today it’s unthinkable to have such livery on a car, shame because it was such an iconic brand.

A classic black Formula 1 car with a distinctive gold 'John Player Special' livery, driven by Ayrton Senna on a racetrack.

We found Craig’s mate’s MX5, so I couldn’t resist a checky business card on his screen.

As I mentioned before this field is for the individual entries of which there was a few Mustangs dotted around. There was an anniversary Bullitt which is supposed to be quite rare, but more on that in part 3 when I get to the Mustang stand.

Back to the other modern cars in the lines.

At the far end of the field was a section dedicated for the army vehicles.

The time was now a quarter to one, so we made our way back to the Hall’s courtyard for the tea and cakes. On the way we passed John Grose of Ipswich who had a stand just to the side of the T110 section. On their stand was a Mustang Dark Horse which turns out a rather nice 500bhp from factory. The 0 to 60mph time is a mare 4.1 seconds! That’s right up there with many super cars and almost hyper car levels of performance.

A modern Ford Mustang parked on green grass at a car show, with people and tents in the background.

On the John Grose stand next to Dark Horse they had a more eco friendly Ford electric model and other makes of cars to fill the spaces.

All of this while being serenaded by the brass band playing Star Wars and other theme tunes.

A brass band performing under a tent in a park, surrounded by an audience. Musicians are playing various instruments, while some audience members watch from a distance.

A couple of minutes later we were at the main entrance, crossed over the little moat bridge into the courtyard. I turned around to look back out to the fields.

The courtyard was eerily quiet, no hustle and bustle of people. We had a choice of cakes which were hand made and rather scrumptious, I could easily have demolished a couple more slices. Craig chose his cup of tea to go with his chocolate cake, I had the raspberry ripple. I don’t drink tea or coffee for no other reason than I don’t like the taste of them, never have. I asked for a cold drink if they had any, my option was a cup of water that they used to boil and make the tea with or nothing. I took the kind offer of the cup of water.

We sat and ate our cakes and just relaxed for half an hour or so. The little tables were spread out around the court yard far enough apart that we didn’t have to listen to anybody else, in fact the silence was quite tranquil.

A quick pic of craig doing his thing before the crowds got going.

A blue 1966 Ford Mustang parked on a grassy area with a historic brick building in the background, where people are admiring vehicles at a car show.

Here is that photo he took above.

A vintage blue Ford Mustang parked on green grass, with a historic building in the background.

In part three we go back out to the other field where the club stands are, more Mustangs, and my car of the show.

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Helmingham Hall Car Show 2025 (part 1)

Early February this year I decided to try something different to attend my favourite car show, Helmingham Hall. Normally the entrance fee is £12 per car (driver and one passenger) for this show. There is an alternative which what they call ‘The Tollemache 110’ option. This is for a limited number of cars. One hundred and ten cars max are allowed to park at the front of the Hall, but it comes at cost, quite a lot of cost actually. The plus side is that that you get a tea or coffee, slice of cake for the driver and one passenger plus a commemorative plaque of the day. To pay three times as much entry fee is a gamble, especially when the weather is unknown. Back then I paid the money and hoped the sunshine on the day. My rule is still based on if it rains or I know that it will rain, the car doesn’t come out the garage. So it’s a lot of money to pay and not turn up.

This a show where my good friend Craig joins me for the day, one it’s nice to have company at a car show, secondly he has a great camera and takes much better photos than me. We were swapping messages all week before the show debating the weather, it was going to rain! I have a total of five weather apps I use just for car shows. Four of the five said that there would be light rain at mid afternoon around three for an hour or so, the other one said all rain all afternoon. I decided on this occasion that as it was only light rain while I was there, and not driving there or home, this would be would be acceptable. Craig Turned up at twenty to eight in the morning on a Sunday which felt like the middle of the night. We had chairs, food, coats and camera equipment all neatly packed into the trunk. Craig filmed the car backing out the garage, which I was quite pleased with.

The sun was out and we had a journey of two halves, first to the petrol station where we met up with Craigs other friend who was also going in in Mazda MX5. He followed us to the event which was only around twenty minutes later. It would have been quicker if it wasn’t for the driver in an Austin Healy in front of us thinking he was driving a Sherman tank down a cycle lane. We dived of to some back roads to avoid him and save my sanity. It was longer by a couple of minutes, but it did mean that we had a clear road driving at our own pace. We pulled into the event where we were directed down the main driveway to park out the front of the Hall. We was directed to a great slot next to the path which leads to the main entrance for the Hall. The only down side was that the ground wasn’t level where I parked as it was on a little slope, a small price to pay for a good location.

A classic blue 1966 Ford Mustang parked on the lush green lawn in front of a historic brick building. People are seen socializing in the background, and another car is partially visible.

Once you have parked up, you can collect your show plaque and place it by your car, just a little A-frame with a A4 printed history of your car. The boards can be seen lined up in the above pic, Craig found our board and placed it at the front of the car. He decided to take some photos before the world and his mate were allowed into the show at ten. Even so, it was still busy.

Due to the sheer number of photos, I took over six hundred pics of the one thousand two hundred cars that turned up. For that reason, I will split this show over three posts. Hopefully it will avoid readers getting cramp in their hands scrolling through the all the pics in one go. Like I said Craig’s pics are so much better than mine so here a few to start with. The rest of his pics will also be spread out over the next couple of posts.

A blue Ford Mustang parked in front of Helmingham Hall, showcasing the historic building's brick architecture and entrance, with several classic cars visible in the background.
Close-up view of a classic blue Ford Mustang's headlight and grille, with a historic building in the background.

In the main archway there there was a table looked after by a woman who took your preferred afternoon spot for tea and cake. We decided at around one in the afternoon would be good. More on this a little later.

We started in the T110 area to the left of the house as you walked out, by now the general public were being let in and it got busy very quickly.

The real thing in White and a replica in red, the ever beautiful Countach.

Then the timeless Ferrari Dino, with a fury passenger.

We the main field was split into years, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000s. Due to sheer number of cars the lines did get a little mixed up. But we started just behind the vendor stalls where the oldest cars were and then worked out way to the far side of the field to the more modern stuff. Well that was the theory, but it didn’t work out practically though.

At the bottom of the field is a large pond getting on for a lake.

Wide view of a car show at Helmingham Hall, showcasing vintage cars and attendees enjoying the day near a large pond surrounded by greenery.

Working but up the next rows.

Nearer the top was an area for Hotrods.

After this was the second half of the field and John Grose of Ipswich stand who had a mixture of cars, including a rare Mustang.

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Culford Classic Car Show 2025 (part 2)

Continuing on from part one I was now standing by the performance car stands of Porsche and Ferrari. The stands are always popular with some old school examples along with some newer models. One Porsche in particular that caught my eye was the camping version on top of the car. Knowing the Porsche engineering it would be well made, but if I paid that amount of money for a car I don’t think would want to sleep on it.

A little bit further up the line was an individual entry, perhaps my favourite Porsche of all time, the beast which was the 911 Turbo, a stunning example in black which makes it even more menacing.

Some more of the Porsches from the private entries.

As much as I love a Ferrari, seeing nothing but red ones can make the area look a little samey. The 308 which got plenty of my attention was the best looking model there in my humble opinion. I may see an F40 in real life, then I might change my mind, maybe!

The longest vehicle (in total) was this big Chevy and a boat hanging off the back of it, well over forty feet long.

I’m not a huge BMW fan, but they made a couple of iconic cars, the M1 again, which I have never seen in real life and there is this legend, the original M3.

Moving past the club stands onto more individual cars.

Mart’s Car Of The Show:

My favourite of the show wasn’t in fact a car, it was a van and a very famous van as it was part of much loved and ever popular comedy series Dad’s Army. This is that original van from that show.

A vintage 1935 Ford BB van painted in blue and yellow with the name 'J. Jones Family Butcher' displayed on its side, parked on grass with a historic building in the background.

A little history borrowed from Wikipedia:

Dad’s Army is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom’s Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total; a feature film released in 1971, a stage show and a radio version based on the television scripts were also produced. The series regularly gained audiences of 18 million viewers and is still shown internationally.

The Home Guard consisted of local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, either because of age (hence the title Dad’s Army), medical reasons, or by being in professions exempt from conscription. Most of the platoon members in Dad’s Army are over military age and the series stars several older British actors, including Arnold Ridley, John Laurie, Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, many of whom had served in World War II in real life. Younger members of the cast included Ian Lavender, Clive Dunn (who, despite being one of the younger cast members, played the oldest guardsman, Lance Corporal Jones) and James Beck (who died suddenly during production of the sixth series in 1973). Other regular cast members included Frank Williams as the vicar, Edward Sinclair as the verger, and Bill Pertwee as the chief ARP warden. Following the death of Lavender in 2024, there are now no surviving principal cast members.

Corporal Jones driving the (his) van.

A Porsche and Ferrari display at a classic car show, showcasing both older models and newer versions, including a distinctive camping car on display.

The rest of the cast with the van:

The series has influenced British popular culture, with its catchphrases and characters being widely known. The Radio Times magazine listed Captain Mainwaring’s “You stupid boy!” among the 25 greatest put-downs on TV. A 2001 Channel 4 poll ranked Captain Mainwaring 21st on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In 2004, Dad’s Army came fourth in a BBC poll to find Britain’s Best Sitcom. It was placed 13th in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, and voted for by industry professionals.

The series is set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, located on the south coast of England, not far from Eastbourne. The exterior scenes were mostly filmed in and around the Stanford Training Area (STANTA), near Thetford, Norfolk. Walmington, and its Home Guard platoon, would be on the frontline in the event of a German invasion across the English Channel. The first series has a loose narrative thread, with Captain Mainwaring’s platoon being formed and equipped, initially with wooden guns and LDV armbands, later on with full army uniforms; the platoon is part of the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

The van is a 1935 two-ton Ford BB, one of the first commercial models produced at Ford’s Dagenham factory when it opened in 1931. It was discovered in a dilapidated condition in Streatham in London by Frank Holland, an assistant property master for the BBC. Such was its condition that the van was on the verge of being scrapped. Holland contacted Fred Wilmington, whose company supplied vehicles to the BBC; he purchased the van and restored it to full working order.

Later Paul Joel, a designer working on Dad’s Army, spotted the van among Wilmington’s stock of vehicles and obtained it for use in the series. The van was repainted and had “J. Jones Family Butcher” sign-painted on its side panels. The van still has its original engine from 1935.

I spent a fair while talking to the guys who look after the van at the Dad’s Army museum in Thetford. Ford took the van and handed it their apprentices to restore it, all for free! Hats off to Ford on that. As a kid I just loved this program, it was harmless and such a well written comedy.

I particularly remember the side of the van which had little port holes that swung open where the men could poke their rifles through. You can just about make out the swinging covers here just above the “Family Butchers” writing.

An image from the program where the port holes were used.

A variety of performance cars on display, including Porsche and Ferrari models, with attendees admiring the designs.

The van was used to carry all the items to the show so was pretty full up. You can see the port holes clearer on the right.

Interior of a vintage van filled with various items like wooden boards, bags, and tools, reflecting clutter and preparation.

Up front cab.

The fully rebuilt original engine:

An antique vehicle's engine is exposed with various mechanical components visible, set against a backdrop of a car show.

To round of the show I have saved a few Mustangs, although there wasn’t that many there.

Close-up of a blue 1966 Ford Mustang, showcasing the front grille and headlights, with a Michigan license plate.

It was a great show with lots of people there. The sky did cloud over a little early afternoon. I left about half an hour before the end of the show to miss the inevitable line of cars trying to getting out. Unfortunately quite a few had decided on the same idea, it took around fifteen minutes to get out of the grounds. The journey home was a pleasant cruise, although I sped up little due to a few spots of rain on the windscreen, I needn’t have worried as it came to nothing which made a nice change.

A well organised show with some great cars.

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Feltwell Anglo American Car Show 2025

This post is about an absolute first for me around the circumstances that this post came to be. The Feltwell Anglo-American Car Show last weekend was in Norfolk near many of the air bases, including Lakenheath where my car was imported into the UK from the USA.

The weather was promising and I got up not feeling to great, but a car show is a car show and sacrifices have to be made. I packed my bag with lunch, some drinks not forgetting my wallet for fuel on the way home. I started out on my journey around thirty miles away which according to my mate Tom (the TomTom SatNav), I would get there some forty odd minutes later. I arrived without any problems which was a great drive through the wonderful Thetford Forest. Marshalls quickly directed into the field where I parked up under directions, all in a line. The trouble was the lines were two deep and they parked us all facing the same way hood to trunk. People wandering around would see the front of the cars one side and only the back of the cars behind them. Not impressed with that situation, I waited for my marshal to direct other cars into position. With him now busy a good few cars down from me I pulled out and backed into the same spot, this time trunk to trunk with a new Mustang behind me. I parked next to a 2.8i Capri, which seems to be the UK Mustang in many peoples eyes; two doors, long hood, fastback styled.

feeling please that I bucked the trend of parking, I had a drink and thought I would go and take some photos before it got to busy! Now I had a problem, I couldn’t find my phone. After a frantic panic of ten minutes or so emptying the trunk. I remembered that I put the on the tool chest in the garage while I loaded my trunk. It felt like I had lost the extension of my arm, of all the car shows since 2011, I have never been without my phone. In fact I can count on one hand, ever since I have owned cell phones from 1997 with the little pull out aerials, that I have gone out without my phone. How on earth was I going to take photos? Then it came to me, use the dash cam. I use an Akaso EK7000 which is plugged into the cigarette lighter and removed once I’m parked up. Luckily it had been used on the way to the show so was fully charged up. I formatted the SD card to make space for the photo’s.

I have modified the mount a bit with magnets and foam in order to attach to the metal grill on the dash, and not mark it. I took these photos of the dash cam once I got back home.

The dash cam’s photo function isn’t as good as my trusty old Samsung S24 Ultra. It felt funny walking around with a little tiny box to take the pictures. But, it has done the job admirably and you can see what was there. However, as this has a wide angle lens, some of the perspective is a little distorted. I would wander up and down the lines fairly quickly not knowing how long the battery would last.

As this is near the airbases there was a good showing of American muscle. The show was busy and a couple of hundred cars were expected, I think there was a little more than that.

There were a couple of buses that were great and the owners allowed people to get on them.

I have seen this A-Team van before which was signed by the cast.

Another movie car that needs no introduction, not an official licensed car, but still pretty good.

Walking back down line was mine and the rest of the cars.

My car of the show was this little ol’ thing, a Tempo Matador apparently. I don’t why I liked it – i just did.

There was a few motor bikes there.

The most stunning was this steam punk Dr. Watson bike. I heard him say it has taken him ten years so far. the attention to detail with polished copper was amazing.

To fish up there was a quite a few Mustangs, apart from the Eleanor above.

To finish up I have a comparison. Some cars can pull the colour pink off, some can’t do it as well!

The dash cam battery lasted very well to be honest and I needn’t of rushed around. It was a great show with plenty of cars and I spoke to lots of people. Back to the phone, I do make a point of having two phones with me, one just as a backup as using the camera all day can eat the battery. I have a choice of two trusty Nokia phones both from 1999, but both with very different characteristics. My 7110 Matrix and my tiny 8210, both have amazing battery life of days not just hours, and the standby time is weeks. Oh, the games on these were really cool too.

I swap them around now again in my cool bag, so I’m still able to make an emergency call if I need too. Does anybody else carry a spare phone or is it just me?

When i got back home I downloaded the photos to my PC to get a better idea of what they looked like. having to look at the pictures on the back of the camera was difficult to see if they were blurred or poor or not. I was pleasantly surprised to be fair.

Next time out I will make sure the smart phone is packed as well!

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Almost Made It

Last weekend was due to be my first car meet, my good mate Craig sent me a link earlier in the week which was for a show just thirteen or so miles away from me in Lavenham across country. The car was pushed out the garage on the Saturday to de-winterise the car and give it a bit of a clean up. I also did a oil and filter change change with some Millers 20W 50 Semi synthetic oil. I also had a new detailing product I wanted to try and mini project that had waited for the right time to get the car out in the nice weather.

The mini project was a real quick one to replace the headlight retaining rings around the headlights as I detected a little rattle at the end of last year’s shows and found it was from the drivers headlight. I knew exactly what it was, but wasn’t to worried about it at this point. I had made a trip over the winter to get a pair of headlight retaining rings from Mustang Maniac to make sure they matched, I couldn’t have one shiny and one not as shiny could I?

The headlight retaining rings were pretty simple to swap over and I have done a full walkthrough of the process here.

Basically the headlight door comes of after loosening four screws.

The exposed headlight retaining rings are held in place by three screws.

Loosen the three screws and twist the ring counter clockwise a little to release the ring and the headlight itself becomes free.

You can replace the headlight at this point as well for an LED upgrade, like I did here. Or just replace the the rings which was my intention this time. On the left picture below you can tell the difference between the new one at the top of the left hand pic and the old one below it.

While I was at it replacing shiny things I got my mini polisher out and decided to clean the headlight door screws, just because I could.

Will anybody notice, I very much doubt it, but I know they are shiny. Happy with the days quick bit of work I was ready for the car meet the next day.

Sunday morning arrived and where I checked the weather which was sunny, today was going to be great. I started the car and rolled out the garage with over an hour before the start. I realised that I had more fuel than I remembered, just over a quarter of a tank, which would be more than enough to get to the show and back again about twelve miles each way in fact. I could fill up on the way home in my own leisurely time. The usual turn off for me is more of a main road route than the back roads, which can be dirty and you often get idiots in the middle of the roads going much to fast. As I turned into the road barriers stopped me with the dreaded “Road Closed” sign. Somebody was being paid to stand there and watch all the cars turning around. He eventually wondered over to me as I wasn’t turning round, it was obviously too much for him to walk over. We had a very brief exchange of words where I tried to bluff my way through. Unfortunately he was having none of it and walked away mid way through his sentence mumbling under his breath. Now I’m in a bad mood as it meant that I was going to have to reverse back up because I didn’t want to do a ten point turn in the car. The down side was me about to reverse onto a fairly busy roundabout. I think he said ‘follow the diversion signs’ in some sort of half strung together sentence, which would ‘only be a few miles or so’. The irony was the ‘Road Works’ which wasn’t happening with him or the other half a dozen who were also standing around and certainly not working on the road. They could have let me through, but no – Mr. Jobsworth was on the case.

The signs sent me back round to the far side of the town along the way my SatNav was having a mental, with “turn around where possible”. I turned my trusty navigation co-pilot off in order to concentrate on following the road diversion signs, or should I say more like a ‘wild goose chase’? Twenty minutes later I’m still following signs to who knows where. I started to realise something was wrong when I glanced a sign giving directions to Cambridge which was the exact opposite direction I needed to be going. Now I’m literally in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal. I started to sweat as my fuel gauge was running down. I may have mentioned in a few post before, the air was turning blue just like my car and the sky above me. It would be a glorious day to be at a car meet, if I could get there. But no, the diversion muppets who put the signs up were having a laugh at my expense or they got lost themselves.

I reckoned that I had a couple of gallons left and decided to abort the trip as I’m now in a previously undetected black hole that exists in darkest depth of Suffolk. I eventually found some signal and called my mate Craig to say I was lost. He said he would do a fuel run for me if needed, which was very kind of him, if I knew where I was of course to get the fuel in the first place. I opened my Shell app which showed me the location of petrol stations near me. My usual, regular Shell fuel station in Bury St Edmunds was shown to be ‘only’ 15 miles away. My featherweight foot was just resting on the gas pedal and some twenty minutes later I pulled into the gas station. The fuel gauge before on the left, then almost £70 later I was full up again.

I reckon that I had another gallon or so in the tank, but you can’t trust these old gauges. I certainly don’t and tend to fill up when near the 1/4 tank mark which is my ’empty’ guide during the car show season.

The drive home was relaxed, but feeling disappointed. I stopped at a junction to turn right, when pulling away out of nowhere a rather annoying screech on quick throttle. One of belts for the fan/alternator or the power steering belt was slipping. Pulling up back on my drive the belt screech was becoming more pronounced. My day was now getting worse by the minute, I popped the hood, but couldn’t tell which belt it was. The first belt to come of was the power steering and then re-started the car, screech was still there. I then removed the alternator belt and started the car, the screech was gone. Laying the belt on the floor it looked more like an egg where it had sat around the pullies and had stretched over the winter just enough to cause the issue. I cleaned the belt and the pulley V grooves with degreaser, along with a fair amount of isopropanol alcohol to dry the grooves and belt, once cleaned it was refitted back on. The screech had almost gone, only happened on sudden revs, but still there a little. The tension couldn’t be adjusted anymore as the alternator was now on the max adjustment on the bracket. I spoke to Adam at Mustang Maniac who told me that he would send the direct replacement belt and another one which was 1/2″ shorter belt to give me more adjustment on the bracket.

I put the car away after a clean and went inside the house decided to relay my dissatisfaction of the day so far to my ever understanding wife. I plonked myself on the sofa with the hump and felling very sorry for myself.

About an hour or so later Craig pulled up and asked if everything was OK. I had even forgotten to let him know that I had filled up and gotten home safely. Sorry again Craig.

We decided to have a couple of hours of detailing tyres and comparing products, all of which I will be reviewing. The first was the Meguiar’s Ultimate Insane Tire Spray, the full review can be found here. The product we used on the daily car was CarPro DarkSide Tyre And Rubber Sealant, the full review can be found here. Craig loaned me his new product that he had recently bought and liked. He asked me if I wanted to try it on my cars. So we opened a can of chilled soda each, sitting in the warm sun we took some pictures so that I could review the product, which is a nice change as I tend to do them on my own.

Once the tyres were cleaned we tried the CarPro product on the Smart car.

I was very pleased with the results and I will buying some of this product when I get round to ordering it. Time started run away with us as we cleared up and Craig made a move to go back home. It was a good day in the end, catching up with a mate, shame it wasn’t at a car meet itself. That means my first show was a DNF is normally defined as ‘Did Not Finish’, but in my case ‘Did Not Find’ it, so near yet so far.

Hopefully the next proper show is this weekend at Kersey Mill, but the weather forecast doesn’t look that good, maybe I could be forced to miss that one as well.

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Fill Her Up

Many classic cars of the bygone era of the ’60s & ’70s, not just Mustangs were fitted with a fuel filler pipe that was quite big diameter. The fuel back then was Leaded or Four Star fuels to be pumped through a larger nozzle which filled more of the filler pipe, which makes perfect sense. When pumping was complete, the pump would click off and it was job done. However, with the move to the dreaded ethanol based fuels the filler pipe holes were made smaller along with the pump heads themselves. Fuel pumps from today have the much smaller hole which ensure a snug fit and allow the pump to shut off as you would expect. The problem with classic cars owners now have since this change is that the the large diameter filler pipes still take the smaller pumps which fill at similar rates, but at higher pressure. In turn that when the filling is complete, the fuel should stop the nozzle to avoid over filling, but it more often than not doesn’t. The reason is that pumped gas under pressure can splash back around the smaller nozzles, down sides of the filler pipes and out the top. This invariably results with some splash back out of the filler pipe over the paint job, bumper and if I’m unlucky, me if I happened to be standing in the wrong place. With this in mind I tend to go through some performance of getting a microfibre cloth, laying it over the bumper ready to clean up quickly when I top the tank up. I sometimes get strange looks as to what I’m doing before filling up.

This waste of fuel, smell on your clothes and potential damage to the paint work over time has always been an annoyance to me, but it’s part of the ‘joys’ of owning a classic car. I know many other Mustang owners as well as other manufacturers in fact that suffer from this issue. I just happened to be browsing through a Mustang forum where I spotted a link where somebody had modified the 64 – 70 Mustang filler pipes, a totally random link lead me to a discussion. The filler pipe size was exactly the same as the original, but inside is a simple fitted anti splashback valve. The valve is designed for the unleaded fuel pump nozzles sizes of today 13/16″ and should stop the splashback problem.

After a bit more research I got in touch with the guy and ordered one. A couple of weeks later it arrived and got round to fitting it as the sun came out over the weekend. Below shows the inside of the filler pipe with the anti splash back valve.

I have created a full step by step fitting guide for the filler neck here, but I have shown the basics steps of fitting it below.

This is an exact replacement for the standard filler pipe. The only minor difference is the bottom of the filler pipe has a slightly ribbed bottom which should aid in sealing of the hose to the pipe.

The only difference as i mentioned is the internal fuel valve. The definition of fuel ‘valve’ is a piece of sprung metal behind the reduced filler neck size opening. There are a couple of breather holes as well, two at the top and one where the bottom of the flap finishes almost at the bottom of the filler opening. The inner valve is held in place with a few dimples and a bit of JB Weld.

Roll the trunk mat out of the way to expose the top of the fuel tank. I have a a sound deadening mat on top of my polished tank which is semi stuck down. Remove the fuel cap, if you have the security version like mine there is a threaded bolt that goes through the filler panel and held in place by a nylon nut. Undo the nut and remove the security wire and the cap.

There will be four bolts around the outside of the flange which will need to be removed.

Inside the trunk there is a rubber hose clamped in place by two wire fittings. It’s easier to undo both the top and bottom clamps. Either the fuel pipe needs to come out of the rubber hose. Or pull the rubber hose up of the neck of the fuel tank itself. Either way is fine, you just need to remove the pipe from the hose.

In my case the hose came off the tank first. With the fuel pipe now free, remove the hose from the pipe otherwise the filler will not go through the panel as the opening is fairly snug.

Fully remove the pipe along with the cork gasket from the rear panel. Be careful not to let anything full into the open top of the fuel tank, I placed my fuel cap over the opening to prevent anything falling in it.

With the pipe removed I cleaned and applied a long lasting wax to the paint before i added the cork gaskets back on. You only need one gasket, but I like two, as it helps with the alignment of the filler pipe and also gives a little more protection of metal filler pipe flange to the paint.

Add the gasket(s) on the pipe before before feeding the pipe through the rear panel.

With the pipe through the panel it’s easier to fit the hose to the pipe by turning it ninety degrees. Then turn the pipe back round to the correct position and then you can simply press down the hose to the fuel tank opening neck.

With the hose now in place we can add the screws to hold the pipe’s flange to the panel. I started by adding the anti theft bolt through the gaskets and the panel. Add the washer to the front side of the flange, then the second washer inside and finally the nylon lock nut on the inside. Don’t tighten anything up just yet.

Next arrange the clamps how they should be on the rubber hose. When I first fitted the filler pipe and the hose I had the clamps on the inside of the trunk, this mean that things like cloths would catch the bolts. See below right hand photo. I never changed their position until now. The clamps should be between filler pipe and the rear panel so they are out of the way. Left and middle photos below. Lightly tighten the clamps just to hold them in place for now.

Align the gasket(s) up to the holes and add the rest of the screws to the flange and gently tighten up to allow for final adjustments.

With the screws in place start to tighten them up and the bolt for the security wire. Ensure the security wire is aligned with the outer part of the flange, or you won’t be able to fit the cap back back on. Tightening of the bolts or screws will pull the pipe into position on the panel. Now go back to the hose clamps and fully tighten them both up as the rubber will take the difference of alignment up. Recheck all bolts are tight.

The filler pipe was a like for like swap, but now I have little more bling under the trunk with the nickel plating looking great.

From the outside there is no difference to see. But, on the inside there is something (in theory) to stop me getting my regular splashback on fill up. Once I have taken the car for the next fill up I will give the results if the splashback is cured with this little project. It can’t be any worse no matter what happens.

I’m now intrigued to know if any other classic car owners have the same problem, or have hacks that they can share with us.

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Avoid Relocation Woes

Moving Your Prized Mustang: A Complete Guide to Auto Transport and Relocation

Wanting to travel with your prized Mustang everywhere is natural. Once you’ve driven one, it’s hard to go back to any other vehicle.

But what do you do in scenarios where you can’t take a week to travel across the USA and need your vehicle on the other coast?

Or what if you’re going to move internationally?

In today’s article, we’ll dive into how to relocate your prized Mustang so you not only get your vehicle to your new destination ASAP but you get it there safe and sound.

Read on below.

1. Plan Your Move Ahead of Time

Transport companies are like airlines: the closer you are to the shipping date, the higher the price is going to be. If possible, always plan far ahead of time so that you can get a better discount on transporting your Mustang.

You can also consider leaving your vehicle in storage until you’re prepared to arrive at your final destination. If you’re moving countries, then having it stay in storage can be a good idea so you can have your Mustang ready to roll. Remember, overseas vehicle transportation can take months depending on the time of year and type of shipping you decide on.

2. Find a Suitable Transport Company

Not all transport companies are the same, and not all vehicles are shipped in the same fashion. When it comes to shipping Mustangs, ideally you’d like to go with someone who has experience shipping classics, like A1 Auto Transport classic car transportation services.

What’s important is that you find a transport company that has a footprint online, so you know that you aren’t handing off your vehicle to some random company. You can get free quotes beforehand, so there is never any commitment until you find a price that you’re happy with.

Always ask for a total quote so that you can know ahead of time what it’s going to be. Shadier companies will often do bait-and-switch pricing, causing the price to be increased by 25% or even more on arrival. It’s important to verify the amount of insurance coverage you’ll have, as some Mustangs can cost quite a bit and you do NOT want to risk insurance that doesn’t fully cover the vehicle.

3. Decide on the Type of Shipping

When shipping your Mustang domestically, you have two options: open and closed trailers. An open trailer is one that you likely have seen many times driving up and down the interstates. They can haul up to 12 vehicles at once and are economical as they can load many vehicles simultaneously.

Closed or “enclosed” trailers are best for protecting your expensive Mustangs during longer journeys. No one will know what is inside, which will prevent any damage or theft from eager onlookers. If you’re shipping a vehicle that doesn’t work, then you’ll have to go with an enclosed trailer rather than an open trailer, as the vehicles have to be driven on and off the trailer.

4. Prepare the Mustang for Transport

Once you’ve decided on your transport company and the type of shipping, you’ll want to prepare your Mustang. The first step is to clean the outside and the inside. You may ask, “Why do I need to clean it before?” The reason is that you want to take photos of the vehicle before you hand it off.

Ideally, you’d like to have these photos signed by the transport company so that if a claim is needed later on, you’ll have definitive proof that the vehicle was in good shape. It protects you from receiving the vehicle damaged and dealing with an unwilling insurance company that claims the Mustang was damaged before transport.

Remove any loose objects from the inside, and if your Mustang is a convertible, put up the cover so the interior doesn’t get wet. Do NOT leave any valuable objects inside the vehicle as these items will not be covered by insurance.

Transport companies require you to have the gas tank lowered to a certain amount, typically around 1/4 of the capacity. If you don’t know how to remove the gas from the gas tank, you can ask your transport company for guidance.

5. Pick Up Your Mustang

Once you and the transport company have done a final check on the vehicle, all that’s left is to pick up your Mustang on arrival. You typically will have to meet the driver at a designated location, but you can have it delivered right to your door for an additional cost.

Before you sign off that everything is OK, do a walk-around and double- and triple-check all is OK before signing any documents. Once everything is signed off, all that’s left to do is enjoy your Mustang in all its glory.

Conclusion

Transporting a Mustang is like transporting any other vehicle, but considering how expensive some classics can be, it’s always best to have it transported as safely and securely as possible. Always go with vetted transport companies and ensure that you’re not handing off your vehicle to a random fly-by-night entity.

As long as you’re doing your homework beforehand, you’ll have your Mustang at your final destination, ready to go. Consider even leaving it in storage if necessary ahead of time, so it’ll be in your target location once you’re ready to go.

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Classics At Glemham 2024

As I write this post I didn’t realise that this going to be my last show of the year. There were a couple of others that I was scheduled to go to after this one, but the weather was predicted to be raining, as my car doesn’t get wet (if I can help it), I didn’t attend sadly. The weather app was correct and the rains did arrive on those days, shame as this year was a really good year for lots of shows. Glemham Hall, or ‘Classics at Glemham’ as its called, is another well supported car show with a huge variety of cars. Many of which are not that old, so I didn’t take to many of those, just the cars that grabbed my attention.

The weather was looking a bit grey to start with, and a few spots of fine rain. I stood in the garage door way to asses the situation, do I or don’t I? the other side of the village I could see clearer skies and the direction I would have to travel looked better. The car was loaded up, I got in and backed out promising myself that if it rained on the way, I would turn back. I had a thirty one mile drive across country, or stick to the main roads for a forty four mile journey. The backroads aren’t bad, but they can be busy if you get stuck behind some farm equipment with nowhere to really overtake. The main roads were quiet and not much traffic. There was a few spits of rain on the screen, but nothing more than that and the roads remained dry.

The sat nave was being a bit of pain and needed resetting a could of times, but luckily the roads were fairly straight forward. There wasn’t much of a queue and drove in fairly slowly to the field. The first thing to cross my mind was that they could of cut the grass. The cars were arranged by year and club stands. Parking up was regimented and left a little bit of room to the car next to me. The sun was now starting to shine as I grabbed some refreshments, and opened the hood.

I spent a few minutes with the car before taking to the rows of cars for a few pictures. The plan of action was to work counter clockwise and end up back at the car. The far end of the field I spotted a few friends and had a quick chat with them.

The Lotus stand was interesting with a few different engines on stands to have a good look at.

The paint job on this E-Type was just spectacular, the photos don’t do it justice. On the inside it wasn’t as pristine, but still a nice place to be.

I don’t know if I’m being a car snob or not, but why put a Chevy in a Ford Cobra kit car? I appreciate it will go very well, but…..

This Corvette got my vote for best car, it was just immaculate.

I have said in the past this Countach was my poster car (in white) as a teenager, it’s not often you see one opened up all over like this. I actually got to see the trunk which was just about big enough for a book of matches, with that terrible lack of luggage space in mind, I still want one!!!

Eventually I got back to the car for a well earned rest and refreshments.

I think that the threat of rain on the day kept a few people away, it nearly kept me away. That could well be the main reason that it wasn’t as busy as other years. Still a great show with lots to see.

I left a little early to miss the rush, as it’s always a bit of a nightmare to get out from here with the narrow roads. The trip home was relaxing and enjoyable taking the long way round again. Well, there was one teenager in a Vauxhall Corsa, windows down, an aftermarket loud exhaust the size of my filler cap, over took me coming of a round about onto a dual carriageway. He was making loads of noise and not getting very far, all show and no go! I’m not sure what came over me when I decided to give mine some gas and pull up along side him with a rumbling V8. He glanced over and dropped a gear (I think), to try and pull away, he didn’t. I just laughed and let him go with a point proven; a fifty eight year old car still kept up with that hunk of junk.

Once I got home the car got a quick wipe over to get the field dust of the car before I put it back in the garage and covered it up.

That’s it, car show season 2024 is over me and my Mustang and a bit gutted to say the least. I have made new friends, meet old friends and been to new venues. I shall look forward to meeting more friends next year.

Don’t worry, (not that you were), as there will be more updates on my little ol’ blog. There will be a special post for something amazing in a couple of weeks time. There will be more car detailing reviews with a requested review and things that I wanted to try. A couple of little things I want to do on the car which I will post about when I get round to them over the winter and the weather is kind, there’s no rush at this time of year.

Like all classic cars – they are never finished!

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