It’s a rare occasion for me to attend a car show without my car, all be it an unintentional car show. I had arranged a little family day out at Lowestoft and was looking forward to the day. We arrived after a half an hours drive and managed to find somewhere to park near the sea front, the best part was that it was free to park. We got our stuff from the back of my daily driver and walked towards the sea front, looking for the arcade game Daytona 500. It’s an old game now, but there history and years of friendly rivalry to see who will win on this game. We found a nice arcade and started on the 2p coin pusher game to try and win something for the little guy, nothing doing there, it more about the fun of trying to win. It’s not like it was when I was a younger (here we go rant), where you could be on these games for hours with just a couple of quid to “feed the machine”, which was the saying we had at the time. You used to be able to ‘win’ a plastic car or key ring as a bonus, now you are lucky to win a couple of coins after feeding the machine a good few quid. To be fair it’s brilliant fun and cheap to keep the little ones occupied, with a sense of achievement when the tinkle of pennies hit the collection tray. We eventually found the Sega Daytona 500 which is the same as this picture, sometimes they are four in a row.
The mission was best out of three, and let’s just say the dirty tactics by ‘J’ running me of the track worked for him today (as it did in the past) and he took the first win with ease. Rematch, I got a disastrous start and it took me a couple of laps to catch up with him, rather than playing fair I decided to run him of the track too, revenge is best served cold. With that suspect manoeuvre I romped home with a mirror image win to ‘J’s. The decider was going to be tough, dirty tactics were going to come into play I just knew it as the tension rose as the music and voice over counted us in. Again he got the better of me, only just this time on the start, I slipped in behind him and dived up the inside and sat there. The other cars on the outside were in ‘J’s way and I managed to box him in to slow him down while I made sharp exit of the turn and disappeared. The taunts to my left seemed to spur him on, I made a mistake on the last lap due to my gloating and just kissed the wall knocking a considerable amount of speed off. I managed to get going and could see ‘J’ closing me down fast with a stunning couple of laps from him to get back in with a shout. I kept the racing and tried to mash the gas peddle through the bottom of the floor. The drag race with ‘J’ carrying corner exit speed and me trying to draft the cars in front. Victory was mine as I scrapped over the line by a car length or so, half a lap more ‘J’ would have won. The taunts started again after the win as you would expect. It will be short lived win as I suspect the next rematch will be be more dodgy driving again, from both sides!
After feeding more of the machines and the pockets of the arcade owners we decided to go for something to eat. We walked for a few minutes and found a nice Weatherspoons and ordered our food and drink via the app. We enjoyed the food and walked a little further up the sea front towards a fun fair. We spend some time there with some great photos and memories made. We had a great day and decided to call it a day and walked back towards the car. We walked back near to the beach itself where we wandered into a car show with around twenty or so cars on display. It did feel strange to look around cars without mine being there somewhere. We wandered around spoke to a couple of people. The Fords were out in force, a few first gen Mustangs.
There was this fourth gen SN95 Mustang which had been rat rodded with a gun welded to the hood! The funny thing was there was a side exhaust in front of the fake up pipes Mad Max style. I don’t understand why he did it that way.
A Ford Cougar caught my eye. I do love the fact these had the hidden headlights behind the matching grill.
My favourite of this little car show was this beautiful ’57 Thunderbird. I would love one of these, sadly I can’t get in them.
I had a look around online to find out about this show, I didn’t find anything. If anybody knows about it please let me know. So that was it, just a little splattering of classic cars on the sea front as the Sun was starting to set for the afternoon. It was good to see some cars at a show that I hadn’t seen before. We all walked back to the car and had a relaxed drive home, trying to keep the little one awake was a mission on its own.
A fantastic day out with the family and classic cars, what more could I ask for? I’m looking forward to the next outing, although the weather is turning to Winter rather quickly. I had a great night’s sleep due to the intake of the sea air, or is it just me that sleeps well after being by the sea?
Every now and again I’m lucky enough to speak to professional photographers and videographers. Earlier in the year I was at a show where Matthew Filby (his contact details below) started talking to me about my car. It turns out that he is a professional photographer and was interested in doing a ‘Pro Shoot’ with my car at a nice location. Those type of offers don’t come along very often so I said that I would certainly be up for that and we exchanged details. A few weeks passed while we exchanged a few emails of possibilities of location and dates. Matthew told me that his friend Henry Smith (his contact details also below) was also interested in doing a video shoot at the same time. We eventually found a date that worked for everybody on Saturday 10th August 2024. The weather was a major question mark as the rain had been a little unpredictable the weeks before. However, the seven day forecast for the day was to be overcast, no rain expected.
The morning arrived and I got up to complete cloud cover, with no rain. I made sure that I had plenty of my detailing products and microfibres and set off to the rendezvous at ten am with the guys. The journey was about forty minutes away just outside Thetford Forest, Suffolk, a quiet little place called Euston just past Euston Hall itself. I was early and parked up somewhere that I could wipe the car over from the road dust.
The guys turned up and we had a chat about the plans for the morning. Henry informed me that he had contacted the owner of the Euston Hall prior to todays shoot and that they had granted permission to film there on the grounds. I drove to the entrance of the hall which was only a few hundred yards away that I had just past about ten minutes earlier. The guys got in the car and told me to follow a dusty track up a bit further to a clearing where the shoot was going to take place. We got out and the guys looked around then directed me to a nice little spot that they liked. The spot was by a little cross path, by some trees and a field.
The guys set up their equipment and I asked them if I could take some photos of them, taking photos of my car. They thought it would be a good idea as they didn’t have any shots like that. I have since shared those ‘Behind The Scenes’ photos with them so that they could use them as well for their own media channels. It will be so easy to tell the difference between the Pro shots compared to my amateur Galaxy S24 Ultra photos. The pro photos have luscious rich colours, the blacks are black and are much crisper. We discussed what I wanted and what they had in mind too. I wanted some ‘moody’ looking shots, the rest I would leave up to them. I kept out the way as much as possible while Matthew and Henry got to work. As they were moving around to different locations I asked a few questions (well a lot to be honest) about their techniques and equipment, trying to learn about car photography.
Where Matthew went, I followed like a lost sheep and tried to replicate their photos.
Here are some initial shots of Matthew and Henry doing the distance shots.
Matthew moved to take some more shots between the trees to frame the car.
After the video sequencing for the outside shots were completed, we opened the doors and hood for some engine and interior shots.
Then here was my efforts to replicate what Matthew had taken above.
During the static shoot there was a couple of tractors that passed by, one pass ended up in the video.
After an hour or so and they were happy with their footage, we decided to go to the next location to take the rolling road shots with a drone and moving shots inside the car. I gave them a lift back down the track to the main car parking area where Henry picked up his car. We met back up a couple of minutes later back at the original meeting point for the shoot.
The guys discussed who would drive first, what shots they wanted and how they were going to do it. I sat there watching them rehearse the runs. They managed to do something fancy with the seat belts so they didn’t fall out while going along.
We didn’t have to travel on the main roads to get to the fairly well hidden and out of the way road where we could film the rolling shots. Matthew drove for the video shots with Henry in the back. Then they swapped over for Matthew to take some stills of the rolling car.
Here I took some photos of them taking photos of me. We drove up and down the mile long road a few times. Their hand signals directed me closer, further away, hold station, move over a little, speed up, slow down or give it some gas etc.
For the drone shots Matthew sat with me in the car speaking with Henry on his phone taking the directions on how he wanted the car, faster, slower, over a bit etc. While Matthew was directing me in the car, he also took a few action photos as we turned around and positioned up ready for the next run.
The completed video is below. I would like to post it to YouTube, but I suspect that I may get a copyright strike due to the sound track used. Not that I’m complaining as it’s a classic song.
That just leaves me with the pleasure of sharing their contact details with you as they worked hard on this little project. Matthew’s website is currently under construction, but it will be live soon. I can thoroughly recommend their services:
It was an absolute pleasure to be with the guys for the day. Very professional and knowledgeable about what they wanted and what I was after. Give the guys a look up and tell them that Mart from onemanandhismustang.com sent you!
My good mood was tested to the limit as some road works for a road closure (that wasn’t there when I left) directed me down a country lane. On its own that’s no so bad, but when some stupid, selfish moron driving a beat up Land Rover comes full pelt towards you, its not so good. I had to brake to avoid him by going up a slightly muddy bank. He of course didn’t budge, didn’t give a rats arse. He knew I would bottle out of the head to head. I expressed my displeasure quite vocally and indicated with various hand gestures that he could also move over. He didn’t care about his wreck of a car with dents all over it, where as I do care about my pride and joy. My rage subsided after a few minutes and settled back down to the rest of my drive. I got home and looked at my once very clean car, which I now suspected it would be dirty, I wasn’t wrong. The front left tyre was the dirtiest it has ever been, the rear wasn’t so bad. I spent a good while cleaning the tyres all round, and then started to clean the paint before I put the car away ready for the next show. I couldn’t just clean one wheel as it may look different to the rest and it would certainly trigger my car detailing OCD issues.
They were soon back to normal.
Again, huge thanks to Henry and Matthew for such a great day.
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.
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.
The second half of the show had a general mixture of the almost new cars, that cost a lot when new, but not worth so much now as they common in any car park. However, there was some amazing looking cars there and I will start with a couple of my favourites again, the Audi Coupes, why o why did I sell mine?
The Morgan had a full on picnic setup going with a candelabra.
There was a club of ‘Fast Fords’ as they become known a decade or so later, in a circle display and few nearby. Among them was a couple of Mustangs in the middle, the blue scissor door Mustang has been around a few shows but is either a love it or hate it mod, it’s not for me to judge.
I enjoyed this camper van with the “Adventure before Dementia” slogan, love it.
This Renault ‘Williams’ is a bit of a rare find now days.
I was back to my car and the rest of the car club, the entertainment was going strong throughout the day, either these ladies singing to the backing tracks or a DJ playing some classic tunes from the 50’s and 60’s. There was many more car related stalls at this smaller show than the much bigger show such as Helmingham Hall, which is surprising. I spent a good while looking around the various automotive gems for sale, although I didn’t buy anything.
My car of the show was this huge Cadillac Eldorado, a monster of a land barge, beautifully turned out and I watched it drive in and it was whisper quiet even for the (i believe it to be an) 8.2ltr engine.
It was a good day, lovely weather and I spoke to a number of friends there too. A good show with lots of diverse cars to be seen. Busy day with lots of people all in good spirits, not the alcohol version.
I left about an hour before the end of the show. The drive home was serene and relaxing, if not a bit warm. I got home in good time and wiped the car over from the accumulated road and showground dust before I my my pride and joy under its soft cotton cover until the next show.
As I was editing these photos cropping out unwanted areas, I realised that I only took a few pictures of my car which was a little unlike me. The one above was early on before the car show got going.
A more general purpose classic car show was hosted at Stonham Barns on 18th August 2024. I wasn’t going to be expecting to much from this show, but I was wrong. It turned out to be much better supported than i expected and took a little over three hundred photos. As with big events and lots of photos I have split it over two posts to save the repetitive strain injury from scrolling down the page.
The day’s forecast was going to be nice weather, so I packed the factor fifty and plenty of cold drinks in the cool bag. I needed fuel and stopped off Shell for a fill up of some V-Power. I wasn’t hungry until the smell of freshly baked food greeted me when I walked in to pay. My will power failed me as I asked for a nice warm sausage roll, my treat to me just because I got up early, that was my excuse. The walk back to the car by the pump was slow while I devoured breakfast, I made sure to not get any grease on my fingers by holding the roll in the bag and the serviette. There was only one other car filling up, so it wasn’t as though they were busy. I binned the rubbish, got in the car and buckled up for the journey.
The journey to the event was fine, but the usual wedge of a traffic jam to get in was a bit longer than normal. While sitting in the car burning the recently purchased fuel, I happened to look around and spotted a convex mirror on a telegraph pole. I could almost see my car in it. As the line moved forward I got the camera out and took a couple of pics for something different, I think they came out well. The cars in front moved more than I expected, but I stopped where i wanted anyway. The impatient Audi driver wasn’t impressed and was waving his hands as if to move me up the road, all for the sake of a couple of car lengths. Not only that, he sat right up filler cap going round the twisty roads. Bovered? Nope! I won’t let anybody ruin my Mustang car trips.
I eventually got to the event and asked where the Bury Retro Car Club was to be parked. I was told follow the road round and they will park you up. I followed the road round and the dude hadn’t got a clue. So I just pulled to the side of the main arena and said I will wait here out the way. I parked my car up and waited for him to return, which he didn’t. I rang the club organiser to ask where he was and said that he was also stuck in traffic. I told him where I was parked and to let me know where I should be parked.
I wandered over to the main entrance to watch the cars come in and look out for the rest of the club to arrive. They arrived some quarter of an hour later and were directed to the a dark corner of the field with only three spaces. The drove round to where I was so we made out own stand!
I started at the far end of the field and worked my way back to where I was parked.
Cars were still coming in after the ‘start’ time but they got to park at the field near the end of the entrance road.
While I was waiting at the main gate I spotted a car like mine drive in, I found it at the far end of the field. This car was almost the same colour but had the standard interior and the rear quarter trims. I waited around for a while as I wanted to have a chat with the owner.
Around the same area there was a few Mustangs so I grouped them together.
I’m not sure what is going on with this Citroen 2CV, is the bloke having a laugh or has he got issues?
I hope it was tongue in check as it looked like the badge was just slapped on! This car got my runner up car of the show, I’m not a fan of these cars at all, but it made me smile. Part two’s post will have the rest of the show and my actual favourite car of the day.
After lots of walking around the club stand field and watching the exhibition runs, we wandered over to the privateer field. There was a Ford main dealer showing some cars and some food stalls. We decided to go back to my car for a regroup and something to eat and drink as the smell of the food had made me hungry. There was a brass band hiding under a tree near the main dealers who were playing movie themes and other popular tunes while the audience were eating hotdogs and their burgers. There was no order to these photo’s, except for the rows were arranged by decades. We just wandered up and down the rows taking photo’s of the cars we liked. There was lot of modern cars there which looked just like a Tesco car park, so we sort of ignored those. A four of five year old Jaguar or Toyota doesn’t make a classic car show for me. But, there was some fantastic cars parked up, including some regular cars that I recognised from other shows.
A couple of my all time favourites, The Audi Coupe for the daily and the Aston Vantage for the weekend.
We were working our way back to our car’s location and ready for another quick refreshment before the next and final walk around.
This old Ford even had candles for a light.
My car of the show was this quite rare Porsche Carrera GT.
WE got back to the car and sat around for a while just chatting and people watching. Then we felt it, a few drop of rain and the sky looking a little greyer than earlier. We had a great day wandering around and decided to go before the rain started. A few others had the same idea as us and we got out without any hold ups.
Craig took this photo as we wandered back to the car.
I took this just before we left.
We left and the rain wasn’t quite enough to warrant the wipers, and the steady drive home on the main roads made the rain evaporate quickly enough and the roads were fairly dry. I wiped the car over quickly during a dry spell and managed to get the car in the dry with the dehumidifier on to dry out any damp bits on the car.
Thanks to Craig for his photos and the good company as ever. I hope I didn’t bore you with so many photos over the last two posts.
One of the biggest car shows that I attend is this show, Helmingham Hall. The show was on the 4th August 2024, once again I had the pleasure of my good friend Craig (another total petrol head) to join me. The day was an early rise for Craig who had to travel from the next county to my house which was around forty minutes including his fuel stop. He assures me that he was within the speed limits all the way. We uncovered my car in the garage and packed our cool bags into the trunk along with his camera and chair. I set up the SatNav and backed the car out. We set off for the show and enjoyed a peaceful steady trip to the show, until we got to the usual traffic snarl up at the entrance. We wasn’t on the show stand like previous years so we had to park with the other private entrants in a field on the other side of the main driveway which goes up to the hall. We had a pretty good spot to be honest and parked up. The weather was looking good and the app promised to hold that way for the rest of the day.
As this is such a big show the event will have to be covered in two parts with a lot of photos on each. I took well into six hundred photos on the day. Some were unusable as I had managed to put my grubby fingers on the lenses on the back of my phone. Soft focus filter wasn’t what I was after.
We got the chairs out for little refreshment and a sit down before we summoned the energy to start the walk around this huge show. We decided to start on the stalls before they got busy. We needn’t have bothered as most of them were not car related. I was little gutted about that as I wanted to buy some 20W – 50 engine oil. But, I could buy some pot plants, hats or some home made jewellery and fudge! There was only one car related stall there which was for a alloy wheel refurb company, that was it.
We got to the main area at the front of the hall where you can pay the extra to park and get some afternoon tea in the cost of the entrance. These were the cars from that area.
As we were about to move onto the club stand field, a Countach could be heard arriving to join the area.
These are Craig’s photos of the same cars which are so much better than mine.
The Clubs stands didn’t seem to have the wow factor for some reason this year. There was some nice cars there, ironically on the stand that we normally park on.
Simply Mustangs stand was mainly the more modern iterations of the Mustang, with plenty of orange.
More of Craig’s photos of the club stands.
It was a busy day with cars parking up in the public car park throughout the day, and lots of people.
The display cars are split in to two halves either side of a main driveway up to the hall itself. Clubs stands to the left and the private entrants to the right. At the end of the club stands the the main drive way has an exhibition of cars that drive up and down. We stopped to watch the first showing which usually take around half hour or so.
Craig was taking a number of photo’s and messing around with photography settings, I’m not sure what it all meant to be honest, even though his explanation authoritative, it was toned down to his audience, me. He was trying to get the wheels moving while stopping the cars. It was nice to see the cars rolling and not driving at the same time. I could enjoy them, some where brutal sounding like the American muscle and the Aston Martin, the others were just poodling along enjoying the scenery .
After the exhibition runs we wandered into the privateer field where I had parked up, which we will cover in Part 2. There were much nicer cars on that side and plenty to look at.
I have been asked a few times how do I tune my carb up. The simple answer is try not to. It’s a dark art that I have mentioned many times before in past posts. Over the course of last weekend I was looking for something that I have lost, last seen in the garage. It’s highly unusual for me to loose anything in the garage I must say. Through my rummaging and looking around I found a printed copy of the Holley ‘Classic’ series carb manual. This print out originally came from a PDF file that I had downloaded years ago and forgot all about when i got my Holley 600CFM carb. My first thought was this would make a good page for some official help with these carbs. Although I didn’t find what I was looking for, I did find something I wasn’t looking for. When I got back inside I scanned all my back up files on my PC and it wasn’t there. I delved deeper into archived drives and searched the back ups of my old mobile phones before they were wiped and traded in. There it was sitting in a download folder from about four devices ago with some other random stuff. I copied the file back to the blog storage and decided to convert the PDF into a page to be viewed on my blog here, or copy and paste this link below into your browser:
The page article is quite long with lots of pictures and a step by step process to follow. It covers the initial installation, removal, adjustments, fine tuning and repairs should you need it. Here are a few screen dumps of the page itself. The original is about sixteen pages of PDF and these few small clips gives you an insight.
There are diagrams and how to install the ‘Classic’ series 600CFM on different makes of cars and setup. There is a wealth of information within the manual regardless of make and model. The Holley 600CFM carb is not proprietary to Mustangs, it can be fitted many makes and models and the variations are covered within the manual itself.
There are clear and easy to use diagrams which help with trouble shooting as well.
To make things easier I have also uploaded the the original PDF file that have re-found and downloaded at the time I got my carb. This can also be downloaded from the button below.
Not all carbs are the same as they have different adjustments, chambers fittings and mountings. However the principle is the same, the fuel and air need to be mixed at idle, normal driving and heavy load or acceleration. The Holley manual gives a good overview of how they work. For basic carbs there are single, two barrel or twin valves and perform the mixing of the fuel and air for for the engine to work. Mostly this style of carbs either two or four barrels are common in standard older road cars, before the introduction of fuel injection processes that are considered to be more economical. What is the difference between the two and four barrels and do we really need another two barrels?
The primary differences between a Holley two barrel and a four barrel carburettor is their design, functionality and application, which will affect the air-fuel mixture delivery to the engine making it more efficient and delivering more fuel and air mix, in turn more power and or torque.
Holley Two Barrel Carburettor
Number of Barrels: As the name suggests, a two barrel carburettor has two venturi or barrels through which air and fuel are mixed and delivered to the engine.
Air-Fuel Flow: It has a simpler design with fewer moving parts and typically provides a lower volume of air and fuel mixture. This makes it suitable for engines that do not require high levels of fuel flow, like those in everyday street vehicles.
Fuel Efficiency: Generally, two barrel carburettors are more fuel-efficient, as they deliver a steady and controlled amount of fuel suitable for normal driving conditions without excessive fuel consumption.
Performance: They offer adequate performance for smaller or less powerful engines and are not designed for high-performance applications. They are often found in standard passenger vehicles, where fuel efficiency and drivability are prioritized.
Holley Four Barrel Carburettor
Number of Barrels: A four barrel carburettor has four venturi, essentially doubling the potential air and fuel flow compared to a two barrel carburettor. This configuration includes two primary and two secondary barrels.
Air-Fuel Flow: This type of carburettor can provide significantly more air and fuel to the engine, which is beneficial for high-performance applications where more power is required, such as in racing or muscle cars.
Fuel Efficiency and Performance: While they can deliver more fuel, four barrel carburettors can also be more fuel-efficient under normal driving conditions because the secondary barrels only open when additional power is needed. This allows the engine to run on the primary barrels during light load conditions, conserving fuel.
Application: Four barrel carburettors are designed for performance-oriented vehicles that require greater fuel flow to achieve higher power outputs. They are more complex, with additional components to manage the secondary barrels’ opening.
In summary, a single or two barrel carburettor is typically used in standard vehicles for everyday use, offering simplicity and fuel efficiency. In contrast, a four barrel carburettor is used in high-performance applications, providing the capability for greater power output and higher fuel flow when needed.
Drag racing cars use high CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) carbs by default as they deliver more power due to the higher amounts of fuel that can be produced and mixed with more air. Various configurations of carbs on spacers or types of opening in the manifold will produce more low down torque or higher top speed. Drag racing crews often state that carbs use less fuel than EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection). During drag racing the carb valves are held wide open to give the maximum intake of fuel and air for combustion to give power and torque, the racing crews are not particularly worried about idle or general driving. The carb can also be paired with super chargers to compress even more fuel air mix into the engine giving even more power. That is whole nother story for another day.
Carb manufacturers often use similar terminology such as these:
Primary Valves
Function: The primary valves are the main components for regular engine operation, handling most of the air-fuel mixture delivery during idle, cruising, and light acceleration.
Components: They include throttle plates (butterflies) that open as the driver presses the accelerator, allowing more air to enter the engine. The fuel is mixed with this air in the venturi, a narrow section that increases the velocity of the air and helps atomize the fuel.
Operation: These valves open gradually in response to the throttle position, providing a smooth and controlled fuel delivery for efficient engine performance.
When a carb fitted car starts up they are usually running a ‘choke’ to give even more fuel (rich) mixture while the car warms up. This process is normally a mechanical or electrical plate that closes or partially closes the air intake on the primary valves
Secondary Valves
Function: Secondary valves provide additional air-fuel mixture during heavy acceleration or when extra power is needed, such as during rapid acceleration or high-speed driving.
Components: Like the primary side, the secondary side also has throttle plates, but these are typically larger to allow a greater volume of air and fuel mixture when open. Some carburettors use mechanical linkage, while others use a vacuum mechanism to control the opening of the secondary valves.
Operation: The secondary valves open either mechanically (linked to the primary throttle plates via a cam) or via a vacuum system that senses engine load and demand for additional air and fuel. They remain closed during normal driving to conserve fuel.
Secondary cams can be custom adjusted to come on earlier or later as required for the type of power delivery required.
Differences of primary and secondary valves
Size and Flow: Secondary valves are usually larger than primary valves, allowing for increased air and fuel flow during high-demand situations.
Control Mechanism: The primary valves are directly controlled by the accelerator pedal, while the secondary valves may use a mechanical linkage or vacuum actuation to open. This setup allows for a more progressive and efficient increase in power.
Fuel Delivery: The primary circuit handles most of the fuel delivery, ensuring efficient operation under normal conditions, while the secondary circuit kicks in for performance situations, providing an extra boost of power.
Under snap or sharp acceleration there are additional jets that squirt the primary and secondary valves to boost the initial fuel mixture. If this wasn’t the case when the valves open, the initial suck in of air would run to lean and not give enough power to the cylinders.
Manufacturers of Carbs
Holley and Edelbrock are two of the most popular brands of carburettors, especially in the aftermarket performance market. While both companies produce high-quality carburettors, there are distinct differences in their design, tuning, and performance characteristics. I will concentrate on these two manufacturers for now. There are many other specialist manufacturers of carbs for specific types of applications out there as well, but they tend to be much more specialised.
Holley Carburettors
Design and Features:
Modular Design: Holley carburettors are known for their modular design, which allows for extensive customization. They typically feature replaceable jets, power valves, and accelerator pumps, making them highly tunable.
Mechanical or Vacuum Secondaries: Holley offers models with both mechanical secondaries, which are linked directly to the throttle, and vacuum secondaries, which open based on engine demand.
Double Pumper Options: Holley’s double pumper models use dual accelerator pumps, providing an extra fuel shot for aggressive throttle applications.
Pros:
Customization: Highly customizable due to the wide range of interchangeable parts, making them suitable for fine-tuning specific performance needs.
Performance Focused: Holley carburettors are often favoured in racing and high-performance applications due to their tunability and ability to support significant horsepower.
Availability of Parts: Extensive availability of aftermarket parts and tuning accessories.
Cons:
Complexity: The high level of tunability can make them more complex to set up and adjust, which can be daunting for beginners.
Maintenance: Requires more frequent maintenance and tuning to keep them running optimally, especially in high-performance environments.
Edelbrock Carburettors
Design and Features:
Simple Design: Edelbrock carburettors feature a simpler design with fewer parts compared to Holley, which can be advantageous for ease of use and reliability.
Mechanical Secondaries: Typically, Edelbrock carburettors use mechanical secondaries that are linked to the throttle position, providing a more straightforward operation.
Electric Choke: Many Edelbrock models come with an electric choke, which simplifies cold starts and improves drivability in various conditions.
Pros:
Ease of Use: Generally easier to install and tune, making them more user-friendly, especially for less experienced users.
Consistency: Known for their reliability and consistency in performance, with less frequent tuning needed.
Fuel Efficiency: Often more fuel-efficient than Holley carburettors, making them a good choice for street-driven vehicles.
Cons:
Limited Customization: Less tunable than Holley carburettors, which might limit their performance potential in highly customized or extreme performance applications.
Parts Availability: While parts are available, there is a less extensive aftermarket for tuning components compared to Holley.
Summary
Holley carburettors are ideal for those seeking maximum performance and customization. They are well-suited for racing and high-performance applications but require more knowledge and maintenance.
Edelbrock carburettors are user-friendly and reliable, making them a good choice for enthusiasts looking for a straightforward installation and consistent performance, especially in daily drivers and lightly modified vehicles.
There is are parameters to the carb sizing. A to big a CFM will cause ‘bore wash’ where fuel is unburnt in the cylinders and washes the oil lubrications for the cylinders walls. This will also be wasteful of fuel as it’s just being unburnt. This could also cause the engine to flood and some very poor running.
If the carb is to small not enough fuel air mix is provided and will cause poor running even running hot.
I have found some videos of a carb working under loads. These videos show, start up, revving, initial fuel shot under revving, and full throttle. The second video has a whining sound in the background, this is probably due to a super charger. Regardless of the make, the principles of how they work are exactly the same.
Sound On!
Carb Calculations
To fit a carb you can replace the like for like of course, but to get more power you don’t just slap the biggest carb on the engine you can. To big a carb will cause very poor running and give you the exact opposite you wanted and make the car worse. To small a carb will starve the engine of the full power potential. There are various online calculators to work out the optimal CFM carb size you need for a particular engine size, speed and efficiency.
That formula can seem complicated for calculating the correct CFM for carb on a particular engine. Broken down with an example looks like this:
CFM (optimal) = Cubic Inches x RPM x Volumetric Efficiency ÷ 3456.
Any ordinary stock engine will have a volumetric efficiency of about 80%. Most rebuilt street engines with the usual average bolt-ons have a volumetric efficiency of about 85%, while race engines can range from 95% up to 110% efficiency.
Example: Using a 355 CID engine x 5,500 max rpm = 1,952,500
Take 1,952,500 x .85 = 1,659,625
Then 1,659,625 ÷ 3456 = 480 CFM
Even with about a 10% cushion, a 500 CFM carburettor will handle this engine great. If you try this formula yourself, be honest with how much rpm the engine will see. You’d be better off with a carb smaller than needed rather than something oversized that can lead to poor drivability and performance.
Higher Tuning
There are various ways to improve, or fine tune a carb to the exact requirements. This will be changing of ‘jets’ or ‘cams’ as required.
Pilot Jet: Located in the float bowl, the pilot jet provides fuel for starting, idling, and the initial 20% of throttle range. It draws fuel through small holes as air flows through the carburetor.
Main Jet: Larger and usually screwed into the needle jet, the main jet controls the air/fuel mixture from around 75% throttle to full open throttle (100%).
Needle Jet: This critical component controls fuel flow between 20% and 75% throttle. It consists of the hollow needle jet and the jet needle, which adjusts fuel flow as you open or close the throttle.
Air Screw: A small brass adjustment screw near the carburettor inlet, the air screw works with the pilot jet for starting, idling, and initial power delivery (up to 20%). It allows slight adjustments based on atmospheric conditions.
Cams: are a mechanical parts that will determine when (usually) the secondary valves open and close. The cams can be made to bring on the deployment of valves earlier, later, wider or smaller openings.
Float bowls: will determine when the idle reserves of fuel or secondary valves reserves of fuel, again critical for smooth running.
Tip:
More often than not, when playing with carb settings do little bits at a time to see what happens. Ask your self why do i need to adjust the carb, is it running poorly because of poor fuel? Then adjusting the carb to sort it out will all need undoing again when you put good fuel back in.
Don’t change everything in one go as you will be in for a whole heap of hurt chasing your tail finding out what is wrong. Adjusting mixtures can have a similar effect of changing jets. Different cams or adding spacers and altering timings, you won’t know if one item has had a negative effect or a combination of things if the car runs badly.
I have gone into the depths of carbs and how they work, pro’s and cons of spacers, four hole or open hole, EFI controlled versions all in this page here, or copy and paste the link to your browser below.
There is just so much you can talk about and to be honest, and it’s a bit of a dying art to tune these carbs up, screwdrivers, spanners, vacuum gauges, experience, feel of the response in the car and probably most importantly – by ear. Take a look at the page above to see the intricacies of a carburettor.
The weekend of 24th July 2024 at Stonham barns was the Carrot Town Car show. This is usually aimed at the American classic and is usually a pretty good show. The night before the weather app(s) were consulted with no rain forecast but with one hundred percent cloud coverage. I don’t mind cloud as it makes it easier to take photo’s and you don’t sit in an open field with no shade. The journey there would require a fuel stop which was on the way with the Shell V-Power being my primary fuel. After the open wallet surgery was performed from an almost empty tank to full I restarted the journey to the event. The Stonham events always clashes with the car boot sale every Sunday in the field to the left of the show ground. The entrance is always a pain to get into, but this time I sailed straight in and paid my £5 to get in. I was directed to park up near a couple of other Mustangs which were by the main entrance, but in order to get there you have to drive down a gravel track to the other end of the field and then back to almost where I had came from. I parked up and within a space of about twenty minutes there was a whole line of Mustangs. The cars kept coming and a second line was created for those, a total of twenty four ponies in one area, it was almost like being back at the Mustang Owners Club Nationals a few weeks ago. I took over two hundred and fifty photos, but condensed it down to just under two hundred on this post.
I was pleased as a couple of friends parked up on the other side of the fence in the main arena and we had a good catchup. With the cars I decided to group them, Mustangs, Corvettes, trucks, bikes and the rest.
There was a one of kind wide body kitted out ‘Ghost’ as it was called. Not to every bodies taste, but it was certainly unique.
There was a Corvette owners club
Plenty of trucks and vans.
There was a section of movie and TV cars. The Knight rider car had the sweeping red light at the front with the sound it made. The interior was pretty cool as well.
Motorbikes scare the living daylights out of me but there was this ‘Boss’ bike which had a 430CiD V8 with 430BHP and 440 torque all put down on the road with the biggest rear tyre I had seen.
Then there is the rest of some stunning cars.
This stunning Charger RT with a rebuilt 528 Hemi won car of the show.
There were some trade stands around the show ground, and the first time I have seen some Bull horns for sale. I bought myself a replacement Chemical Guys P40 quick detailer as I had almost run out. It worked out cheaper than Amazon and eBay even with their ‘free’ postage.
Throughout the day there was a band that was playing some pretty good sounds it has to be said. The singer of the band also did a solo set.
I got back to the car ready for a sit down and a some refreshments.
A good day and I spent most of my time talking to lots of people. What I didn’t realise was that when the sun came out it was stronger than I expected. I hadn’t put my baseball cap on as well as not apply the factor fifty. I’m the sort of guy that burns easily and much to the wife’s amusement once I got home; ‘you like as red as a Budweiser label’. With that I went to fridge and twisted the cap off a cool beer and sat at my PC to write this post. I couldn’t admit it, but she was right, the top of my head does look the colour of a Budweiser beer label!
