With such a big show at Helmingham Hall I managed to take over three hundred photos, half of which I have posted on these last few posts. This is the last of those whittled down selection of photos. I enjoyed the show and spoke to some great people, and saw some great cars too. So to finish up, and in no particular order, more cars.
Then of course there is the original bad ass Dodge Viper V10.
Another all time favourite car of mine is this beautiful Aston Martin V8 Vantage, another poster that was on my bedroom wall as a kid.
It’s not very often that you see real nice Lamborghini Countach at a show, then I spotted another at the show, this is a rare beast in a right hand drive. I was spoilt for cars at this show, some great Fords both UK & USA; Mustangs, Thunderbird, Escorts, Sierra Cosworth, Capri, Trucks etc.
I just had to finish with more close up of my car, I think it’s only fair though.
During the day I walked past the limited number of stalls that were there, nothing official from the brand names though. For once I didn’t buy anything, I had made my purchases at Waxstock a couple of weeks ago, but I now have a review of my new favourite quick detailer from Chemical Guys, click here or go to the Car Detailing Reviews menu at the top to see other reviews. From the pic above you can see why I am pleased with the results.
I haven’t forgotten about the semi pro pics of my car by the way. I will make a separate post of those pics on another small post soon, once I get them ready that is.
At last this weekend things have gone a little better for me. The wife went out for the weekly shopping on Saturday and I was left on my own to get on with the car. I promised myself that I would start on the roof headliner areas, but the sun was out, all be it little cold. The car was pushed out of the garage enough for me to open the doors fully. Then a change of mind hit me and the headliner plans went up in the air. I decided to treat the floor pans. The carpet was pulled up, and the foot wells were cleaned out. The POR rust treatment was applied in its various stages and hopefully will be a first part of the whole floor pan to be treated. Now the foot wells should be rust treated and preventative at the same time. Sunday was again a nice but cool day so the second coat of POR15 was applied to the floor pans. As the drying was taking longer than I expected I didn’t get the chance to apply some POR Patch seal for the rougher edges of the welding. Next weekend I will and then start on the headliner unless I decided I will do the next floor section that is!
The six pack? No, it’s not a beer pack, case of wine or an abdomen wash board, it’s the pack of six POR15 118ml small tins that I used to treat the floor pans with.
removed the old carpet
left side front
left first coat
right side
right side first coat
first coat centre
2 coats right side different view
2 coats both sides and tunnel
I have created my review of the POR15 product and given a step by step guide of what I done this weekend with photo’s.
Quick link:
Consumable Reviews – Rust Treatment Menu – POR15 Rust Treatment click here
It has dawned on me that this time next week we will be in December and the Christmas holidays will be upon us sooner than we think. What made me think about Christmas this early? My wife, you can blame her for being organised as each year I get asked what I would like for Christmas, I supply a selection of items for online baskets at various places and she chooses a selection for me, from what ever she likes. That way I know I will be getting something I would like and the right version or style of it as well. A good example would be that there are so many cans of primer or similar out there, its a mine field to choose from let alone the wife trying to understand it all. The fact is pretty much everything I have made a list out for is Mustang related, funny that! Does anybody else have a similar arrangement or is it just me being a lucky boy?
I have added another little link on the sidebar of the blog, it’s a Dollar to Pound exchange rate link, you just put in the amount and it gives a current live exchange rate. Not just for the Dollars either, in fact most currencies. I use this site to give me an idea when ordering from abroad or the USA. It will need to be online for the rates but it loads up pretty quick and hardly any adverts on it either. Let me know what you think, is it worth being on there?
Just to be even more sad, I have added a countdown to Christmas. If I get enough grief for it I might take it down due to popular demand 🙂
The weekend was the start of the winter and it looks like the first frost of the winter was on the cars overnight. The weekend on the car revolved around me messing with wires and cables in the car, in the garage. I managed to pick up a rather nice inline fuse kit that will display a red LED light if the fuse has gone, that way there is a visual guide to the potential issue instead of hunting for it in some very tight places like the back of the dash. The fuse holder itself is rated at a max of twenty amps and came supplied with four fuses, the choice was the lowest at five amps as there is no draw of current. If anything went wrong I would hope it takes the fuse out before any damage is done to the rest of the dash. the fuse holder is also splash proof so could be used under the hood for a pretty water tight fused connection. Has anybody used one of these before?
splash proof
connections
the fuse
in place
dash disconnect & new live feed
As the weather was so poor I decided to clean the main car in the afternoon on Sunday before it rained as the car was filthy dirty. As it was getting late I didn’t have time to do a full wash, shampoo, leather, wax & polish which is obviously the choice. With the time restraints I decided to use a product called “Showroom Shine” which I purchased from one of those shopping channels a couple of years ago and have been using on and off since then. They had a good deal on a couple of one litre bottles of the polish and cloths at the time. As I was cleaning I had a thought and yes it was a dangerous thing for a man to multi task as the women say. That thought was how about writing a review of it. I had no intention of reviewing it, but then again, why not? The results can be found herefor the quick link or under the menu; Consumable Reviews – Showroom Shine. There are a few places that stock it now and online but Mustang Maniac have now started to stock the product on a trial basis as well. Is it any good? Read the review and find out.
This weekend was a chillaxing weekend for a change and I decided to look at some Classic Cars at a Show in the town of Buntingford (UK), each year the organisers manage close the main street and get the cars all parked up along the narrow road. It was my first time there and I doubt it will be my last either as everybody was quite friendly when talking to them about their cars. It was nice to see families out and not just the petrol heads who needed their octane fix! There were hundreds of different cars there from every era. The war years, modern-day cars, hot rods, trucks, kit cars & bike all gleaming in the sun. While I was at the show I meet Adam from Mustang Maniac who was there with one of their new additions to the garage, a lovely 1965 v8 Coupe. I have taken quite a few pictures but these were the better photo’s from all the cars. What took my eye at the car show? A couple of Cobra replicas that were identical except for under the hood area. One was red the other blue. I could only assume (and would like to think) that they were his and hers!
There were some classic Jaguars
D Type
E Type
XK140
Pre War(s) Cars (I think)
War Years (not so sure about the machine gun though!)
Hot Rods & Trucks
Muscle and Mustangs
Classic UK Cars
Jensen
Jensen engine
Some Of The rest
Review:
I have also completed my TomTom Go 600 SatNav Review which can be found under the accessories menu. I have managed to get the main information together and user guide that most of the other reviews seem to miss out with some photos of it in use. Most reviewers seem to want to trash this SatNav for some reason. But I want something that works and not just have the function to change colours or the shape of an icon for the car – but these people never they never moan when it takes them down a dirt track because it don’t work properly.
My car:
Most of what I have done on the car today has been in man cave, I have been rubbing down some filler trying to achieve that perfect finish for the paint.
OK, I admit it I havent posted properly for a little while, two weeks actually. The word “post” is not in my good books with me at the moment. Let me explain, I have had the past week off as holiday, and I do use that term “holiday” very loosely in this update. I have been promising to replace our broken fence for the last 2 years now. But, I have had important things to do since then, like do my Mustang up! But my wife loves her garden as much as I love my car, the fact her prized climbing Hydrangea were getting damaged due to the fence being broken as it was swaying more than front row of a Barry Manilow concert. When the wind blows, the fence moves and bits break of, I get it in the neck and I promise to fix it, then I go on the car. I have been getting plenty of subtle hints though, let me take you back to Christmas just gone. When I was asked what I wanted for Christmas the standard response is, “bits for my car” or “tools”. Come opening prezzie time at Christmas I got some car bits, brilliant. Snap On vouchers, awesome. Then I got given few extra goodies that “I may like!” given to me in order; All Fat Max tools, hammer (OK I can use that on the car), small spirit level (can’t see how I can use that on the car, check the stance of the car? Nice thought though). General purpose hand saw for wood, (definitely can’t use that on the car, but I can change it, I will have to be careful how I phrase it!) Fine toothed wood hand saw, (now I was wondering what was going on.) Then came a long heavy object, yes, a 1″ Snap On breaker bar, Nope, it was a massive sledge-hammer. Now I can’t use that on the car, then the penny started to drop with the final little prezzie gardening gloves. OK, I had been saying that I need a sledge hammer to break the old concreate, I need spirit levels for the posts, I need saws etc. Last Friday we, or should I say, “I” had delivered nine panels, eight concrete posts, one wood post and a gate, three trellis, oh and post mix. Great, not. Saturday I was greeted with “we can paint the panels before we put them up”. To be fair it was a nice(ish) day and we had a laugh. So Saturday was a write off. Sunday, Mark came round to help put up the fence. He’s a good man, he works hard and is better with a shovel than I am. Well I am getting on a bit now, that’s my excuse anyway. We had fun getting the old spikes out, trying to work around the plants that can’t be dug up or it will kill them and trying to avoid tree roots. Sunday was a write off. Monday, Mark came back to finish the last two panels with me. It didn’t take too long. (Thanks to Mark for help on the fence, grand job mate). That left me with a part fence to cut down and gravel board to fit in the space. Then we had to go into town, on the way back we got some door furniture for the gate. Monday was a write off. Tuesday was about cutting the trellis to fit inside the concrete posts and hang the gate. Tuesday was a write off. That evening the wife was printing out some lesson plans and my printer decided to produce a collection of drive rollers and cogs out the front with half the paper. This was greeted with panic as the lesson plans needed to be done. Wednesday morning we checked the net and found a printer we liked. So off we went to get it. We got to the store which was empty and we were pounced on like a lion that hadn’t been fed for a few days. I brushed them away and looked at the printer, not bad, but the replacement cartridges were only £10 cheaper than the poxy printer. Are the manufactures having a laugh or what? Do they fill the cartridges up with mermaid tears or what? Anyway, we found one we liked and took it home. I went on the car when we got back to prep ready getting the drive shaft out and backing plate off for the brakes. Two hours later it was out and the brake plate as well. that evening the printer works well after a lengthy performance to set it up. Thursday I went to see Adam at Mustang Manic, I had a great laugh with him and got a complete hand brake kit for the car and a couple of drive shaft oil seals. A great day. Friday I spent all day cleaning up the plate and drive shaft with anti rust treatments. Great day. Today I put the backing plate and brakes together, put the drive shaft back in and got some of the Hand brake or Emergency Brake in place. Epic day.
So as you can see I have been busy, the wife is pleased with her fence and has been in the garden pottering about. I have been on the car for the last couple of days and will be again tomorrow. I will post a photo set of the drive shaft and rear brake build. I have added a review of my Metal Works tap and die set, which can be found under the Tool Reviews or click here for a quick link. I will post again very soon.
Am I forgiven?
Heres a little teaser of what I have been up to!
drive shaft being removed
Note: I used all the tools I got for Christmas putting that fence up, these women are cute, but I don’t do subtle I just need to be told. oh, she did! Come to that I have used my tools from Snap On too, I don’t need to be told to use them though. 🙂
Everyday I drive to the train station and I get on public transport to get me to work. Most of the time the trains are late according to my watch. But in their book they are only late if it’s over 30 minutes. I don’t know who agrees this is the definition of late but they need to sort it out, as all they are doing is falsifying the figures. Every month I have to sell body parts to raise cash for the unfair fares they charge. Get people off the roads and into public transport say the government. But the fact it is so expensive, late, dirty and overcrowded is not an issue for them, how comes they never travel on it?
On to my main point, I was walking to work from the station and I spotted some kid who thought he was the dogs dangly bits. Now he had a baseball cap on sideways, a t-shirt on while it was snowing, a pair of jeans that didn’t seem to fit or he needed a belt. The jeans were around his thighs, the jeans were so tight that he was walking like a penguin in a plaster cast. His underpants were on show, I dare say they were from a Wal-Mart own brand and to top it of with a pair of trainers with the biggest tongue ever. I watched as he was having a conversation with his gangsta mate on the other end of the phone that was stuck to the side of his head. His other hand being used to give it the “massive like innit” hand signal, you know the one, where the flick of the wrist as if they are trying to free their fingers from the contents of the freshly cleaned nostrils. Anyway he waddled to his car and unlocked it. No central locking but it did have a large set of rims and a rubber band wrapped round them for a tyre. The car was the good old 10 year old Vauxhall Corsa 1.0 12v It only has 3 cylinders and 59bhp & top speed of 96mph, (I looked that bit up, figures correct when it was new). Ok, economical little town run around, but when it started up it was a treat. Firstly the white smoke signalled the engine was firing up, then there was mandatory revving of the engine to see if he could make more noise. Yep he could, the pea shooter of an exhaust was cleverly disguised as dustbin opening by the addition of the screw on tail pipe. I suspect he was running illegal exhaust as the noise was the sound of one hundred six inch nails in a washing machine. But I wasn’t to worry as the mobile disco sub produced enough noise to try and set the car alarm of behind it. Then when he had enough revs on he dumped the clutch and it sort of juddered away building to an impressive walking pace where he was now at full revs grabbing second gear, just in time to brake hard for the pedestrian crossing. Now what was that all about, dangerous driving as well? Perhaps he thought he looked cool, he did, it was minus 3 when I got out my car. Now, in my day it was how to make the engine run smooth, get more bhp and tune it up, improve the handling and give it a nice clean to look the part. Maybe evolution resulted in a newer generation of drivers that enjoy looking daft and driving like a nutter. So my question is, am I getting old (which I know I am), or is this a one off teenager that Charles Darwin would also be confused over?
Review:
I have written a review for the VHT Satin Black Caliper Paint under the Reviews menu, Consumables or click here for the quick link.
The weekend started of pretty poor, I had a bug which started Friday morning and stopped me in my tracks for 30 hours or so, as a result I have been busy behind the scenes with the blog, more of that in a bit. I managed to get out into the man cave on Saturday mid morning to start the cleaning of my front brake drum. This time the sun was out, and that made me feel better for a start. The birds were singing and I had time to do what I wanted. I started the ritual tidy and clean up, I looked to my side a caught sight of a tame blackbird just by the door, showing no signs of fear. Not only was he just starring at me but looked like he wanted some food, he obviously changed his mind and flew away. Do they sense you wont hurt them? Back in the man cave I spread out the shower curtain to get my make shift spray booth ready. I mounted and sprayed the brake booster on my home made jig. The results were exactly what I was after, that almost natural metal look with a little character of old age pitting showing. I have posted the pics “Photo Menu, Engine bay, Brake booster part 2” or click here. A real good days work was had and it was only and late afternoon, time to get a quick blue ray in too, this is turning into a great day. Coming back in I went to get changed and heard the toilet running, strange, as the wife was out it couldn’t be her. On lifting the lid to the cistern the float mechanism had got stuck open and over flowing back into the bowl. So now my great day was now startin’ to go down the pan literally. Now I’m not happy, I had to get the household DIY tools in to fix it as they are now locked up in the man cave. I found the spare float valve unit that I bought ages ago, but never used from another kit I had. So off came the cistern from the wall, water spraying all over the place from the remains of back pressure in the shut of valve all up the wall of my freshly painted bathroom. The contents of my tool bag now all over the bathroom floor on a damp towel. the cistern parts mixed up amongst them. Reassembling the inlet float valve didn’t take long to be honest. The front door opened and in comes my wife in a great mood and comes upstairs to see what I was doing, I think the odd naughty word slipping from my lips gave it away. Then comes my favourite question in situations like these, “What are you doing?” The fact I have half of plumbing world all over the floor should have been a clue. Avoiding, my more obvious choice of a sarcastic remark when I am in a bad mood, I settled on explaining what had gone wrong and needed fixing. I expect we will probably get a bill big enough to fill a small swimming pool as a result just to make me feel even better about it. At this point she left me to get on with it. But she had bought me a nice cake while she was out. Once the job was done and adjusted for the water levels I took the tools out and locked up again. That cake was well and truly deserved, why? Because the spray job still looked good when I went back to the man cave!
Now here is a thought; is there such a thing as the pleasure & pain thing or Yin & Yang? I found this petrol head spin on the idea, brilliant, I just had to post this:
Yin & Yang Mustang
At the beginning I mentioned that I had been busy behind the scenes for the last couple of weeks. I have tweaked the blog a bit to make it a little more user friendly and added a couple of photos for the brake drum clean here, brake booster treatment and spraying here and a review of Granville Rust Cure here.
I have also started a YouTube Channel “One man and his Mustang”, (clever that huh?) where I will post videos, clips and reviews of what I am or have been up too. There are two videos, one for the products that I am using after I was asked that question, so it made sense to show them. The other is my Granville Rust Cure process. Please subscribe to the channel if you like what you see. or give me some feedback on what you want to see. I have moved the “Contact me” button too in order to make it easier to email me.
I have added a couple of good articles as well, on specifications and options for the 66 Mustang for all body shapes. In fact lots of stuff has been added, I hope you like it.
The best thing about my YouTube Channel? You can see a marked improvement in my video editing and techniques that took a leap forward. If only my car would move along that quick!
At long last I have been able to do something worthwhile for my car. The snow has gone after heavy rain overnight. Due to the sun being out and no rain I decided to go for the Bumper Stone Guard part 2 repair. This was to de-rust the top side, fill the dents and a factory stamp mark that almost came through the metal itself, and then spray it. So there I was in my working tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt. I’m a real man I can take it. Snap-On tool box keys, Check. Man cave lock and padlock keys, Check. Stupid grin on my face, Check. Trainers with no grip, Check. I opened the door, and the fresh air hit me, stupid grin still there? Slipping, but confidence is sky-high. Stepped outside of the patio on to the grass, speeding up as I went to the man cave to save face and not admit I was cold. All my plans went up in the air, as did I. Trainers lost traction and the mud bath was beckoning to my back side, I looked like a spider on acid skating on ice. It was arms and legs everywhere. In fact it reminded me of my classic dance moves when I used to own the disco dance floor. Ok, perhaps I wasn’t that good but I thought I was. Thinking about it, I got more dates when I didn’t dance, especially when I unleashed a few well rehearsed special moves on floor. Well, in the films it obviously impressed everybody, it didn’t impress any ladies enough so that I would get a date though. That John Travolta film has got a lot to answer for, that’s all I can say. Anyway, I managed to stay on my feet, like a baby giraffe trying to stand for the first time. Grin still there? Checking, nope, it’s a grimace now. I came straight back in and changed my shoes to work boots, putting on a jumper and fleece on as well at the same time, just in case it got cold of course. My next venture to the man cave was more dignified to say the least.
As a result of doing the Bumper guard I used the Dinitrol 6030 bodywork filler. I have had quite a few hits on my Dinitrol page which was under construction for a while. Yes, I had used it before but had no pictures to go with what I had in mind. So being the bright spark that I am I had a brain wave, do them both at the same time. Yeah, see where I’m going with this?
The results were great. One day rubbing it all down and filling. Today rubbing down and spraying. I managed to take photos of the bumper guard being repaired and also for the review the Dinitrol filler too. The Bumper Stone Guard part 2 pictures are now in the Photos section, or click here. The Dinitrol review is under the Consumable Reviews section, or click here. From what I can see, this is the first Dinitrol review in depth on the net. You read it here first!
Results all round then, photos, review and a finished bumper guard.
It’s freezing, and small flurry of snow flakes which didn’t come to a lot, but I know it was cold. The down side is that the work I wanted to do more work on my bumper stone guards, it’s looking like I will have to wait till the slightly warmer weather. I doubt that the Dinitrol body filler will set very well in -2degrees let alone trying to put rust treatment on or spray some undercoat. The tins of spray were sold cold the balls inside didn’t want to move, I know that feeling all to well today. (Sorry ladies, but it was cold). Nevertheless I still went out to play cars. I took a selection of sockets out with me and opened the garage. Then it hit me; Eau de Mustang. That unmistakable odour of old metal, slight hint of super octane petrol (due to the fact I have no exhausts at the moment) & underseal coating. Perhaps I should approach these plug-in air freshener people to create a mans version, Mustang, BBQ, Fry Up and Pub. I’m sure it would be a big hit. That classic car odour is the smell that all petrol heads love, it’s loved almost as much as the delicate smell of perfume from a loved one once they have left the room. (Did I really just say that? Note to self: Must man up on these posts!) It also means that I have to put a ventilation brick or three in my garage wall in the summer and nicer weather decides to arrive.
I digress, I went out to look under the car a tighten up anything and everything that looks like it needed tightening around the transmission without going mental of course. The garage floor was almost as cold as me, I managed to find a couple of nuts that needed quarter turn to nip up properly. There was the return ATF connection coming from radiator that needed a turn as well, that was after I had to go and get some spanners.
Yesterday I posted that I had a new oil/drip tray, that was put in place as well under the transmission to see if there are any more episodes of my Mustang scenting her ground. Time will tell. My slow puncture has slowed a little, but it will need taking to me ol’ mate Will to have a little look for me.
I have posted my swaging tool review here (or look under the Tools Review in the header bar). From my stats on this blog, I have had searches for, how to use swaging tool and review of swaging tool etc. So as it was cold and I had done what I wanted to do today on the car I thought I would write-up the review. Hope you like it or find it useful.
This a wordy looking post but I think it’s worth the read for the fun and games we had!
My car has been down the drive just round the corner from me, where it has remained for the last year and a bit, I can work as and when I wanted to on it so there was no real issues.
As I normally do, I lifted the bonnet to make sure everything was OK and I noticed that the Tuff Stuff chrome alternator is not so Tuff after all! The Chrome has a little pitting on it and I ‘aint happy about it to be honest. I am going to review this alternator soon, and I’m not convinced it going to get full marks, or great marks come to that somehow! The damp has started to cause a few issues so we decided that the will have to go in our garage. There wasn’t a great deal in there to be honest just my old stuff from years of collecting rubbish. The charities had a great day as they got books, pictures and old clothes etc. Hopefully they can get some money in for their causes. Anyway, the car was taken of the axle stands and lowered down, left side tyre has a slow puncture that I will have to sort out. A friend of mine Pete came round in his new car which he has only had for a few days and offered to tow her round to my garage. The reason we decided that it should be towed is because the drive is on a slope and there was no way that with me in the car doing the hard work of driving, (OK, steering the car) that the two hired hands were going to push it without booking a visit to the hospital emergency unit to have a couple of hernias sorted out. Mark was playing lookout to start with to make sure that any would be Nigel Mansell wouldn’t meet two and half ton of American Muscle in the middle of the road. After pulling her to the top there is a slight dip down to the road, bearing in mind I have no brakes at the moment so everything had to be done with care and be legal to push it the rest of the way. We managed to stop the Mustang quite well by using the back of Pete’s nice new shiny new car. Oops! Sorry about that Pete I reckon a bottle of your favourite tipple could be arranged for the trouble. Before you ask yes the car is fully comprehensive insured even though it doesn’t go on the road. I think the fact that I got out to check that there was no damage to my car first was like rubbing salt & vinegar into the wound at the time. The car was not to bad weight wise once we got her rolling of course. As the road is a no-through road we weren’t expecting any traffic, but you can never be too sure. A couple of minutes later we were pushing her onto my drive and into the garage, or so we thought. The garage was wide enough by about 3 inches each side, it will even tighter once the mirrors go on. We managed to push the car in inch by inch, Pete was directing the car to the front, Mark was doin’ the donkey at the back pushing and I was on the wheel now and again sweating buckets panicking that I may just have measured up wrong. Pete found out that car was cold as we pinned him to the wall with the bonnet while trying to clear the trunk into the garage. The garage door was lowered down, very carefully and I have about 4 inches to spare with the door shut. It was close if it was going to go in. There is no way a ’67 on would fit in there. But I was happy, she fits and she is tucked up each night now. Just need to get a nice cloth cover and a heater now to make her snug. Perhaps I should ask the wife if I can have some, perhaps not!! 🙁
So there you have it, my car is at her rightful home at long last, gentlemen I thank you for your help. Ooh, I nearly forgot Staci who collected Mark to take him home before his next shift!
The car was in the garage, so the next thing was to rig up an extension to the solar trickle charger for my battery. (A review for that bit of equipment can be found here.) Hole through the garage wall and it was job done, that’s after we spent after we spent the best part of half an hour looking for the clips to the battery so that we could use a length of good quality speaker cable to extend the wire.
A big day for the man and his Mustang it has to be said. I was out there today having a little fiddle around, as you do of course, to see what the next job is going to be. I have a feeling it will be to revisit some of the work I have already done. Such is life, but she is home!
