Scotts_DG8

Ah but remember happiness is but a state of mind grasshopper. If one were to dare open themselves up to the many differences one encounters within their everyday surroundings and take that awkward step out of their comfort zone to experience the many variations that are actually out there, one may just find more pleasure and contentment from those actions and experiences. Take the risk, get the ford…

Having traveled and spent many months in the UK I clearly see that this is a Std UK Maintenance protocol in action. The redundant barriers are clearly in place for pedestrian protection of the cleanup action being performed. Requests made though as to the reason for, and type of, cleanup action being performed has not yet been cleared for public consumption.

This stunt is also referred to as: “Tickling the Ivories the hard way” (And is still just wrong)!!!

I'm going to have to live with this vision going through my head any time I hear Chop Sticks. Say it aint so, some things should just remain a secret.

When the light turns green, the race is the first to the A&W.

Clone Wars gone awry (Sticking with the Star Wars Theme)

I had a '64 Plymouth Valiant Wagon that burnt a channel between the #1 & #2 Cylinders on a 225 slant 6. I did not clearly know the problem until I pulled the head. The solution was liquid steel ("epoxy") putty and then it was filed down and sanded. New head gasket and it ran great for another 10 K before I sold it, never a problem. Epoxy putty is a new age duck tape.

I'm sure that we all realize that in the end there would really not be a need for this site/organization (AACA) if there was not a collection of individuals with a passion for the multitudes and variations of automobiles that had been abandoned in one form or another (Sold/Junked) through out its history. I feel that there is a fundamental flaw that has been in motion and although I might have some hope that there will be some realignment and polarization with the masses attempting to manage this country, I still will remain a bit pessimistic. There are those individuals that are not directly associated with this particular hobby/industry and this allows them to make casual remarks/decisions without understanding the impacts or those remarks/decisions. Those persons with the passion for the history, education and preservation of the automobile are not all aligned to the Model T, their passions are wrapped around the entire eclectic models produced over the many years the automobile had been produced. There has been numerous businesses and organization that have been developed over these same years that cater to these passions that have been ignited. What is the correct Auto Industry business plan/model today? There is no good answer; every business plan/model has a market saturation point. What role does or should the government have in this industry? The short answer should be none; the reality is that we hold the industry responsible for much more than mass transportation options/solutions, it is still in the end nationally one of the larger job bases. And just to get this on the table, there is without question also a manufacturing capacity consideration from a national security point of view. We collectively, from a “Global Partner Position”, have been pretty willing to forgo any thought or consideration for long term stability for short term hot button reactionary goals/objectives without care. Bottom line, there are many viewpoints to consider… The government though should not be telling you that your ’73 Gremlin X with Levi interior, or your ’56 Dodge La Femme, or <“Your Car Goes Here”> needs to head to the scrap yard. For those of you that cater to any portion of this passion, industry, livelihood, there needs to be a continued, consistent and clear path of communication to your governmental leaders. Just please do not knock on my door and ask me to turn in any of my cars for the better of the country. And, just for the record there is one driver in my house and there are 6 cars of which there are 3 (soon to be 4) registered for the road. Ok, going to stop now because I am just going to dig a hole for myself here… Apologies for the passionate rambling…

I've read several threads here across several forums and must say tuning into your updates is as good as watching my favorite weekly show on TV. I am often intrigued by your challenges, solutions and the quality of the end product presented. No, not everything repair has to be a 10 pointer to be presentable and usable, but you have presented many 8 and 9 point repairs in my opinion and I am liking it an awful lot… Please keep it up.

The parts that I personally come across seem more often than not to be "Nickel and Dime" plated prompting me to continue to spend profusely...

Stories are meant to entertain, inform, and to share knowledge and experiences. So, this story begins with the order of a brand new loaded ’73 Pinto Runabout (approx. $2,300), but due to the gas crisis there was a run on them ad a wait for 3 months. I was working as an inspector at Chrysler Lynch Road assembly at the time making the ’73 Chargers and Coronets. The car that I was currently driving back and forth to work, a ’62 Ford Fairlane with a 6 cylinder and a 3-Speed on the column with no floor on the driver side just a piece of plywood and a floor mat, was almost out of life. One day driving home though the neighborhood streets I caught sight of a car in a yard behind the bushes in the corner of my eye. I stopped and went back to the house and up to the door, I knocked and asked if the car was for sale and the older couple said that it belonged to their son who was just of in the army and would be off shortly to Vietnam but thought it might be for sale. I asked if I could look at it and they said yes. After having a look I saw that it was a low mile ’69 Dodge Super Bee, 383 4-Spd., a very clean car. I went back to the door and after talking with the father he said that his son calls every other night and that he would ask if he might sell the car and if so for what price. I checked back a coupe of days later and learned that he would sell the car for $900. I took the Super Bee and cancelled the order on the Pinto; the salesman even gave me my deposit back saying that he would have no trouble selling the car as I ordered it. Now we could get into a discussion on why I would purchase a Dodge Super Bee when the gas crisis was getting well under way but we’ll just accept the logic the way it worked itself out, won’t we? It was a nice car and was actually my second muscle car. The thing was that after driving the car a bit I noticed that it would load up with carbon and when an opportunity presented itself I would clear the carbon out to improve the performance and return the smooth operation. One evening I was returning home with a friend and the car was stumbling a bit at a stoplight just at an entrance to the freeway. Well the light turned green and I decided that I was going to run through the gears and clear out the build up yet again. There are those out there that would believe that a 383 would have so-so performance, this was not the average 383 and won its fair share of races. I was pushing about 130 and back down to about 90 and then noticed in my mirror a set of fog lights appear over a hill a ways back and thought to my self that I was not going to let this car catch up and took off again. I noticed that the car was making up some of the distance and decided to drop my speed back down again for what ever reason. Another mile or so and I noticed that the car was a State Police Car and I dropped down to about 70 and when the State Police Car was about 10 – 20 lengths behind me turned his lights on. I did pull over and offered up a long story about the car being new to me, the carbon build up and the first time the friend was in the car. Thankfully radar was not widely in use, but the officer told me that he knew that something was up when he observed me going the opposite direction and first the smoke from the tires and then the carbon from the exhaust and although he could not officially time me he guessed that I was going well over 100 based on the amount of time that it had taken him to catch me. It was a different time back then and I ended up with scolding and a 15 over ticket. This is really one of the more tame stories. I did grow up and did become responsible and have not had a ticket in the last 25 years or more. I would in the end though rather recall the stories where; I rebuilt an engine or started my first vintage car engine for the first time, the first time that I learned of the downside of the front opening vintage windshields and bees. After a lot of years there without question are a lot of stories in most all of us. Now to get back to the here and now…