McLovin

That old remedy is about as old as it gets, I've never tried it but it's supposed to work! 🙂

That's what the lot attendants used at the Dodge dealership that I worked at for many years on cars taken in for the Cash for clunkers program where they had to intentionally kill the motors before they sent the cars to the junkyard since the motors we're not allowed to be resold. They would pour it in the crankcase and run the car at 2000 rpm until it froze up. Most engines seized up in about a minute but I remember an older Ford conversion van with a 302 that went on for almost 5 minutes before it finally gave up, it was sad to watch as it could have gone on for many more years! Sodium silicate is great in your cooling system for leaks but don't accidentally put it in your crankcase! Lol! McLovin.

Amazing stuff! Can be used in your fuel tank and crankcase. McLovin.

Emtee, 67 lincoln, nice car! The metal from a car like that would make probably five Kias. McLovin.

Dship, I was fooled by the sawdust "additive" once when I was buying a 70 LTD, thing ran great until I changed the oil LOL! Always checked under the oil fill cap for that from then on when checking out cars. McLovin.

Had a blown head gasket on an 85 tempo back in the late-90s, blowing clouds of white smoke like crazy! Went to Walmart and bought a $7 bottle of Barrs block seal. Used as directed, flushing block of antifreeze and running it with block seal and water to temp, drained, left lower hose and radiator cap off for the night to dry, filled with 50% water and antifreeze mix. No more white smoke, oil clean, and drove the car for three more years! I sold it still holding so I don't know how long it worked for! And yes I did disclose that to the new owner, knew it was the right thing to do LOL! He was just happy to get a good running car for cheap. McLovin.

I've found that most automotive additives do very little if anything and are a waste of money. There are three that I have used though that work quite well. 1. STP oil treatment in the original blue bottle at every oil change, it's a great viscosity builder and contains zinc which is great for reducing wear in older engines. 2. AlumAseal radiator stop leak, as lame as it sounds to use it it really works on the smaller radiator, heater core and water pump leaks but is not compatible with antifreeze as it states. One needs to drain all antifreeze, refill with water and diluted stop leak, run again to temperature, finally drain and refill with 50% antifreeze and water. 3. Iso-Heet in the familiar red fluted bottle is a great fuel line antifreeze and water remover since it's mostly isopropyl alcohol. It also helps clean carburetors and injectors for easier starts, especially in winter. One bottle treats 20 gallons, once a month is normally fine. McLovin.

Dear Josh, if you haven't already you might try looking through dusty old boxes of your dad's,grandpa's or great grandpas stuff if available as older people worked on a paper filing system that might contain an old insurance card or registration which would provide the VIN number. With the VIN number, your story and your ID you might find a willing and cooperative Glendale Police department or DMV that might reveal who your dad sold it to to give you a start. I wish you the best of luck in locating your great grandpa's old car! McLovin.

I remember back in the 60s my family having two 19-in black and white TVs, one set on top of the other. One the picture worked only, the other the sound worked only, had to change the channel with pliers! lol!🙂 But as far as back to the topic, if I ever end up with a restoration project again it'll be something I can complete myself.

I remember back in the 60s my family having two 19-in black and white TVs, one set on top of the other. One the picture worked only, the other the sound worked only, had to change the channel with pliers! lol!🙂

All these classics that we know and love today we're just used cars way back then. Probably my biggest regret of all the cars I've had and sold was a 69 Dodge Charger SE, with a 383 in front of a 727 auto. Even though I wasn't fond of the factory green paint, it was a real runner and in pretty nice shape, sold it for 1,600 bucks in 1983. Kicking myself in the ass today for that decision, lol!

Those old falcons are cool! The predecessor to the mustang, so basic and easy to work on! 🙂

Back in 1982 in Alaska my winter beater was a 67 mustang coupe with a slightly built 302 out of a 70 and 3 speed manual. The car was missing most of the front clip and overall body pretty rough but all functional. With studded tires on the back and the traction lock axle it did amazingly well, always starting even in 15 below weather when much newer cars didn't! Crazy part is the defrost didn't work well so I would look through a one foot defrosted hole in the windshield bundled up in layers of clothing freezing my butt off! I was only 21 then, certainly nothing I would do now, lol! McLovin.

TAKerry,Good stuff, thanks for that!

Some good points and I appreciate it. The shop that has it primarily builds race cars and also custom fabricates for that purpose. This is right up his alley and he was excited to take it on and pick up where the last shop left off. Almost all sheet metal replaced, mustang two suspension, front floor pans, windshield pillar repair, subframe rail repair all done. Floor tunnel needs to be enlarged to fit the 6-speed tremec and 428 FE motor to be fit over new suspension. Older body and paint guy and his son who works for the owner have been waiting close to 3 years for the powertrain mock up fitment so they can finish the body and paint and interior. Quite a project, I know and if I hadn't had it since 1983 I probably wouldn't have bothered. 11 years ago I drove to the first shop, shock towers cracked, suspension and steering worn out, 351 Windsor and fmx leaking and tired but still running. I've found out that nostalgia can be a very expensive type of emotion! lol. Thanks, McLovin.

Hey TTR, I liked your perspective on the bad customer scenario as I've seen that to be true myself throughout my 40 years in retail sales before retiring 3 years ago. Some customers you want to hug, others you want to shoot and everything in between! One of the first things I learned is to take care of the customer and if you promise something you damn better deliver on it. It's proven that a negative experience is five times more likely to be communicated than a positive one to others. I think being on the receiving end of business complaints for so long and putting out the fires has made me more tolerant than most as a customer which has been to my detriment in the Mach 1 restoration. Since I've shown sympathy to his past explanations of poor staffing, his divorce, his aging parents, etc, I have apparently conditioned him to "slow walk" my project assuming I'll understand. Since retirement I've had more time to drop by and have more serious conversations with him, expressing my anger, disappointment and frustration for his continued broken promises of progress. He always apologizes, promises progress and the cycle continues. One thing I just can't get used to is a man making a promise, looking you in the eye, shaking your hand and not delivering as that's not how I was raised or how I conducted business in my career. I'll continue to push forward, stay in contact and perhaps with some luck and persuasiveness by the end of next summer will finally have it back. Thanks, McLovin.

I never said all shops were bad. My question and title was "are all auto restoration shops flaky"? Which you felt the need to alter. It appears you are the moderator of this forum and it would seem that in that position you wouldn't be giving your own defensive opinions, Perhaps you get a kick out of other forum members responses to them? Peter, I do realize I need to take some responsibility for the time frame but I am the customer and the business did come to me with a written estimate and time frame of one year that has turned into six. When your car is in a million pieces and your three year old paid parts order with them is still incomplete it's hard just to pack it up and take it somewhere else, especially in Alaska where options are few. I have and will be putting as much pressure on the shop as possible as it's really not that far from the finish line, just beyond what I could do myself. I apologize for the response to TTR as I didn't take his response as a joke as I should have. McLovin.

Well put Scooter, you described this guy well. Thanks.

Thanks, very nice! After all these years, still my favorite model.🙂

Well hopefully your new recruit will have more integrity than you and keep his word and promises as a real man should.

Yeah, very funny pete. Was just trying to get input of others that might have fallen into the same position. My only part in the problem was picking the wrong shops. I'm not a negative person in general, just been very frustrated at the process and I guess quite honestly was venting as well.

I appreciate your reply Mr Walling and your experience but I can assure you this has been no charity case as I've been paying him all along and way over original estimate as expected. This guy just takes in much more work than he can handle, greases you up and tells you what you want to hear and then doesn't deliver. I've seen his finished work and I know he's very talented but seriously lacks integrity. Recently I've had discussions with him about this problem of his but nothing gets through.

I understand what you're saying but unfortunately nostalgia plays into it since I've owned it for 40 years and have lots of good memories driving it. Couldn't stand seeing it in pieces once I got it back from the first loser. The only really mods are the mustang 2 suspension which the first shop did, eliminating the shock towers and the second shop needs to install a 428 FE motor with a 6-speed manual tremic behind it. This guy builds race cars, it's what he does, he's just been slow walking the project big time and I'm running out of patience as I've been certainly more patient than most would be.

Well put! Thanks for the reply.