Car Shows

I've taken the Mustang to a couple of car shows.  The first was in Vancouver and was sponsored by the shop that installed the exhaust system in the car.  I went with my friend Orv, who took his restored classic Triumph.  Here is how we set up:

The sign basically tells the story of the car pretty much like my post on April 4.  This is Orv's Triumph:

The judging for the show was done by the participants, with a vote for their favorite car.  This is the one that got my vote:

It looks like something straight out of "The Grapes Of Wrath", written by John Steinbeck about the Okies leaving the dust bowl and heading for California with all their possessions.  It was super cool.   

The next show was not actually a competition, but a "cruise in" at Portland International Raceway, sponsored by Beach's Restaurant in Vancouver.  All kinds of vehicles gather at the raceway on Wednesday evenings during the summer and there is a band, food, drinks, 1/8 mile drag races, and hundreds of cars, motorcycles, and trucks to gawk at.  This time, Orv drove his restored 1950 Hudson, and his friend Sid drove his 1950 Mercury.  Here was our set up:

Most of the time, like at the other show, I was not at our car but was walking around looking at other cars.  However, the short time I was taking a break and sitting in the shade by the car there were several people who stopped to look and liked the story of the Heirloom Mustang. 

I don't know how many cars were there, but it had to be several hundred, and many were spectacular customs or restorations.   I guess there are a lot of folks looking for something to do during rainy northwest winters.   There were so many I just couldn't get around to see them all, but here is some of the eye candy I did record:

When a trunk really was a trunk

 



                      Elegant

 





This thing was a monster.  Must have been a truck engine in there

 





The guy who painted that monster must have slipped this in

 

Brightest candy apple red I ever saw

 

Engine paint matches the car

 

Here is a selection of the 65 and 66 Mustangs I saw:

 





Note the hood prop.  Solves a lot of problems caused by the springs and hinges.

 



Nice cars, but I think the Heirloom Mustang held its own among them. 

Here is a selfie of the crew having dinner:



Left to right; Sid, me, Orv, Orv's wife Gail

 

And since this started as a motorcycle blog, and will soon return to one, here is a nicely restored mid-sixties Triumph Bonneville:

 

 

 

After two car shows, I think I have had enough.  I'm not really a car guy, but you knew that, right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Big Motorcycle Changes

It has been a busy month, motorcycle wise.  I went on my first ride on my KLX dual-sport bike since last October........and decided I was done with it.  I bought it to explore all the forest roads in the National Forest nearby, and I had pretty well accomplished that, but mainly I was tired of trying to find somebody to ride with and feeling less and less comfortable riding by myself in such remote locations.  So the KLX went up on Craigslist and sold within a week.  RIP KLX, and end of an era.  I no longer have a dirt-capable motorcycle; street only for me now. 

My long range plan for street riding was to ride my Ninja 650 for the rest of the year and then next year buy a new bike in preparation for another ride across the country.  The Ninja was getting long in the tooth, with 114,000 miles on it.  I had been researching its replacement and had narrowed it down to a Honda CBR650F.  While listing the KLX on Craigslist I discovered a local dealer was selling a new 2014 CBR650 for $1100 off list price.  It looked to me like maybe I better not wait a year, so I went up to Longview to see if I could get a test ride on it.

Test rides are not easy to get on new motorcycles at a dealership, but since I rode my own bike up there wearing full gear, and had the look of a mature adult, they did OK a test ride after I signed some disclaimers.  However, after I rode it I was not too enamored with it.......it went all the wrong directions from my current ride; it was a little heavier, a little wider, and the seat was a little taller.  But it did have more power......maybe too much, as on the test ride it started to go sideways on me when I gave it a little gas in a turn.  When I came back from the ride I asked them if I could try a CBR500R.  I had like the looks of this bike since it first came out in 2013, but my main concern was that it only had 47 horsepower, compared to the Ninja's 63 hp and the CBR650s 80 hp.  During the test ride it just felt right, and the power seemed adequate.  Also, it was lighter than the Ninja with about the same seat height.  I was in the buying mode by that time, so buy it I did. 

One of the real benefits of the CBR500 is that there is an optional center stand for it.  This has been a disappearing feature of motorcycles in the last 15 years or so, and sorely missed by me.  I ordered one and here is my new little gem with center stand deployed (and a windscreen extension):

I have over 900 miles on it now and I am enjoying it.....it handles really well and is very "flikable", with a great front brake, and typical Honda excellent fit and finish.  Power still feels adequate if not overwhelming. 

So now the Ninja had to go.  It's hard to sell a motorcycle with over 100,000 miles.  Most people think a bike is worn out if it has half that many miles, but this is a myth left over from the early air-cooled Harley, Indian and British bike days.  A modern fuel-injected, water cooled bike is more like a car in that it can go well beyond 100K if well maintained and not abused.  But I guess anything will sell if the price is right, and so it has gone to a new home.  Here is the new owner loading it up:

It was a fantastic bike and took me (and Carolyn) on many great rides on many Good Roads.

Heirloom Mustang

                                                   New Car - August, 1965

 

Original Owner, Gerry Urban - One Year later

 

May, 2012.  Car Hauled from California to Washington

Non Runner for ten years

 

April 2015

 

 

 

 

Glove Box Plaque

 

Original Owner - 50 Years Later

 

Current Owner - Brian Urban

 

Future Owners - Colin and Brendan Urban

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Chasing Bugs

I expected there would be bugs to iron out in the car and I haven't been disappointed.  I had a list of things I knew I still needed to do, but most of them have been postponed due to unexpected problems that have come up.  One of the first was a failure of a brand new voltage regulator.  I had replaced the original one that looked new enough to re-use, but I felt that it might have been overcharging the battery (I have since learned the voltage reading on the voltmeter was normal.)  So I bought a modern digital voltmeter, but within a few days the battery was completely dead.  Using suggestions I found on the internet I traced the short to the new voltage regulator that was replaced under warranty.  Another unexpected problem was that the new starter sometimes failed to engage the flywheel, causing a grinding noise and failure to start.  When I first installed the starter it was obvious it did not fit quite right, being too big for the hole in the engine plate shown in this picture (at the top):

My solution was to take a grinder and grind the flange on the starter down to a size that would fit, but when it started 'skipping' I took it back and got another one.  The second one also was too big for the hole, but it was closer.  I just filed it down some and put it in.  This one did the same thing, and it got worse.  I was afraid it was damaging the teeth on the flywheel, and it was obvious it was not just a defective starter, but probably due to it not fitting properly even after my attempts to modify it.  For some reason, the hole in the engine plate was exactly 4 inches in diameter, while all the replacement parts called for a 4.5 diameter starter, although the two I had tried varied from about 4.25 to 4-1/8.  I made a template of the mounting plate and took it to a different car parts place:

The counter guy kept bringing out starters from different model years until after the third or fourth one we go one that fit the template.  I believe it was from a 1977 model.......don't have a clue why this happened except there must have been a change to the car sometime when it was not in my hands.
Since I installed that starter I have had no problems........with the starter, anyway.  The next problem I had was that the driver's side window came off the track when I went to roll it up on a particularly cold morning.  Got that problem fixed but then we had a stretch of warm weather and I noticed the temp gage starting to creep up when I had the car idling for a long period.  On top of that, when the temp went up, the heater core started to leak; probably due to the increased pressure in the cooling system.  The heater core was the original one that came with the car and I had flushed it a bunch of times and tested it for leaks, but I guess it wasn't up to handling the added pressure.  My local Mustang expert told me the fan was too far away from the radiator and was drawing air from the side, rather than through the radiator.  I needed a longer fan spacer.  Since replacing the fan spacer and the heater core both required draining the coolant, I decided to do both those jobs at the same time.  I also had to remove the console to get the heater box out, so I decided that would be good time to try to get some sort of antenna on the radio, which was blocked by the console.  I replaced the one inch fan spacer with a 2-1/2 inch one, which brought the fan to one inch from the radiator:

  Old fan spacer

 

New fan spacer painted Ford blue

 

I bought an antenna wire and after plugging it into the back of the radio I got reception.  The problem is that I think the reception would be better if the antenna was outside the car, but Brian didn't want a hole in the fender for an antenna, so we will see what kind of reception we get with running the antenna under the console. 

 

The good news is that the motor continues to run well and sound great.  I think it might be running a little rich, due to adding an air cleaner and different exhaust than was on the motor when it was dyno'd.  I plan to take it back to Tom's Performance for a final carb adjustment. 

 

Also, the brakes are bedding in well, and stopping is not problem.  I have almost 400 miles on the car now, and as I get more used to it I find it more  and more fun to drive......real old school, but fun. 

She's a Driver!

The first bit of good news is that I solved the brake problem.  Thanks to the internet, I got in touch with some people who told me what the problem might be and then got me connected with a shop that sold me the part I needed.  The problem was that, when I went to the dual bowl master cylinder, the stock push rod from the brake pedal to the master cylinder was too short.  Here is a picture of the stock part.  The eye fits over a pin on the brake pedal lever.  When you push on the pedal the rod pushes on the piston in the master cylinder on the other side of the firewall:

And here is a picture of the new part:




It has a turnbuckle-type arrangement that allows the length of the push rod to be adjustable.  Once I replaced the push rod with this one, I lengthened it until the brakes were just starting to drag and then backed it off a little.  Sounds easy enough, but working under the dash to get the old push rod out and the new one in and adjusted was an absolute pain, but the brake pedal was now high and firm.  The brake performance is still not quite what I would like to see, but I think that is because the pads need to conform to the rotors better.  I can see by the wear pattern in the rust on the rotors that they are not making 100% contact.  A few miles should do the trick. 

Now that I had that problem solved it was time to get the wheel alignment done and the exhaust system installed.  But first Brian came down and we added some more bling......... stainless steel fender bolts and billet aluminum upper shock brackets.

On Monday after Brian left I rented a U-haul car dolly, and using Brian's truck to pull it, I loaded up the car and hauled it to the engine builder to get the final adjustment on the distributor.  I guess I had it close, but it still needed some changes:

Unloaded at the machine shop.

I was glad to know the odometer showed the mileage I had towed the car, proving the speedo cable was operating properly:

I loaded the car back on the dolly and hauled it over to the alignment shop.  They were not open on Monday, but were kind enough to meet me at the shop and store the car inside so it could be safe:

 
I then turned the trailer back in to the U-haul dealer. 

Tuesday I drove down to the shop after they had completed the alignment, and since the alignment shop and the muffler shop were only a mile are so apart, I drove the car over there.  I tried to take it easy, but I still set off a car alarm when I passed by.  But no ticket.  The good news is the car steered MUCH better.  I had eyeballed the alignment and ended up with 5 degrees of tow-OUT rather than the correct degree or so of tow-in. 

I left the car at the muffler shop:

Wednesday afternoon I got the call that the exhaust system was done and drove down to get the car.  They did a real nice job on the exhaust:

Then came the final test; I drove the car the 25 miles to my house.  It sounded great and ran fine........and IT WAS A DRIVER.  Definitely not like our new 2014 Honda Accord, but very acceptable.  It's going to take a little time to get used to it, just like any new vehicle.  Finding just where the gears are in the pattern is one of the first habits to learn, but all four gears are there.  Another nice thing to learn is that the car is pretty darn powerful.....lots of strong acceleration and a real torque master. 

Tonight I am a very relieved and happy man.  This was a huge three-year project and I was never confident I could pull it off.  I have heard lots of horror stories of half finished projects sold at a great loss, but this is not going to be one of them.  Without the internet and the help from my local parts guy, Del Pro Specialties, I wouldn't have had a chance. 

There are still a bunch of small things to do......install rear seat belts, get the radio sorted out, change the lube in the differential, get the brake pads seated, fix the minor oil leak in the drain plug gasket, etc.  I think an old car like this can be something you are always messing with for one reason or another. 

Big Event!

Brian was down this weekend bringing some parts he got for Christmas and his birthday, and also brought the shift lever boot bezel that he had someone from his work make for him.  Toward the end of the day he made a video of the big event.  I'm having difficulty with Google Blogger, so the video can be viewed at this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oDIyXXhsfY

 Getting the shift lever boot to fit with the after market console has been a minor hassle.  Now that it is done, it looks pretty good:

 

Another important item I was waiting for Brian to bring down was the fan he got as a Christmas present.  That, combined with the radiator I bought him for his birthday, allowed us to get the cooling system up and running.  The engine is complete, with the addition of the "Monte Carlo" bar that is supposed to add stiffness to the body.......but I think it mostly adds "bling":

 

 

 

 

 

Another bit of bling he got for his birthday were these billet pedals:

 

 

 

A lot of important things got checked out now that the engine could be run for as long as needed and the shift lever installed.  Namely:

 

The clutch and transmission work

 

The cooling system has no leaks, including most importantly, the heater core

 

The temperature gauge works, which means all the gauges (temp, oil pressure, fuel and voltmeter) have been checked out.

 

The backup lights work.

 

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the brakes are terrible.  Also, the alternator seems to be overcharging the battery.  I've bought a new voltage regulator to see if that solves the overcharging problem, as the voltage regulator was one of the few items from the original car and it may have gone bad. 

 

The brake problem has me baffled.  We installed four wheel disk brakes and a new master cylinder that is supposed to go with those brakes, and I bench bled the master cylinder and pressure bled the brakes.  We should have excellent braking, but instead it's difficult to stop the car in the driveway.  The pedal goes almost to the floor and pumping it makes no difference.  I'm beginning to suspect the master cylinder is defective, even though it is brand new.  Maybe the seals in the master cylinder piston are letting fluid back past them.  I don't know, but I guess I'll figure it out somehow.