Oh, and I loathe the people who go buy a new vehicle and drive it straight to a show. I'd never take my s197 to a show.
Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.
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It's Beemers....I don't sell them......I tell people how to work them.Maybe try a bigger show like a Car Craft event,
We used to go to the local once a month downtown car show here but it was a family affair, her dad had a stock 51 chevy that I loved to drive, 6cyl, 3 'on the tree' and a 63 or 4 SS impala small block auto, her brother has a 55 shoe box and a 5 window chev pickup, I was the lone blue blood with a restored 92 50 lx vert, most times I drove the 51 so they wouldn't pick on me.
One guy bought a new corvette every couple years and would take bos every time,
Your in the wrong place, like minds and all.
Remember:
I drive a John Cooper Works edition Mini.....It's like a Roush version of a Mustang...
Yes,....yes I did.
Yeah,...I guess. I made one for the red car, but people still have to stop a minute to read it,..and you have to like the car to stop.And as much sht that has been changed on this car the sign would be 6' tall. (Maybe not such a bad idea after all?)
A Fairmont is another one of those niche cars that most don't even know existed, few like, and are very rare at events anymore.
For people to think that the car was a Cyclone,..when the last one ever made was in 1972 tells you that the standard "Ford Guys" knowledge base has eroded to only recognizing New edge/ S197/550 Mustangs. Everything else becomes a "What the hell is that?"
Controversy creates attention, let's cram 14psi into it for a dyno pull. Then print the sheet out on a 6' board, title it
"Catch me outside"
"Catch me outside"
We've done a chit ton of those at work. One of the guys I work with bought a new 2008 and had the dealer put the whipple on it. He put wheels and tires and then decided the low boost setup wasn't good enough so he took it to the local tuner and had them put the intercooler and crank the boost up. That was a fun car to drive...450rwhp. It was still well mannered enough to be a DD. But he got to going to all the local Mustang car shows and we did a board for him and work and then everyone had to have one. Mike, PM me if you want to talk about one. We do them as adhesive vinyl that's laminated and put on a sheet of aluma-core. Fairly classy.
Even with my silver and purple POS I understand how you feel. I went to the show once at one of the local Ford dealers. My chit leaks oil, paint is runied and it has a purple cowl hood on it. Due to a low turnout, and the other guys I guess knew how much I had thrashed on it (pulled engine reringed, regasket, rebearing) they gave me a top 25 trophy! That's still on top of my desk right now!!
I agree on the dino vs synthetic. Back in the 80's my brother and some friends ran an old front engine dragster with a SBC in it. It was low-buck and they didn't know what they were doing, but after it was broken in good they changed to Mobil 1. The idle picked up 400 rpm and it picked up a tenth in the 1/8 with no other changes. It probably had 75psi of oil pressure at idle, but the frictional loss is pretty big between old school straight SAE oil and new multiviscosity synthetics. Ever bought some 0w/30 and poured it? It's scary...it's like water.
Do a simple board with a picture of the before and after with a semi simple(how to detail as much work you've done will be hard) explanation/description as you can. You created exactly what you wanted Mike...a very cool and unique build of a car,that honestly wasn't a popular body style in the first place. Now you have a "non belly button" that isn't going to be appreciated in the "belly button" community. People that appreciate your skill will still love the car and many others will also. Besides you built it for you. Not the "adoring" public.
HotFox
15 Year Member
To bad on the car show, still will be respected to those who have built anything. Probably will not get much respect from those that bought there "toys".
On to the oil pump, Avaid pumps have a internal built in bypass. Crank that thing up if you want more pressure. Should be a 5/8 wrench and 3/16 Allen wrench near the front of the pump.
On to the oil pump, Avaid pumps have a internal built in bypass. Crank that thing up if you want more pressure. Should be a 5/8 wrench and 3/16 Allen wrench near the front of the pump.
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You're exactly right,...It does have an external pressure adjustment,..and if that is the fix, then that's what I'll do.
I still gotta run it since adding a qt.....after adding the normal 5 qts plus the filter,..the oil was only touching the tip of the stick,..one qt below the "add" mark.
Now granted,..who knows what's right with this stick....It could be way low,.or the sticks markings aren't accurate. (It is an aftermarket universal stick after all) or it's full, and the synthetic oil is too thin, and the pressure is falling off when hot,..or there's an impending boom in the engine's future..it'll all work itself out in the end.
I've always built the cars for me,...and I should know better after two Mustang Weeks that a single model/brand community isn't gonna appreciate something as radically different as the Monster,..especially given that it doesn't (from the outside) look all that different to somebody that doesn't know any better.
Had I done something like this,...then maybe the apparent over the top-ness of it would've raised more eyebrows..
I really like a pro street themed car,...but other than the wheels tubbed rear/steam roller meats, and that huffer hanging out of the hood,....its a stock bench seat black Zephyr w/ polished Centerlines.
I do appreciate that you guys know the car for what it is,..(How could you not,...this is the 4th year and 280th page after all)
And your support.
And Droop,...I'll be getting with you for that signage,..I am very interested in doing just that.
To parrot others, you built what you liked. You would admit you have an eclectic taste leaning towards the unusual.
I can say that I truly love your car and AALLLLL of that work and craftsmanship you put in it.
As you say though, you're not someone that spends a lot of their time looking at belly lint. Meaning you want something different than the "crowd".
You're going to shows where the belly lint people are. For goodness sake, look at the class they lumped you in!
The Monster was meant for larger shows where there are other artists that know what you did without you telling them.
If a Cyclone would have been a car that people wanted back then and would have paid for it, don't you think Ford would have made some? But then, the Monster wouldn't be what you have right now if that happened.
Slap yourself a little Mike. I've seen your car and the craftsmanship involved in it. It will be admired by fellow craftsmen. Someone who wants to see the newest Shelby or Cobra Jet isn't your audience.
So don't talk like you're disappointed when you already knew how people would react.
Mustang shows aren't your venue.
I can say that I truly love your car and AALLLLL of that work and craftsmanship you put in it.
As you say though, you're not someone that spends a lot of their time looking at belly lint. Meaning you want something different than the "crowd".
You're going to shows where the belly lint people are. For goodness sake, look at the class they lumped you in!
The Monster was meant for larger shows where there are other artists that know what you did without you telling them.
If a Cyclone would have been a car that people wanted back then and would have paid for it, don't you think Ford would have made some? But then, the Monster wouldn't be what you have right now if that happened.
Slap yourself a little Mike. I've seen your car and the craftsmanship involved in it. It will be admired by fellow craftsmen. Someone who wants to see the newest Shelby or Cobra Jet isn't your audience.
So don't talk like you're disappointed when you already knew how people would react.
Mustang shows aren't your venue.
Still. I would have enjoyed seeing the Monster standing out in the sea of Weld wheels and Showroom fresh GT's
The one thing that stands out the most when the car is next to a late model is how small it is..I was putting gas in it and a Challenger was on the other side of the pump...that car looked Huge!
When I was in a local car club, I always admired a car owned by someone who WORKED on it. It you just go somewhere and say build me a 600hp custom painted car and bring it to shows, FFF you. But if you're a 19 yr old snot nose punk who works 3 fast food jobs and don't have a clue what you're doing, but YOU'RE doing it, I respect that. Anyone can BUY something (if they have the money), but these days not everyone can build a Monster. Hell there might actually be people who can't even do a LS swap into a Fairmont. There are people who can't even tell you what's under the hood, how to even check the washer fluid.
F someone that turns their nose up or snickers at my hoopty. I've done everything on it myself, except weld the subframe connectors in....I paid my brother in BEER to do that. I've never painted or done body work, but even if it's Plastidip, I am painting MY car MYSELF. You've engineered a crossbred Monstrosity in your attached garaged for goodness sakes. At least in my mind, you're an evil genius!
Ah, that reminds me: I need to make an appointment. My washer fluid is low.
Stop by Thursday night. I'll have a class and show you and my teen how to add washer fluid!
Wow,.....stop talking about stuff here,..and your "blog" becomes a ghost town in a matter of a week....3 pages back.
I had to go on an archeological dig just to find the thing.
As far as the Monster is concerned I haven't even started it since adding oil to it. He's just sitting down there waiting......
To move.
Let's talk about irony this morning.
When we decided to move from here,..the reasons we used to justify the move were four fold.
1. We wanted to escape the family oriented burbs, and all of the chain restaurant choices that come with it.
2. Living 2 miles from Hoover High, two miles from The Hoover freshman center, and 1.5 miles from the elementary school, makes my street a jugphck to get out of at any time during the school year between 6:50, and 7:30 AM, and a traffic menagerie between 3:30 and 5 PM to get back home. We wanted to move away from School central to escape the traffic.
3. This house was built in 1985. Sided in cedar. We wanted to get a new(er) house w/ built w/ better, more maintenance friendly materials, w/ newer more efficient windows and design.
4. Trees. Freakin trees that drop stinkin' leaves,...that have to be raked,....or cut down when they start to hang weird,...or decide to fall on houses and cars,.....No stinkin trees,...or a minimum at best. We wanted a smaller piece of property to have to maintain.
This last 45 days,..I've been doing junk to try and get the house presentable enough to list it. This sunday a sign goes up in our yard.
Now I don't know how it is for the rest of you in your own respective areas, but in my town, there is a shortage of for sale properties,..and when you find one on the internet,..chances are that as soon as it was listed,..it already has an offer pending.
We have been looking,..and just as soon as we find one we like,.....the thing says "contingent" in the corner.
Now I know what contingent means,..but despite that, in most cases,..it means continue looking cause this one is sold.
I'd have to make a contingent offer just the same, we have to sell our house before we can buy another anyways.
So we look.
Last Sunday (Easter) We started actually looking at some of the houses we earmarked. The good ones were gone already.
On Tuesday we stumble onto the one we made an offer on.`
It addresses none of the 4 criteria listed above. Well,....maybe a couple.
It is away from school traffic, and closer to down town as far as dining options.....And,...it's exactly 3.1 miles away from work.
But. It has trees. Lots of them.
It's freakin old.......built in 1962. It's style is called A "Mid century modern"
Sided in cedar painted who knows how many times,...and is...giant. (well,....if you consider 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, and two kitchens,...giant that is.....To me at least 4400 sq ft. is giant) It's far from maintenance friendly.
There is a two car garage,..a two car carport,...and a detached 30 x 50? barn. (Did I say barn?.......I meant to say Monster manor)
Why am I doing this?
Front...
Back.....
The red barn,......hence forth Monster manor
It's all on one level,...with a full finished basement. So as a crotchedy friendly place to get old in, the main floor has got that covered. It has a natural gas powered whole house generator, and the inside is straight out of something you'd expect to see in a black and white picture of 60's modern style.
Now this is still not a done deal......We have made an contingent offer that they have accepted, but they are free to continue to try and sell for an immediate offer as opposed to our "contingent" one. We gotta sell this one first. If somebody comes along and makes an offer for immediate purchase, we have 72 hours to react to try and come up w/ the money to stem that bleed.
I'm not emotionally tied to it. If we get it yea,....if we don't....I'm ok w/it too.
But the Monster will miss having his own air conditioned flop house.
I had to go on an archeological dig just to find the thing.
As far as the Monster is concerned I haven't even started it since adding oil to it. He's just sitting down there waiting......
To move.
Let's talk about irony this morning.
When we decided to move from here,..the reasons we used to justify the move were four fold.
1. We wanted to escape the family oriented burbs, and all of the chain restaurant choices that come with it.
2. Living 2 miles from Hoover High, two miles from The Hoover freshman center, and 1.5 miles from the elementary school, makes my street a jugphck to get out of at any time during the school year between 6:50, and 7:30 AM, and a traffic menagerie between 3:30 and 5 PM to get back home. We wanted to move away from School central to escape the traffic.
3. This house was built in 1985. Sided in cedar. We wanted to get a new(er) house w/ built w/ better, more maintenance friendly materials, w/ newer more efficient windows and design.
4. Trees. Freakin trees that drop stinkin' leaves,...that have to be raked,....or cut down when they start to hang weird,...or decide to fall on houses and cars,.....No stinkin trees,...or a minimum at best. We wanted a smaller piece of property to have to maintain.
This last 45 days,..I've been doing junk to try and get the house presentable enough to list it. This sunday a sign goes up in our yard.
Now I don't know how it is for the rest of you in your own respective areas, but in my town, there is a shortage of for sale properties,..and when you find one on the internet,..chances are that as soon as it was listed,..it already has an offer pending.
We have been looking,..and just as soon as we find one we like,.....the thing says "contingent" in the corner.
Now I know what contingent means,..but despite that, in most cases,..it means continue looking cause this one is sold.
I'd have to make a contingent offer just the same, we have to sell our house before we can buy another anyways.
So we look.
Last Sunday (Easter) We started actually looking at some of the houses we earmarked. The good ones were gone already.
On Tuesday we stumble onto the one we made an offer on.`
It addresses none of the 4 criteria listed above. Well,....maybe a couple.
It is away from school traffic, and closer to down town as far as dining options.....And,...it's exactly 3.1 miles away from work.
But. It has trees. Lots of them.
It's freakin old.......built in 1962. It's style is called A "Mid century modern"
Sided in cedar painted who knows how many times,...and is...giant. (well,....if you consider 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, and two kitchens,...giant that is.....To me at least 4400 sq ft. is giant) It's far from maintenance friendly.
There is a two car garage,..a two car carport,...and a detached 30 x 50? barn. (Did I say barn?.......I meant to say Monster manor)
Why am I doing this?
Front...
Back.....
The red barn,......hence forth Monster manor
It's all on one level,...with a full finished basement. So as a crotchedy friendly place to get old in, the main floor has got that covered. It has a natural gas powered whole house generator, and the inside is straight out of something you'd expect to see in a black and white picture of 60's modern style.
Now this is still not a done deal......We have made an contingent offer that they have accepted, but they are free to continue to try and sell for an immediate offer as opposed to our "contingent" one. We gotta sell this one first. If somebody comes along and makes an offer for immediate purchase, we have 72 hours to react to try and come up w/ the money to stem that bleed.
I'm not emotionally tied to it. If we get it yea,....if we don't....I'm ok w/it too.
But the Monster will miss having his own air conditioned flop house.
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I like it a lot mike!
I was born in '62, does that make me a mid-century modern too?
I was born in '62, does that make me a mid-century modern too?
4,400 SQ FT....... good lawd that's a lot of house.... lol... Good luck Mike,the monster deserves a climate controlled space of his own
I like it a lot mike!
I was born in '62, does that make me a mid-century modern too?
According to my son, anyone born before 75 is an OLD dude. I think we're Mid-Life Modern.
Yes he will....and you will too if you have to work on him during the cool of the June-Sept evenings!
Here are my thoughts on the oil "thing". Oil works best when at a temp over 200* and less than 280* roughly. At that temp there is no advantage to running a "thinner" oil, outside of a few HP gain. A gain that I doubt you can feel. After all, how thick do you think 20-50 is at over 200*? At that point the "heavier" "thicker" oil has more stability to it. I run a 20-50 semi-synthetic in the race engine. This stuff: http://www.drivenracingoil.com/dro/xp5-sae-20w-50-semi-synthetic-racing-oil-16054html/ .Why this stuff? Because my engine builder highly recommends it and he has not steered me wrong in 20 plus years. I also have an engine oil heater that is attached to the bottom of the oil pan. Like this: https://www.wolverineheater.com/Wolverine-Model-16-250-Watt-Heater-p/16.htm. The engine does not get started until the oil is up to temp, which I guess works great for a race car that has a more scheduled run time, but could be an issue if you were going to fire up the Monster at a moments notice. You do live in a warmer climate so maybe not that bad at all. My guess is that your oil pressure would stabilize with a quality 20-50 oil in it. I don't remember what bearing clearances you had the engine set up for. I would also hope that the plumbing for the external pump did not have any hard 90* fittings as those kill flow. Everything should be done with AN fittings that promote flow without the pressure loss of a hard 90* fitting. Anyway, I know engine oils can be a controversial and/or emotional thing (just talk to an Amsoil person), but it never hurts to hear what has worked for others.
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