1200 Hours; No, It's Not A Kit; And Yes I'm The Owner. And A Can Of Bars Leak.

CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
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Birmingham, al
I'll bet I got asked that another thousand times over the last 4 days.

And No, I'm not tired of answering them yet.

I started Mustang week in Birmingham Al. at 6:30 PM;.....Thats' when I decided to get on the road, and head towards the 8 hour and 45 minute drive from my house to our condo in MB that I rented in February.

We weren't 1 hour into the drive when we were met w/ sprinkles. Eventually the "sprinkles" turned into a pounding rain that I had to drive through in the dark into a major city, (Atlanta) where we had intended to spend the night as a way station to break up the drive. I got into mid town Atlanta at 10:15 EST and checked in to our hotel, and after speaking w/ the valet, convinced him ( read,...slipped him a 10 ) to let me self park in their secured valet parking lot, after which we ran up the street and were barely able to eat a burger and down a few pints of Guiness at a pub right up the street before the kitchen closed.
Night 1 a success, 159 miles behind me,.....pleasant dreams.

The next day, I make my way to the valet lot, the wife and I get in the car and make the final 350 miles to MB in a little over 6 hours,...we roll into Myrtle Beach at 3:30. A quick check of the milage versus consumption shows me that the car managed to get 22.9 MPG while mostly traveling 73 MPH.It was comforting to find that the room was very good, and even though it was only me and the wife, was very large w/ an ocean front view. It was originally rented to accomodate my two boys as well, But this trip found one hanging w/ his cousins in KC, and the older one serving his country in the AF. Bottom line, we had a room that could accommodate 6 w/ just us two doin' the accomodatin'.

We meet up w/ the club at S.E.F.B. in the parking lot across from the hotel later that evening for some pre-show hobnobbing. Like you all I'm sure, a great bunch of guys that kinda "parted the water" to make room for my car. True die hard fox body owners, these guys were pretty much single handidly responsible for the strong Fox showing the next day at the show, as 78 of the foxes in attendance came from this club alone.

Did I mention that I got 22.9 @@ 73 MPH on a carbureted 4.6 w/ 3.73 rear end gear?!!!
HA!! eat that Frankie Fuel Injection.

The show was your typical auto show w/ the emphasis on attention to detail, and cleanliness being the criteria for judging the 300 or so cars vieing for some future trophy.
I get there my typical late as usual self to find the field almost full, and get placed along side the street, inside the parking lot. There is no car to the left on me, and some hippy joe hoopty 99 GT sporting a pink/gold chameleon flip flop on the passenger side.

All day long I'm loving life. People come and go in surges, with groups of 3-4 hanging around to get my attention so they can gawk, study and eventually ask me the three famous questions. By the time I was at days end I had said it so many times, every time it was asked again, I smiled before they even got all of the words out.

"In Years, months, or hours?" I'd ask back.
1.2 years,
14 months,
1200 hours
to get it to what you see here today,...and I'm not a body man.

I must've got asked those questions 50 times during this day alone.

I never get tired of it. (My voice does, but I don't)

2012-07-20123327.jpg


The wife and I have another nice meal at the end of the day,...
As we drive down Ocean Blvd,...specators have gathered alongside the curbs and balconies to cheer as the cars go by. (It's like I'm in a parade during Mardi Gras,....Only thing missing is the beads)
Day 3 ends on another great note.

The next day was a cruise in, a more informal "show" of sorts, all set to gather at the same parking lot as the previous days show.
I was supposed to meet up w/ the SEFB group at a parking lot and we were gonna cruise in in force w/ a police escort to guarantee everyone gets there in the same group that started. I get there early enough,...just in time to have someone point out that the radiator was leaking antifreeze.
( I am now faced w/ the reality that it's Saturday in Myrtle Beach, I'm 600 miles away from home, I have an aluminum radiator, and it's pissing antifreeze all over the parking lot)

One of the members from the church that allowed SEFB to muster the cars in their lot offers to take me to Advance to get some stopleak. I accept, doubtful that a can of gook will stop the bleeding, not wanting to pour that crap into my cooling system at the same time.
I resign myself to the fact that I have to try it,..and go buy the Bars leak silver junk that Advance had on their shelf.

I put the junk in and add the 1 gallon of water that had managed to dissappear over the last 24 hours. I close the hood and make the 30 minute drive to the parking lot where the cruise in was to be (by myself,...as all of the rest had long since left). I get there, and while I'm waiting in line to get in, ask one of the spectators if there was water leaking out from under my car..............................Nope.

Eggselent.

I sit all day at the cruise in. I win no trophy. The competition is far too tough. I expected nothing anyway. I was there for the conversation
(Good thing,...cause that's all I got)

I sit around and fret. Will that leak rupture somewhere between the parking lot and home? There is nobody open today,...and after all, It's a 149.00 Chinese radiator from Jegs,....how much will I have to pay somebody to fix a radiator before the repair will exceed the cost of the damn replacement??

I risk it. I leave for home at 6PM Myrtle Beach time Saturday evening after the cruise in. We smell antifreeze for the next 200 miles, but it never gets above 180....Stopping for the night in Augusta, GA. I pull up in front of the hotel dripping antifreeze. I'm screwed.

I park it for the night, and spend a sleepless night worrying on how in the world I'm gonna juggle fixing a radiator 350 miles from home,...... w/o tools,.... not knowing if anybody will let me work on it in their shop,...how I'm even gonna fix the piece of junk, AND.....It's freakin' Sunday!!!

I get up,..and ck the level in my radiator, and was surprised that despite the smell,...despite the dripping,....there is no drip this morning, and the radiator is only down 2-3" from the top.

I get in and drive.

It goes along all day, smelling like there's gotta be antifreeze pouring out of the damn radiator. Again, It never gets hotter than 180,..sitting in traffic on exit ramps to get gas, and later lunch. We cannot run my goofy assed A/C because the smell is so strong w/ the windows up you get queasy.

We try and make the best of it, I get my wife to make a video of the car running at interstate speed, and capture the reflection of the car passing a milk truck,for you guys to see.
But,......
It's upside down in places.

Oh well.

I'm home,..
The car is in the garage.
I'm typing this.

It must've worked out.
 
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I ain't reading all that either (not right now anyway). I thought there were a lot of words BEFORE the picture. Imagine my surprise when I scrolled down to see what was below it. :nonono:

Anyway... The new wheels are AMAZING!!!! I'm so damned glad that I thought of it. :D
 
This really sparked my curiosity, do you have any pictures of you in progress stages? It's really neat, for the headlights did you use old mustang ones or find aftermarket modern ones like the inner (fog I think?) on the 05' and up?

It looks amazing, what a great spin between mid year mustangs, classic and modern.
 
That is all you needed to write. Awesome.
I ain't reading all that either (not right now anyway). I thought there were a lot of words BEFORE the picture. Imagine my surprise when I scrolled down to see what was below it. :nonono:

Ahhh the "silent shame" of living w/ adult ADD......:nonono:

Anyway... The new wheels are AMAZING!!!! I'm so damned glad that I thought of it.

And Thank You! I'm so damned glad you thought of it too.:nice:

You get to meet KB( big ol dude with a watermelon for a head) and Jeff( aka jefflee since he looks like chumlee) ?

Yes. I got to meet Jeff. Jeff was carrying a big assed camera around all weekend long,....(that might even be one of his pictures I stole from the hundreds posted on SEFB). Nice folks

Congrats... I remember Mustang Week from its founding back years ago. I've still never been. Nice car!
car looks great man to bad that gold mustang next to yours looks like crap.

Thanks. I liken my placement to the pretty girl that goes to the clubs w/ her "less attractive" friends. Being next to that car did put my paintjob into a much better perspective. Despite the imvestment he had in materials,....the finish and the body work underneath were less than stellar.

This really sparked my curiosity, do you have any pictures of you in progress stages? It's really neat, for the headlights did you use old mustang ones or find aftermarket modern ones like the inner (fog I think?) on the 05' and up?

It looks amazing, what a great spin between mid year mustangs, classic and modern.

http://www.stangnet.com/mustang-for...-swap-progress-thread-project-89mach1.831329/

Just keep the doggies away from that puddle under your car!

Sounds like a good time!

No puddle this morning, so all dogs are safe. But nonetheless, the radiator is coming out regardless. It's still under warranty.