The Sofa Swerved Right Into My Lane, Officer:

Waiting on the bumper cover. Its was painted today. Hopefully I'll have it on Friday....

So, today's project was to remove the worn out rubber bushing from the differential...

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It wasn't easy...in its place goes one of Steeda's teflon seat spherical bushings:

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Pressing everything into place....

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Bushing installation complete. The pin helps to align the bushing and arm to accept the bolt:

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Ford Motorsport bump stops installed:

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Almost finished!!!!!!
 
On a street engine, we also changed the oil and filter after the first hour of operation. Then at 500 miles, and again at 1000 miles. After that, we usually recommended 3,000 mile oil changes on a carbuereted engine. Back then, we used Valvoline.

Currently, i use Rheinol 5/40 Primus in the winter months...

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I use Liqui-Moly 10w/60 in our 100°F summers and have used it for many years:

1578631191650.png

Both of these oils surpass Mobil 1.

I change my oil and filter between 5,000 and 10,000 miles in my Ford. I once ran the Ford over 12,000 miles on Rheinol 5/40 and Blackstone labs saw no reason to change it from a scientific standpoint.
 
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smitty_p said:
I hear ya , G-Man.

I run around in my little Chevy Spark, with a five-on-the-floor and pull down around 41 MPG.
Click to expand...

My wife has a great 2017 Honda. I love it. We get 47-48 mpg on long trips. But for me, I love to hear a V8 and I love manual transmissions and I LOVE really deep gear ratios like 4.30 or 4.56:1 - I have never owned, nor will ever buy anything with an automatic. Handling, braking and acceleration. It's addictive...
 
Robert Herndon said:
But for me, I love to hear a V8 and I love manual transmissions ...
Click to expand...

I hear ya (see what I did there!).

I remember the V8 in my ‘71 Cutlass. It was a real Oldsmobile Rocket 350 and sounded awesome with turbo mufflers.

I don’t like over-the-top loud cars or motorcycles. But, after I had the exhaust converted to a dual exhaust with turbo mufflers, and after I installed a semi-high rise intake manifold with a four barrel Holley carburetor it sounded perfect. It wasn’t really loud, but had that nice, deep, throaty rumble.

But, these days ... I hardly think about engines or wrenching on cars. I’d rather have a good electric vehicle.

I suppose modding guitars and tweaking on guitar gear has replaced my former love of fiddling with cars.

Such is life!

I miss that car.

Also, I really get the point about manual vs. automatic trannies. I learned to drive in a three-on-the-floor Chevy Nova.

But, I do have a soft spot in my heart for the old, GM TH350 transmission. That, and it’s big brother, the TH400, were nearly indestructible. I rebuilt the TH350 in my Cutlass, only after the clutches and steels had worn down a lot and the tranny started to slip. The rebuild was pretty straightforward, and I installed a B&M shift kit, which was a nice improvement. So, yeah...I also prefer manual transmissions, but I would make an exception for a good TH350!
 
smitty_p said:
I hear ya (see what I did there!).

I remember the V8 in my ‘71 Cutlass. It was a real Oldsmobile Rocket 350 and sounded awesome with turbo mufflers.

I don’t like over-the-top loud cars or motorcycles. But, after I had the exhaust converted to a dual exhaust with turbo mufflers, and after I installed a semi-high rise intake manifold with a four barrel Holley carburetor it sounded perfect. It wasn’t really loud, but had that nice, deep, throaty rumble.

But, these days ... I hardly think about engines or wrenching on cars. I’d rather have a good electric vehicle.

I suppose modding guitars and tweaking on guitar gear has replaced my former love of fiddling with cars.

Such is life!

I miss that car.

Also, I really get the point about manual vs. automatic trannies. I learned to drive in a three-on-the-floor Chevy Nova.

But, I do have a soft spot in my heart for the old, GM TH350 transmission. That, and it’s big brother, the TH400, were nearly indestructible. I rebuilt the TH350 in my Cutlass, only after the clutches and steels had worn down a lot and the tranny started to slip. The rebuild was pretty straightforward, and I installed a B&M shift kit, which was a nice improvement. So, yeah...I also prefer manual transmissions, but I would make an exception for a good TH350!
Click to expand...

Those are great memories, Smitty....i have a few stories like yours.

I worked briefly for Tesla in Palm Springs as they were remodeling the old Hyundai dealer at 111 and Perez Road, but i have no love of electric cars...i just donzfind anything about them appealing.

I suppose one reason is...once you see the massive carbon footprint thst goes into electric car production, it just seems like such a charade.

I suppose that my car - with the tune, 4.30's, lowered, wide tires, straight-pipes & gymkhana suspension - allows me to actually re-live those fond memories you just mentioned, each and every time i get behind the wheel...

For my first car, i pulled a relic out of someone's garage and rebuilt it. I think that car - which i drove daily - left an indelible mark on me.

s-l400 (2).jpg

It was a 1966 Ford Failaine GT - one of only 500 built for NASCAR contingency - with a 650 horsepower 427 'FE' Tunnel Port, sand cast Holley Dominator 4 barrel, and Toploader 4 speed.

I ran open headers most of the time, so we would push it through the Taco Bell drive through out of mercy for people.

As we pushed it out of the drive through into the street, people sitting at the outside tables would start laughing, "Look! A broke-down Ford!"

But when i hit the key, the roar from the 427 - coming down a 3" header collector - would literally strike you with a sonic wave and you could see people drop their tacos to get their hands up to their ears.

Know how people nowadays put thoseights under the car to make them glow??? That's what the Ford looked like going down the street - from the blue fire out of the headers.

In 7 years of driving it everyday, i was only pulled over once...the local cop walked up and said, "I stopped you for open flames, kid...you got no mufflers on this thing or what???"

"No Sir. Its a factory Tunnel Port NASCAR 427...they didn't come with mufflers."

"You know that's not street legal, right?" He said.

I looked at him and replied, "Yes Sir...i know and I'm prepared to accept whatever ticket you decide to write me."

He said, "Oh, Hell, Kid...I'm not gonna write you up. That's one of the hottest sounding cars I've ever heard, and this is a business district and i ain't got no complaints from nobody. Drive that thing safe now, ya hear???"

This is the color scheme and wheels/tires i had on my daily-driver Ford Fairlaine, except my doors were numbered '13' and i had all the decals on it too...

59d680feb23b43694b073e0843cde617.jpg
 
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It was after dark by the time i fitted-out and hung the new front bumper.

20200110_172419.jpg

The stock upper grille - undamaged in the crash and being re-installed - looked a very dull grey, compared to the new lower grille. So, I removed the fog lamps and washed the grille with degreaser. I then taped off the pony and sprayed it with SEM Trim & Bumper Paint just to make it black. It's slated for future replacement.

The paint job i did on the grille was ugly. It was 52°F when i sprayed it - too cold for a slick job - so i sprayed with one hand and burned the overspray in with a heat gun in the other hand. That grille was smokin...but its very, very black and the pebble finish matches the factory texture on the lower grille:

20200110_174810.jpg

Considering the original paint on the car is over 10 years old, i am very happy with the color match.

Carty's Collision in Ontario, California provided the replacement bumper and the prep/refinish materials & labor. The paint work turned out amazing. They shot such a slick job that color sanding and buffing wasn't required.

The finish they shot is better than the factory paint my drummer friend's brand new BMW:

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Cost of new urethane bumper.
$364.00

Paint, prep, materials, additives & clear $369.00
 
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Robert Herndon said:
Those are great memories, Smitty....i have a few stories like yours.

I worked briefly for Tesla in Palm Springs as they were remodeling the old Hyundai dealer at 111 and Perez Road, but i have no love of electric cars...i just donzfind anything about them appealing.

I suppose one reason is...once you see the massive carbon footprint thst goes into electric car production, it just seems like such a charade.

I suppose that my car - with the tune, 4.30's, lowered, wide tires, straight-pipes & gymkhana suspension - allows me to actually re-live those fond memories you just mentioned, each and every time i get behind the wheel...

For my first car, i pulled a relic out of someone's garage and rebuilt it. I think that car - which i drove daily - left an indelible mark on me.

View attachment 36907

It was a 1966 Ford Failaine GT - one of only 500 built for NASCAR contingency - with a 650 horsepower 427 'FE' Tunnel Port, sand cast Holley Dominator 4 barrel, and Toploader 4 speed.

I ran open headers most of the time, so we would push it through the Taco Bell drive through out of mercy for people.

As we pushed it out of the drive through into the street, people sitting at the outside tables would start laughing, "Look! A broke-down Ford!"

But when i hit the key, the roar from the 427 - coming down a 3" header collector - would literally strike you with a sonic wave and you could see people drop their tacos to get their hands up to their ears.

Know how people nowadays put thoseights under the car to make them glow??? That's what the Ford looked like going down the street - from the blue fire out of the headers.

In 7 years of driving it everyday, i was only pulled over once...the local cop walked up and said, "I stopped you for open flames, kid...you got no mufflers on this thing or what???"

"No Sir. Its a factory Tunnel Port NASCAR 427...they didn't come with mufflers."

"You know that's not street legal, right?" He said.

I looked at him and replied, "Yes Sir...i know and I'm prepared to accept whatever ticket you decide to write me."

He said, "Oh, Hell, Kid...I'm not gonna write you up. That's one of the hottest sounding cars I've ever heard, and this is a business district and i ain't got no complaints from nobody. Drive that thing safe now, ya hear???"

This is the color scheme and wheels/tires i had on my daily-driver Ford Fairlaine, except my doors were numbered '13' and i had all the decals on it too...

View attachment 36909
Click to expand...
My own very first car was 65 two door Galaxy 500, in that same gold paint, bought it for $200.00
It needed a transmission, pops and I got one off of a wrecked car
at what was called the Ecology center, a wrecking yard, for $20.00.
I was 15 years old at the time.
 
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