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Login to post Forums » Grassroots Motorsports » What I did on the last day of my holiday (loads and loads o' pics)

June 28, 2009 9:42 p.m. Jay Dork

So I'm visiting my parents in Ontario. This is still in their garage, looking a little dusty:

It's not lonely though. Here's the rest of the family fleet:

...But wait! Something's missing!
Oh, it's this:

We picked it up from my parents' old house and (finally) brought it to their new one.

^^ It did run when parked - about ten years ago - but today this did the job

^^ A little dust never hurt a Mustang. Raccoons occasionally do, but not this time.

^^ Empty for the first time in a decade. Looks mighty strange.

^^ Loaded and ready.

^^ Still attached

^^ Finally at the family homestead, with its young friends.

^^ When the cement finishes curing, it goes here. Along with the Starion and the 944. And the lift, and the tyre mount & balancer, and the giant compressor, and both my dad's and my tools.

We ended the day with some serious grilling. All was well in the world.
June 28, 2009 10:00 p.m. P71 SuperDork

Looks fun AND delicious!

Why was the 'Stang parked for so long? It looks like it's in pretty darn nice shape.
June 28, 2009 10:02 p.m. MrJoshua SuperDork

So I can see where you got your interest in cars.
June 28, 2009 10:10 p.m. The_Jed New Reader

Grilled pineapple slices and large mushrooms...kinda makes me wonder what strange substance is in the covered container.

Seriously,I'm envious of the collection.Very nice.
June 28, 2009 10:20 p.m. Woody SuperDork

Poppy Red?
June 28, 2009 11:06 p.m. friedgreencorrado HalfDork

I'm with P71 on this one. The Mustang looks like it doesn't need much.
June 28, 2009 11:16 p.m. Luke Dork

Wow, that Mustang looks very nicely preserved.

Did you get a chance to take the Starion for a spin?
June 28, 2009 11:23 p.m. aussiesmg Dork

That fastback rules, nice collection
June 28, 2009 11:25 p.m. smog7 Dork

nice collection of cars. why aren't you or your dad driving them? what happened to them?
June 29, 2009 12:10 a.m. Jay Dork

Well, my Starion doesn't get driven because I never had time to get it running before I moved overseas. It's in storage until (if) I move back. (If I don't move back I'd love to get it running and ship it over to Germany with me, but I don't really have space for two cars over there.)

The Mustang was a summer daily for my dad for a while after he bought it (about 16-17 years ago now), until he got into an accident with it. He did a "nice driver" quality restoration after that, but then didn't want to take it to work anymore, and it got put in the garage. Dad got busy with other projects (keeping the daily drivers running, houses, etc.) and didn't really do anything with it since then. Hopefully actually having it out of the garage will give him some motivation to get it going again.

The 944S gets driven lots, but not in the winter. I'm using it over my holiday. The Subaru 2.5RS is my mum's daily.

Definitely runs in the blood.
June 29, 2009 12:17 a.m. Brust Reader

Funny- I love Mustangs, but at this point I think I'd rather have the Starion. Wierd.
June 29, 2009 1:19 a.m. spdracer315 New Reader

ahh...i hate you!! not really, im just really jealous. That garage is going to be awesome! i cant wait to have my own...
June 29, 2009 5:50 a.m. RedS13Coupe Reader

Weird question...

Is the starion parked over carpet?
June 29, 2009 6:50 a.m. 4cylndrfury HalfDork

when I saw that big beautiful open barn garage, with unmolested floors and tons of door space, I swear I heard angels singing and the sun appeared just a bit brighter

and of course, with regards to the Starion, the other half of that If statement is

Jay wrote: It's in storage until (if) I move back.

Jay wrote: And, if I dont move back, I will sell it to 4CF for a reasonable challenge friendly price
June 29, 2009 10:39 a.m. Jay Dork

RedS13Coupe wrote:

Weird question...

Is the starion parked over carpet?

We had some carpet scraps left over from the part of the house that got rebuilt, so we laid them over the concrete garage floor. Nicer to work on in winter.

The giant shop will be insulated and heated... eventually.

It's funny, I was looking at the Mustang again today... Everyone talks about '60s cars like they were huge behemoths, but it's really no bigger than the Porsche. Maybe a bit taller. It's got a 1971 351W with a 4-barrel carb in it right now but my dad wants to swap for a more modern 302 HO + 5-speed.
July 2, 2009 6:22 p.m. Jay Dork

So, out of curiosity, how would you go about making one of these handle without doing any major cutting or welding? I'm thinking extra leaves in the back, uprated coils up front, new shocks all around, lighten the front end (aluminum head 302, maybe move the battery), sticky 275/50 rubber on 16s, panhard bar & anti-roll bars...? Just some idle speculating.
July 6, 2009 7:40 a.m. gjz30075 New Reader

Rollerized spring perches in the front help alot. And unless you have power steering, expect mucho effort at slow speeds with 275 rubber.

Extra leaves in the back will make it pretty stiff; stay away from KYB shocks. Way to stiff.

The aluminum heads help alot with lightness in the front and much better breathing than stock heads.
July 6, 2009 8:59 a.m. EricM HalfDork

Nice Weekend!
July 6, 2009 12:28 p.m. MiatarPowar HalfDork

Very cool collection. I'm jealous of the new garage.
July 6, 2009 3:15 p.m. Woody SuperDork

Jay wrote:

So, out of curiosity, how would you go about making one of these handle without doing any major cutting or welding? I'm thinking extra leaves in the back, uprated coils up front, new shocks all around, lighten the front end (aluminum head 302, maybe move the battery), sticky 275/50 rubber on 16s, panhard bar & anti-roll bars...? Just some idle speculating.

I had two 65's, a coupe and fastback.

I built the fastback to Shelby specs (no I didn't build a fake Shelby clone. Those always pissed me off), but I was still never happy with the handling.

I think that the biggest limitation was the worm and recirculating ball steering box. Rack and pinion would be a huge improvement. Of course, that conversion is pretty common these days.

Bottom line is that they are really old cars now. It's hard to overcome the years and the advancements in technology.

At the same time, I had an 89 Civic Si with 200,000 miles on it that would kick the Mustang's ass on any road with more than one corner.

And I believe that I remain the only one on the planet who had to drive a 65 Mustang to work because his Honda Civic wasn't running.
July 6, 2009 5:03 p.m. Volksroddin HalfDork

Nice weekend. The gaint shop looks/sounds perfect.
July 8, 2009 6:36 a.m. Rusnak_322 New Reader

Woody wrote:

I built the fastback to Shelby specs (no I didn't build a fake Shelby clone. Those always pissed me off)

Why does that piss you off? Why do other people care what someone else does with their car??

if you take a plain jane mustang and make it look like a shelby or a GT350 or a base camaro and make it look like a SS, it is the same as modifying your miata to make it look better, handle better and go faster in your eyes. It is about enjoying your car.

Now I will agree with you that it is funny when you see a civic with M3 badges or a corvette with Ferrari emblems.

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