Monday, March 22, 2010

Day One Hundred and Eighty-Seven

Woohoo! Clean car! (Item #69) My arms and shoulders still hurt a bit (two days later), but it sure does look good. Now I have to figure out if I'm going to keep it and drive it until I'm so old they take away my license, or sell it to somebody who could restore it and make it really wonderful ...



Here we go ...



If I was going to clean it, I was going to clean it thoroughly. I don't think it's been this clean in decades!



Getting my girl trained to appreciate cool cars while she's young!



The sunny weather made this pleasant work.




Taking a well-deserved break!



I'm too short to see the top of the dashboard from the driver's seat, since it slopes down a bit - it was VERY dusty.



Will ya look at that?! (That's the real mileage.)



I suspect it has been a few years since anybody scrubbed the gas pedal on this car.



This part is more fun when it's 85 degrees out and you're not already tired.



I always kind of like cleaning the license plate.



Much better!


I couldn't figure out why I kept craving a hamburger while I was working on this project. I don't eat hamburgers very often (more likely to have chicken or a veggie burger), and I don't have that strong a connection between the idea of American muscle cars and burgers. I finally realized that it wasn't just any hamburger I wanted, it was a Rock-N-Roger's hamburger - a local restaurant with a fifties-style-diner flair and wonderful memorabilia from the 1940's to the 1960's. I figured I'd burned off enough calories to cover at least a quarter of one of those burgers, so I indulged and enjoyed it. I'd call that a good day's work!

7 comments:

  1. Must tell you I had a '67 Mustang Fastback with a 390CI engine. Automatic. Totally stock but I could dust 350 Camero's all day long (and night time too!). Wish I still had it! Your's '67 or '68? ~

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  2. When you got to cleaning the gas pedal I knew you were being thorough!! The car looks great! How can it only have 52,019 miles?--Janet W

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  3. Anonymous reader - mine's a 1968, and I don't know much about it except that it's a straight six, 3-speed, and the engine is original.

    Mrs. W., I'm the third owner. The first was an older gentleman who had owned it for 30 years and apparently only drove it to work and back and not much else. Another gal about my age owned it for 2-3 years and drove it a little more, but sold it when it got too tricky to put two carseats in the back. I've only driven it in town, other than one trip to Portland a few years ago. It's been in the garage for the last two years, and I'm being careful with the mileage but I hope to drive it a little this summer in case I end up needing to sell it down the line.

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  4. So what is wrong with the mustang?

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  5. Anonymous reader - the only things wrong with the Mustang are easily fixed. It needs new tires (it still has the original tires, which is cool but no longer safe). The metal piece you press to honk the horn broke off, and I have the replacement part but it will involve completely dismantling the steering column. A couple of other minor pieces need to be replaced (window crank handles, broken side mirror, etc.).

    The main reason I would sell it is that it's expensive to pay for the insurance and drive it, and it gets harder and harder to justify a third car when it could fetch a few thousand bucks from an interested collector. We'll see ...

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  6. I love your car! '68 was a fabulous year for cars. The mileage is amazing. I was just noticing my van was something like 200+ thousand. Very nice.

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  7. Fantastic, my lovely old car has all her original interior, exterior and when I got her the original tyres too (they had to be changed for safety) and the little quirks (broken indicator, wing mirror and window winder) are all part of her charm

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