Category Archives: Auto Body Work

If you thought the Mustang Stationwagon was Bad?

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
2 Comments

Why did he just buy a Ranchero???

 

1966 Ford Mustang Mustero

1966 Ford Mustero

By  Zach Bowman RSS feed

Posted Dec 21st 2011 10:00AM

The Ford Mustang has some strange skeletons knocking bones in its closet, including the Mustero. Believe it or not, the Mustang/Ranchero hybrid you see above was actually a Ford-licensed product. The company authorized Beverly Hills Mustang LTD to produce the machines for just two years.At the time, the conversion came carrying a price tag of $6,500. That made the Mustero as expensive as the Shelby Cobra. Needless to say, buyers weren’t exactly lining up with cash in hand for a pint-sized pickup sports car, and only 50 were ever produced, including this well-restored example.

According to the owner, this ’66 Mustero received a complete restoration in the ’80s and has been carefully stored indoors since then. A 289-cubic-inch V8 lurks under the hood, mated to a three-speed manual gearbox. Manual steering and brakes are part of the party as well, so be prepared for a work out when it comes time to wheel this machine through town.

 Thanks for reading.
Tim

The Cars of Cuba: Photos and stories from Havana

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

I hope you can view this article.  Has some great cars – although the saying “keep the shiny side up”  doesn’t really translate – these just don’t have one.

I’d love to spend time wandering around Cuba, just to look at the cars.

The Cars of Cuba: Photos and stories from Havana.

This is from Hagerty Insurance Company.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

The Mustang II – Say What?

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

Ok…I sorry (not really) but I have to consider what my readers like.  And to date one of the most read articles on my blog is the piece I did on the Mustang II  King Cobra  http://wp.me/pKHNM-uY . (Go ahead you know are going to go read it!!)

So I’m going to do a series on the Mustang II (after all I’m project managing the restoration of a 1975 VW, I could spend sometime on that era Mustang).  We’ll touch on the 4 and 6 cylinders and  yes there was a 302.

So we’ll start with a history lesson.

1973 was the last year for the more powerful and larger bodies Mustangs.  Ford may have thought they were going back to the original size Mustang and the 1974 version was in fact close to that size.  The 1966 Mustang had a wheelbase of about 108 inches  ( 181.6 inches in total) and the 1974 was 96.2 (175.0 inches over all).  Compare to the 1973 which (depend on which version) was 187.5-190.0 inches over all.

The generation ran from 1974 to 1978 and sported some collectible cars, the King Cobra and Mach I…yes Mach I’s in a  Mustang II.

Here is a quick look.

 

1974 Cobra II – You Love it…I know you do.

1974 Mach I ok…sure..Pinto like.

1978 Mustang Cobra II – Excellent Looking

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Last U.S.-built Ford Ranger built in St. Paul assembly plant

By | | , , , , ,
1 Comment

Dec 16, 2011 the last produced Ford Ranger.  This isn’t just the end of the Ford Ranger, its the end of the Cologne V6 and the closing of a plant that has been producing car since 1925 – over 25 million.  The last Ranger was a fleet car going to Orkin Pest Control – yawn – couldn’t have been a Raptor or and F150 Harley Davison version.

2012 V6 Ford Ranger - The last one.

The plant produced armored cars during WW II and  50’s Fords, early Crown Vics and Galazies. It also produced one of my favorite cars the Ford Sunliner.

1955 Ford Sunliner

 

Sunliner

 

 

 

Thanks for reading.

Tim

Parts Car or Daily Driver

By | | , , , , , , ,
2 Comments

This pic came from over on Autoholics.com.   Good…reef!!!!  

Some tires and a couple headlights and we are good to go!!!  Look at that upholstery!!!

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

Average Guy’s Car Restoration, Mods and Racing – International

By | | , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

This blog is gaining popularity.  It’s being followed on Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter and the Facebook page.

There are car nuts from 18 different countries hanging out around here.  That’s pretty good for an non-commercial blog.

What’s that mean?  Means I’m going to set it up a bit.  More to come on that.

So thank you all and please submit your pictured and stories and I’ll get them posted up.

Thanks for reading.

Tim

 

Contests

By | | , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment

I have 14 CD/DVDs to give away.

So I’m going to give the next two individuals that sign up for my feed a copy of the DVD Classic Automobile Films.

If you are reading this, grab my feed and then send an email too:

timsweet@average-guys-car-restoration-mods-racing.com

Include the address you’d like to have the DVD send to.  It’s that easy.

I don’t share any information with anyone, nor do I keep that type of information, even for my own purposes.

New for 2003 Fords Model T-100!

By | | , , , , ,
4 Comments

All new for 2003...almost.

Yes that’s correct for the 100th year of production Ford build a total of 6 Model T-100 to commemorate the year.

These weren’t restored cars, they were all new parts.  The bodies were made in Sweden, coupled with available aftermarket.  The engine, suspension parts, transmissions were created from the original drawings.

Model T Reproduction Engine

 

The T's transmission - could replace the original unit, however the gear pattern is not the same so the internal will not match up.

For more check out the PDF below.

http://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/T-100.pdf

Thanks for Reading.

Tim

2015 Mustang – No V8?!!!

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
14 Comments

I was just reading about the 2015 Mustang (yeah..they are planning it now) in the Oct 2011 Motor Trend.

It’s going to look great with a lower angled windshield and it will be lighter, but it will begin to lose it’s muscle car images, at least
underneath.

From the Motor Trend web site. 2-15 Mustang

The live axle will be gone, replaced with an independent rear suspension.  Not really what you want to take to the track.  There was talk that the live axle might live on in factory drag packs, but the tooling would be expensive and perhaps not cost-effective.   We’ll see what actually happens.

Ford Live Axel

Independent Suspension.

But this is not focus of this blog entry.  What I really want to mention was a side bar in the article.  It is entitled “Icons on An Icon”  “What should the next Mustang be?”  Those interviewed were Jack Tenack who was a designer for Ford and global design vice president ( He actually drew the first proposal for the 1965 Mustang); Chris Theodore who was chief of Ford Motor Company’s North American product development  (he left after a disagreement over the
suspension for the 2005 Mustang with Phil Martens); Tom Gale who had nothing to do with Ford at all, he was Chrysler design chief (now retired).

Generally Mr. Tenack stayed true to form, basically wanting small changes to the next issue of the Mustang, reinforcing the muscle car
image.  He thinks all-wheel drive should be added as an option…that’s not horrible.

Mr.Theodore wants the new Mustang to have a 4 cyclinder…WHAT???  Yeah, get this, he’s like the V8 engines reserved for ‘specialty models”…can you say  …hiss…boo???  “Hey, the 70’s called they want their paradigm back!!” Of course he led the charge to replace the live axle.

Mr. Gale thinks that we need to copy Europe and thinks the Mustang needs to be smaller.  He says the Camaro is more similar to is predecessor then the Mustang is to its predecessor.

Drop me your thoughts.  No V8?   Live axle?  Smaller ‘Stang?

Thanks for reading.

Tim