Well the news was pretty good. Since I had the control arms already, I was only missing the spring seats (sometimes called perches) and a new set of shocks and I’m good to go – Labor $300.00 I was thinking much worse.
Tim Sisk asked when I was going to sell the car to him. I laughed..he laughed and I said..HOW MUCH??? He laughed some more.
Need to pick up the parts Monday and get some new tires. Good to go.
The joys of owning a classic muscle car are numberous. Restoring one takes some planning and forethought. errkkk……….having said that..it doesn’t take a genus to know that a 40-year-old car with nearly 200k miles on the body/frame and suspension might need stuff.
Well the tire problem I discovered was the direct cause of defective tire and serious wear (they aren’t that old). The wear is a bit disturbing because of the limited miles I’ve driven it.
About 10 months ago I started feeling the typical sloppiness that a front gives you when it needs some attention. So I ordered upper and lower control arms, which wasn’t a budget buster, mainly because I’d planned on install them myself (labor is will kill the budget). I stuck them away until I had time. Well doing a little research I realized that for this Mustang I didn’t have the tools get the job done so I delayed it a bit longer.
I drive the Mustang to work a couple times a week (maybe) and on the weekend run errands. So the front had to be much worse to do that much wear in those miles. I took it over a fellow Mustang owners shop (actually we recently sold it Mustang so he’s Stangless right now).
eeeeerrrrrrrrrrrkkk…………ok I have to say that this guy is partner/manager for a “chain” auto repair company. I won’t say which one because, I normally won’t take my cars to such establishments. But I met Tim Sisk 3 years ago when I needed a quick oil change on the Mustang and I stopped in. We talked about Mustangs and I found him to be extremely knowledgable. So I had them to a few things for me. It worked out great and now when I can’t do something on my own with Mustang and even a few on the Corvette I’ll take it there. Another benefit is that the place is two miles up the road.
I tossed the upper and lower control arms in the trunk and took the Mustang there this morning. We put it up on the lift and sure enough the control arms needed to be replaced. I’m sure there will be a few more things I’ll need and most likely they’ll have to be ordered and if I can swing a good deal on the labor I’ll have some shocks put on as well.
So standby for the $$$$. I’ll post it when I get the news.
Oh..there are lots places to get Mustang parts. I happened to pick up the control arms from WSD. Worldwide Suspension Distribution LLC.
If you recall in a previous post I mentioned the psychological hurdles that some (at least I) have to over come when working on our own cars. The one of them was the “fear” of breaking it yourself. Remember? Well ..here ya go….
It’s the end of January and I still had my x-mas lights up….so yesterday (1/24) I decided they had to come down. I didn’t want to be the guy taking them down in June (like my neighbor).
So, I pull the Vette into the lower part of the drive and then proceeded to back the Mustang down. The Mustang takes a while to warm up so instead I just release the e-brake, pushed the clutch in and coasted down the driveway.
Had a neighborhood kid in the driveway so I was keeping an eye on him (he’s 5 yrs old) and I left the door of the Stang open.
Yeah…you guessed it….I heard a crunch and I looked over to the left and there was my Mustang door (good old American steel) stuck in my Vette’s fender!!!!!
All I can say is plastic bumpers saved the day….not so much for the fiber glass fender and belt molding on the vette.
Oh..adding insult to injury the 5 yrs old said..”That’s why you need to close the door..that’s what my Dad says!”
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