Driving - Archive

Last weekend the 5 of us went camping in the east of the country (Achterhoek) with two 1967 American Muscle Cars, and ofcourse we had excellent hot weather! Impression:

Grrrr, during our annual 'Family-Day' in Friesland 3 weeks ago the wind blew a big sign against my Mustang and damaged the paint above the headlight (although I was lucky, on Harry's car even the hood was dented!). As these damages will be paid by the insurance of the owner of the premises, I am taking the car to a paintshop coming week. Hopefully they are able to match the correct limegold color.

After some minor repairs at Jaarsma my 1967 Mustang convertible has passed the dutch APK road inspection (on the American Racing wheels and new tyres of my 1969 Ford Ranchero):

Sjoerd came from Friesland, and together we drove to the last King Cruise of this year in my lime gold Mustang convertible. It was clouded, with wind and a bit of rain, but still about 900 (!) US oldtimers made it to the Maxis parkinglot!

After almost 1 year of collecting dust in the garage, I finally took my 67 Stang for a spin (last week). After some necessary TLC; washing, polishing, checking tyres & fluids and adjusting the breaker points, she was ready to go again !

Went to the 6th 2008 King Cruise last sunday. In my Mustang convertible, together with Sjoerd + Dave who came all the way from Friesland. Probably because of the excellent dry and sunny weather, this was the best meeting ever at the Maxis in Muiden! According to KC Maria, there were almost 1.000 US cars. And we did see some very nice ones, a lot of Mustangs (new and old), cool Hot Rods like the '50 Suburban and Bel Air Wagon, a '59 Plymouth Fury, two beautiful Studebakers, some lowriders and lots more. No pictures this time though, as my wife took our camera to Barcelona (but I love her anyway ).

Another meeting at the Maxis in Muiden. Last week a finally got my '69 Ranchero driving again when I installed a new wheel oil seal...and after installing my repaired and re-upholstered black leather bench! A nice job by Jan Balk. So for this King Cruise we used Che. And met up with my cousin Sjoerd plus friend Dennis and some other Ranchero owners. It started a bit slow because of the weather. But after the sun came out, so did the cars!

Today we joined Ranchero Nederland for a short cruise to Maxis King Cruise. Only 3 Ranchero's there (plus 3 other US cars), most are being rebuild. As I am still trying to fix the leaking axle problem on my Che'69, we joined the club in our '67 Mustang.

Nice guys, nice cruise and a great King Cruise, where we met some friends. Ben and his Lucky Luke Corvette, "Mercedes Nico" and later in the day our '67 Cougar palls. Here some pics, starting with 3 very nice Fords, a Ranger, a Country Sedan and a beautiful 1969 twelve seat Chateau Van.

Here a small impression of the first King Cruise of this year.

Yesterday we participated in the Midland Classic Show and the 'fotopuzzelrit' in Almere. Cougar & Mustang '67, and although smart Sjoerd joined us, we did not win the first price

Last King Cruise of 2007; first time with my superfly yellow 1969 Ford Ranchero! (my67stang was left at home..) Here some pic's:

Took Stangie to the King Cruise again today. As I bought a '69 Ranchero yesterday, I was on the lookout for other Ranchero's and booklets, metal signs and sofort. But no 'Chero's, only two Chevy El Camino's. I did see a '68 Torino, which is in the same family and (almost) has the same frontside and dashboard as my 'Chero. And I did find an original Torino-Fairlane-Ranchero owners manual, printed in January 1969!

Here some pic's; 'Cuda's, hardcore bikes, very low Chevy truck, strange & nice hotrods, '68 Torino and '59 El Camino

Today my brother and his girl got married. Guess who drove them to the ceremony .

Season opened very nicely at the first King Cruise of 2007. What a beatiful sunny day, and I have never seen so many US cars here in Muiden before! Our friends were also there with their black 1967 Cougar.

It was our first drive in 2007, last winter I have not done much on my 1967 Mustang convertible. I have only attached the exhaust pipes a bit better to the manifolds as there was some leaking going on there. And I have changed the front of the car a bit by putting a aluminium mesh grill in front of the original black grill.

King Cruise August 2006. Present again in my 67 'Stang. With Marcel's 67 Cougar up and running again. And the Tempation Bikini Carwash again, but this time complete with truck, DJ and a bit better looking girls having some fun! With (tattoo) Michel showing us some pinstriping. With a (newly build?) silver Shelby Cobra. And with a beautiful blue/green '32 Ford hotrod, perfect in every detail!

Here we are again, at the monthly growing King Cruise meeting at the Maxis / Burger King near Muiden. This time without Marcel's Mercury, which has engine trouble... To take away some of the pain, we were waiting for the announced Temptation Bikini Carwash, but when the (only) two Belgian girls finally arrived it appeared they didn't have the 'equipment' to properly wash a car (I mean how old are they; 14?, and where was the temptation?)....

But look who was also there! A Dutch Shelby GT500 "Eleanor" .. the ultimate dreamcar. If only I was rich instead of so damn good looking

Here an impression of the 3rd King Cruise of this year, held today at the Maxis near Muiden. Despite the very high temperature of +30 degrees celcius and "Orange" playing the first match in the soccer World Cup, there were plenty of USA cars & bikes to have a close look at..

Here some pics taken at the Big City Rollers meeting at Caddy's last sunday..

First drive of the season. I didn't do any work on my '67 Mustang last winter. Very nice and busy opening meeting; the first Maxis King Cruise of 2006. Our '67 Cougar friends were also present, and so was Nik with his blue '72 Chrysler Valiant with new wheels (2nd pic).

On Sunday 11 September my wife and I picked up Martin and his 8 year old son Dannique, and drove to the last King Cruise of this year.

On arrival I had the surprise of my life!
That cannot be Marcel and Wendy's black '67 Cougar, can it?! The last time I saw the "Koekert", it wasn't ready at all, it still needed some welding, the whole interior installed and to go through the APK inspection! And where are the Wolfrace wheels? With a big smile on his face Marcel tells us that Jaap and he have worked their asses off to have the car ready, including replacing the rear brake cylinders (because the rear brakes failed the inspection). And that they had decided not to tell us, although this was very hard!

And then, when the car was finally ready, Marcel almost lost one of the wheels while driving home! Apparently some wheel nuts where not secured thightly enough... The worst thing was that he had now damaged the alloy wheel so badly, that it needed replacement. After some searching, Wendy decided to pull Marcel out of this crisis by buying 4 brand new wheels and tyres at Tyra!

So here they are, together at last; the '67 Mercury Cougar and the '67 Ford Mustang!

(and some other nice rides; a Chevy Impala, and a 2005 'Stang GT-350)

As already announced earlier, we got married last friday!
After the official stuff at City Hall we had a 'high tea' in our garden with our close relatives. In the afternoon we took our '67 Mustang wedding car (thanks for the graffiti Wendy!) to a nice little rented house in Durgerdam for our first wedding night.

Since the V8 did not run as smoothly as normal, I checked and changed the gap between the contact-breaker-points on saturday afternoon. But on the drive to Broek in Waterland she let us down completely and wouldn't start and run properly anymore! Luckily Thea (the photographer) and my mother-in-law were following us by car, so we got towed to our own party...
During the party Marcel and Harry tried to fix the problem with another pair of points, a new fuel filter, checking the carburetor etc, but in the end we had to leave her there as we went for our second wedding night
On sunday Marcel and I gave it another go. But even when the ANWB roadside assistance installed a new ignition coil she wouldn't take us home (maybe she was pissed off because there is officially another woman in my life now?) So finally we came home like this...:

That same evening our neighbour Joop wanted to have a look as well, and guess what.... all trouble was caused by a leaking ignition coil cable! Good news, but also a bit annoying... (you will get over it, Marcel!)

Anyway, we had two fantastic wedding days and we would like to thank everybody for their help!!!!! Aimée & Peter.

After a few hours of renovating various engine parts and installing the heater with the new heater core and hoses, it was time for a test drive. So today I went to this years 2nd King Cruise in Muiden. Great meeting! W&M, Ben (Lucky) Luke and I had a good time looking at lots of different USA cars, here are some pics..

Yesterday we drove my '67 convertible to Friesland to attend the 4th annual Ford-day at Jaarsma. Although there weren't that many cars (and specially T'birds at this celebration of 50 years Thunderbird), Harry, Wendy, Marcel, Aimée and I had a pretty good time talking to various people. W&M even spotted the red Mustang II (see picture) which they sold not so long ago. Regretfully their '67 Mercury Cougar was not ready yet for this meeting. It would have been the only one!

I talked to a guy who had his '67 coupe (see picture) recently painted in the same colour as mine; Lime Gold. He gave me the address where he had it done, because mine will probably need some fresh paint in due course and they did a pretty good job. At about 15.30 we drove home with a new heater core from Jaarsma and the roof back on as the temperature dropped considerably.

Last sunday I drove to the 10th Big City Sunday at Caddy's. Here are some pictures of the beautiful US cars present... Check out the great Dodge's, Camaro's, 'Cuda, Studebaker and specially the 22 inch wheels on the Sedan de Ville!

The last picture is my heater.... which started leaking during the drive to Purmerend and which was completely taken out of the car today! Marcel and I excluded it from the cooling system so I can still drive. I will buy a new heater core next sunday, during the Ford Meeting at Jaarsma.

Last week I finally got my new and improved registration papers back from the authorities. So I made an appointment and went to Jaarsma last friday. There they installed new bushings on the rod ends, checked the rest of the car for safety and finished the yearly APK inspection. So my '67 convertible is ready for cruisin' again!

And I took the opportunity to buy me some new parts; a right hand remote mirror (my car never had one) and a cowl-cover. This to prevent water leaking through the cowl into the interior of the car. We experienced that problem with heavy rainfall while camping in the UK. And I repeated my order of 2 years ago (!) for the chrome grills on the inside of both doors. I also ordered a completely new ivy gold carpet, because I need to check and renovate the inside of the floor panels next winter season.

But first we need to drive!!

This morning I brought my '67 Stang to the local Ford garage for her yearly inspection. She failed it! I did not expect this, as I haven't driven that much last season since the inspection in April 2004.

First reason for not passing is that the bushings at the steering linkage rod ends are leaking. The second reason is very strange; the VIN is hammered in under the hood near the LEFT fender, but on my registration it says near the RIGHT fender. It seems that the authorities fucked up when I imported the car back in '99 and nobody noticed or cared at previous inspections! So I immediately drove to the RDW import station in Amsterdam to have this sorted out. They more or less agreed to their mistake, took all three parts of my registration and promised to send me corrected papers within 10 days. Pffff, problem solved.

So, after I get my papers back I will take her to Jaarsma (which I should have done in the first place) to have the rod ends replaced and finish the inspection. Then we can legally enjoy driving the Mustang again. And besides, we need her for our wedding in June!

Oops, I just wet my pants......

Together with my girl and Wendy, I went to the 40th Mustang Anniversary Meeting organized by TMCN in the IJsselhallen in Zwolle on 12 & 13 June 2004. We went on sunday, and o boy.... there I was .... face-to-face with my ultimate dreamcar: Eleanor!!!! It appears this German guy had an "Eleanor-package" shipped from The States and rebuilt his own GT500 as if he is Carroll Shelby himself....wow!

And ofcourse there were lots of other Ford cars present in the two halls.

As we arrived a little late, my Mustang was not allowed inside anymore. But we had a jolly good time, eating hot dogs and watching cars. For example this nice black & gold Ford Torino!

On very sunny sunday the 16th of May we took my 'Stang to Hartwerd, to the 3rd Ford Meeting at Pyt Jaarsma of Motown Parts. With this meeting he also celebrated the 40th birthday of the Mustang! We went there with my brother René en his girl Susanne and stayed only about one hour as we had to go the yearly meeting of the Lemtra's in Friesland.

I had a little chat with the owner of the white '67 convertible. His car also has the Deluxe Interior, although it does not have the rev-counter and the optional safety lights in the middle of the dash. But it still has the chrome grills with the door warning lights, the parts I am still searching for!

Next to the white convertible you see a very nice blue '67 Fastback. The other pictures show a red Mustang IV with very nice wheels, a great black 1956 Thunderbird, some good ol' Fordson tractors and a small Chevy truck (but what was it doing at a Ford meeting?)

After having lived with an empty garage for two weeks.... today we finally drove to Friesland to take the Mustang convertible back home. Two weeks ago we brought her to Jaarsma to have him arrange for the yearly APK inspection and fix the steering for me.

It took them some time to have her ready, because there were quite some things that needed to be fixed. The lower control arms with the ball joints, one upper ball joint seal, some new seals in the automatic transmission, the back wheel bearings, parts of the power steering and last but not least the waterpump. But most time was spent on improving the ride by checking and changing the stance of the four wheels. This because the repairing of the steering house alone was not enough to get her on the right track.

So, apart from the problems in the wiring, we are ready for some summer cruising again

And, as if we did not spend enough money today , we bought another classic car! A totally restored 1970 Land Rover 88" for Aimée to use as a daily driver, another dream come true!

Today we took my Mustang for the first drive of the season. As always it put a big on my face!

Although I did not fix all electrical problems yet, it was time to put the whole dash back together and take the convertible for a spin. I mean it is almost spring and she has been waiting for a drive far too long. Besides, I want to take her to Pyt Jaarsma asap to have him take care of the steering for me. The play in the steering wheel is really getting out of hand now and I do not fancy to fix that myself. He can then probably also arrange for the yearly APK inspection to be carried out as my certificate expires on the 15th of April.

I was pretty amazed that after putting the whole dashboard back together and after a brake of more than 6 months, she simply starts and goes.....like a Mustang!

While still working on the electrical problems now and then (not having enough spare time to do as much as I would like) I sometimes cruise the internet...

Here are some links to our Belgian Mustang friends:

The Mustang Garage
Belgian Mustang & Cougar Club

So here we are, my Mustang and I in Pony Corral; the quarterly magazine by Team Mustang Center Nederland. This interview was taken during the swapmeet in July. There are some mistakes in the text - 60.000 miles instead of 90.000 - and I already replaced the lenses back in 2000. But who cares; we are looking good!

A beautiful day for a drive, with temperatures of 30 degrees celcius! We went to the Mustang Swapmeet in the 'Autotron' in Rosmalen, but we took our time to get there by only driving on B-roads. We did not bring anything to sell, but I bought a very nice secondhand chrome oil cap to replace the leaking black one.

I was also interviewed by TMCN for their article 'The Man behind the Mustang'. The interview took about 1,5 hours in the hot sun; pfffff it sure hurts to be famous. The guy also took a lot of pictures, my girl and I will be in the next copy of the TMCN magazine!

To celebrate 100 years of Ford automobiles, Pyt Jaarsma organized a meeting at his Mustang Garage in Hartwerd. All (classic) Fords, but especially Mustangs & Thunderbirds were very welcome. My mum and Handy Harry also joined the party!

Second holiday with the Mustang Convertible in the UK! This time we took her on the boat from Rotterdam to Hull for a 7 day trip through Yorkshire.

She almost did not make it though... Just 2 days before the trip the charge indicator (alt) started lighting up during driving. Apart from not charging the battery anymore, this also gave lots of other electrical problems. On 30th May I quicky drove to Jaarsma in Hartwerd to have the alternator repaired. He replaced the brushes and the voltage regulator.

But the same evening the trouble started over again! So the next morning (on the day our ferry sailed from Rotterdam!) I drove her up North again. Just before I arrived at Jaarsma, I had to brake hard for an upcoming traffic jam. This resulted in having no electrical problems at all when arriving at Jaarsma!? So there was nothing Pyt could do to help me because when measuring the battery there was nothing wrong with the car! In the end Pyt wished me a save journey and lended me a new alternator to take with us to the UK, just in case there was something wrong with the revised one.

When driving off the ferry in Hull on 1st June we saw all meters dropping on the dash, "shit, there we go again" I thought. Aimee said: "Why don't you do that break test again". I did and we never had any trouble with the alternator since!!!??? If you have any logical explanation for this, please contact me!

Anyway, we had a very enjoyable holiday, touring and camping in the beautiful Yorkshire Moors & Dales. Highly recommended!

I quickly had to repair a hose to the washer reservoir, but that was the only thing I needed to do to have her pass the inspection this time! (Although again I got the remark that the seal at the lower ball joints are not fitted correctly, this has to be fixed some day...)

Driving around with the double DTM exhaust trumpets was not a big succes, as they kept on vibrating against the rear valance of the body of the car. I have now replaced them by other chrome DTM trumpets. But as these are single and therefore smaller, I had to do something about the big cutouts I made earlier. I have carefully made two sort of "heat-plates" from a piece of stainless steel I had lying around. Still not original but it doesn't look bad at all.

Today the Guinnesbook of World Records in London confirmed that the Ford Museum Hillegom now holds the World Record for the longest driving parade of classic cars. This parade was held on May 11, 2002, and guess which car was one of the 948 vehicles of 35 years or older...

This was one one of those days when it is too damn hot to drive around without a roof and airco! But as always, American Power On Wheels was a big happening. We drove to Antwerp with Marcel's white Corvette and my green Mustang. Wenne & "Harley" Marcel, Teethgrinder & Suus (in their boring 206 GTI but at least it has airco!) and my girl Aimee made the party complete.

Because of the failed inspection in January, I brought my Mustang to a specialized Mustang garage and had everything repaired. The reason of not doing this myself was that repairing the 'pitman-arm' seemed too difficult to me.

After a long search and trying various options I bought two double chrome DTM exhaust trumpets and "designed my own rear end..." Maybe I can make this look more original some day, when (if) she will get her new paint job.

Anyway, the result is that she passed the inspection today! Of course - it's my birthday!! But with the remark that the seals at the lower ball joints are not fitted correctly. Shit! I paid a lot of money to have that done!

Went for the yearly APK road inspection today and she failed it! Damn. The following needs to be replaced and/or repaired: front wheel bearings left and right, the ball joint seals and a part of the powersteering called the 'pitman-arm' which has too much play.

The inspector is also not happy with the way the new double exhaust ends at the rear of the car. The pipes are too high and blow exhaust fumes back forward via the body of the car. So, I definitely have to search further for some nice and functional chrome end-pieces.

And what do you get when you use your 1967 Mustang V8 Convertible to spice up your ride to work on a hot sunny day in July?

Right... a ticket for speeding!

International Mustang Meeting 2001 in Rhenen. Organized by Team Mustang Center Nederland. With lots of beauties, like this black '67 fastback and red GT-350!

American Power On Wheels in Antwerp, one of the biggest USA car meetings. About 1.500 cars in 2 days. It's nearly a 2,5 hour drive, but it was worth it! Looking good, two old cars with two young girls (third picture)! Thanks for modelling, Wendy & Aimee

First real meeting this year. Although this is supposed to be an All American Meeting at Caddy's in Purmerend, there were more than enough Mustangs present. Good for me! The weather wasn't that great, but me and my brother had a good time looking at all the nice and shiny cars!

Today my Mustang went through the yearly dutch road inspection (APK).

She passed!

Talking about a big meeting... this was great! I drove to this American car meeting in Antwerp with Marcel, who left his white 'Vette at home this time. Lots of things to see; shiny cars, hot women and a good rock 'n roll band. Nice!

On July 27 we drove the Mustang on the Stena Discovery for a 10 day trip to the South of England. Very exciting; driving on the left (wrong) side of the road!

Our starting point was Harwich, where the ferry arrives, and we made a nice tour via London to Dover, were we did the Deal to Dover shore walk. Then further through Kent, checking out some nice old castles, to the New Forrest (last picture) to have a 'meeting' with some (other) real wild horses! Our trip then brought us via some typical landmarks like Silbury Hill, the White Horses and the Avebury Stone Circle to Oxford. And then back to the ferry at Harwich.

Nice! Specially touring with the top down on 9 of the 10 days!

Mustang meeting at Caddy's in Purmerend with my girlfriend Aimee. The two women in the world I love most in one picture. Naturally, I love one more than the other

(The engine overheated again - this of course had nothing to do with the hot woman sitting next to me!)

My first Mustang meeting in Midlaren near the Zuidlaardermeer in Groningen. My brother had the nerve to sit on my car. I quickly took a picture of this, to be used as evidence for the trial.

The 500km drive did not completely go without problems. The engine stopped a couple of times, reason unknown. After this drive I had the first possibility to calculate the fuel usage of the engine; 6.6km per liter, not bad at all for a V8!

After doing a lot of repairing and maintenance, it was time to clean and wax the car and let it out of the warehouse a bit. Wax on - wax off (thanx bro!). This is the result, cool huh?

So today the three of us went on our first 'Tour de Mustang'! My two new girlfriends and myself! (my new love Aimee told me that my Mustang is a girl so that's how I will refer to her from now on!)

HapPea!

I received my Dutch license plates today. This means I am finally allowed to drive my Mustang in Holland (legally)!

My Mustang was certified today by the Dutch authority for vehicle safety. This means I'm allowed to apply for official registration for the car and request Dutch license plates!

I didn't feel ready yet to start on the car myself, so I had several things repaired and/or replaced in order to get trough this check. Brake parts, radiator, battery, starter motor, starter relay and a lot more.

After paying the big bill, I was given lots of 'free' advice on what else I should improve on the car, like the complete exhaust system (which now is from an Escort and a complete joke), the righthand exhaust manifold (which is broken), the wiring (a mess) and parts of the ignition system. Personaly I think the best advice is to try and do it all myself to save some $$ !

Below are some more photos of the car as it looks now. You gotta love the re-vamped rear of the '67 model, including the 'deeper' tail lights! The second photo shows the ivy gold luxury interior, including the rarely seen four optional warning lights, in the middle of the dash. If you have any info on them - like original price / number in existence - please get in touch.

The third photo is of the original 289 2V engine. It looks worse than it actually is, but it seems that battery-acid sprayed all over the engine and the inside of the hood.

Without changing anything to the Mustang I tried to get it through the RDW registration inspection today. It failed. Brakes are a mess (only one is working a bit and I did like what... 90 miles an hour in Germany!), powersteering hoses are too close to the exhaust and, and, and...

Okay, now what?!?

9-9-'99 - 'Stang-Day!

With the help of a good friend I went to Essen, Germany to pick up the Mustang! Very exciting indeed! I did this with an 'one-day licence plate' as the car still needs official Dutch registration. Ofcourse I did most of the 2,5 hour drive with the top down which resulted in my first 'convertible sun burn'!

The ride did not go without problems though. Due to the hot summer temperature and a traffic jam, the engine overheated! After a little cooling down at the site of the road, that little problem was solved and we made it back to Amsterdam safely.