General - Archive

Replaced the brake shoes on the front side this weekend as the old ones were getting pretty thin and we are taking my Mustang on our summer holiday to the UK in August. Discovered that the 'drum brake self adjuster cable' on the front left side is now too long and ordered new ones from RockAuto.com.

Picked up my Mustang from AllCar paintrepair this morning. Job well done, some difference in color but was to be expected with the hood and fender not matching anyway.

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):

Started some work on both cars last 2 weeks.

For the 69 Ranchero I sprayed the LPG-tankframe with black anti-rust paint. Ordered DIY truckbedliner (Hippoliner) so I can use that in my truckbed before re-installing the gastank (after attending the waterleakage issue). Meanwhile I discovered that I am having braking issues again, bummer! Don't know what it is yet, checked the front drumbrakes, they seem ok with the new shoes.. checked the rear drumbrakes, also ok with new shoes and drums.. This is not the first time and I am getting a bit tired of this, I 'll maybe bring it to a (US) garage near here soon.

The Mustang needs to have it's bi-yearly APK road inspection, so today I exchanged the not legal small blue licenseplates for the allowed bigger ones. Checked and cleaned all four drumbrakes (need new shoes at the front!) and mounted the new American Racing Wheels (which I bought for the Ranchero last year) because I believe the old Mustang tyres will not pass the inspection as they seem very dry. With these polished Baja wheels the Mustang looks meaner, specially because of the much wider track, nice! So what to buy for the Mustang in the near future, mmmm?

Also saw that I will need new front shocks as the Monroe's I installed abt 8 years ago have come out of their top Bushings!). And the wiper motor is making an awfull noise, maybe I need a replacement for that aswell. Let's first wait for the inspection on May 6th...

What a long and cold winter it was in The Netherlands... finally we are having some nice weather again! So time to start up both my Ford V8's. Last week I finally finished the installation of the new PS hoses on my 67 Mustang, charged the battery and took 'her' out for a drive, nice ! Also continued work on the 69 Ranchero, removed the 120l LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) tank to investigate waterleakage from the truckbed into the cabine. But took 'him' out for a drive a few times this week anyway, using euro95 benzine as fuel; more expensive than driving on gas, but also more powerfull .

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!

Not much new work on the Fords recently, but here some more pics which I found on the internet.. some hot babes with good looking US rides!

My 67 Mustang and 69 Ranchero finally together!

Bought my second classic V8 today , a 69 Ford Ranchero. Long, very yellow and with a mean sound! The seller will have it ready in abt 2 weeks, we can't wait to drive it some more!!

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

Marcel's site about his hobbies www.rammerco.com is now online! One of the hobbies being his black 1967 Mercury Cougar as shown on this site.

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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.

Meanwhile I am helping a friend with his '67 Cougar, which he bought from an ex-colleague of mine.

The Mercury Cougar was introduced in 1967 as the more upscale version of the Ford Mustang. It had more mature styling and upscale interior appointments and rode on a three inch longer wheelbase than the Mustang. Today a 1967 Cougar in good condition is a collector's item.

Technically the car is in good shape, most engine parts are new and more powerfull. But the chassis and body need some work to eliminate rust. With my new ChipsAway equipment I am helping to fix some bad spots on the bodywork. Below pictures show the Cougar stowed away in a sea container and in his new home with his new owner! And above as it will look again soon, so we can take Marcel's '67 Cougar and my '67 Mustang for a spin....

Here are some more Mustang related pictures from our trip through B.C., Canada. This blue 'Stang was left at the side of the road in Banff in the Rocky Mountains. It appeared to have some steering trouble...

And driving on the Trans Canada Highway back to Vancouver we visited the 'White Post Auto Museum' in Tappen. Everything is for sale in this nice little museum. Some cars are completely rebuilt. It was hard NOT to buy the '54 Chevy Pick-Up, if you look close you see me thinking; mmmmmmm.......?
Other cars still need 'some work'....

It's been too long since my last entry..... shame on me!
What going on? Well, my girl and I made a very nice camper trip through British Columbia, Canada during which we met a very nice 80 year old ex-Ford-employee and his beautiful 1971 convertible...

And the last 6 months I have been very occupied with the start of my own franchise-company for ChipsAway. Working at the office got very boring after almost 14 years... so I have put an end to my career in logistics. And next month, after I finished the training, I will start my new career in 'spot-repair'!

Also, we are a bit busy arranging our wedding, although finding a decent car is not so difficult

Just a picture of the one and only original Mustang-based Shelby: the GT 350.
If only I had the space, time and money... The second picture is an original advertisement for both the Mustang GT package and the Shelby.

Today I made the down payment on my first Mustang after driving to Germany with my brother in my boring Volkswagen I also made arrangements with the previous owner for picking up the car at a later date. Exciting, huh?