About Guitar74

Guitar74 · ‎11-02-2021

So since Mom has retired she doesn't drive her '08 Marquis as much and called me to ask if I could drive it a couple of days a week to keep everything moving (she tools around town in her Fiesta most of the time). So two or three days a week I stop by the house on the way to work and pick it up. It also gives me a chance to see my parents. What surprised me is how fuel efficient this car is for a v8. Honestly, on the freeway it does as good at highway speeds on fuel as my '08 Camry with a four banger. I mean within 1 mpg. Couple that with the added power if you need it, and a much better ride, and I can see why so many have been sold. It also doesn't handle bad for a big car. I can understand why Mom likes that car so much. I think it is just getting to be too much for her. I'm thinking of making her an offer on it if she decides to sell.

Guitar74 · ‎11-02-2021

When I was in high school, a bud of mine wanted to have a few beers, but his girlfriend insisted on coming. So I played the part of the annoying third wheel friend all night while choking back a few beers. He complained the whole drive to pick her up. So an hour into it, she looks at him dead pan and says,"I'm breaking up with you. I have been seeing (I wish I could remember his name but it's pointless) so and so for a couple of months now (the guy she dated before him)." In my half inebriated state I spit my beer out from laughing and shouted, "Well, you got what you wanted! Now you can leave her at home with a clear conscience!"

Guitar74 · ‎11-02-2021

I kind of wonder if a cracked bottle of Drakkar Noir would have smelt any better than Skin Bracer when mixed with maggot infested Taco Bell.

Guitar74 · ‎10-02-2021

I have two. When I opened the hood for the first time on my '68 Cougar I found a dead cardinal behind the headlight cover. When I picked up my '65 Galaxie from Dad and drove it home he told me to buy an electric heater as the heat didn't seem to blow too well. The whole ride home I smelled mouse urine (That was 13 hrs worth from Danville Il to Atlanta). The following weekend I decided to pull the heater core and turn on the heat. no flow, a little flow, then "THUMP!", and I got face full of a mouse's nest. It was actually like a mouse timeshare. So after donning a face mask (which I should have done in the first place) I took a wire coat hanger and scraped back and forth to dislodge the rest of the mouse vacation destination and thought I was going to have a header fire. The bad part about the mask, much like today when you get to smell your lunch slapping you back in the face thanks to COVID mask, is that the protection is there sort of (I'm pretty sure if the smell can get in it doesn't do too much), but the smell comes right through. Good times!

Guitar74 · ‎10-02-2021

I have seen more than a few around rural Georgia. I just didn't have the fortitude to go to the door. The places that had Fomoco parts looked like the kind of place where you ask to take a look and are never heard from again until the property owner gets caught wearing your skin for a suit.

Guitar74 · ‎10-02-2021

My brother in law got a terrific deal on a recently built 327 for his S10 from Letgo. For the price, I didn't expect much. I was surprised.

Guitar74 · ‎10-02-2021

I find being polite during a traffic stop is the order of the day. Police officers have a hard enough job without being talked "at".

Guitar74 · ‎10-02-2021

Oh yeah. That is DEFINITELY pimpin'. Perfect for the Lincoln.

Guitar74 · ‎05-02-2021

Oh yeah. That is one sweet Merc.

Guitar74 · ‎05-02-2021

Is this Isabell? I seem to remember you posting some vids of you taking it at the drags a few years ago. Good to see she is still in such good shape. Yeah, that 400 hp claim is no joke. If this is the same car, your timeslip mph backed that one up.

Guitar74 · ‎05-02-2021

Oh yes. Route 150 which goes straight into Danville (actually becomes Main St./Martin Luther King Dr.) which is where I grew up (well actually there and Georgetown). We used to cruise Main St. back then. That whole area has gone down hill since G.M. closed up shop. I lived on the East Side. From what I understand, there are a bunch of unsolved murders in that section now. I drove through the last time I visited Dad and couldn't believe how bad that side of town has gotten.

Guitar74 · ‎05-02-2021

Yeah, I-74 is not the best place to go triple digit speeds. You REALLY have to be paying attention to your car on the stretch I am talking about. The front end getting light helped me bring it back down to sane speeds.

Guitar74 · ‎04-02-2021

I used to hate working on Bergmans back in my motorcycle tech days. The owners, well not all of them, just one guys, was very "particular" but not in a good way. Those things would get up and move, though. I always wanted to ride one with a leather pilot's cap, a long scarf and a fake tramp stamp that said "born to raise hell".

Guitar74 · ‎03-02-2021

I think I will keep an unopened pudding cup in my '68 Cougar for just such an environment.

Guitar74 · ‎03-02-2021

I don't get why you are still arguing. You are probably on the most laid back forum you could find with guys from all walks of life that have cars that reflect their lifestyles. I have YET to see that slight come from a muscle car guy to a tuner guy on this forum. Or vice versa. As a matter of fact, many of us close minded old guys just got done encouraging a Saturn collectors club. That sort of blows your "boomer" statement out of the water. That and you are still trying to basically pick a fight with one of the most chill members on this forum who also happens to be.....ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.....A tuner guy. Am I missing something, or are you just looking to lash out at everyone?

Guitar74 · ‎03-02-2021

WoW! That was a pretty generalized statement considering I have read comments from guys into muscle cars talking about the merits of other types of rides. On the other side of the coin, I have seen tuner, and euro car guys also talk pretty positively about other types of rides as well. I am a muscle car guy, but don't knock others for their taste. And that's exactly what it is a matter of; personal taste. I think that maybe you are the one that is being a little short sided. The name of the forum is Hagerty. It doesn't say "no tuners welcome", nor does it say "Euro cars only" or "Nothing here but my precious muscle car". I have yet to see anyone with a muscle car (me being a muscle car guy) complaining about anything that doesn't have anything to do with my "precious muscle car". Am I in an alternate reality all of a sudden? Oh, no. Wait a minute. I am in 2021 where comments get made with no real validation of fact. I have heard this argument from many a young guy with a tuner car about muscle car guys. It seems there is some sort of rivalry from the young guys with tuner cars against us evil muscle car guys. Yet, at least at the gatherings I have been at, the classic/muscle car crowd is pretty welcoming to the tuner crowd. At least that's my experience. You like tuner cars? Good. Build it and enjoy it. But please, don't make it some sort of generational thing claiming some sort of social injustice from anyone else is what made you "stick it to the man" for your entire generation. That's just a loaded statement. By the way, I actually DO like tuner cars. REAL tuner cars. I think they have a lot to offer and can see a lot of the things that tuners use, especially with suspensions and handling that can be applied to muscle cars. I think the tuner movement actually helped to spur the "restomod" movement with the muscle car crowd. I know after going to the NOPI nationals back in the day here in Atlanta, and watching the autocrossers, I started rethinking what could be done with the American iron I had at the time. There is room for everyone at the table.

Guitar74 · ‎02-02-2021

As a car guy, there is only so much car show/cruise in that I can handle. I enjoy driving and wrenching on my iron too much to just sit in a lawn chair and b.s. in 95 degree heat. They are a great place to get a line on parts though.

Guitar74 · ‎02-02-2021

I am an Xer who is into muscle cars. That being said, I don't knock someone else's choice for what they are into. I have seen some pretty impressive tuners rides in my time.

Guitar74 · ‎02-02-2021

I think another thing that generates interest in budding car enthusiast, although not as promoted as they were in the 70s and 80s are model car kits, and the RC car kits that you assemble. Both are fun, and in varying degrees can help a younger person get a rudimentary idea of how things work, etc. Also the RC cars are a blast once you've built them along with showing you that you will eventually replace worn parts if you thrash them hard.

Guitar74 · ‎29-01-2021

Even Illinois doesn't seem to get the snow that they used to. At least not central Illinois. I have a pic of Dad pulling me and my cousin around on a sled beside our house that was on an elevated lot. The snow was so deep where the sidewalk was that the lot looked like it was only 5 or 6" above the grade of the sidewalk. I reality, it was between 2 and 3' difference. I think it was Christmas, 1979. They would plow the school yard and we would end up with these giant hills in front of the play ground. It was either a daily game of King of the Hill at lunch time, or an adventure digging tunnels in them. To be a kid in the 80s in the Midwest at winter time was an adventure.

Guitar74 · ‎29-01-2021

I completely agree with you. I had a friend in Illinois who ended up paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver. The settlement allowed him to buy a house, an new Corvette (this was 1990), as well as a Porsche 944 (I know it's not comparable to a good 911). What the 944 lacked in 0-60 compared to the 'Vette, it MORE than made up for in the sheer confidence that it inspired (although I couldn't drive it because of the hand controls). Much like you, riding shotgun in both cars was like night and day. It's not that the '90 Corvette was bad. It's that the Porsche was just so much more solid feeling. It rode at 120 like the Corvette did at 65. I still like that era of Corvette. But if the paltry 944 is any indication, I totally get why 911 owners are so loyal to the model and brand. I was REALLY surprised by how well the 944 was put together. I have never gotten to drive or even ride in a Ferrari. One of my bucket list cars is a red 308 GTB like Magnum P.I.s. I just always loved how muscular, yet refined that car looks.

Guitar74 · ‎29-01-2021

If we actually had winter, I would. Having grown up in the Midwest, I miss it. Kids down here will never know the joys of sledding, bumper surfing, snowball fights, and snowmobiling.

Guitar74 · ‎29-01-2021

I smell the script for "Office Space 2" brewing. The funny thing is, not two days after I politely took my self out of the running, I got a rejection email for the job. Really!?? Then my director has my deputy director come talk and try to talk with me about why I was rejected. I just calmly replied, "You two do realize that the moment I took myself out of the running for this position, I also quit caring about it, don't you?" I was just met with a blank look. It's amazing the ego that would send a rejection letter and that kind of follow up when someone takes themselves out of the running. It reminds me of high school when you would break up with a girl and she would say something like, "No! I break up with YOU!!" It was really like the the "two Bobs" scenes of Office Space. When I told my boss about it, we both had a good chuckle.

Guitar74 · ‎27-01-2021

Don't feel bad. I helped a friend in high school install an amp. When he asked me if he should use the radio fuse for power is replied, "Sure. Should be fine." I think you can guess the results.

Guitar74 · ‎27-01-2021

It is typical of our modern day. Offer an insider scraps, and just like you said, offer an outsider with no loyalty or experience market as well as the opportunity to negotiate their salary. What a wonderful backwards world we live in. And yes, our HR people are akin to the "protective seat covers" you see in a public restroom. Doesn't really do much but provide the illusion that it does "something". I remember being young and chasing the gauntlet. I also remember getting woke up by my boss at 11:00 one night because he wanted to go over yet another sales strategy that wasn't going to work to follow up the last three that none of us paid attention to because if we had we would not only have not met our goals, but wouldn't have blown them away like we had consistently for years. I finally had enough of this windbag and went off, informed him that we never actually implemented anything he ran by us, and that the best thing he could do was shut up, let us do what we already knew to do, and in the end do what any other upper management guy does which is take credit. It was when he told me I couldn't talk to him that way because he was my boss that I finished with, "We are on MY time now. And since we are you're gonna' get to hear what I REALLY think of you, and your ideas." that I think he finally got the message. By the end of the week we had already blown away our previous month and he had put in his letter of resignation. It was a real peaceful two weeks after that late night conversation. I only use this little story to illustrate that this was another example of a company that I worked as a sales manager for that offered me scraps compared to the idiot that they actually paid well to, at least if we had followed his "strategies", tank our department.

Guitar74 · ‎27-01-2021

So.....I got to the second part of the process when I got the bomb dropped on me about being on call 24/7 for what amounted to a 15% pay raise. I made more as a phone tech. without that kind of hassle so I took myself out of the running. What they listed as pay on our HR website and what they offered me as an insider were decidedly different with no ability to negotiate like an outsider would have. They can keep that position for what they offered me. That and with the health scare I had with my wife this past Sept., I decided that unless it would be a substantial amount of financial improvement, it would not be worth the lost time with her. Especially right now. I can basically get the difference in pay by being a touch more fiscally conservative. What a waste of time.

Guitar74 · ‎25-01-2021

I know the issue. I just have had great luck with them. And yes, a LOT of manufacturers make more power. But....I have yet to have a cam failure from the Fomoco catalog. I can't say that for a few other makers that I will not name. (although to be fair they were flat tappet cams that failed during break in).

Guitar74 · ‎25-01-2021

Very cool. I am not sure things happen completely by accident in the case of my '68 Cougar. The car was originally ordered for the Atlanta sales bank. It basically came home when it arrived at my house from Illinois. I haven't completely traced its roots yet so I really want to do the very thing you have done with your station wagon, which is very cool, by the way (the car AND the trip). Now my wife's Tbird and my '76 LTD are VERY easy to trace as they spent their entire lives in Danville Il until they came home to us.

Guitar74 · ‎25-01-2021

I looked, but didn't bother to spin it. If I had, I would have seen how chewed up it was.

Guitar74 · ‎25-01-2021

I say go for it. Let me live vicariously through your LTD.

Guitar74 · ‎25-01-2021

I recently used a satin black on the tired grey grill of my '95 F150 as well as the headlight bezels. Really freshened up the front end with very little effort.

Guitar74 · ‎25-01-2021

I'll illustrate it with my experience yesterday. I finally got around to replacing the alternator on my '95 Ford pickup yesterday. While I had the belt off, I didn't bother to check the condition of my tensioner pulley. So with what was a 15 minute repair, I was off to the gas station to top off the tank and go for a short ride. Three miles later I round a corner only to hear a thump as I round it. A quick check of my gauges, and I immediately realized that I threw my belt. I pull over, call my wife and make a quick call to the local O'Reilly to see if they have my belt. They do. Deb pulls up, takes me to the auto parts store, I get the belt, we return, I install it and shut the hood. Well..sort of. It will only catch the safety latch. So now during the three mile drive home I am praying that I don't go into a strong wind, or some boy racer passes me in the opposite lane at breakneck speed. This has happened before so I know the drill. I am now reaching through the grill with my 1/4"ratchet a quarter turn at a time to release the latch assembly. When I say I know the drill, I should have said on to rookie mistake number two. When this happened before, inexplicably the latch bolts worked loose and misaligned enough that the hood would neither open nor close. Now, fifteen years ago, did I bother to maybe put a little blue thread locker on the bolts? Of course not. That would have been 30 seconds more out of my time. I most certainly did this time. So now, after FINALLY getting my hood back up and the latch aligned (and bolts now coated with blue threadlocker), I see what shredded the perfectly good belt. The pulley on my tensioner looked like it had been through a meat grinder (I guess the plastic just got brittle with age because I use the 3/8" drive hole that Ford was generous enough to cast into the tensioner assembly). Now I am BACK at O'Reilly for a pulley. So to recap: Not doing a simple observation of my pulleys, and not using threadlocker on my hood latch bolts 15 yrs. ago turned a fifteen minute R&R into an afternoon. All from rookie mistakes. LESSON LEARNED!!!!!

Guitar74 · ‎21-01-2021

Sounds like the government here in that they do such things which basically change nothing so that they can claim they did "something". I found it interesting that they decided that churches could not open, but liquor stores? Come on in! I always wondered if the virus knew the difference between someone who didn't wear a mask, practice social distancing, and sneeze on people in a church vs. liquor store and thereby knew to strike at its earliest convenience while in close proximity to a clergy member vs. alcoholic.

Guitar74 · ‎21-01-2021

I too am seeing younger kids with an interest in cars. Of course they are being accompanied by parents that are actually taking them to shows, cruise ins, and races. I also agree with you on the gaming thing. While it is fun at times as a time killer for bad weather days, noting about gaming resembles real life. Handling a car on a good twisty road can be fun, and can also be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Track days are different yet. I target shoot for fun, and as a hobby on top of my many other hobbies. First person shooter games don't even begin to come close to what it takes to actually hit a target with a gun. And it gets even more interesting as the distances get further out. You're experience with that one would be a lot more harrowing than mine because in my shooting experience, the target didn't shoot back. I mean no offense, but generation by generation, we (and this is a general statement) are raising kids who don't end up with an real visceral experience by way of limiting their experiences outside of "simulation", or in the cyber realm to what I think will eventually be nothing. It is starting to turn around a little, but I don't see kids having the same kind of freedom to explore just the general outdoors that I had in the 80s. That freedom along with having people around me that were into cars was what helped keep that spark for cars ignited.

Guitar74 · ‎21-01-2021

I was gonna say, if it is, then an E cam would wake it up nicely without any real decrease in street manners. I have had very good results with that particular cam and auto trans applications. I love sleepers though.

Guitar74 · ‎20-01-2021

A single can of black spray paint made the tail light bezels on my Cougar go from being a nice used ebay set to like new. So $42 for the bezels and $5 for the rattle can. I like the new look of the grill. Is your a 5.0 a roller engine or the earlier one with the flat tappet cam?

Guitar74 · ‎13-01-2021

I see nothing wrong with asking for compensation for the original documents. On a car that brings high dollar like a Ferrari, I think it would be like proving provenance of collectible art, etc.

Guitar74 · ‎13-01-2021

I am sorry but that is a bit ridiculous. Don't get me started.

Guitar74 · ‎12-01-2021

The state mandated 'work from home" orders really suck. We had them for about six weeks here in GA.

Guitar74 · ‎12-01-2021

Congrats to both of you on retirement. My Dad sits on his porch most mornings with a cup of coffee and waves to the people driving past his house on the morning commute. He's like a mascot for them at this point. He wasn't out one morning and two different people pulled into his drive and knocked on his door to see if he was okay.

Guitar74 · ‎12-01-2021

I love it.

Guitar74 · ‎11-01-2021

I know. My nephew is big into trying to find his answers to all things automotive on the internet. He has been led astray on many a problem much to my chagrin as I usually end up being the one to help him climb back out of the rabbit hole.

Guitar74 · ‎11-01-2021

Like I have said before, I hate the summers here in Georgia. But......I would gladly keep them over the long harsh winters of Rural Illinois.

Guitar74 · ‎11-01-2021

I would love to see it.

Guitar74 · ‎11-01-2021

Again, because of a comment someone made about actually driving/enjoying these cars I decided to drive the '65 today. And yes, it is raining. So anyhow, if you live in a climate that will allow you to drive your classic, why not take it out and put some miles on it?

Guitar74 · ‎11-01-2021

Yeah, the Skynyrd album is at the Jonesboro train depot.

Guitar74 · ‎11-01-2021

Nobody will ever know as the town really DID get flooded to make Lake Chatuge. I guess if one were willing to go scuba diving. But I would be willing to guess that those classics were there before hand. I can drive all over rural Newton County in Georgia and find similar looking places.

Guitar74 · ‎08-01-2021

So after the events, i.e. watching this country lose it's mind for the past two months, I decided to share some of the terms we have had on our meeting board to kind of remind ourselves that through this pandemic, and everything else that has happened, we should NOT take anything too serious for fear our losing our minds. SO here is a list of "words of the day" and our inaccurate definitions, or loose interpretations: Concerning PPE (this cam about because a higher up couldn't figure out what these two terms mean so we put this up for them to read). Don-To put your personal protective equipment on Doff-To take your PPE off. (Just remove the "d" from both words and it SHOULD be self explanatory. If not then maybe using PPE is just not your thing. I know. Let's have a spelling contest)-And yes we put that on our meeting board for said person to read. It's been very effective at keeping them out of our office. Plus it was one of the best lines in Tombstone. Pcard-A credit card used for purchasing items for a business or municipality Pee Card-Card required by some regimes so that one can use a public restroom Virus-Something that one contracts by way of going down the rabbit hole of the dark side of the internet Misleading-Pretty much anything you see, click on, read, or hear Mask Shaming-The act of making fun of someone just because their mask was purchased from K-Mart It may be stupid, but it's been a source of entertainment for us when the day is getting bad, or our daily contacts start "drinking the Koolaid" and being irrational. This has been ESPECIALLY true in light of the past year and will probably continue through 2021 if things keep going the way they have. Remember, the first Mad Max was set in the year 2021.

Guitar74 · ‎08-01-2021

Also, the Two Lane Blacktop strip would be a nice addition to a "lost dragstrips of the southeast" thing as there are quite a few that have been abandoned due to suburban sprawl that are within easy driving distance. It would give Debbie and I a nice excuse to get in the Cougar, drive it, and find some interesting locations along the way.

Guitar74 · ‎08-01-2021

I will keep you posted as I am a BIG fan of car movies. Jonesboro is approximately 20 min. away. The Sack O' Suds from My Cousin Vinnie is approx. 20 minutes in the opposite direction as is the courthouse, Mitchell's Dept. Store (the store that was closed due to the Flu). The Boar's Nest from the first season of the Dukes of Hazzard is right outside Covington and is now a church. The house that Catherine Bach stayed at (was a rather expansive estate that is now a sales bank lot for Freightliner) is right up the road which brings up another unrelated location-The Yellow River Dragstrip. It was the strip where the kid got sucked into Hubert Platt's chute. It is now a trailer court, but the strip and return lanes are still there and are actually streets. The timing shack still stands, as do the pit areas. It is on the same road as the house. Anyhow, it will take a little time, but I think it would make a terrific photo journal. Even though it isn't car movie related, Juliette Ga is a place we try and get to a couple of times a year. Juliette is the film location for Fried Green Tomatoes and was pretty much a ghost town until it was used for a location. It is now a tourist trap but is VERY scenic and is a TERRIFIC drive on nice paved country roads. I will get it together piece by piece. I would really like some input on the places that the people on this forum find most interesting. And yes, I think it would be a great collaboration on an article so I will keep you in the loop.