About Guitar74

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

Don't forget to do a constant pressure valve body as it will save your bacon as it will give you a constant line pressure and the T.V. cable will in effect be a kickdown. A misadjusted T.V. cable will burn up an AOD quickly. Aside from that, enjoy it. They are a good transmission.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

I would second the prop valve, although it could also be a clogged line. I would also check to see what is coming out of the port of your master cylinder if it is a two bowl. I have had a master cylinder not put anything out of the front bowl. so I would start at the master cylinder, and crack the line loose while someone is pushing the pedal just to see what kind of output you have there and work my way to prop valve, again cracking the line loose enough at the prop valve to see if it is putting out any pressure there. I just recently replaced the prop valve on my Dad's Duster as he had the same issue.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

Just took the Cougar out yesterday. Fall really IS where it's at here in GA. I have no a/c in my Cougar, so it is mainly a three season car with summer being the main "time off" season. Same for the Galaxy. The LTD and the Tbird both have AC so they get more summer usage unless it is a country drive. The stop lights are so long in town that you can smell your undercarriage cooking before the light changes.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

If I were still in Illinois, my truck would be a piece of swiss cheese by now. I started to take that for granted until I took it up to Illinois and Dad freaked out because there was no rust on the body mount bolts and it still has the factory exhaust.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

I would buy an older 308 like Magnum P.I. just so I would be a "connoisseur", and not like the guy said in Gone in 60 Seconds, a self indulgent "w*&%er". Oh wait. The claim that I would be a connoisseur makes me the second part of that statement. Doh!!!! I guess I'll just stick with late 60s pony cars and 70s pimp mobiles.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

It used to be driving privilege, and now it seems to be an inconvenience. But back in the day, people weren't so addicted to technology that they would text back and forth while standing face to face.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

So after a few weeks of getting things put back in their prospective place after the water damage issue a few weeks ago, I finally had some time to pull the Cougar out and take her out for an nice hour long country drive. The one nice thing about the part of metro Atlanta that I live in is that in 5 short minutes your are in the country. The only other classic I saw was a '69 Charger "General Lee" tribute. Nice clean straight car. But....That's all I ever seem to see here in Georgia when someone gets a second gen Charger. I guess that's what makes this hobby what it is. If we all liked the same thing it would be kind of boring. Still, they did a good job on it.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

I have two: Skin so Soft lotion for your dashboard, and superglue. Developed to patch up veterans (the glue not the lotion. I know that seems obvious but since we already went down one rabbit hole...) and became a household adhesive.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

No. I like car movies. Much like you, I hate the inconsistencies. Like in White Lightnin' when Burt Reynolds is banging through a four speed in a chase scene after which he pulls into Bo Hopkins' yard and puts it in park.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

I had an '88 Ranger back in college. When I got it, it had 33000 miles. In two semesters I had racked up 70000 miles. Sold it to my friend who drove it for 10 yrs. and sold it to someone else. Mine was a 2.9 v6, 5 speed 4wd. That thing probably racked up 300000 miles between me and Bobby, and who knows how many with the next guy. Nothing wrong with a Ranger. Mine served me well. Still, I wouldn't trade my inline 6 for anything. Low end torque like a freight train.

Guitar74 · ‎19-10-2020

So I decided to drive the 'ole truck to work today, and right before I went into the office, turned around, looked at my truck and thought, "I have had this thing for twenty yrs., picked up so many things ranging from engines, transmission, have seen a relocation to another state, a relocation BACK, hauled cars, helped friends move, and this thing still looks this good?" I was just sort of shocked thinking back. It's been a great truck with only a torque convertor being a casualty of war. It's a '95 XL, with a 300 I6, e4OD. I bought it back in 2000 for $4000 and it has literally been the most dependable vehicle I have ever had. Anyhow, it got me to thinking. No car guy should ever be without a good 'ole parts hauler. What are you using? Pretty or not.

Guitar74 · ‎12-10-2020

I will try not to get too political on gas prices. Here's the deal though. At least here in the U.S., gasoline is the only thing you purchase that does not break down how much of that cost is in taxes. Why? Because if people actually were able to physically see on regulAR basis how much of that cost was taxes, they would be livid. I remember when the fuel prices, I think it was around 2005, spiked from $1.39/gal to over $3 in an hour. I remember my brother in law calling me and telling me, "Gas just jumped up almost $2/gal. You better go fill your tank." I tried to explain to him the laws of supply and demand (that you "hold" when prices go up, and buy when prices are low), and it was just lost on him. As it was most o the people that I saw in these long lines for gas on the drive home from work. I had 7/8 of a tank in the '88 T-bird I was driving at the time so I drove for two more weeks (the 3.8 would get just shy of 500 miles to a tank) all the while watching those numbers on the gas station marquess keep dropping on a daily basis.

Guitar74 · ‎09-10-2020

I lived approximately five miles from the "Sack O Suds" store. Actually the road to my subdivision (Turtle Cove-Turtle Cove Road) ended right at the Sack O Suds which still stands on Hwy 16 in between Monticello and Jackson Georgia. The courthouse for the town was the courthouse in the movie.

Guitar74 · ‎09-10-2020

So I'm watching Ford vs Ferrari when Christian Bale pulls up during testing and tells them that there is too much lag with the vacuum secondaries to which one guy tells another get a Holley and "rework" the throttle system. Of course this while this whole conversation is going on you can clearly see the velocity stacks right behind Christian Bale which are attached to WEBER carbs. I know it's a little OCD, but if you're gonna' make a movie aimed at car guys, then get it right. It's not quite as annoying as the Megan Fox scene in the Transformers movie where she tells Shia Lebeouf that his Camaro has a "double pump high rise intake", but still, it's annoying. I actually embarrased my wife, much to the delight of many a "guy" at the theater when I yelled,"It's a double pumper carb, and a high rise intake you idiot." After she was done ducking down in her seat she looked at me with a serious face and goes, "Oh my God. You're right. What have you turned me into?"

Guitar74 · ‎09-10-2020

LOL. I love it. My first high school car was a '77 LTDII. With the Alpine blasting out Eruption it may as well have been my '69 Sport Satellite I got the following year.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

Is this similar to a Powertrax?

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

Preach, brother, preach. I can't tell you how many times when I was younger at the strip that a competitor helped me. I'm glad to see that in this "me first" modern age we live in, there is still that kind of generosity in the automotive hobby.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

I know it's not a music forum, but how many of us have automotive memories that are also tied to music. For me, it's just about every one. I can remember being 10 yrs. old and my older cousin, Donnie banging through the gears hard in his 70 1/2 split bumper Z28 while Fair Warning was playing from his cassette deck. Yep, it seemed like he would hit the rewind button every time Mean Street and Unchained were playing. I didn't even know there were more songs than those two until I got my own copy. As a guitarist, Eddie influenced pretty much everything I did and still do. R.I.P, Mr. Van Halen. The world of guitar lost one of it's greatest talents yesterday.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

That would be the only way to get me to watch it. Of course, if they did do a figure 8, then Barefoot Billy Zieman would have to be a commentator. THEN and ONLY then would I watch NASCAR again.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

I already have four classic cars. I would build a garage to end all garages complete with lifts, metal shop, tire machine, brake lathe, paint booth, and a nice parts board like the motorcycle shop I worked at with outlines for all of my specialty tools (Mopar upper balljoint tool for example). Oh yeah, I almost forgot, AIR CONDITIONING/climate controls. Well there ARE two cars. I would have to build a replica of the Phantasm 340 'Cuda and the Vanishing Point Challenger.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

That makes sense as a lot of the early rodders were WWII pilots, soldiers, etc.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

My grandpa had a '66 C-10. It ended up sitting at the farm for a few years, then behind their house once they moved into town after retiring. I drove by one day and thought to myself,"Man that thing would look great fixed up." I drug my feet. 2 months later, I stopped by to see if grandpa would sell it to me and it was already gone. $75. The thing is, the guy sprayed wd40 in the cylinders waited, spun the truck by hand a few times, changed the oil, filled the tank after draining it, installed new points, and drove it onto the trailer. No idea what happened to it after that. That was 27 yrs. ago. It too was a long wheel base 283.

Guitar74 · ‎07-10-2020

I feel your pain. I grew up in the northern midwest and can remember parking the motorcycle and staring at it longingly every time I walked by for four to five months. That being said, it ALWAYS gave me wrench time on my hot rods which is something that I NEVER seem to have since moving down south.

Guitar74 · ‎02-10-2020

Here's the same 'ole shot of my '68 Cougar. I have owned it since 2014. It is a base model 289 car that, believe it or not, still has the original engine, trans, and rear end. The original build was 9.5:1 forged slugs, factory heads bowl work, gasket matching, and exhaust port polishing, and a comp xe 256 cam. I also installed a Pertronix Ignitor 3 dizzy, coil, and 12v relay. After many cam changes, I finally settled on an XE 262, and machined a slot in the intake plenum of the Performer intake (Before anyone ask why I didn't go with the RPM, understand that hood clearance on this car is very limiting and at this level of build the power difference is negligible) It just seems to like the XE262 cam which also works well with the convertor and 3.55 rear gears. The interior is Ivy Gold and the interior is all factory save the carpet and dash pad which someone replaced with black for some unknown reason. Before the car came home to me the sway bar was upgraded to a 1 1/4", a leaf was added to he rear springs, and the body was done (see how I got my '68 Cougar in community). upon the first time driving in metro Atlanta traffic, I quickly ordered a Willwood Classic series disc brake conversion kit. I also converted it to manual steering as the convoluted factory four hose power steering setup was a little too close for comfort to the headers which were already on the car. So aside from the cam changes (4 to be exact), disc brake upgrade, and manual steering conversion, I have basically been able to drive, maintain, and enjoy it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Best gift I ever got. PERIOD...... Eventually I will go with the Borgeson power setup. But for now, I am just enjoying it.

Guitar74 · ‎02-10-2020

Oh yeah. Back when I was in high school, if you had a small block Chevy and DIDN'T have the double hump heads, everyone was was kind of like MEH. On the other hand, you got the Tim Allen guy/ape response when you pointed out double hump heads.

Guitar74 · ‎02-10-2020

Agreed. I had a couple that was somewhere between my age, and my parents and they looked at my car and I heard the woman say, "I don't even know what this car is. Do you?" which was met by silence from the man. I got to educate them on the Mercury entry into the pony car wars of the late 60s as well as point out so many things that are shared with the mustang as well as what isn't. They loved the sequential turn signals. I like that Fox body Cougar of yours. I always thought that the Fox body Cougar and Tbird were great looking cars. And having owned a Fox Tbird, can tell you that it was a great alternative to the Mustang which I also am a fan of.

Guitar74 · ‎30-09-2020

I won't get into the gory details that started in '08, but suffice it to say, my wife and I BOTH ended up without jobs like so many in an area that got hit so hard that I had to go back to playing music to keep us fed. Fast forward five yrs, my Dad calls me and tells me he got a '68 Cougar like the one he had when I was a kid (I loved that car and had a picture of it on my mirror all through school. Still have the picture.). I get excited for him because I can hear it in his voice. He sends me pictures of every step from the day he gets it home until it goes to the body shop. It happens that I am up visiting when it gets delivered to Cedar's in Danville, IL. It's not bad, not perfect body wise, but has a complete and interior that is excellent for original (no tears in the Ivy Gold buckets or head liner, dash is great, carpet, console, etc.). I congratulate him. A year later, we go to visit. My wife decides to take a nap. Dad throws me the keys and says,"Let's go for a ride!" Who am I to say no. So we go on a pretty hairy shake down run. I backed out of it at 130 because a) we were on I-74 b) the front end was getting light and c) it wasn't my car. I swear we must have looked like the parking attendants on Ferris Bueller. Three months after that I get a call on a Thursday night telling me to stay home from work. I ask Dad if everything is ok. He says yeah, but I need to be home because I have an important package on that is supposed to be at my house Friday. So I cal my boss, put in some PTO and don't think much more about it. Friday morning around 9 a.m. I get a call. It's Dad. He tells me to look outside. So I peer out the window and there he is with his truck in front of my driveway. I take another look and notice that there's a trailer attached to the truck. I take a third look and realize that there is a beautiful Augusta Green '68 Cougar sitting on the trailer. It takes a second because I am in disbelief. The only person who loved that Cougar that my Dad had more than me back when I was a kid was, well, my Dad. I come outside and he throws me the keys. "I brought it down here. You can take it off the trailer, young man." I asked him why. His response? "I was so heart broken for you kids when you lost everything. I wasn't in a position at the time to help you. Now I am. I know you loved my Cougar when you were a kid. So this is my was of doing something for you now." When I got in that car to take it off the trailer I looked in that passenger seat and I was instantly taken back to that high speed run, the look Dad had on his face (Pure elation) when we rung that car out, and it was all I could do to choke back the tears. I figured out why all those guys on those "let's secretly take that guy's car and fix it up" shows break down. I will always see the look on my Dad's face in that passenger seat. I will also always see the look of pride in his eyes when he threw me the keys. Heck, I'm getting choked up right now thinking about it. It may only be a base model 289 automatic car to anyone else. But to me, it's the Holy Grail of muscle cars.

Guitar74 · ‎30-09-2020

I love it when people use these cars for what they were intended, driving. Heck, I am impressed that you came all the way to Atlanta Motor Speedway and took her around the track at triple digit speeds. AWESOME!!!!!

Guitar74 · ‎30-09-2020

I don't now, but my graduation gift in high school was a '79 Type LT. Had a mid sixties 327, double hump heads, solid cam, close ratio Muncie 4 speed, and a locker in the 10 bolt. I always loved explaining to people what that ratcheting sound was when I went around a corner. My most simple explanation was,"That's the sound of performance". It was midnight blue. Gorgeous car. I have always regretted selling it, but had to to help finance school two yrs. later. The best story I have with that car is lining up against my friend in his Coronet 440 that had a built 383 and blowing his doors off. Not by a little bit, but a LOT. Like being able to see his entire front end in my rear view before I was through second. Yep, that was one of the best street machines I ever had. I miss that car.

Guitar74 · ‎30-09-2020

What a great ride. I love the '67-'69 Barracuda. I always wanted a fastback Formula S.

Guitar74 · ‎30-09-2020

Like Sajeev said, could be a fuel pressure issue. I would tend to lean towards fuel pressure because a fuel injection car would be in open loop mode under a cold start condition meaning that the computer would really be making any adjustments until the O2 sensor is warmed. I am curious, though. Is this one if the Crossfire injected cars? The reason I ask is that it would be REAL easy to see if the injectors are spraying at all.

Guitar74 · ‎30-09-2020

Oh no. It's a great guitar. I always wanted one back in the 80s. I didn't mean as, "I restored this piece of crap." I meant it as, with my novice woodworking skills. My nephew gave it to me. While the neck and frets were in good shape, someone had done a really bad job routing out a hole for a neck pickup, tried to put a Les Paul style jack, and a switch. I had to make a plug for the router hole, the switch holes, and jack. Initially I put a cheap licensed Floyd on it just to play it, but am getting a 1984 Floyd for it because the original had the screw in posts which it still has, and the newer press in style Floyd knife edges just don't get along with the original style post. I DID, however, use a DiMarzio Tone Zone instead of a J.B. as there is no tone control and the J.B. (which I have in a few axes) was painfully bright in this guitar.

Guitar74 · ‎22-09-2020

Glad my misfortune could make some else feel a little better about their own 😁 .

Guitar74 · ‎22-09-2020

I would have watched ANYTHING with Welles in it over modern day NASCAR. I like to actually watch a race, not a production. An that's pretty much what any televised NASCAR race feels like to me. Also why I quit watching NFL. I don't care about the commentary before, during, and after. I have eyes that can clearly see so I really don't need a play by play. The best drivers in the world though? Sorry, not by a long shot.

Guitar74 · ‎22-09-2020

When I was restoring, of all things, a 1985 Kramer Baretta guitar. The forecast showed no signs of rain, so I hung the body and laid down a base coat. Overnight, it not only rained but we had a freak temp. drop which resulted in a giant crack right down the middle of my beautiful candy metallic paint. This was in my non climate controlled garage. I opened the door from my basement and immediately knew before I even looked that there was going to be a problem. It dropped something like 30 degrees AND rained.

Guitar74 · ‎21-09-2020

Preach on, brother! I too would like to se some semblance of "stock" get put back into stock car racing.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Great vid. Don't own a Porsche, but converted my '65 Galaxie to the Ignitor 1 system. A word of caution though: The Pertronix setups require a full 12 volts to operate. If you convert and the car runs great for about 20 minutes but starts to cut out at low rpms, or for instance at a stop light, then it isn't getting the full 12v. In that case, you will either want to bypass, like in my case, the resistor wire (I actually just installed the 12v relay Pertronix sells), or the ballast resistor if your car has one. Aside from that, it is pretty straight forward.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Sounds crazy, but the floor automatic floor shifter I have in my '68 benefitted from new bushings. REALLY tightened things up. It's amazing what we get used to until we R&R something.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

The kit I have has both metric and SAE fittings, although since I no longer live in the rust belt will probably have the newer cars traded off before they will EVER need brake lines so the metric fittings have just gathered dust.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

I would also like to add that if you want your click style torque wrenches to keep their accuracy, you should take all of the preload off the the wrench once you've used it. This will allow the inner spring to go back to zero. If you keep it wound to say 75 lbs./ft that spring will get a memory, and your wrench will become inaccurate at lower settings.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Although done before I saw the vid, I have used the end to end, or butt connection as I call it, numerous times in my cars as well as when I was a motorcycle tech. As you said, it makes a clean connection once you heat shrink it. Great vid!

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Thanks again, sir.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

You could also check 440 Source. They have a lot of Hipo parts for RB Mopar engines.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

I one similar to that in the now defunct Mustangs Unlimited catalog for the 1st gen Cougar. I have yet to see one with it. There are just so few Cougars where I'm at that you don't get a chance to see things up close and personal on one. That link you gave me brings back memories. My mom's first job out of college was as a bookkeeper at Shepherd Lincoln Mercury. She bout a '71 Comet GT new in the fall of '70. The following year, a '71 Cycline GT came in as a trade in. It was red, 429 Thunderjet, C6, posi rear. She had Dad come in and test drive ut. When he came back, she bought it on the spot. Wht? Because he told her that it spun the tires at 35mph when he punched it. That was the last time he drove it without her in the car. Anyhow, thanks for the link. I will check out the measurements and see. That's kind of the look I would like:Subtle but effective.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

A friend of mine had a Corvair high school. Not sure of the year, but she drove the crap out of it. It wasn't a bad car at all. Different? Yes. Bad? No. Don't let the lack of a garage stop you from wrenching. I got my first car when I was 10 as an inheritance, and did many a repair with it on ramps, on my back. My advice would be to find a car that you like, and is a good runner. This way you aren't trying to do too much in the elements without a dedicated space to store/work on. There are a lot of great guys with a lot if experience that you could learn from, as well as to help you from making some if the mistakes a lot of us older guys have.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Have any members that are 1st Generation Cougar owners made an air dam/spoiler found one the will fit with little mods to help with the lift these cars get at higher speeds. I am sort of on the fence as I love the view of my car as is from all four corners, but noticed how light the front end gets.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Agreed. A different paint scheme, stickers in the trunk, etc., are not going to put them out of business. It's not as if we're talking about someone developing a modern day version of the Ram srt10. I remember seeing Quad four Oldsmobile compacts with the "official pace car callouts", Corvettes, Dodge Dakotas, fox body Mustangs, and a few others that elude me. Generally done with a paint scheme that was black with grey. I don't think black or grey paint, and vinyl stickers at the cost that THEY get it for is going to be the proverbial nail in the coffin.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

Terrific video. Especially good for the uninitiated.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

I have a multi out tender for my Cougar and my Harley. My testimonial thst they work is that after 7 yrs of owning my softtail, I finally bought a new battery. Not because I had to. The battery still test good under load. Until I started using one, I was replacing batteries on my Vulcan 88 every season.

Guitar74 · ‎17-09-2020

I love my 65. While it isn't a big block, it is a bucket seat console interior with the reclining passenger seat. When the 289 dies, I am going the 427 route but by different means, a stroked 351w. That may be a while as she only has 48,000 documented miles ( my Dad un-kniwingly bought it from.a friend of mine back home and gave the car to me) I think the change from the buggy sprung leaf spring system to the three link with coils also made a big difference as my example stays very flat through the turns for such a big car.