My advice is to pass on Vintage Air. Poor customer service and the heater coil is tiny/ineffective. I installed Vintage Air in a '72 Nova and could not drive it if the ambient temperature went below 20 degrees. The A/C worked fine but the heater part was useless. The poor customer service came from when they shorted me parts (firewall grommets) and also sent the wrong evaporator hose and I had to pay for their screw-up. I bought the entire system from a Vintage Air booth at the Nashville Good Guys show a few years back so there is no blaming anyone other than Vintage Air. I installed Classic Auto Air in my '72 Mustang fastback and it is great - hot or cold. ... View more

It appears the 4X4 bus story just goes to prove the old saying - If you have to axe, you can't afford it. Sorry. Lame joke. ... View more

Sorry Jack, I agree with the naysayers. In 1972 I was pulling down a whopping $1.60 an hour waiting tables. There is no way I could afford the '72 Mustang Sportsroof I have today that I restored from the ashes. You say kids have a tougher hill to climb? Again, I disagree. With Craigslist, eBay, and Facebook Marketplace, the ability to locate parts, tools, accessories, and even "expert" help along with the array of choices is unmatched. We just had the want ads and word of mouth. Depending on your location, it was at times slim pickin's. Lastly, I think you're comparing apples to oranges when you reference car shows. Most of the ones I attend are venue-specific. By that I mean there are Mopar, Corvette, "oldies" shows/swap meets, or any other label. Sure, a Honda will stick out at most of them, but there are also tons of shows/swap meets that fit that genre. I would suggest cutting back on stereotyping this generation in favor of any other generation. It's just not cool. ... View more

I'm with gpsuya. Yes, you could argue modern tuning is more complicated than adjusting a carburetor, but there was much more to tuning back in the day than a simple carburetor adjustment. Today it sounds like all you have to do is read a screen, punch in a few buttons, and then head off for your next tattoo or piercing. No offense meant if computers, tattoos, or piercings are your thing. For me, there is some soul satisfying pleasure in figuring out cam specs, cam timing, compression ratio, ignition timing, and adjusting the old stuff. I own five cars and three motorcycles and it's about half and half as far as electronics vs. old school goes on those rides. I love 'em all. ... View more

I agree with all of the above and have done everything on this list to my Mustang, other than the heated/cooled seats.  The only exception I take is the props for Vintage Air.  A substandard product with poor customer service is my experience with them.  Classic Auto Air is by far superior. ... View more

Back in my gunsmithing days, my mentor gave me this tip.  Peel a trip of two inch masking tape and put it sticky side up on the bench.  When you're doing something on a delicate item, such as a carburetor, put each screw, spring, etc. on the tape in the order it came off.  It's kind of like the egg carton idea but it won't scatter things across the shop if it gets accidently knocked off the bench. ... View more