That woodgrain Mercury brings back fond memories. A 16 year old friend of mine in high school had a new '72 Pinto. It had to go into the dealer for some service work and he borrowed his mom's '69 Colony Park woodgrain sided wagon for a few days. First, we turned the air cleaner lid upside down on it and removed the air conditioning compressor fan belt for "more power." Then we took it over to the muffler shop and had dual exhaust installed. It sounded great (to us)! When his mom got it back, she promptly drove it over to Joe Kerly Lincoln Mercury in San Jose, and told them to fix whatever was wrong with her car- "It's too noisy!" When the service writer told her, "Mrs. Dalis, you have dual exhaust." She replied, "Dual who?" Then she said, "Just put it all back- I'll deal with my son when I get home!" We laughed about that for the next 48 years... ... View more

If you have not been to the Lane Museum, you absolutely, positively must go! I saw the above subject car and I believe over 600 others while visiting. If you are a "car guy," you'll spend a good part of a day there and remember for the rest of your life. ... View more

I was a parts manager at a Honda dealership in the SF Bay Area a few years ago. We had parts delivered in the middle of the night. We got lax and did not lock our delivery area to separate it from our parts storage area- guess who stole over $10,000 dollars in catalytic converters from us and a like amount from a neighboring dealer? Yep, the freight delivery driver. Lesson learned- we went back to locking up the delivery area... ... View more

I was a field rep for Honda from 1986-2000. We had motorcycles assigned to our French Camp parts center in Northern California, to use for our motorcycle safety courses. We did have a couple of bikes that were still crated, that were not used for the courses. When we finally decided to get them out of inventory, they were about 10 or 15 years old. Sadly, they were only available to our dealers- the one I was interested in was a Motorsport 250. The local dealer wanted a crazy price once it was his, that I could not afford. Finds like these are rare and usually way overpriced. ... View more

So, I inherited a 1963 Pontiac Catalina convertible from my dad, back in 1990. The Roto-Hydramatic transmission got all of about 5,000 miles from three rebuilds at my local transmission shop- total 15,000 miles and it was a real dog. So a friend says, "Throw a Turbo 400 in it!" So, I bought a "Turbo 400, removed the Hydramatic and son of a gun- after having to cut out the floor and welding in a Grand Prix floor pan to allow the Turbo 400 profile to fit, I bolted it in. What? Where does the starter bolt up? My buddy says, "Tow it to my shop- I'll install your starter..." A $400.00 tow later, he says, "Darn! There's no place to install the starter..." So, now I need a new engine. Found a 1968 Pontiac 400, out of a Grand Prix. Installed it, installed the transmission and the starter. Darn! The drive shaft is too long! So, I get it cut and balanced. Wow! What a difference the engine and transmission made to speed and reliability! So, driving back from San Rafael, Ca. one day at about 70-75 miles an hour, the light near Sears Point turns red- Yep, somebody must have sprayed WD-40 on my brakes when I got down to about 30 miles per hour! Luckily, no one was in front of me as I down shifted, standing on the brake pedal- and sailed right through the red light! I stayed at about 25 miles per hour for about 5 minutes, when my brakes came back. Got home, put the "Cat" up on jack stands and proceeded to convert it to front discs. Now she goes like a Banshee and stops on a dime. My son now has her. I agree on the LS1 conversion, everybody is doing them. But on the discs, my personal opinion is get rid of the drum brakes, they were always terrible- we just didn't know any better back in the old days. ... View more

My first car was a 1931 Model A, purchased in 1969 when I was 13. I can relate to the need for a drive. Mom and dad went out for dinner, and though I was not supposed to drive the car, it seems a friend of mine came over and we decided to go around the block. What we didn't know was the prior owner had repaired a defective throttle return spring with a rubber band. Yep, the rubber band broke and the mighty 40 horses kicked into gear! Luckily, there was the throttle control on the steering column and it worked- probably saved our lives! The Modal A made it back to the house, never did tell dad about it... 🙂 ... View more

Kyle, When I was 8 years old, my teacher told my mother, "I'm a little worried, he likes to play with those little Matchbox cars at recess when the other boys are playing sports. Then I am 13, with a '31 Model A, then a '56 Chevy 210 Sedan, next came a '67 Cougar, then the '71 Challenger, a few old Honda's, then a '63 Catalina convertible, currently an '83 Camaro and an '89 Corvette, and I almost forgot, the '91 Harley and the '01 Indian. I never make any money on them, too much of a perfectionist for that. And, yep, I also work for a major auto manufacturer. All my wife can say is, "Oh well, I guess it's better than a blonde..." ... View more

I had a 1989 Town Car, with the same 150 hp 302 you described. At 180,000 miles, I removed it and installed a Mustang 225 hp 302. Was it a race car? No, but it was noticeably quicker. One of the best cars I have owned!  ... View more

Got 'cha Kyle. Mine is a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 with 150,000 miles on it. Can relate 100%! ... View more

I agree, except I would substitute "once past the 300 hp mark..." ... View more

I had a 1963 Catalina convertible, got it from dad, son has it now and my grandson has his eye on it. They had some wonderful ads back then and life was very different. ... View more

My father was a Navigator, based in Kunming China. 14th Air Force, 308th Bomb Group, 373rd Squadron. 44 missions. They bombed Japanese submarines, mined harbors in French Indochina and attacked targets of opportunity. These were great men- he was 22 at the time and was the oldest member of his crew. ... View more