Going old-school

[Jaw]

Always wanted some old school muscle after passing on a 72 corvette a while back its been chewing away at me.

This is far from that. :lol:

FAR.


But it came up at a price that I couldn't say no at

Not sure if I'll keep it in the worshop as a novelty and take it out now and then, sell it on or make a rediculous V8 hot rod out of it - but for now I just find it amusing that I have a ford that's almost 3 times my age :lol:

0-60 in a blistering.....


22.8 seconds

 

[Russ59]

Very nice.
What is it? looks Ford Pilot ish.

 

[Spikey]

Wow that just looks amazing - time warp

Lots of options but maybe keep it standard?

 

[Russ59]

See its a Prefect now.
If its in decent nick keep it as it is, shame to butcher it.
But I do like to a nice Hot Rod.

Why did you pass on the Corvette?
I'd love a C3.

 

[Jaw]

Cheers yep it's a prefect

You're right, I can't bring myself to chop it to bits thinking about it, it's in too good nick! different if it was falling apart etc. I'll just keep it aside in the shop for a bit of character and the odd Sunday drive Will chuck up some more piccies when I collect it in about 10 days time.

I'm tempted to throw in some period style modernisation, can't help but think something like a decent head unit and some speakers hidden away would be awesome, off a spare battery or something but I suppose some bluetooth speakers have the same effect!

Ah I've been kicking myself ever since I turned down the vette, it was a bargain and the same colour funnily enough, but the timing just wasn't right Deffo going to scratch that itch in the future though once the porsche / supra are both finished :/

 

[Beedub]

hows life with the pork?

 

[Jaw]

Absolutely loving it mate, The amount of grip and communication and feedback is great with the 12" rears, found a slight hint of understeer initially but mostly because I was trying to drive it like the beemer which was a little more instant with the steering with the porsche needing harder inputs. It snarls and roars and pops like an angry pig and with the x51 addons and the gemballa tune/exhaust/kit etc it really comes to life around 5k and pulls relentlessly compared to a couple of stock ones I'd driven. You definitely notice that it's light, feels ridiculously nimble.

hard to compare to the Z4M because it drives completely differently - on the Z4 I loved attacking corners, feeling the balance and then controlling the turn with some oversteer then creaming it out off the apex and twitching down the road, whereas the porker it's much more point, turn, turn some more, turn some more, s**t I haven't even slowed down, shoot off. Partly down to feeling more ballsy in the porsche but theres a sharp corner or two in particular where I'm around 25kms quicker than in the Z4M. Miss the charm of the M though, little things like the fat steering wheel - the porsche's is a little too thin so will be swapping that out. Wish I took my RPI's off and sold them separately too, and the AFE.

Getting in some carbon fibre GT2 seats and removing the electric jobbies which should save even more weight (and they look BADASS!) Which should see it into the 1200's in weight, an old dyno chart and an android app and my mates track speedo puts it at a rough 358bhp and 0-60 in 4.3 (probably quite far from accurate, gps/accelerometer based system)

I was tempted to go crazy built turbo engine on it, and maybe I still will if I ever need big work in the far future, but for now it feels like a proper baby supercar.

 

[Jaw]

So I picked her up today.

First thing that struck me was just how far the concept of a car has come!

Door handles, with no exaggeration are similar to the sort that you'd find in your house, right down to the angled locking pin. Locks? People didn't steal in the 30's, it wasn't even a thought.

Headroom by the bucketload, it literally feels like sitting at home on the sofa with the flat bench front and rear seats. A centralised dash sites to the left of the wheel a la mini, and the steering wheel is the size of a decent pizza.

The dash literally has 4 switches. Wipers (which are powered by the vacuum of the 30bhp motor, thus you wouldn't want to drive it in anything more than a sprinkle), choke, starter, and a switch which I think illuminates the 2 watt headlights. Other than that, the only other electronic switch on the car would be the indicator stalk.

everything is solid, the enamel dash, the leather trimmed solid metal doors and I've just discovered a light in the headliner. cutting edge.

Only 4 gears here, reverse (where 1 is on a conventional car), 1(where 2 would usually be), second and third. Double de-clutching is a must, as is rev matching.

The speedo isn't much good, showing me at 60 when I was doing 90 without knowing athough it was flat out. It's got massive, skinny wheels, and it steers like a spoon through jelly :lol:

Id imagine a modern take on this car (like the pt cruiser, but not, y'know. crap.) would be awesome :lol: simple, comfy motoring!

First problem today where the starter switch came out in my hand. But by switch, it's literally a puller on a cable that connects to the starter motor in the bay.

This thing would make for an awesome vintage road trip

the hood ornament doubles as a lever for the bonnet, it also features a manual crank

 

[Russ59]

Very nice

Just out of interest, I replicate the covers (one in the under bonnet pic, next to the battery) for the rectifier thingy, in fibreglass which were originally made in Bakelite for a company local to me that refurb's starter motors, dynamo's, wiper motors etc for classic and vintage cars.
The old Bakelite is not easy to get hold of now as most have gone brittle and cracked with age.

 

[Jaw]

ah awesome! good to know, i did wonder what the casing was made of! didn't feel plasticy :lol:

the one on this car still feels supple, I'm pretty sure whoever owned it has kept it garaged, even the wooden lid to the right in the engine bay is in original condition. Only thing that has perished a little are the window surrounds but not sure if they're bad enough to do anything about