[post toastie]

I drove the judge on saturday to autozone to buy tune up parts for goldie.

[Scarebird]

I have been trying to get to this event for a few months; first cancelled due to a downtown bicycle race, and last month from rain turning the infield to mud.

Today was another story - perfect weather! It is about a 1/2 hour from the house so off I went. Pulled into the entrance and marshal directed me to the antigos setion, right in front of the cafe. Other than a newer Chally and a few Mustangs this was the only US car.



Lots of stuff to look at! About a third of the 160-ish field were BMW's of every stripe: Alpinas, 2002's and even a M2 (?). A lot of hot hatches you NEVER see in the US: Skodas, Peugeots, Mercedes,even an R5.

Strange thing there were few other convertibles - but none with the tops down?



Ford Taunus (not Taurus), built in West Germany

[Scarebird]

...a couple more shots. The Holden was of interest - obviously very non-stock. Portugal is militant about keeping things "correct" but has exceptions you can drive a Pontiac thru.

The GTI was of interest as in HS was one of the most desired cars inlate 70's - early 80's. Gas was brutally expensive and GTO, camaros etc. were thirsty beast for burger flipping wages. The Mercedes hatches must be a buck-up boy's toy!

Some of you may look at this and say so what, a low power buncha ricers? But note Portugal taxes the loving hell out of engines 2 litres and up. Import duties are unbelievable - the Challenger mentioned earlier has a 100% import duty and possible emissions penalty, making it a €100.000+ car new. My Lemans thru normal channels would have incurred a €70.000 emissions/engine displacement tariff right off. They do the best they can and most of these cars are original - NOT restored.

[67drake]

Today we had a birthday party for my grandson at our diner. After it wound down one of my sons from out of town wanted to hang out for awhile before he made the 3 hour trip home. He suggested we take the cars out for a drive. Yup! Don’t have to ask me twice!
We went up to Culver’s about 15 minutes north of here, and made a nice 40 mile or so loop back home. I let him drive my Mercury. I drove the Catalina, and my other son drove his GTO. THIS is what I love doing-Driving, especially in a group with my family. Wives and grandchildren included.

[SRGN]

I started out just figuring I would mock up the accessory brackets so I could make sure I have everything to get ready for the A/C install. It snowballed, and I wound up changing the timing chain and installing the new Kaufman 8 bolt timing cover/water pump I had on the shelf. Since I took everything apart already, I'm just going to go ahead and get the condenser mounted and install the compressor. Had no fan shroud originally, so I made one work that I had laying around (from a 72 Charger). Just waiting for a couple pulleys, should have everything mounted and ready by the time they arrive. "
Might as well" syndrome in full effect. Might swap over to 4bbl since I'm already so far in this weekend.

[form74]

Cleaned the 75 and took it to a Cruise

[67drake]

Originally Posted by form74

Cleaned the 75 and took it to a Cruise

I love that car!

[julimcaulay]

Julie ’s versatility lets her move through a big variety of project types , like residential homes and also commercial interiors . In home environments , she aims to shape spaces for everyday living , but still keep that warm comfort and quiet retreat feeling. Living rooms turn into inviting places where people can actually gather , bedrooms get reshaped into restful sanctuaries , and kitchens are planned to be functional yet really welcoming too .

[tempest1964]

And then there was spam. Bwhaaa.

[tempest1964]

Went to the car show Saturday. Here she is:

[Hunter98TA]

Put the 04 GTO up on Stands to see what it needs to get back on the road. The Sun has not been kind to say the least. The seats started to split shortly after the warranty ran out and the clear coat started to peal, first on the rear valance of all places, then the top of the car. It got worse in the past 5 years. I know I should have done a better job on protecting it from the Sun all these years, but it is what it is.

It has sat idle for the past 3 years so I need to do a Tune up and all that. I'll probably order the seat covers and do that myself. I did a good job on the LeMans and a 67 Bonnie so I feel I can do it. After that I'll just clean up the paint a bit so it looks presentable. I'm just trying to get the most money out of it with the least amount shelled out.

[Verdoro 68]

Brings back memories of my Pulse Red '04. Time has not been kind to many of those '04-'06 GTOs. I'm not sure what kind of leather and stitching they used on those seats, but they were very sensitive to sun and heat. IIRC, the paint was also notoriously thin in spots.

[Hunter98TA]

That's cool you had a Pulse too. We went to Fisher Pontiac in Elmer NJ and had to choose between this Pulse Red A4 and a Purple 6spd. After test driving both cars it was close but the A4 won out. It's got 123,730 on it and the only mods were an SLP Loudmouth Catback installed at the 1200 mile mark after Patti came home one night and said "aren't GTOs supposed to be loud?" It was ordered that night. LOL

Only other change was the SAP Grills I had them install when they came out for the 05s.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Hunter98TA

That's cool you had a Pulse too. We went to Fisher Pontiac in Elmer NJ and had to choose between this Pulse Red A4 and a Purple 6spd. After test driving both cars it was close but the A4 won out. It's got 123,730 on it and the only mods were an SLP Loudmouth Catback installed at the 1200 mile mark after Patti came home one night and said "aren't GTOs supposed to be loud?" It was ordered that night. LOL

Only other change was the SAP Grills I had them install when they came out for the 05s.

I bought mine after it sat on the dealer lot for a year. It already had the SAP grilles. I practically drove it from the dealer to the shop to get the '05 hood and exhaust installed. Ended up doing a cam, heads and stall converter among many other things. Super fun car, I miss it sometimes. They didn't deserve the bad wrap they got by the purists.

[Hunter98TA]

that looks great!!! I have those grills too just never did the hood although I wanted to.

The 04 is just like the 64, plain Jane but with punch. Not sure why others couldn't get that. Plus it was a rush to market car for the USA

[Scarebird]

Originally Posted by Hunter98TA

...The 04 is just like the 64, plain Jane but with punch. Not sure why others couldn't get that...

One other nice thing was the '04's at least with the stock 5.7 got significantly better mileage than the 6.0's.

In a daily driver that is nice.

[Scarebird]

May have finally solved a hot start issue that was driving me daffy. The motor would turn fine but would not catch when hot. After a bit it would start. Redid grounds to engine, all that.

A friend with a good PCM reader scanned the car, almost nothing but oil pressure faults (?). I have the stock gauges running so have a sender that notes pressure is fine. Then it occured to me that if the oil pressure signal to the PCM was low - it would not allow the engine to fire. If the sender was intermittently faulty when warm... So I looked at rockauto to see if anything over here would work - 2022-2023 MBG-GT would. A replacement was ordered (65€ - ouch!) and installed. A trip known to have this issue was driven and no more problems.

Evidently the original sender was crap right out of the box - a depressingly common issue now. The new switch looks more "correct" - note the plug lock is actually there...

[Shiny]

That's a deep dive. Nicely done!

[Verdoro 68]

Went nuclear on the hidden headlight system last night and finally fixed the sagging headlight door.

[Keith Seymore]

Drove the Grand Prix to "work" today -

K