FROM THE EDITOR
WORKIN’ IT by Tom Shaw
W
hen I have a job to do around the brought back to glossy glory. So I winched it up
house, like fixing a water leak, hooking on the trailer and headed home with my project.
up something electrical, or making
Step One was to get it running. That meant
some kind of wood repair, I summon my sons dropping it off with my buddy Marc, who
to teach them basic skills with tools. The first sorted through the many fuel and electrical
thing I tell them is to learn how to make loud malfunctions and at least got the engine to fire.
male grunting noises, even if — especially if — Through the rotten pipes and missing mufflers,
the job is easy. Clanging tools around helps, too. it sounded good in a redneck sort of way, but
It buys points with the wife, who thinks your at least it was running, and Marc told me the
exertions are a great sacrifice, at least as long engine was virtually untouched.
as the ruse goes undiscovered. Cash in those
When Pete Geisler suggested that we move
points at a time of your choosing.
Beyond that, wrenching has its good
THAT’S ONE OF THE
side. We’ve been doing our share of it on
GREAT THINGS ABOUT FOX
our in-house ’93 GT convertible. So far,
with the help of National Parts Depot,
MUSTANGS; THEY’RE EASILY
Late Model Restoration, Fox Mustang
Restoration, and Orlando Mustang,
SERVICEABLE...
we’ve:
it to the Orlando Mustang compound, one
• rehabbed the original Vibrant Red paint
hundred miles from our Lakeland offices, it
• nstalled new headlight plastic and fog lights
i
seemed like the next logical step. It took a while
• painted and installed a new front fascia
to get the ball rolling, but lately we’re doing a lot
• repainted black and red body trim
of wrenching on it, and the ol’ roach is starting
• estored/repainted the five-spoke castr
to look better. I’m getting the itch to drive it, as is
aluminum wheels and installed new
my 19-year-old son, Austin, who climbs into the
BFGoodrich g/Force Super Sport radials
driver’s seat and makes sad faces at me.
• rebuilt, or should I say, restored the brakes
That’s the payoff of the labor and the money
spent. You can see the transformation taking
When I rescued the car a couple of years ago, place. You can see the shine of the new parts.
it had been sitting a long time, had the bad-gas/ You can hear it when the engine starts. You can
dead-battery syndrome, was full of mildew, feel it when you hit the gas and it runs like never
spider webs, leaves, ripped top, chalky paint, flat before.
tires, etc. What I saw in it was straight, rust-free,
It’s still got a long way to go — exhaust,
never crashed metal, red body/white leather interior, electrical, and more cosmetics. But it’s
interior/top, five-speed, 49K on the odometer, getting there, and nothing encourages success
and a fire-sale price of just $1,200.
like success. Fixing one thing makes you just
Naysayers, seeing it at its worst, snickered that much more gung-ho to fix something else.
that it was hopeless junk, but I’ve seen far worse Last issue I used the Eastwood Soda Blaster to
6 FOXMustangMagazine.com
clean up a few parts. It did such a good job, I
want to keep going and clean up more: brackets
and alternator cases and cable jackets and
cooling fins.
That’s one of the great things about Fox
Mustangs; they’re easily serviceable, unlike
a laptop or phone or TV. A few simple hand
tools go a long way when you’re working on
a Mustang. The V-8, rear-wheel-drive layout
still works so well after lo these many decades.
It invites the mechanically minded to come
and play. Time spe