At last..some quality time...with my car !!

[fast95pony]

I finally had some time off work after the holidays to really clean my Mustang. I've been wanting to do this for the last few months..

The weather has been warm (for here ) So I rolled her out of the garage and got started . First a good wash and wax , then under the car to polish the chrome tailpipes (neighbours must have laughed..),
then the glass. Then two days in the engine bay with some old toothbrushes, WD40, hand cleaner and metal polish . 177,000 kms of grime took a while to get off ,but the engine is now gleaming !!

My back is sore and my knuckles skinless , but it was well worth it !! Work has been really nuts recently , and working on my
car was a great way of relieving stress.


Next..the wheels and interior !!

Alan

[Ray Bell]

Forget the wheels and interior till you've had some real stress relief...

A rapid blast down a twisty road!

[djb]

fellow canuck Mustang feller,

while I tend not to be so loving with my car (ESPECIALLY not in Montreal at this time of the year, all the work would be wasted in 5 slush and salt filled minutes) I'm sure many of us know the feeling of spending time and energy with a beloved vehicle and having it just so darn good looking afterwards. Is it just me, or don't we all feel that the engine seems to fire up easier, and run better after all this work?

Admittedly, my finerky work like this lately has mostly been with my bicycles, which I use to go to work whenever I can, but whether car, motorcycle or bike, the feeling of satisfaction and knowing that it is good for the "whatevers" mechanical being isn't any different. It must have been pretty warm and dry for you out West to be able to do all this in the driveway. Even here, it has been a really screwy winter, with less snow than there has been for years. Good for the daily commute and parking, but the skiing just plain sucks!

[fast95pony]

I drove my Mustang in the winter for the last five years . It was scarey !! This year I bought a Focus for a daily/winter driver .

We have had some warm weather,but there's still some ice/snow around , and the roads have a lot of gravel on them . I also took off the road insurance till Spring on the Mustang to save some money.

So I'm going to wait til April/May before taking her for a blast through the Rockies, but I'm happy knowing she's nice and warm and clean in the garage and not covered in salt .

The Focus in great in the snow too !


Alan

[djb]

Well, happy Focus sliding and park-brake turning.....
We're finally getting some snow here, so I'm off for the first XC ski of the year.

David

[Bluebottle]

One thing I'm not very good at is cleaning & polishing cars. The Granada is currently hiding under a layer of road grime- when the weather warms up and I have some free time at a weekend I will wash it- just to remind myself what colour it is! At least this winter it hasn't been used every day.
The Hurricane gets cleaned a little more often, at least twice a year, enough for it to not be really filthy but still look used.
Last time I turned a hose on the Dutton, loads of paint fell off- I fear that if I do it again I will have to inform the DVLC of a change of colour!

[djb]

djb laughing! Bluebottle, I used to have a theory with my old clunker cars (which generally is all that I have owned) that if I spent too much time making them look too nice, then something major would break and all that work would be for nought.

[Ray Bell]

I always reckoned that if I ever finished a car properly (got rid of all the rust, had it running right and painted nicely with no dents...) it would get crashed into...

[Bluebottle]

I heard a story about a chap who took his restored, polished, chromed etc etc car on a trailer to a classic car show. While he was there, he found and joined a club for his make of car. They invited their new member to lead the club cars into the areana for the parade- he refused on the grounds that it would mean putting oil in his nice clean engine! (It was a Mk2 Granada)