Ozbilt's travels

[ozbilt]

12/2/10

I have been busy driving & organising the packing of containers. Seems that The Dept of Homeland Security has changed the rules again, but I was able to satisfy the new regs, so all is well.

Saw this Mustang this morning on my way to the hardware store to get some more ratchet straps for the container. Pulled up behind & the first thing I noticed was the retro 67 decor rear panel & MUSTANG letters on the trunk lid. Pulled in beside him as he was going the same place I was & had a chat. Seems he is an ex US Navy guy that is now in the US Army as a flying medic. Has done a few tours to keep us all safe, so nice to thank these guys personally.

He is a forum member of places like Stangnet, so I gave him the forum name here, so hopefully he will lurk, join & let you all know what is in this car, sounded sooo nice..













Saw this one the other day (I used to own one, 67 Mini Van, 1275 with a 40mm Webber, Cooper S brakes & wheels, it was a rocket ship). This one on the road here in Sacramento was getting along at a good clip also, probably doing 75mph at the time. I had a truck (sorry Hev :: ) on a trailer behind me & I could not keep up to get a better pic.

[ozbilt]

13/2/10

Sacramento Autorama is on next week (Feb 19th - 21st). I think this may be the first year in over 10 years I do not have a car there that I have built, may get lucky. Pics will follow the event.

http://www.rodshows.com/sa/

[ozbilt]

14/2/10

Almost have the container packed :p :a bit of a struggle but all is in, will pull one car out tomorrow for final cleaning of used parts & packing the last few boxes. This one is tight, 40' Hi Cube packed to the roof.

Then the fun will be in Sydney unpacking. I am going to relax as of Monday, cruising my haunts looking for more cars, very stress relieving.

Spotted these over the last couple of days, not Mustangs but they were running nice...





Yep thats $2.75 for a gallon of fuel.

[ozbilt]

18/2/10

I found a nice 69 Mach R code, neat car but may have already sold it.

Also have found a 67 GT 390 F/B, decor group. Car has been in dry storage for over 20 years (maybe 30). I will be taking pics early next week & will put it in the for sale section. I had 3 or 4 guys chasing one, so first in best dressed. It is very well priced.

Got a lead on a 70 Mach & a 71 Mach as well, more to follow here.

See now my head is clear after packing & sending the container, I am finding all sorts of stuff.

Foresight,

I videoed the D1ck Trickle 69 Torino NASCAR running tonight. When you come over you can listen to a dominator equipped 427 race engine. He was loading the car as the NASCAR's are at Fontana on the weekend & the promoters wanted the vintage car there.

[ozbilt]

19/2/10

Spent today "hooken a brother up" California style. I have been involved with old MG's while over here. The guy that owns this TC is now very sick & has gone to a nursing home. His car was in pieces, so the boys got together to assemble the car so it could be sold for decent money in the future.

Plan is to go "break" him out of the home & take him for a ride, probably will not happen, but a good idea all the same.

A "feel good" day.



Saw these cars on the way up from Gilroy today, some good, some bad. You decide...

[ozbilt]

20/2/10

Now talking Torino's.......

68-9 is the years people want as that was the last "real" NASCAR. 68 they had all the windows etc, but by 69 the side glass had disappeared. Was also the years of the "Aero Wars", Talladega/Cyclone Spoiler II vs Dodge Daytona/Plymouth Superbird. Hemi vs Hemi

Talladega at speed David Pearson in the Woods brothers car..



My friend owned the 72 Torino NASCAR that AJ Foyt (edit; oops I meant Bobby Unser) drove, the car, now sold again, is often seen at track meets in NorCal. He is also credited as finding the original 69 Mustang TA cars & restoring them. Also owned the Folmer's Trans Am Mustang #16 car of 1970.

Story on Richard's NASCAR find is here..

http://www.mustangandfords.com/featured ... index.html

[ozbilt]

28/2/10

Well folks, I made it home. Rough flying over the Pacific at the moment, plenty of storms, guess it is the season! Nice to be home eating real food again, lost 4kg in 4 weeks of being over there, did not have time to eat, so much going on.

[ozbilt]

8/3/10


Thanks to all those that ventured to Duggo on Sunday. Carol & I had a great day. I picked Foresight up on Friday morning after his redeye flight from Perth, ahh the joys of night flying...

Had fun showing him around & introducing him to his pride & joy "Q". Cleaned up the shed on Saturday, rearranged the cars & put "Q" on the lift, then spent time examining it from underneath. Seems the repair method chosen will work very well. Late Saturday was spent at John's place (jbb) checking out his cave & cars.

Sunday saw MO & jusTANG turn up first, then MustangMedic & MustanNut came , followed by jbb & his neat 67 Paxton blown coup. Brunch was then served, bacon & killer chicken eggs. muzz67 came cruising in just as we were finishing the eating, with his "just on the road" 67 coupe & so we had lots of cars to look over & discuss. It also gave me the chance to rest my voice as Lance had lots of knowledge to impart on those that were here.

Lunch was provided by jbb & Carol (Thanks John) & more good conversation followed but with storm clouds gathering (& thinking of our Melbourne brothers) it was decided to call it a day.

Not long after all had left, Stanglover turned up, I only got the chance to put in one snide comment about Eleanors...:w, however Baz had got in first...wait until next time Baz, I may be in "full flight".

Off to the airport then to get Lee to his plane. Well folks, we will do it all again in July when Lee is back & we are building "Q". See you all then.

[ozbilt]

14/3/10


Just thought I would let all those know, that were here last weekend, we had an extra visitor in the shed with us. An Eastern Brown snake.

I found the skin a couple of days later. Guess it was just passing through, saw the lights on & noticed there was a Cobra Jet in there & needed to get a closer look I guess.

[ozbilt]

17/4/10

Well the old guy here is now a Grandfather again. Our daughter, living in Sacramento, just gave birth to a little boy, Orion, on 4/16/10 at 9.08am (US Pacific time & date). 6lbs & 18" so a little fella. All doing well.

I will get to see him in person when I get back over there early May. Got to love technology as we had Skype going most of the night.

[ozbilt]

2/5/10

Was sent this pic by the guy I went to Bonneville with. My former customer & good friend, Ed Machado, has been building this car since 1999. I had the task of getting the body straight, couple of 1/4 panels, door skins & all was well. Just like the rest of us it has been a learning experience for him, with many tasks done more than once...

Pleased to see it not only on the road, but now doing the rounds of the cruise nights & shows in Nor Cal.



Guess I will get to spend some passenger's seat time when I get over there. Fortunately Ed lives only a few streets away from my daughter, so one of my usual hangouts, especially when I am hungry, good food & company there... :f

He is now into building a 68 coupe, probably a salt racer. See the hobby is just as infectious as here... :+

[ozbilt]

16/5/10

Not exactly a "travel" post, but fun all the same.

Had a few guys over today, Chris 65 coupe, John 67 coupe & Ross 69 E Type Jag 2+2 & who should call in in with his Dodge Dart, but Fletch from the "Classic Restos" TV show.

http://www.itchybutt.com.au/

http://www.c31.org.au/show/our_shows/?show_id=64

We started the segment with me answering the door in my underpants & it all went downhill from there.... :w

Basically the show was all about what I had going in the shed, so Foresight's Q, LUCY066's 69 Mach 1 & Stuart's 66 fastback became stars today. Lots of useless banter between Fletch & myself, basically discussing what I already post (read "rant") here, so nothing new for you people.

Fletch then also did some short vids of the cars that were parked outside.

BBQ bacon & eggs (thanks chickens ) started the morning with the traditional BBQ lunch provided (& cooked) by Chris.

Show will air in about 1 1/2 weeks from now.

[ozbilt]

23/5/10

Good news on the DOTAS front that I received on Friday...

I am bringing 2 cars in over the next year or so that are very radical & would never pass registration here.

One is the Mustang I talked about earlier in this thread that had the Kenny Bell blown 5.0 in it & late model Mustang/ Griggs suspension.





The other being the 1959 Mercedes 190SL Roadster that has C4 Corvette suspension/frame & a 351 aluminium Ford Motorsport engine 5 speed.

They are coming here to have the build finished, maybe a show or 2 & then return to the US for show/driving duty.

The way they are entering is by "Temporary Permit". I apply for the DOTAS in the normal way stating that the car is being built here then exported. I pay the duty on the car & it is refunded upon export from Australia. The people, in Canberra, I spoke to were very informative & only too happy to explain things. I suppose it also helped by having a good record with them regarding imports. It was my agent's suggestion about the permit & got me to confirm.

So, some neat cars coming for a while. Have to get Q finished so I can spend the time playing with these.... :+

All late model Mustang suspension with Griggs Racing mods. I did not start the build on the car, the current builder has lost his way & it is coming to me to finish. I have built a couple of cars for this friend (he owns the factory in China I R&D/teach at), so only too happy to take over the build. I will be making a lot of changes as this car no where meets my standards.

Front steer R&P has a better turning circle than rear steer, so an advantage there. Also notice the engine set back, car will probably go close to 50/50 weights on front to rear. Should be interesting on the scales.

[ozbilt]

24/5/10

Another "Garage Find"

I was sent this today by a good Aussie friend (edit, now a member of this forum "jabberwoki" ) that has lived in the US since 1993.

He also just purchased a 1970 Chevelle SS 396 4 spd w/air.

However this Falcon looks interesting enough for me to travel to have a look.





Notice in the engine bay of the Falcon, the towers have been notched the same as the Thunderbolt Fairlane of the same era. Love it.

Couple of links to cammers...

http://phystutor.tripod.com/stang/engines/427sohc.html

http://www.supermotors.net/articles/lfm ... 1-a2-1.php

Some info from Wikipedia..

All these engines were essentially hand-built with racing in mind. Combustion chambers were fully machined to reduce variability. Nevertheless, Ford recommended blueprinting the engines before use in racing applications. With a single four-barrel carburetor they were rated at 616 horsepower (459 kW) at 7,000 rpm & 515 ft lbs of torque @ 3,800 rpm, and while equipped with dual four-barrel carburetors they made 657 horsepower (490 kW) at 7,500 rpm & 575 ft/lbs of torque @ 4,200 rpm. Ford sold them via the parts counter, the single four-barrel model as part C6AE-6007-363S, the dual carburetor model as part C6AE-6007-359J for $2350.00 (as of October, 1968). Weight of the engine was 680 lb (308 kg).

Just to add to the interest in cammers,

Ford played around with a 289 SOHC engine. I believe they made at least 2.

A friend of mine who is now a retired Ford Vice President, had one in his drag car in the early 60's (an MG TD that was a 10second car, frightening in one of those). Engine did not make it past the prototype stage as the heads were the restriction on power, they tried a 302, but dropped it also.

If you go back to the Mickey Thompson racing days, Ford was shipping him cammers & later 429 Hemi's in railroad box cars. That was Ford's commitment to racing back then. I have friends that went to the Thompson sale (after he & his wife were murdered) & the stuff they saw (let alone the stuff they bought) was incredible.

[ozbilt]

3/6/10


I am now back in Sacramento CA enjoying time with my new Grandson Orion. You forget how small they are when that young. Oh well guess it will not be that long until he is in the shed with me playing with cars (not that I will be an influence in that!).

Looks like a quick turnaround this trip as I have a little work to do at Duggo, so I guess I need to be back there or else cars will not make deadlines.

I will be around the wrecking yards all next week & checking on some cars, so let me know if anyone is looking for anything specific. Coming across oddball stuff (for Australia) like early Falcons, Comets, Torino's etc.