FALL 99

The OTHER T-Birds are progressing, The original Super Coupe (now nicknamed THE “CONDOR” for several reasons) has the heads and manifold perched on the short block, though not yet bolted down. There will definitely be some hood changes required for the new Weiand Stealth manifold (a mini high-riser dual plane design). The clone car is proving to be a fabulous purchase. Works great, reliable, ORIGINAL and staying that way (are you listening Dirty Dave?), and a delight. The Condor (the BIG-motored Tbird) is about to get the heads bolted down, lifters installed, and pushrods placed (is there an echo?). I think I’m 2-3 days from actually getting the thing back together and functional. Let’s see if it’s NOT 3 days of Sundays. The fall winds have hit, and the air is inspiring, to turn a phrase. Must be the negative ions (REALLY!). 11/29/99 Gene’s open house party on Saturday was cool. There were some VERY nice folks in attendance, and a few hot cars to ogle. Brought the converter along, and Gene felt it was OK, but said he’d do a thorough washing of it. I have gathered e-mail addresses on more people, so this edition should go out much more easily. Did a little work on the CONDOR-Windsor/Bird, and kinda screwed up. I drilled out the 20 head bolt washers (which were too tight to work), and dutifully oiled the threads and washers, THEN remembered that Randy had mentioned some bolts penetrate water passages and should be SEALED. I called Don Barrington today who gave me the hot tip of applying Teflon paste to the threads and under the heads of the bolts, and not to sweat the oil.12/12/99 Got the motor in!!! The $#*@# 3-ton chain hoist is a piece of junk, however. The guards on it are bent (cast iron), and the thing was nightmare to barely make work. I’m intending to return it tomorrow to M&M Tools for a refund (it was used, but that’s moot, really). Marty has been fair in the past. Notwithstanding that, the engine and trans are in, the converter bolted up. The body tree now interferes with the mag, which is now about 1” forward of its prior location due to the addition of the PSI rev limiter. I’m about to cut out the offending bar and weld a new one in a few inches higher. This means I will be firing up Randy’s welder for the first time in quite a while, and giving my inexpert hand a shot at welding again. This will be possible because I wired his plug up, and made an extension cord to use it anywhere in the garage. Millie spent some time consolidating her xmas stuff and other boxes, and I’m intending to put them in the attic over the service porch tomorrow, shove my stuff to other areas, and back the trailer in. Still no proper pushrods for the Condor from Jeg’s. I will be FAXing the BAR in a few moments to rattle their cage about getting me some money back as part of their action against the “idiot.” I have happily stumbled upon a Ford fanatic who is a customer, and I may push some work his way in trade for some construction. He’s cautioned it must be fun. Amen! He has a really nice ‘56 Ford panel truck with a 351 Windsor, for which he wants $7K. I will possibly negotiate a trade later and make it an advertising vehicle. It needs only a repaint and interior to be pristine. I am considering a car lift for the dual Birds. That way I can get the cars inside, including the dually, depending on whether Randy brings in his car.

12/26/99
Spent part of today (after tennis) working on the Condor. Had Henry come over to continue with the cleaning and loading of junk, and setting some roofing on a portion of the rear guest house (over the water heater). I pulled the right head off to check the head gasket, which looked like it had too few water jacket holes. After a trip to PAW and checking another gasket, I determined it was OK. However, I had it turned backwards, as the water ports are ONLY to be at the rear, according to engine guru Don Barrington. Tomorrow will see me putting some time into actually getting it assembled. The new Dart aluminum heads use a standard sized exhaust gasket, but the gaskets need a little trimming first. Having done that, I realize I really need new flanges on the headers. Brad, the header man, is out sick. It’s been 2 days over a YEAR since I sent the car to get a new engine with the San Berdu Bozo. Still no response from the BAR on getting my money from him. Capt. Randy is working tomorrow, and then should have some time to get going on his projects. Have heard nothing from Ford-man Dan Church about taking the supercharged Ford motor and doing some body work. As Brad the Header man never showed, it’s wait ‘till Monday to try to commence a process (read: more time) to correct the crappy header flanges for the Condor. I’m guessing this will take at least a week to accomplish. I’d like to get the Condor inside also, but I’ve got to be certain of the space first. I’ve also decided to forego the redesigning of the Condor header flanges and just get this thing running already. Tomorrow, though busy, will hopefully find me lifting the heads off just one more time, setting the right side header off the car, and, if I can locate the proper small head bolts, setting the heads back on and bolting the manifold down for good (naw!). Man do I want to get that beast running and over with!1/23/00 I did get out and bolt up the Condor headers. It was so frustrating to work on, even with the right head off. I purchased some RP 3/8” chrome hex head bolts, thinking these would make it possible to have access to them critters in the tight confines of the header tubes. NOPE. I then bolted the left header up, and found one bolt cross-threading, due to being pushed over by the header tube. In order to get this in, basically all other bolts must be out or nearly so. I just said F! it after an hour of this, and will change the flanges. This is just crap, and I just can’t see putting myself through continuing hassle in the future, with accessories and HOT headers making it tough to tighten into aluminum threads. So, more Condor delays. There is plenty of room to run the Condor in, and Mikey and I just might do that today.

2/2/00
Come on! Speaking of projects, the Condor still has not had the header flanges traced and sent to Sanderson with the gaskets. Each day time runs out, and zip. Tomorrow, yeah, that’s it, tomorrow.2/9/00The Condor still sits in the driveway, as I again run out of time each day.2/14/00As today is rain (and I’m not watching Iraqi TV), and no jobs are demanding, I’ll do the Sanderson Condor templates (nah!!), and continue organizing the garage.2/18/00We’ve done the groundwork on the new side storage (for the barrels of alcohol, tile saw, lawnmower, radial arm saw, and other goodies) to liberate space for the Condor, Bird, and Dually to get inside mid-next week.2/21/00 Condor templates as yet, but tomorrow, for sure!!!2/22/00Tomorrow will be a “get the dually inside” day, along with the Condor. I’ll have Tanner do the thing I’ve been avoiding: jacking up the engine and/or undoing the steering knuckle to extract the driver’s side header.2/23/00We will roll the Condor in later to provide sheltered working area for Tanner while I ski.

2/28/00
Tanner has vanished, the work truck did NOT get fixed, just limped home on Saturday with a makeshift u-joint, and is now up the street getting a new pinion yoke and the proper assembly at GK Auto. Oddly, along with Tanner, my roofing coil-nailer gun has disappeared (coincidence?). This is most upsetting, as we’re doing the roofing over the east shed right now (one day I WILL lock up all the tools-hey, I got the Condor templates made, didn’t I?). Haven’t heard yet from Sanderson on those Condor templates, but will check tomorrow. Tanner’s girl friend called to reveal his whereabouts, and claims she’ll have him home (here) tonight. He did show, and explained all.

3/7/00
In reviewing some notes, it’s gratifying to note that the Condor is STILL not done (Brad now can not do it until Tuesday nest week), the butthole in San Berdu has paid nothing, the BAR has done nothing, but that we have accomplished getting the heads and manifold on, pushrods in. We found, OF COURSE, that ONE Lunati rocker arm and adjuster nut were missing from the sealed pack (which had been opened and closed by Shanon’s in Minnesota, leaving out a single unit). So ANOTHER week+ wait for the missing part. This sounds like my accounts receivable!! The web site is claimed to being close to done, awaiting an e-mail right now for samples of the final thing. 3/13/00Tomorrow is header day at the Muffler Connection for the Condor. And, Shanon’s sent me the wrong Lunati roller rocker, after I waited 10 days for the supposedly correct blue one (they sent a clear color). Yikes!

3/14/00
Moved Laur’s welder to the east shed (hooray!!). More floor space. We built a platform for the compressor and reconnected it. Moved the Condor to the street, awaiting AAA to tow it to header man.

3/16/00
Spoke with Brad, the headerman today. He hadn’t done anything, as he was now confused as to why I’d given him extra header flanges when the originals bolts up. I had to remind him the bolts were useless in original configuration. Of course they do NOT, or I’d have kept them on the new aluminum heads. “Oh yeah, OK, I got it now. I just didn’t want to proceed with being certain. I also couldn’t find your number.” Amazing how far away the 411 directory listing was from his mind, our many conversations about this issue, and his prior records of our business.

3/24/00
The Condor will return to the garage tomorrow on friend Jerry Lee’s tow privileges.

3/25/00
Still no word from the cyber-pirates. Went ahead and registered dickwagner.com myself, and created a home page with some links. It will not be up and available for a day or two, according to the instructions. I have NO clue as to what to do to import photos, video, etc, nor how to dramatically alter the layout. Perhaps FRONT PAGE is the ticket (for about $400!!). Anyway, today is for reeling the Condor back in from the Muffler Connection, thanks to Jerry Lee’s xlnt tow coverage.3/31/00 Did get it back, but used my own coverage (had FOUR tows per year available). That, and $10 convinced the driver he could deliver to the house. Once there, he was enthralled with the FC. He wants to be on the crew. Tanner has been prettyfying the Condor underhood, polishing and painting things. We’re missing a few parts, but it’s coming together. Really just a missing water inlet elbow stands between now and running it. The carb has been sitting, and may be dried out. George Thompson, who has a dyno close by, and knows the infamous Dave Smith of Condor fraud fame, is booked for two weeks and can be of no help. George is running an H/Stock automatic Mustang (in the mid 11’s) at Las Vegas for the inaugural drag race there (I’m jealous).

4/6/00
Minor progress on the Condor. Accessories (save power steering) are bolted in. Gas line modified with stainless braided hose, ditto with the two heater lines. Looks cool! Tried some Zolotone paint, wrong color combo. More searching. Ran a few gallons of diesel fuel through the motor (NOT running!) to wash out the 18-month old crud-oil and lotsa water. Linkages mostly hooked up, carburetor just sitting. Looks like two more days of Tanner chipping away on it before ignition and lift-off.On the Condor front, Tanner has been burning hours getting nearly nothing done (I think in an attempt to bring down his debt). What HAS been done is that we’re now REALLY about a day away from lighting it up. The belt is in (a 93” serpentine wonder), all accessories are mounted, radiator hose on. It needs a proper fuel connection, carb gasket, some oil, and a vacuum line or two. You’ll be the second to know.

4/10/00
We are apparently literal minutes from lighting up the Condor.

4/11/00
More delays: the Condor pushrods are WRONG. Dammit!!! I was shipped by Jeg’s a set last year that were too short. Then these are now too long! We’ll have to go to a pushrod measuring tools (actually a set using adjustable pushrods) to determine exactly what we need. I now find that Isky will sell me graduated lengths right in the range I think we’ll need. So, more money, more time, more crap. The Holley 600 on the Condor is being picked up by George Thomson in a few minutes for rebuilding prior to running the car (since we obviously have some more time).

4/12/00
Swung by PAW, and their fabulous showroom with Muldowney’s dragster, Bernstein’s FC, and a host of supercharged Willys, etc. Scored a roller rocker for the Condor for all of eight bucks (while I wait for Shanon’s to deliver my missing one), and a pushrod measuring kit. Isky has the pushrods in stock, so it’s a matter of measuring now, then getting what is closest. 4/13/00 All of that is wonderful theory, no? It now turns out that having gotten a pushrods measuring kit, we find the pushrods are HITTING the #&^%)!* heads! These are THE roller rockers, THE pushrods, THE cam, THE lifters specified as a drop-in for the setup. What the crap is this? Got calls in to lotsa people, working on this situation. Maddening, utterly maddening. You’d think this was Pete Mauriello’s Rodeck motor (he had the very same problem)k, not a roller hydraulic cammed, aluminum head street motor. Just more bad advice. What else is new?
Oh, George Thomson called to say the quadrajet for the work truck is ready, for a MERE $350!! Christ, I can buy a brand new Holley for that! Ah, but think of the better mileage (ouch!!). The Condor Holley should run considerably less. Rick the Raingutter man was here today, tuning up downspouts, etc. Lotsa work getting accomplished, just not on the two projects I want MOST finished, the Condor and the FC. Hey, you’re sitting there reading this. Why aren’t you HERE helping?

4/14/00
RL is at Sears point this weekend with his buddy Mike Kirby, and promises to bring his bitchin’ Bador polisher over on Monday. Tanner can then go crazy. I’ll turn Tanner loose on the Condor paint, the remainder of the trailer, and miles of aluminum trim. It appears we’ll be pulling the heads off the Condor to drill out the pushrod holes. I’m hoping not (and you know just how good that’s worked in the past).

4/30/00
The Condor has the supposedly proper length 7.68” pushrods in it, and now just awaits Tanner to complete reassembly. It is clean, has oil in it, the heads are back on, the headers re-connected (boy am I glad I went to the new flanges, or we’d STILL be trying to get those header bolts in). He has detailed the engine bay quite a bit with fresh paint, polishing a lot of pieces, etc. Now to just get the #%*@#! thing running.5/1/00I’ve got a page into Ronnie Stearns to run the two additional ethernet lines for networking the computers (so as to better serve the website and chase that anxious-to-be-used sponsor money), and we appear on the verge of actually accomplishing something with the Condor. Meanwhile, the clone Super Coupe is stuttering (hugely) when hot. I have little or no clue, although it sounds ignition or computer-like to me. I’ve gotten used to NO computer with the Condor. To any whizzes out there: any help is welcome on the e-mail (dick@dickwagner.com). More accurately, that e-mail address might be “dicked @.....

5/10/00
Qwik joke: “Adam to Eve: “I wear the plants in this family.” What is NO joke is the financial crush right now. In a heartbeat I looked up and I’m about $10K in the hole. This is not a good thing. So the FC sits again, everything sits again, and I scramble for the almighty buck. The Condor has not made it to life as yet. Tanner broke a previously (by others) joined wire in the distributor loom, so we’ve got to replace the sensor and short loom before firing it up. I suppose I should feel gratified that, like General Motors, business is demanding enough that I need outside financing from time to time. This is the time, BIG time.Located the distributor part for the Condor, so it MIGHT get started tonight (nah!).Speaking of critical, had a LONG talk with Tanner, who honorably cut his billable hours in half, and set for the work schedule on the Condor. We had to finagle a mounting for the throttle and trans pressure cables. He was struggling, I got it done in 15 minutes.

5/14/00
Condor update: ALMOST got it running. Really. It actually started, but runs terribly. We tried changing the wiring to a Ford Cleveland firing order, but nothing. I may just have to tow it over to Dyno George Thomson and let him do the final tweaking.

5/16/00
What’s the difference between an optimist and a pessimist? An optimist created the airplane, a pessimist created the seat belts. Unfortunately, one of my ace guys, Louie, showed up “belted” on Sunday, asking for a raise. Like the Condor distributor, talk about bad timing! I kindly said I’d have to think about it. He just never came back. He’s apparently now working on a crew laying rebar up the street, same net wage, tougher working conditions. I’ve left a message for George Thomson for an appointment to tow the Condor in for final tweaking and a dyno test. I’ll have Tanner connect the final water hoses, etc. this morning (OK, I can hear you laughing from here).Randy came by, and as usual donated 3/4 of a day to helping me with the Condor (see, I told you he was golden). Basically, we discovered good ole Tanner had moused a bunch of fuel lines and water lines together in a bizarre and most incorrect way. We remade those, went and got some parts, and bingo, it started right up. It’s loud as hell, with the passenger side header not sucking up to the heads (a purported misalignment courtesy of Muffler Connection, who will be redoing them. This according to Tanner, who as usual was wrong), and not idling well (due to Tanner turning the adjusting nuts 1-3/4 turns in, instead of just a 1/4 turn). I’ll finish the water lines, then tow it over to Muffler Connection to remake the passenger side header flange (read on). You do recall Brad insisted I bring it over so as to have no error in setting it up? Lot of good it did, eh? The best, though, was that I found the windshield broken. Tanner admitted to this when confronted this evening, but why not just come and tell me? You guess. Hopefully getting Tanner out of my life will help speed things along. He’s been at times well-meaning, and at other times outright thieving, but on the whole a major downer. The literally THOUSANDS I’ve spent with him on that car recovering (?) moneys that he owed for stealing stuff to begin with could easily have been given to a qualified mechanic. See, the slap time between the error and the lesson is getting shorter and shorter. Incidentally, left a message with the BAR regarding slime-ball Dave Smith and their supposed efforts to prosecute him. As you recall, I was told they were pushing him to settle my judgment as part of a plea bargain. To my knowledge, they’ve not even served him as yet. Anybody out there in San Berdu or Riverside want to collect on this guy for a fee? BAR responded, “Nothing yet.” Geez, I’m shocked.

5/17/00
A waiter brings the customer the steak he ordered with his thumb over the meat. "Are you crazy?" yelled the customer, "You have your hand on my steak!" "What?" answers the waiter, "You want it to fall on the floor again?" Not really far from that point, here is a poem I’ve written about the indefatigable Tanner: TANNER’S MANNER This is about a guy named Tanner who right from the get go has been a non-stop scammer ......and can’t seem to let go. With him it’s two steps forward and a mile to the rear. He has portrayed himself as the victim on numerous instances but when you dig deeper into the matters it appears his insistences on stealing and thieving have been his undoings. Take me, as just one example: I have been far beyond just ample in trying to help him. He has not only bitten the hand that fed him he has kicked in the groin the arm that lifted him up. But just as Tanner’s responsible for his thieving ways I, too, am guilty for offering my cup for my philanthropic forays into his psyche (and repeatedly). It’s my own problem that I keep trying to help him it’s my own selfishness in trying to even the score it’s not cutting my losses that has gotten me sore sorer than one could ever conceive. What has been accomplished in the last few weeks? Why, I’ve spent a thousand dollars on (I thought) tweaking when in fact Tanner’s been wreaking havoc on my poor Condor. The Garage Mahal window mysteriously broke when the only guy in the garage was our favorite bloke it had been punctured, simply and clean but oh no, Tanner’d not seen ....he was standing ten feet away and knows nothing about it. Then the fuel lines are plugged with work only described as ugh, he’s been polishing on the new carb putting dust and other barbs right into the fuel system. And then he breaks the Condor windshield but of course says nothing until I confront him “Oh I was waiting for the right time to tell you” ....just another excuse from a bum. If he’s not caught red-handed, he didn’t do it (of course) but there are only so many ways that you can kick a tired horse and this horse is WAY fatigued from all this endless horse crap so Tanner, gather your things, find somewhere else for a nap and let me get back to being productive again.

5/20/00
The Condor has made minor progress, with some hoses connected, wiring cleaned up a bit more. Tanner has found some momentary inspiration to actually DO something out there, while having been given his first nudge to hit the road.

5/22/00
Some very minor Condor progress, in a moment, But first: The recent recruit was on guard at the main gate of a key naval base, and was given strict orders to admit absolutely no car unless it had been issued a special permit. Finally, the inevitable happened. The recruit stopped a car in which a high-ranking officer was the passenger. "Drive on," ordered the admiral to the driver, dismissing the guard with a wave. "I’m sorry sir, but I’m new at this," admitted the recruit, drawing a deep breath. "Who do I shoot, you or your driver?" It turns out the headers were NOT made incorrectly. You know, all I did was go under the car after bolting them up tight, and NO interference. However, they DO leak, big time. I think the welds were not ground flat on the new flanges. So the headers must come out, and I’ve got to track down someone with a blanchard grinder to flatten them out. Tanner continues to amaze. I had him readjust the valves, re-mount a new coil differently (so it doesn’t arc right onto the carburetor!!!), and install the left side collector gasket. I did some wiring consolidation, stuffed a bunch of wiring into Colflex (that black coil wrap for wiring), and I’ll give the Condor start-up another shot this morning. There appears to be a rear oil seal leak or something at the moment, so that may require some very aggravating attention before much else progresses. I guess I should have just pulled the damn short block out and started over. Crap!! YUK!

5/26/00
This REALLY applies to our old buddy Tanner: Two weeks after Paisley’s transfer into the promotion department, his old boss got a phone call. "You told me Paisley was a responsible worker!" yelled the furious head of promotion. "Oh, he is," she confirmed. "In the year he worked in my department, the computer went down five times and had to be completely reprogrammed, the petty cash got misplaced six times, and I developed an ulcer. And each time Paisley was responsible." That was the Tanner story as well. He’d polish a bracket, and break a windshield. He is OUT! I‘m sucking up the last $500 of damage, plus the Garage Mahal window, and cutting my losses. It will be interesting to see how much progress gets made on those areas in which Tanner was supposed to accomplish something. I’m still having the remainder of a 4-camera security system installed this weekend, as others will undoubtedly challenge me in the future. Nothing like putting a lock on the door after the cow has gone.

5/29/00
Tanner has FINALLY gone, for good. That’s really GOOD. In his normally idiotic way, he left, and then came back two nights later and rang the bell at 11:30 pm. I scolded him and said come back at 1 PM in the daylight to get his final things. Done, over, finished, kaput, finito, adios, sayonara, and definitely NOT aloha. Now to get the Condor done using myself or others. Headers must come off, vacuum lines to be finished, some gauges to be mounted underhood (I’ve roughed up the aluminum bracket for three gauges), and other sundry details.

6/5/00
Tanner’s legacy post-dates him. On the Condor I found 3 gauges missing, one gauge dented (of the total of eight brand new ones I had), and still more little stuff that was just abortioned. I would have been SO far ahead of it had I booted him out two months ago. You all knew that. We finally got the right gaskets for the aluminum, Dart/Windsor heads. Amazingly, all the Dart/Windsor gaskets don't fit. The proper fit comes from a Brodix wide-spread bolt pattern which I got from SCE. Rick found the "rear main seal" leak: Tanner had run a wire under the gasket of the left valve cover! The surprises never stop. I'm PRAYING that the head gaskets and torquing are OK. I'll retorque after a few hours of running. Did I mention he had three different plugs, nearly all loose, in the motor? Oh, and he had shifted the driver’s side exhaust gasket about half an inch so it was not only blocking the ports, but wasn’t even touching half the manifold!!! Got leak? As if this car crap was enough to depress, the business end is crushing. Today was a bad day. I was just overwhelmed inside (still am actually), and struggling to get mentally on top of the overwhelm right now. We are about to launch into the lifeguard thing, and I'm just going to pay the prior idiot contractor who bailed on the project the full money I offered for his parts instead of trying to work it backwards and pay his (stiffed) subs ahead of him. He'll screw the two guys, and that's too bad. Actually, one of them said forget it, just get the stuff and get working. If it's fine for him, I'm cool. Back on the Condor I've built a 3-gauge array on an aluminum plate at the right front of the engine bay for water temp, oil pressure, and oil temp. Looks cool. Now I'm searching through the morass of parts for the gauge parts, trying to find out which sensors go where, etc. Rick will have the headers on the Condor torqued down tomorrow, and I'll fire it up again and see if it's quiet and right. Still have to remount the fans, run some sensor wiring, and get the Condor over to AutoRite transmission to have Gene pull the pan and weld the temperature sensor bung in. I am going to get the trans cooler on this car no matter what. The one on now is in front of the AC cooler, not a good thing, as that makes it three deep in that area (cooler, AC, radiator).

6/10/00
Meanwhile, the Condor is about to get its fresh plugs, has now tight headers with copper gaskets, and another chance at running. If all sounds good, we’ll bolt on the fans, fill it with water, and see how that goes. Hopefully no Tannering will bite us at that point. I saw someone today who reported Tanner has continued his tricks, is back with the insane ex-girl friend, ripping people off, and making more enemies. Thank goodness I’m out of that. My clone Bird is in the body shop getting a parking lot (hit and run) scrape repaired. Nick said bring it last Tuesday, to have it ready on Saturday. As of today there was ZERO done on it, but the promise to work on it “today”, and see you at the party. No show at the party. We’ll see about it being done tomorrow. I stressed no favors, just do it and charge me.

6/11/00
Nick says he will likely be done with the clone bird late this evening, after color-matching it. My money is on it NOT being ready. Rob Anderson, mil-spec hifi whiz and other electronics areas genius, did NOT make it to the party. True story: It seems his neighbor died as they were about to leave. Bummer. ‘Course why should that have stopped them, I mean he’s dead, right? Anyway, he’s supposed to be here to do some hifi work today (No, not on the FC!). As of 1:44 PM no show.

6/13/00
Fired the Condor up for Rob, and he suggests either a lean carburetor or tight valves as the cause for the backfiring. His thought is to get an old set of valve covers, cut the tops off, and adjust the valves running. I had the very same idea, which I professed to George Thomson, who soundly rejected that approach. I think I’m going the open cover route, as I see no reason for backfiring through the carb after Thomson reworked the Holley 600 for a hefty price. The carb on the work truck works great, and the Condor unit has a leak on the secondaries, which Thomson will have to fix anyway.

6/14/00
Did you hear that Anheuser-Busch has taken over the Red Cross' public relations? Their new slogan is "This Blood's For You." This very definitely applies to the Condor. The starter appears to have just let loose on it, and we haven’t even gotten it out of the garage. It MAY be the flex plate, but I think the backfiring, etc. may have lunched the drive on the starter. More fun to explore.

6/19/00
There are some good things to report, and shockingly, some actual FC progress. First, the starter on the Condor appears to have healed itself in the dark over the weekend.

7/5/00
Now, we all know how smooth plans don't turn out. This one went according to normal history. Nick was out, didn't call me when he returned, and wondered today why I hadn't come over. I reminded I DID, and he wasn't there. I'm taking the clone Tbird over for some moulding replacement tonight, and the Gremlin will get sanded tomorrow night, or so Nick says. We're supposedly wrapping up the cabinet job tomorrow (it was to be done today, remember?), due to a delay waiting for the painter to clear coat the cabinets. Then we get the Condor out of the garage, over to the dyno man, and get some action.

7/10/00
The Condor fans work half-well. The top two work great, the bottom two are punked out. Interesting, as they've been sitting idle for 19 months. I've had mixed luck dealing directly with the owner of Perma-Cool, Walt Dederich, regarding warranty stuff. Mind you, Walt really loves what he does, is a staunch supporter of CIFCA, and therefore I wholeheartedly support his products. And, he was helpful at the outset with my 4-fan setup 3 years ago. Given the switch of most speed equipt business to mail order, I can buy cheaper from Jeg's than directly from Walt! We'll see how this one goes. Jeg's came through with the additional packet of wheel screws, so that's a done deal. How about that? Something done!

7/16/00
Tomorrow will see me calling PermaCool for some warranty fan motor replacements on the Condor. If no luck, I'll go with Jeg's.7/20/00We've mounted the saw table on the wall on a hinge, so that takes care of that impedance to getting the trailer/car in and out. We'll seriously move on getting the Condor out tomorrow (a paying job took precedence today-gotta go for the dough).

7/22/00
The Lexan did NOT arrive. The normally reliable daily truck delivery from Fresno (of course) had an unexpected problem, so no windshield material until late Monday. We did, however, get the garage a large couple of steps forward to being cleared. We completed mounting the 7 x 8 saw table on the wall on a hinge, so it now folds neatly up and out of the way. We (with difficulty) wheeled the saw around to the east storage. It really needs some HUGE casters and a dolly (under its own castered dolly) to make it truly rollable over the rough flagstone walkway. And, I did a little welding (now that I own a welder or two….actually three including the torch) to fabricate the brackets to hold up the saw table. So, the garage will see the Condor being moved out later tomorrow, as soon as Tiny humps the load of wood blocking the driveway (lose them pounds!).

7/22/00
Jason and Mike and I emptied out the garage (save the FC), blew it out, swept it out, cleaned, put things away, threw things away, rolled out the Condor, put back the trailer, washed all the vehicles, and even put the clone car back inside! So the dually and work truck are back off the street, the driveway wood has been neatly relocated (we did it, not Tiny), and progress has been made. Sadly, the starter on the Condor appears to have really lost it. I think the backfiring popped off some teeth on the starter. Tomorrow I'll pull it and find out.

7/22/00
Moved the Condor back out, set the saw up again, pushed more wood materials around the garage. Tiny will be charged with pulling the Condor starter a little later.

8/19/00
On the Condor front, the Tanner idiocy still haunts. We had been running the engine with a firing order he wrote on the underside of the hood. Mind you, there are TWO firing order, one for Cleveland, one for Windsor. He had the last two cylinders inverted. It does make a difference. Whew!!! Now, on the way up to Palmdale/Lancaster, the clone Tbird (the stock one) lost its AC, then started heating. We left it at his house in Palmdale, came back, filled the radiator, and saw water running out of the water pump. As the trip is virtually all downhill, I risked it. It was bone dry in 6 miles, but I coasted pretty much for 20 more, where it was rattling so bad I stopped. I noticed a 3" long hose off the side of the pump had exploded, and I hoped this was THE problem. I had Tiny bring me up a hose, and we replaced the gnarly-positioned little hose. It STILL leaked, but I got it home, and brought it to Gary Carter for a new water pump. His price was about half of Ford Service.Mil spec Rob Anderson is now between jobs, and has expressed interest in getting the Condor back to functional glory, particularly getting the cooling system redesigned. We've burned up the e-mails discussing at length the theories of BTU's slewing, etc. Bottom line: he's going to do it HIS way.

8/20/00
Actually drove the Condor, about 3 feet. A few days ago, we were trying to start it (I'd pulled the distributor and had it in wrong), and it backfired through the carb. Bang! A 5/16 x 2" bolts hit the underside of the hood and landed in front of the car!!! Sabotage? Who the hell knows. Can you imagine a BOLT laying side the carb??? The Tanner screwings continue. It appears the dyno-tuned carb is hurting. I think all the sneezing has blown out some power valves, maybe there's dirt in the jets, who knows. But it appears the thing is running way lean, and it spits back whenever I give it throttle, and is very lazy on response. Oh, and Tanner had the firing order wrong on the last two cylinders!! He wrote the incorrect order on the underside of the hood. I DID find two more PermaCool fan motors that I KNEW I'd bought, stuffed in a box in the new cabinets. Installed those, got the fans all working (all six of them), all the relays wired, filled the Condor with water. So far so good. I'm going to take the Gremlin carb and switch it onto the Condor for a test.

8/23/00
Well, some real progress for a delightful change. Found the missing two PermaCool replacement fan motors (saving about $140, thank you), and got the fan pack installed on the Condor. Took the carburetor off and Randy Laur disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled it. There appeared to be no problem there at all. So what the hell was the problem???? The Condor firing order was wrong!!! We changed it AGAIN to what I'd thought was a Cleveland firing order, and bingo! A real running engine, no popping and backfiring. Thanks again to Randy Laur for that insight. 'Course I'd run that order 4 times in the past, with zero success. Go figure. Finally drove it down the street. The power is underwhelming at this point. The valves now appear quite loose (purposely set so as not to have any hanging open), therefore losing a lot of cam lift. Ditto for the Gremlin valve lash (but big power still). I sure hope there's another 100 HP in that Condor waiting to be discovered. Happily, the fan sensor works well, the manual override works, it doesn't appear to leak, oil pressure is good, and it basically is driveable. It does need some gauges connected, some vacuum lines properly engaged, and a dipstick (well, I'm here already).8/31/00 I plucked the Condor from Gary and test drove it to Laur's station to retrieve the carbs. Ran like crap! I mean it does have SOME power, particularly better when on the throttle, just nothing compared to what it should. Plus, it runs REAL bad at low speed. This should have every bit of the Gremlin power, just pulling more weight. VERY disappointing. I found a radiator leak, and now the upper two fans are not functioning. Didn't appear to overheat on just the fronts and the bottom two, however. So I ran it straight back to Carter and left it. Carter did nothing on it today, and promises tomorrow to get back on it. I've asked that he run a compression test on all holes, hook up his diagnostic machine, and see just what is goofy. The valves still sound real noisy, so more adjusting appears needed. Maybe that will unleash the beast. Sadly, the oil pressure is LOW, essentially non-existent at idle when hot, even on the 40-weight oil. It was not overfilled, by the way. The dipstick is functional. We're going to try Laur's Edelbrock carb for drill. Meanwhile, I'll be getting more window bolts for the Dzus fasteners on the FC, and rumpity-rumping to Bob's and Cruisers tomorrow in the Gremlin with Mikey. The stock Super Coupe is losing water, but appears not to be having a head gasket problem (wrong...). Our test using block check shows no combustion products in the coolant, but it IS disappearing somewhere. Perhaps another hose, freeze plug, or some little thing. I'm hoping BIG time I don't have to use the spare motor I've had for 7 years for this occasion.

9/4/00
The last two days have seen some progress, some maddening revelations. The driveshaft in the Gremlin has been removed due to a clanking sound, sounding like a bad u-joint. Upon inspection, the rear u-joint had half the needle bearings broken in half, quite dry, obviously toast. That will be corrected tomorrow with two new joints at Wenco up the street. The Condor has seen several iterations: it quit the other day on the way home from the shop. No spark. Well, one at first crank, then nothing. Replaced the coil, not it. Replaced the ECU (module) with the one I had here. Plenty of spark, no start, in fact odd backfiring, etc. Got another MSD module for $178 (OUCH!!!), no spark. Rob Anderson dropped by early this morning (7 AM), and took his usual mil-spec approach. Immediately pulled the wiring loom out and apart, found several iffy connections, some outright about-to-go, and some oddities. He rewired a bad connector and promised to rewire much of what he saw. I had to leave for tennis, and came back to find no start, but a message on the machine saying the distributor rotor was NOT turning! Now there's a fundamental problem! Mind you, I had replaced the rotor and intermediate piece the other day when I tried the new coil. Never occurred to me the distributor might be defective. Pulled it out to find the roll pin missing from the gear (so it just turned on the shaft). Got a new pin, reset the distributor by popping the right side valve cover and getting the #1 valves closed, setting the timing mark to top dead center, and dropping the distributor back in. No start, ONE spark, again. Pulled the distributor out, and guess what? Broken gear! I do have another bronze gear and roll pin, but I've got some questions, so I'll wait to reach Mr. Laur or some other authority tomorrow. He's at the Fire Barn right now, so I'm about to do that. He confirms my suspicions about the roll pin and distributor gear, that is it sheared off. So, tomorrow afternoon we'll get to that, and the next day return the unneeded MSD module. In my call to him tonight Rob Anderson was gratified about his diligent approach ("things just come to me..."). So in the next few days I'll be seaching at Galpin Ford Parts Dept or Pick Your Part for a harness or connectors. 9/7/00 Guess what? I didn't use my bronze gear, as Randy Laur noted that the interior of my distributor was packed with metal shavings. So off to AutoZone for a new one for $43 (rather than the PAW version for over $200). Guess what? It broke the new gear right off! Guess what? I can't get the @%$*#%!! thing out. Two days of trying, crying, prying, schrying, humping, thumping, bumping the engine around, turning it backwards, etc. Nada, zip, zero, null, butkus. Guess what? I'm just pulling the damned engine out. There is simply NO way to remove the frigging thing. This indicates many things. On a karmic level, having Tanner touch the car was horrifically unsmart. Metaphysically, I'm at a loss. Fiscally, I'm screwed. Emotionally, I'm crushed. Time wise, I'm rushed. Mechanically, the oil pump appears to have seized, and somehow the bottom of the distributor shaft is wedged on it, or something. Whatever. I can't replace the oil pump without lifting the motor about a foot to get the pan out. At this point, I don't trust anything on it now, so out it's coming. Took the radiator and fans out, removed some hoses, including the stupid Tanner/epoxy AN-fitting fiasco on the water pump (it just snapped off). I'll have GK Auto come over and evacuate the AC system (environmentally correct procedure). Then, roll the sucker under the chain hoist and start tugging at it. Anyone got a real nice 408" Windsor built-up motor? I'm intending to dyno this one BEFORE putting it back in the car, so I know what the hell is really going on.9/14/00 Got the window bolts, but haven't attended to the windows as yet. DID jerk the motor out of the Condor, and got it up to Kenny Duttweiler. Super nice fellow, very talkative, mucho friendly. Had I ever been able to get through on his phone for three years, I would have taken the motor up there years ago. As it is, the rotating (aka irritating) assembly is junk (there's $2K). The heads and block and manifold are pretty much all that is salvagable. It will run about $6K to redo this motor, AGAIN. The Condor will get a slightly smaller stroke (4.100 down to 4.00), dropping it back to around 410", but letting it wear better. After reviewing dozens of dyno pulls on his computer, Duttweiler is certain that the combo should produce about 450 HP, as I had thought all along. He also pointed out why Fords make less power than Chevysof the same size. It has to do with longer stroke and shorter rods. The piston descends more quickly with a shorter rod (more rod angle), creating more vacuum on the down stroke. We're talking a 70 HP difference here. Fascinating. My engine will be configured about like a 406 Chevy, so should make good power. This will take two months. Meanwhile, the Gremlin will be in the Van Nuys Street Show September 24th, and hopefully get enough exposure to get purchased soon. Capt. Randy is down with a kidney stone-OUCH!! The street clone Tbird is ALSO getting an engine transplant, as it has apparently lost a head gasket (favorite thing on these engines). I've had the original Condor motor sitting rebuilt for 7 years, and now it gets used. One more thing out of the garage. The 420" Condor motor should be in the running for the Darwin award. I've been struggling with this thing for 7 years (and killing myself) to make power, and pretty much it's been a turd. Oh, it ran for nearly 50,000 miles, but in a powerless state.

9/30/00
Capt Randy has had his kidney stone crushed and cleared, came by to visit for a while today, and is approaching normalcy. REAL nice to see him back. Tomorrow should see son Mike here to continue on with the windshield and side window installation. I do need a countersink tool for setting the recesses for the Dzus fasteners in the Lexan. I will NOT be jerry-rigging some method on that. We get only one shot at making that stuff pretty. Did invest in a brand new drill set (the umpteenth one), with super-good cobalt bits. This one will stay in the FC tool box, designated for ME. The overload of crap (STUFF) needs attention. There is a plethora of construction materials and remnants crowding in from the fencing on the west. Gotta go. As you've noticed, this is an ongoing battle. The street Bird is running OK with the new motor. I WISH it were the Condor I was describing. It will be at least 6 weeks before I see a motor for that. Duttweiler has (to be expected) had a few delays in getting around to flow-testing my heads. Hey, I'm just thrilled he's working on it at all. The Condor is becoming something of a parts car for the driver Bird. The brake system (ABS) is leaking substantial amounts of brake fluid out, apparently from the accumulator pump. So, I'm going to jerk the entire master/pump/nitrogen bottle from the Condor (easier when the motor is out) and throw it on the clone car. I'll have plenty of time to get the other one rebuilt and back on the Condor before it's actually needed. Rob Anderson has been hired by a high-tech company (that didn't take long-like 2 weeks), so is gainfully employed again. Hopefully his interest in rewiring and glorifying the Condor engine compartment will survive his new job.

10/3/00
Predictably, the bad news at Duttweiler's is that my new supposedly fabulous aluminum Dart Windsor heads flow 240 CFM at .550" valve lift. That SUCKS!!!! A motor this big needs about 300 CFM. That 240 is barely better than a stock head. There are small block Chevy heads approaching 400 CFM, and for about a grand, complete!! In discussing this at length with Randy, he feels this motor has gotten WAY out of hand. He sees no reason why the original rotating assembly can't be freshened up, new rings, crank polished or turned. If the heads can't be made do much, then the rotating assembly money could go there. I have alternatively thought of offing the entire engine as-is, fresh, and just, oh I don't know, maybe going with a Chevy. Then the Condor WOULD be exactly like the FC, big Chevy motor, blue oval body. Chevy offers a big block crate motor with computer, injection, etc. for $6-$8K, just add 12 volts and go. For the price of changing the motor mounts, getting an adapter for the bellhousing, and changing headers, I could be GONE. Actually, forget the trans adapter, a 700-R4 is a better deal anyway. Of course, Gene at Auto Rite has jumped on my AOD trans, and it is completely rebuilt and ready to go. Oops! That may seal the deal for staying with the Ford motor. More mental wrenching here.10/8/00 Well, I've been trying to let others shoulder the many loads I have, and it's been working. One of which is the Condor. I made 4 phone calls yesterday getting tow prices from $245 down to $90 to run it up to Rob Anderson on a flatbed truck. The low guy had no flatbed, and was heading that direction anyway to pick up a car. That worked out great.As Millie is also out of town tonight, I may get some work done (ha!). I've been considering a somewhat bizarre setup on the Condor: TWO superchargers, using the same Eaton roots-type units with injectors as on my original 3.8 V-6 in the Super Coupe. I do have an extra blower from changing the motor in the clone car. I've made some inquiries, and I'll be looking around.10/26/00 The week has elapsed, I have NOT seen Butch, but did visit Duttweiler. Got my Dart Windsor heads, brought them back, and spent a few hours cleaning them up (removing gaskets and soot). For only running a half hour, they SURE were carboned up. Randy is in Vegas for the Nostalgia World Finals with Mike Kirby and Mike twin-six dragster, also running on a 7.50 ET dial. Mike is #2 in points, and is hoping to grab the championship over the weekend. I'm hoping Randy will off my heads and the Holley 600 carb. Anything I can do to get more $ to finish the Gremlin, Condor, and FC.

10/30/00
RandyMan got back from the Vegas Nostalgia Finals with Mike Kirby. They were #3 in points (CLOSE racing) going into qualifying, made it to #2, were in the semis, when a loose injector nozzle caused some fuel to spray on Mike at 1000 feet, while leading the race. He shut off, lost the race, and ended up #2 in points for the year. WOW! Talk about down to the wire. Interestingly, Pete Cristlieb, to whom I sold a BBC crank some time ago, was the Rookie of the Year and the Season Champion. Randy DID sell the Condor Dart heads for a paltry $600 (hey it's CASH), so that's one more thing out of the way. I'm still debating between the AirFlow Research AFR 185 heads and the Edelbrock Victor, Jr's as recommended by Powered by Ford. I need to talk to Scott over at AFR once more to get his take on what he feels (think he'll say his are better?). 10/31/00 Of course, they feel AFR's are better at AFR. There have been glowing reports in MM&FF and other For mags lately on these heads, so I can't see it being a bad thing, particularly since they're VERY local. They recommend buying them in Arkansas from a guy who ports them to Stage 3 specs for about $300 more.
On a completely different, though positive note, I got a surprising $3000 from the attorney for a couple of slimes who had conned me out of the dough over an 8-month period. Suffice it to say that this experience of "helping" someone in need has changed my perspective on what "help" is. I am VERY lucky to have played hardball correctly and gotten the dough. Now, what to do with it? Well, it could be gone in an eyeblink on bills. However, I will be allocating half to the mortgage payment, the remainder to the Condor heads.

11/1/00
While I try to get going on the AFR heads for the Condor, we are making actual progress on the storage area beside the driveway for the saw and other bulky tools. "Tiny" Ed Anctil has been digging out there all day, moving surprising amounts of dirt out for there to make room for footings, strip drain, etc.11/16/00 I have done some serious soul-searching, and I'm allowing myself to pursue a line of thought which, while repulsive, is as follows: I am completely unable to move forward, I'm WAY broke. I'm trying to find a way to get rid of the Condor, Gremlin, work truck, and SC and get one car, and just screw the rest of this crap. I see three scenarios for the Condor:
1-Finish as planned, about $6-$7K
2-Throw the original six back in, perhaps $2-$3K
3-Off it all for parts and raise maybe $2-$3K.

11/17/00
Time did not permit the gas company inquiry. I did make some progress, I sold the work truck today to Ed Anctil for $5500. No questions asked, Bingo! Gone. So now he owes me about $5K, and I can look forward to a lesser nut to crack for a while. I put ads for the Condor and Gremlin in Dragster by e-mail. It takes at least 16 days to get to publication. So it looks like the Dec 7 or 14 issue should have them in. I also put an ad for the blown Super Coupe engine complete. And, I threw a Gremlin ad in the Daily News today for a week. The Gremlin goes over to Nick’s tomorrow. So we’re making some progress. Fellow LeTip member and chiropractor Bob Patterson is now free to be a crew member. I talked with Richard, dad of BB (Brooke Baida), and they are going to Speed Zone tomorrow to get a taste of racing. He says she is very interested in getting to work on the FC. This is GOOD!! The direction on the Condor PROBABLY will be to sell the remains of the 420” motor to Eddie Moran for a little under a grand. Basically, a complete motor minus the heads. Roller rockers, pushrods, cam, block, rotating assembly, pan. Needs a new oil pump and distributor, and I have a carburetor, too!! And Ed has some heads. Perfect deal for him!! I can then turn the 89 Tbird into a smog legal car again, and off it as a driver to someone, or keep it as a spare (NO!!!!). Anyway, that’s the direction I’m going. This should be a WAY less complicated approach, WAY cheaper, and from this vantage point, more logical. I PRAY that going retro on the Bird will be fairly painless. At this point the script calls for a BIG sigh……..

11/18/00
A day later and I feel VERY good about the NEW plan. As Eddie Moran remains interested in the Windsor, I feel OK. Frankly, even without HIS interest, I’ll just set an ad in Dragster for the motor and move on. The question now is: Which SC do I keep? I’m inclined to stay with the Condor as it will have the sound system. But then again, the 90 has less miles, a VERY fresh motor, much better paint and body. I MIGHT switch out the trans to the majorly stout and fresh AutoRite AOD, with wide ratio gears. So perhaps I’ll take what I can of the sounds out of the Condor and transplant, and punt the 89 down field. The Gremlin is at Nick’s and I’m still hunting for parts. One thing I probably should do is replace the heater core in the Condor, just in case. Sitting for a long time may not have agreed with it, and with the motor out it is MUCH easier.11/19/00As the Condor takes shape into its retro self, a lot of stuff here can leave. I need to get a commitment from Eddie Moran on the 420” Windsor, and if he falters, I’ll just get an ad in Dragster and the Recycler and get moving on this area of cluttering value.11/30/00Per collecting $, I’m going to call the BAR tomorrow to check on the ole slimeball, Dave Smith, who boned me on the Condor motor, and against whom I have a $5600 judgement (and growing daily with 10% annual interest). There are other judgements for $7K, $50K, etc., but they have also remained uncollectable. And I HAVE tried with numerous agencies over the years. What we need now is Guido… Hey, IF I just had the money I earned, forget any plus stuff, I’d be in decent fiscal shape. Big word for only two letters.

12/4/00
As this is MAJOR money crunch time, my thoughts have again turned to the bozo, Dave Smith, who boned me out of $5K on my Condor. I reached Chapman at BAR and he said essentially it’s out of his hands (now with the DA’s office), that the DA has dropped the criminal charges, and is now pursuing Smith with a civil suit for $250,000!!!! What POSSIBLE benefit to anyone can come from suing a low life meth addict with essentially no money for a quarter of a million dollars? Do they intend to distribute it to his victims? A personal bankruptcy will wipe out any civil suit except for something specifically based and named as fraud (“intentional tort”), and the authorities don’t seem to be going there anymore. I was unable to reach the DA as their voice mail is non-op today. Oh, and they can’t seem to be able to find him to serve him for a new court date. Can you f----- believe this? Tax dollars, victims’ money, cars ruined, lives crapped on, and they can’t find the guy??? Do I sound angry? I didn’t think it showed…….

12/10/00
Randy is working an overtime day Monday 12/11/00, and hopefully will have some time off after to get some action on his Newbury house and the racecar. Got only one call (and from a local guy) on the Dragster Condor ad, but it came to zero at the end of the conversation. No other calls as yet, and nothing on the Gremlin. CRAP!!!12/18/00The Condor just sits, as I got only ONE response to the Dragster ads, and NO Gremlin calls. Not a one. So, I may just go back to stock on the Condor, which will allow me to sell it more easily in California. I may have a buyer for the remains of the 420” Windsor for about a grand, leaving me only with the dilemma of the now-overbuilt AutoRite AOD trans. Frank Mastro, who is doing some upholstery for me, may want to buy the V-6 Bird motor, which would give me some $1500 or so to put toward heads for the Condor, putting that back on the burner. Otherwise, Eddie Moran may take the Windsor parts for his truck, and Gary Carter can get busy on making the Condor a stock Bird again. Could this be called “retro”? Yes, there is a lot of maybe going on here right now.

12/19/00
Some maybe’s are gone. Frank is NOT taking the V-6.1/7/01Spoke with Rob Anderson re: the condor, and he recommends "cut and run." Nick at Hamrick's suggests going retro and selling it. I'm in the middle, still thinking. If I get a grand for the V-6 motor, a grand for the car (roller), and just let Gene at AutoRite sell off the Godzilla AOD trans for his costs, I'd make $2K. If I can sell the 420" Windsor parts for another grand, that's $3K, and no more work to be done. To restore the Condor to the original V-6 configuration will take $1500 for the trans, about $800 for the install, about $3K total with radiator and misc parts. The car MIGHT bring $5K, 6 tops. The math says cut and run. We'll see…..Meanwhile, I'll call Joe at Hurricane Towing and see what kind of deal we can work out for the return tow back to my front yard. Carter wants to view the roller before doing any work on it, so I might just as well bring it here.

1/11/01
LOTS of rain and hail, VERY cold day, all of which meant for no FC stuff. Did receive the spanking new grille for the Gremlin. Once I get the proper headlight rings, I'll run these remaining parts over to Nick and we'll paint the Gremlin parts and be done with that phase. I need to sell 3 cars off for $7K each: the two Tbirds and the Gremlin. The Condor is going retro, with the spanking fresh motor from the 90.Dirty Dave McDannel suggested I get several years ago: into a totally stock car. He used to describe his Chevy van thusly: "I think it has a motor under the hood. But I wouldn't swear to it…." That was how he wanted to relate to his car. Now that he is without his racecar, he still seems content to carry that view. I now understand, and am moving as possible to that. The Condor was towed back here today, and awaits Gary Carter's viewing to begin the retrofit.

1/13/01
Well, Mikey has bailed for tomorrow. Between soccer and the Raider's game, he's, well, unavailable. BB is still on, so we're hoping to make some progress. The word on the PT is it was bought for WAY too much money to make it attractive. I can spend over book anytime on my own. So sadly, I'll pass on it. I still am going to move the other cars out, though. The Condor is in the driveway waiting for a look-see by Carter, the stock motor is about ready, and I have some decision-making to do on a transmission, as I can't see throwing in the HUGELY strong AutoRite AOD behind a stock motor. I will be putting ads with the Super Coupe Club of America (SCCOA), and an on-line hot rod ad service, AND the Recycler Auto Buys. I got zippo from the Daily News and Dragster ads.1/21/01Still waiting on the Gremlin headlight rings and lens, but do have a NEW grille. Nick is just waiting for the final pieces to do the painting. The Condor still sits, and I'm now back in limbo, as Carter felt going back with the Windsor motor looked easier. ARGHHHH!!!
2/18/01
I also got the Condor crank over to Crankshaft Grinding, and Russ there turned me onto Rich at West Coast Cylinder Heads, who recommends the Canfields with some port work for the 420" Windsor/Condor. I also got a call from Mustangs Etc. regarding my rebuilt 3.8 Liter (232") Super Couple supercharged motor. If that goes, it would be a nice leg up on getting the Condor done. And, oh yes, despicable Dave Smith, the ultra-flake who boned me over 2 years ago on my Condor motor (for about $6K), has finally signed a stipulated judgment with the San Bernardino DA and is forwarding a check for $5632 to me, claimed to be cashable on March 15th. If it bounces, he is automatically guilty and will be levied an EXTREMELY hefty fine.

3/9/01
Collected a few pittance today. Normally, this would be reasonable $, but under the circumstances, it is chump change (I'm the chump). I did some work yesterday, and got paid today….I like that. I collected the full amount of a judgment from the mom of the defendant today, a welcome close to the unpleasant screwing I took on "being a nice guy." Naturally, the clone Tbird ate up some of that money to replace two mufflers (not by choice). Super nice guy Bob Huth gave me a sweet deal, and I do sincerely appreciate it. If you're in the LA area and need ANY muffler-related work, this is THE guy, hands down @ 818-345-4755. He's been there his whole life! Really. The Condor still sits, and looks more and more like a walkway project. I HATE that idea. The Gremlin is supposedly done, just waiting to be detailed by Chinto. I have web ads on both cars (but no photos yet), and I must attend to that. No calls on either as yet. Everyplace I go I get the same question: "So, you got the car running yet?" My answer: "I've been two weeks away for about 8 months…"Slimeball Dave Smith appears to be continuing his idiocy, and has not covered his payment to me on his screwing of me on the Condor. His check is due to be good Wednesday, and no funds as yet in his account to cover. There's more to it, but the DA is already filing a default on him and setting a court date to enter his stipulated judgment. He's a major jerk, and I'm just continuing to struggle with money, based on stuff just like this. The next three days should prove interesting, if not rewarding.

3/13/01
Our slimeball himself called me, and now promises to hand deliver my dough on Thursday. Any bets, ladies and gentlemen?

3/19/01
Slimeball did not make it, despite his assurances he would. Now he claims he'll be here today. Fat chance! We have no new work we can commence at this moment. I am waiting on a check to commence about $4400 of work, but nothing has arrived, so no start until money is in hand.

3/20/01

And, slimeball called again promising he'd be here tomorrow at 11 AM. We really should get a pool going on my web site!

3/21/01
Slimeball didn’t make it……oh, how shocking…..and no phone call.

3/24/01
Dave Smith is certainly monkeying with me. I would relish being able to go on him. I would most definitely like to kick his ass from here to China, but sadly I’ll have to settle for just working within the system to pursue him for payment. This is still a very long road ahead, after waiting since Dec 98!!!!. It reminds me of one of the first jobs I did. I spent 250 hours building a commercial 10-room suite, and 800 hours pursuing the woman for a year to get paid.

5/11/01
This morning sees a couple of interesting things:
I’m taking two slimeballs to court on an ORAP, an oral examination of judgment debtor. These two guys used to work for me, and owe me about a grand combined. The other is that I parked my Tbird in the garage for the first time in a LONG while.

5/16/01
Nothing forthcoming from idiot Dave Smith and his never-yet-paid Condor dues. So, we move along and take it today upon today.

5/21/01
Spoke some more with Vortech’s Rob Anderson, and I am more convinced than ever that a Vortech will be the way to go for serious power on the Condor (naw, haven’t given up on that yet). The nice part is Rob can engineer it to work (now isn’t that a refreshing concept?).

6/3/01
The Gremlin still has some starting problems, this time the battery showed no good, so I’ve got another 1000-amp monster in the back. It was from the Condor, and I’m not sure it’s still good. We’ll see. Well, it appears to be NG. I’ll check tomorrow at Valley Battery with Brad the Battery Man.

6/15/01
Speaking of Vortech, Rob Anderson made it to the party, and we took a Gremlin ride (he drove). He was seriously amused, and I’m sure his wheels were turning about what a T-trim Vortech would do for it. Rob has promised to get the Gremlin on the Vortech dyno for a look-see. I really am looking for the Condor to get a blower. Of course, getting an engine together for it would be good, too. But, one thing at a time here (since the $ permit only that, it’s not any smart or disciplined choice at all).

6/26/01
Huth went of vacation, and the headers are not done. I’ll ask once more, then go somewhere else. Saw Bob Jennings of Jennings Dyno (which I thought was closed). He is open, and working alone. I’m trying to find him at the shop by phone to run the Gremlin over for a look-see. Ditto with the dually, although I may just wait on that. Mikey and I did some destruction on the body over the weekend, by intent. We found 4 areas of cracking, and as much as I HATED to do it, I ground out the areas (after so much time smoothing them), and glassed the areas prior to going back over it with bondo. I fear the entire body may end up with cracks, but as long as I see them before the paint, I’ll fix ‘em now. Randy commented that my body is WAY better than his, and his is ready for the painter. As his is an ultra thin shell, there’s little he can do short of glassing the entire body inside and then going the bondo route, which he will not do. I’ve put an ad for the Condor with the Super Couple Club of America, as a bird in a basket. All the pieces, including both motors, as-is, for $2500.

8/18/01
After the harrowing trip to the Salt and back on scuzzy tires, I will switch the chrome wheels and used Michelins off the Condor tomorrow, and put the trip tires on the Condor as rollers. I'll save the new ones for a little later, perhaps on the Condor itself should things turn golden.

9/7/01
Somebody buy this thing!!! Then I can finish the FC and the Condor. Mikey's eye surgery went great, but no sanding for another week, can't risk any dust near his eyes. Went to Bob's Big Boy for the Friday night cruise, and the Gremlin got a lot of attention. LOTS….

11/24/01
Hooked both compressors up, and they do OK. Had a surprise visit from Randy, and we got some breakfast, then I spent the day running on bids. Got back in time to do a little garage stuff, grind on the brass frames, but no time for silver solder finding, nor working on the Gremlin (it rained CRAZY for most of the day). Now at 11:52 PM, the sky is crystalline, stars are shining, so Sunday looks to be good. Gene showed up about 5:15 PM, just to visit, and will return tomorrow with my Condor AOD trans, and to help with wiring, trans shifter cable, etc.

2/27/02
Speaking of time, money, and enormous outputs of energy, in a happy turn of events the bozo who screwed me out of a master cylinder assembly on my street Tbird last year lost his motion to vacate the judgment (he refused to replace it or refund the $450) after not even showing up for the original hearing. So I am waiting for $720 from the Sheriff ($500 on the judgment with costs and $220 per day for a Sheriff to stand in his business and collect the money, known as a "keeper"). I'd love to see the same result from the slime, Dave Smith, who boned me for $6000 on my Condor 3 years ago. He has apparently been collected for some $10K or so by the
Collection Dept of the San Bernardino DA's office (who knew nothing of it, of course). So I am supposedly going to see some of my judgment from them as well.

3/5/02
Some things are happening, and some are good. Sold the 90 Tbird to Derek the Webmaster today. So one car is bye bye. The bad news is that I started the dually when he left and it was steaming out the right pipe. So definitely a blown head gasket there. The question now is Chevy motor or Cummins diesel? Gale Banks thinks the Cummins is the ticket. A little more research needed here. I found what looked to be perfect: a 625 HP V-12 Cummins. The only problem is it is about 7' long and weighs 7500#, literally as much as the dually. The problem is I now have no driver, other than the Gremlin! I do have an 85 Mercedes 500 SEC available to buy from a buddy, which I can then turn in a month or two to another friend who is interested in that car. Just didn't want to be out another $5K while trying to build the
Condor back.

3/8/02
Signed the papers on the MB and gave Larry the money, and will pick it up probably Monday from the paint shop where is kindly having some items detailed for me. Happily, I am trading half the price of the MB for some air-conditioning work, so that works nicely. Ashok is interested in the car, so that whole scenario may work out OK. Worst case, I'll sell it to someone else when the Condor is done.

Also looking to get a crate motor for the Condor, and just get it done. A 430 HP 392 Windsor is available from Ford for about $6K, a little less than if I have Duttweiler do the whole job from scratch, and faster.

3/10/02
In an uncharacteristically good move, I went to Bakersfield, and literally walked right into a sweet car deal: a original condition 66 Chevelle convertible. A very long story short, I bought it, stayed overnight, and resold it for a profit today at the Show and Shine at Famoso. So, a little more dough for the dually motor and Condor. I am going to go with the 392" Ford crate motor, and will have the converter opened and reconfigured at Continental Converters to about a 2500 stall. This 430 HP crate motor makes over 400# of torque from 3000 RPM on up. Yikes! Love it. Notice that it has the nearly same power curve as the 454 H0 425 HP dually motor? Interesting, eh?

3/19/02
Gene is WAY busy running the shop by himself (cutting down overhead). I'll have to do it myself, or with local help. Really just a matter of no time right now, as we are really busy (thank you!!!). The two crate motors are not here yet, due anytime. Have had no luck reaching Chris at Continental Converters regarding upping the stall on the Condor converter. I will need Gene to properly bolt up the converter and trans for the Condor so there is no problem later.

3/21/02
I'm having arthro next Wed the 27th, and that really shouldn't affect my ability to drive the FC a couple of weeks later (Mexicali). Come the end of May, now that surgery will be altogether another story, taking about 2 months out of the driving schedule. Still no crate motors as yet. And no word on money supposedly gotten (by the SB County DA) from the Dave Smith idiot from 3 years ago on the Condor. It is utterly amazing how long it takes government agencies to do anything. I will say that the Sheriff did a commendable job of collecting on the brake booster buffoon from small claims court. Got that dough in a hurry. The pleasant exception. As I am going to get that car running, I have to go get another unit pronto. And, I've got to clean up the engine compartment as well. That's where the new handy-dandy pressure washer will come in…….handy.

4/3/02
Gene got the trans apart, and the high gear clutch pack was SOLIDLY welded together. He dropped the clutch disc pack from 6' to the floor and it just bounced as a single lump (it should have scattered as 6 discs). The internal gears are good stuff, and are OK. The backup 10" converter is still at CTC, and will be for two more weeks. We're using the 9" unit anyway. The planetaries and drum are good as well. Got a new input shaft, and ordered and paid for another one for the spare trans, along with a deep pan. The bands and reverse clutches also were good. Gene feels the input shaft broke because by the time I shifted into high gear the clutches had slipped to the point of welding themselves, and had NO give at all. Whatever, we're getting closer. Picked up the Condor AOD trans, and Gene will slap that unit on the new 430 HP Ford motor next week.

7/5/02
I gotta get Ed on the Condor and get that project done, so we don't become completely overwhelmed with non-running vehicles here.

8/12/02
We might just roll the dually out on the driveway or just over to the other side of the garage, pull the Condor in, and get that motor and trans in the car. That would at the very least get rid of one more bulky item of STUFF clogging up the work area.

2/2/03
Ed will start working on the Condor install tomorrow, to get yet another hunk of iron out of the garage. I got the renewal forms from Oregon for my way overdue license renewal and renewals on the dually and Condor, and have sent my license info back, so I'm looking to be all caught up there within a couple of weeks.

2/6/03
Not much progress on the FC, although Jerry Garrison is anxious (as am I) to come up and get to work on the tune up. I haven’t had a chance to roll it out yet, as we’ve been working on the Condor and Dually. The dually is working wonderfully. It is astounding this is a 17-year old vehicle. It rides and looks as new. The Condor has been severely beaten up by the weather, sitting outside for 4 years. It will need new paint. The interior needs some work, not drastic. There are some missing amplifiers, an equalizer (all of which I believe are here). We were majorly freaked out yesterday while looking for the accessories for the Ford motor: alternator, brackets, pulleys, headers, etc. Nowhere to be found. I went to Duttweiler’s and found ALL of the stuff there!!! Whew!!!! So Ed is sorting through the stuff right now, I’ll go out momentarily to assist, and we’re moving along there. I’ll have to re-drill the header flanges for the narrower bolt spacing (back and forth, crap!!), and hope we can get the motor in place. There appears to be a hood clearance problem from just looking at the intake manifold. It is higher than the old Offy I used earlier. I may just have to surrender to a racy hood.

2/16/03
A lot has happened in the last 10 days, and a lot has NOT happened. Zilch on the FC. Good news on the Condor: Milt Wade in Vancouver has agreed to purchase the old Windsor motor, along with the roller rockers, and valve covers and Stealth manifold. I am sending it up there this week as son as I locate a shipper and get it picked up.
We located the missing neutral safety switch for the ford AOD trans. I am ready to drop the motor in. We’ll just have to work out the header hassles once the engine is in place. I’m torn between getting a new set built and just again modifying the original set. I’ll do a little more investigation and find out if the existing set is really a performance killer. If so, they‘re gone.
Saul may show up today and help me light up the FC to see how our tune up has fared. We’ve made some progress in the garage, and getting more parts out really helps. With the Windsor motor gone and the 430 HP MotorSports engine in, we’ll be dramatically more clear in there.
I was thinking of testing the spare race motor (BBC) in the engine compartment just for the hell of it. On the Gremlin front the fellow who came looking did not return. I’m going to call him now, and if he’s not taking the car, I’ll remove the blower and get it ready to go in either the dually or the Condor

2/24/03
The 420 is outa here! I will receive my check in about 10 days. One more giant leap for the Garage Mahal. The Condor motor is now in place. We had to swap the old pan to the new motor. The earlier pan had been dramatically modified to clear the cross-member. The mounts finally did line up, although not easily. Mark and Ed feel the hood will now not clear the carb nor the front pulleys. That would be odd, since everything is the same height as before. I’ll be checking on that later, once we’re ready to set the hood back on.

2/24/03
I bought a Hi-Torque starter for the Condor, as the one on the motor did not seems able to crank it around. It may have been our power source, but why take a chance? So the motor and trans are in the car, the driveshaft is connected, and the fuel tank and exhaust have been taken out. The car has been sitting so long that it is unsafe to start it up with the very likely large amount of garbage in the bottom of the tank. We are cleaning out the tank to be sure.

2/25/03
Missed Endress today, looking to connect tomorrow.
Ed has made more progress on the Condor. We have the carb on (from the earlier iteration of the Gremlin, a vacuum secondary 750 cfm Holley, just dynoed by Jennings two weeks before we took it off to install the Vortech blower. The manifold is WAY higher than the previous one on the Condor, so there will be serious hood problems. Ed and I were peering into the engine compartment imagining where the heck a Vortech blower could go. I’ll need Anderson, Endress, and Armstrong at Vortech to look it over and come up with some ideas. Meanwhile, we’re just moving ahead to get it working as is. The trans bolts turned out not to be the 7/16 x 20 we had thought. They appear to be a metric 12 x 1.25. Ed is off to the bolt house to see what he can find.

2/27/03
Ed has gotten the new Northern aluminum radiator in the Condor mounted, including the 4-fan pack (from before). We had to lower the new radiator down by removing the locating pockets below, which had been made for the prior radiator. It looks good, is incredibly complex, and needs one new fan motor (I swear I’ve seen one around, but will, of course, have to order a new one from PermaCool). The wiring scenario for these fans is quite involved, and I am working on remembering just how it all goes together with three relays, etc. We hand-held the headers up in place with
3/8” spacers and they appear to work, so I’m gong to contact Jim at Rewarders Headers, get some gaskets for the new heads, and take the headers up there for him to cut new plates, thread them, and test fit the headers to them. Hey, we might just get this thing running soon!!

3/7/03
Got the dough from Milt up in Washington for the Windsor motor, so one more thing gone and paid. Got some calls last weekend on the Benz and Gremlin, none of whom actually showed up. Had another fellow with a Cougar about the Super Coupe supercharged V-6 motor, but nothing solid as yet. Also spoke with Todd at Vortech today about what it will take to “air up” the dually, Condor, and Randy’s BBC 65 Chevelle wagon. So we’re moving along there. Endress has not yet made it here with the Mercruiser injection parts and to view the dually engine layout, but will do so tomorrow, Saturday. The radiator for the Condor is ready, the exhaust flanges will be ready on Monday, and I’m still waiting on a warranty replacement for the bad fan motor from PermaCool. All in all, a fairly productive week. With luck, we’ll have the Condor running mid-week. Once it is operational, I will get a spare hood from Pick your Part, and do some experimenting.

3/8/03
Matt from San Diego appears not to be the buyer he purports to be. I’ll be thrilled to
be proven wrong (read on). No show again today. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Endress DID show up today with everything of my injection setup except the
distributor. I am going to go to his place tomorrow to look at some remodel work and
we’ll talk trade. He also has a later version of the Mercruiser injection with a slightly
smaller manifold and body, which MIGHT prove better. We’ll look at that in real time
tomorrow. Endress and I talked about what I might use of the Gremlin blower setup
on other cars, and it turns out to be not much. The blower itself is usable, although
the body needs some changing to get the outlet in the right spot, but most of the
bracketing, etc. will not transfer. This is good news for Randy, who can then buy my
polished stuff cheap for his wagon install. However, the carb box, blower, filter, and
maybe some of the tube might work for the Condor setup. I have considered going
to a throttle body injection setup, Edelbrock or Fel Pro, which would lower the whole
intake dramatically, possibly enough to fit under the hood. This adds about $3K to
the whole thing, although it would offer tremendous advantages in economy,
detonation control, reliability, etc. It’s really a matter of having the dough. If the
Gremlin and Benz can be sold, then I’ve got the dough (and the room!!).
So the next step is get the Condor just working as-is, (no hood or a modified unit for
now), and then see what can be done a little later. Ditto for the dually injection: get
the injection on and de-bugged BEFORE dropping the blower in there.
I also have to do a little switching on the Gremlin to remove the blower: the
carburetor is set up too rich for normally aspirated driving. I’ll try the 600 Holley I have
here from the earlier Condor days, and see how that works. I also have to remove
two of the three bottom pulleys and put in short bolts.
I won’t have really any time tomorrow to get to any of that, as I have a full schedule.

3/10/03
We also talked about what it would take to huff the Condor, and it appears very
doable. As noted earlier, if I were to go to an Edelbrock throttle body injection, I
might get the hood clearance back. So with the departing of the little orange ground pounder, I’ll have some dough to get
right on the Condor body work and paint, and have one more parking space. This is
entirely a good thing.
The header adapter plates are ready at Rewarder Headers in Camarillo. That will
help mightily, as we can’t start the Condor without those exhaust pipes connected.
Of course, setting the gas tank back in is important, too. Still waiting on the fan
motor from PermaCool. Doing some updating to the site (as you will notice by the time you’re reading this).
Added some of my mom’s incredible art work, thinned out the pictures, and will be
adding a few of the Condor.

3/18/03
Today is a gloriously beautiful day, windy, clear beyond recollection, mild temps. Too
windy for a FC ride, but encouraging. In Condor exhaust news, I’m having Randy run
the headers back to Rewarder to have the upper portion of the flanges welded in to
provide more meat for the gaskets, and a smoother transition from the exhaust port.

3/27/03
CONDOR
On the Condor front, progress has been made. The gas tank is back in. The radiator
is now final mounted. I pieced together a radiator hose with some tubing to make the
odd swing to the thermostat housing. The fan motor (one of four) was warranty
replaced by PermaCool (thanks!!). I put the fan pack wiring in Colflex to clean it up
dramatically, adjusted the mounting, and spent some time pondering the 3 or 4
relays which control the fans and the abundant wiring associated with that system. I
think I’ve pretty much got it, and will make the rewire connections sometime
tomorrow. I need to run another battery positive line back to the trunk for the rear
battery (dedicated for the fans and using an isolator to charge it). Jim at Rewarder
headers did NOT fill in the headers as asked, but instead gave me a larger gasket
which he says will do the trick. Randy brought them back for me today (thank you!!!!),
and hung out for a while as I mounted the fan motor and fan pack to the radiator.
Mark spent part of today grinding down the adapter flanges to clear the spark plugs,
and will do the same for several hours tomorrow, and on the headers themselves as
well. These GT-40 heads have a different plug angle, and it plays havoc with the
headers. The plates and headers are a REAL bear to install. We need a dipstick for
the trans, and some odds and ends for the engine compartment. But we are REAL
close to lighting it up.

3/31/03

CONDOR
Mark got the headers installed, and predictably the Y-pipe is nowhere close to fitting
now that we altered the position of the collectors with the spacers. The right side
header is RIGHT against the shock tower sheet metal, not a good thing. I’ll pull the
wheel off and see if there is anything I can do to make a little room there. Given that
it is behind the strut (shock and spring), it is doubtful, at least without pulling the
motor. I’m waiting on one spare amplifier for the Condor hifi (I bought two so far, and
use three, one of which is in place and working).

4/14/03
Rain has dampened the outside possibilities. Work takes care of the rest. As I
continue to be operating a Pro Bono Construction enterprise, I have little left to use
for racing. The Condor is in need of some exhaust work, and needs to be towed to
Huth for that. I have not gotten the ABS loom. I will, at some point, switch the carb
from the Gremlin, when I remove the blower, and put it on the Condor. The Gremlin
runs great, best ever actually. I still need to get it down to AAA to register it in
California. Have all the docs needed now. Rob Anderson has assured me he will
come down soon (supposedly last week-NOT) to pick up the woofer box from the
Condor and mount the new amps and do some rewiring.

4/19/03
Got a very nice note from a reader of the web site, entreating me for more! Thanks,
Bill! Also got a MUCH needed bond refund check (after only 4 years) which will allow
SOME trailer work, MORE Condor work, and some general house completion
(mouldings and stone veneer).

4/19/03
Rob Anderson will take receipt of my Condor woofer box/electronics mounting
board today to wire in the 2 new amps I got on ebay. I actually got three, just in case
one fails later. He has done such military spec work on it, and I want him to do the
rewire to maintain his quality.

4/29/03
Rob has the goodies, and is working on them. The Condor has the exhaust hooked
up, and I have dialed the fans in, almost to perfection. I rewired the loom from one
side to the other, hid it up under the top of the core support, and turned the rat’s nest
of wiring on the right side pocket into a thing of sweetness. Randy was here
yesterday and provided the motivation and impetus to get us moving on locating the
apparently eventual hood cutout. After painstakingly measuring this way and that for
about an hour, I then inadvertently closed the hood, and doinked the rod for the air
cleaner, dimpling the hood precisley where we had done so much work to mark it. A
double check on our quality measurements, if you will. And the long-awaited bond refund money got swallowed up by the business in less
than a week. So there went the new truck plans, finishing the front of the house, and
the Condor paint money. I WILL, however, keep the Mercedes sale funds separate
for the Condor paint, and if anything is left, for some house stuff. You heard it here, I
intend to report I kept my promise to myself. And, should the Gremlin go bye-bye,
then some more funds will be there to complete the above.

5/12/03
The Condor is inches from running.

5/20/03
On the Condor, I have mocked up a beauty kit panel system using white poster
board to cover essentially the whole engine compartment, except the engine itself, in
aluminum or stainless. I may cut up some aluminum as a test run, just to get a feel for
what is required on a finish run of material (stainless or aluminum). I certainly do
NOT feel qualified at this point to fabricate something that looks extraordinary and of
the caliber I want. But who knows? Maybe I can surprise myself. Saw an interesting
segment of Monster Garage last night where the boys had the very same trouble
with their Ford ignition system, with the distributor wires cut. I may call Jesse James
and find out who had the answer to our distributor mystery there.

5/30/03
Once the Condor is complete, I might start attending a few shows again, but not like
this. I have some serious crating and packaging of the large hifi stuff to do for its trip
to New Zealand!! And this tempts me to pass on Sunday’s show. Tune in.

6/18/03
Also buffed out the Gremlin
hood and put a coat of Blitz wax on it-awesome. So I then took a shot at the
burned-up paint on the trunk of the Condor, and it, too, came back nicely. There are
some areas that are irretrievable, but it looks immensely better. So another few days
of aerobic polishing and the stable will look brighter.

6/19/03
The headers are ready, and have been secured. BEAUTIFUL. Really! I picked them
up from Jim McComb’s daughter, Brooke, at her home. This girl is THE perfect wife:
into boating with her husband, two young kids, a TOTAL gearhead, WELDS (tig and
mig), and loves cars! Her husband is a very lucky man. Oh, did I mention she’s drop
dead gorgeous? I look forward to having her do some welding on the car in the near
future. She is very anxious to help! I also look forward to having some other parts
coated by Rewarder.

6/23/03
Speaking of suck, my Saturday sucked big time. The Gremlin got impounded!! I
took it early up to a client to sign a contract and get a check. I pulled up next to a
CHP and was careful to make my turn up onto the freeway very slowly. He pulled me
over at the next exit! Now I KNEW I had done NOTHING wrong. He asks for license
and registration, and I can’t find my license. I THOUGHT I had it in my new, just
purchased, Pomona swap meet wallet, but, no. So I give him the number, it checks
out. But of course I have no registration, and the Oregon plate (off the Condor) does
not check out. So he tows it. After all is done, I find my wallet under the seat as I’m
clearing my belongings out of the car, and he scratches out the no license part. I ask
him why he pulled me over. He said your tire chirped: speed exhibition. The first
thing I told him when he walked up was that it had a locked rear end, and that settled
that. The rest was just poor timing, I had tried to register it Friday, but could not find
the paperwork which I had so carefully prepared. AAA was closed Saturday. So I
was poised to take it down Monday morning to complete the registration. It all went
well, actually. I went to AAA this morning, paid the fees, got the paperwork, went to
CHP and cleared the car, went to the tow yard and paid a MERE $182.50 for three
days in the impound slammer, and drove over to AAA and completed the
registration. It is now a legal, registered, titled California smog-exempt car. Done.
Just about $400 extra cost by the time I pay the “infraction” ticket on the plates. Oh,
and they confiscated the Condor plates as evidence. I will get them back, eventually.
All I need to do for driving the Condor is the carry the ticket with me showing the
plates are in police custody. It could have been way worse, so I have only myself to
blame for the snafu.

6/28/03
Gonna attempt to move the Condor closer to running,
and try connecting the distributor wires and perhaps crank it over. I MAY pull the
trans pan and set a trans temp sensor in there. So close, so far.

7/12/03
The Condor is
presenting some problems. The starter just does not function in the car. Works fine
on the bench, but just clicks on the motor. Real frustrating. Talked with Chris at IMI Hi
Torque, and he could only suggest bringing it down, but it most certainly will do the
same for him. There must be some interference or something into the flywheel.
YUK!!! Chris sent me a setup sheet to check engagements, etc.

7/20/03
I have lounged
away half the day (I guess I need the break), so now it’s back to polishing the TR-6,
doing a little Condor wiring, cleaning the garage, and ATTEMPTING to toss some
stuff.

7/27/03
Got some things done, with essentially positive results on balance. The Schauer
charger is fixed, but could not be converted. I came home and checked and indeed
the charging plug on the car was reversed from the contracts in the charging plug. I
think Fred may have reversed them to make them correct. He noted they were
incorrect, and showed me that. So I reversed them back to match the car wiring, and
marked the housing. I plugged it in and it charged just like it was supposed to do. I
also added a rubber grommet to the wiring, as the case and wires were bare to
each other, not a good thing. So I have a wonderfully fixed 24-volt charger which I do
not need anyone, unless I choose to charge a couple of batteries at a time, which I
did (on the Condor).

8/8/03
Anyway, the Condor sits idly as the Mercedes continues to burn
all the money earmarked for the Tbird finish, all $10K of it.

We are having a little problem still with the Condor.
Sergei pulled out the starter, I put in the shim, and it does now engage and attempt
to turn the motor, but the motor feels nearly frozen, just as with the other starter.
There may be a serious problem here. The battery is toped off. Another strangeness
is the wires to the distributor from the ignition module got smoking hot. VERY
strange. It may be I had them connected to the wrong terminals on the distributor, but
why would they get hot? I am going to give a call up to the dealer from whom I bought
the motor. Mike Kelly at Serramonte Ford says pull the plugs, hand crank it off the
crank. If it's tight, squirt some oil into the cylinders on the chance a ring might be
stuck. If bad, Ford will dismantle engine and replace it if it’s their fault. If not bad,
Ford will charge $500. He reports Ford has stood behind other motors with
problems. I SURE hope it doesn’t come to this.
Sergei found he can turn the motor right off the alternator pulley, so a seriously tight
or jammed rotating assembly doesn’t seem to be the issue. This brings a
GUARDED sigh of relief for the moment. We added another shim to the starter, but
haven’t tried it yet. The battery shows full charge, and only drops a volt under
cranking draw. So all that seems right. We still have the VERY odd heating of the
ignition wires to the distributor. I must be running a hot wire to ground there.
Did some more tool box trays today. VERY rewarding. It is astonishing to open the
drawers and see everything EXACTLY in its place. That’s because I made a place
for EVERY thing. That’s how the system works! I will be posting some pix of these in
the next few days. After 7 years of rubbing on this operation, I’m beginning to think I
really just want to rub, and not run. Well, I REALLY do want to run, but I’m happy I can
take pride and satisfaction from these mundane tasks (OK, they’re quite noble,
really). It candidly has required incredible fortitude and staying power to hang in and
keep working this thing. If I could just get rid of three cars, I’d be cleared out and
funded enough to polish the Condor and FC operation pretty much off and get out on
the track. That, and the temp dropping about 25 degrees!! I know at least one
person out there is enjoying this protracted struggle. Thanks for your interest!!

8/21/03
The Condor starter finally sounded like it was working, but not because of the shims.
I added a direct ground from the engine to the battery. I think the ignition wire to the
distributor was trying to be the main engine ground and that’s why there was no
current to the starter, and why that little wire fried. I will give it a try tomorrow once I
take care of several business appointments tonight.

8/22/03
The Mercedes curse continues: If you have paid attention, you might recall that
notwithstanding my buddy replacing the radiator and fan assembly prior to me
buying the car a little over a year ago, I had to replace BOTH of them as well. Works,
fine. Last night I hit a speed bump and I hear a “clank” sound, a piece of metal falls
off the car, and I immediately smell coolant. I get out, and retrieve a portion of the
metal fan blade, which has broken off, and gouged a hole in the brand new radiator.
So Saul and I limp home, costing wherever possible, at 10:30 PM. I ran the car
around the corner this morning to Sam at Allstate Radiator, and got to use my little
electric mini-bike to come home. Sam should have it done by noon, for a mere
$345. What a ludicrous situation that a $100K luxury car can’t handle speed bump.
I’m trying to figure out just how that blade got to hitting anything, and the best I can
figure is that the wider stance front wheels hit the fender, moved the entire core
support, and somehow something moved enough. There is a very small gap
between the lower-mounted AC compressor and the fan blades, actually the blades
are notched for it. But the engine and fan move as a unit, so what the heck
happened here? Dunno.
Just more money stolen from the Condor project. Yuk!

8/23/03
If I can rid myself of some cars, I can have a GOOD daily driver whilst finishing the
Condor (hmm, sound familiar?). I just GOTTA get out of the Benz. I honestly don’t
want two Birds, but at the rate this is going, I’ll need one while I work again on the
dually nd finish the Condor. Hopefully (is that my unfavoritist but most-used word?), I
can escape serious fiscal damage on this one.

8/25/03
Here’s the dream scenario right now: the TR sells quickly, along with a Mustang 302
engine and AOD trans (not installed) to sweeten the deal, all for $3K. The Benz goes
bye-bye from the Dupont Registry ad for $11,500. The dually motor and trans get
picked up by one of my cruise night buddies for $3600, Buick Bill takes the Tahoe
motor off my hands, the GN arrives and is sold in a week for $12000, I get the clone
car, the Condor gets done, and the Duramax gets installed in fairly easy fashion. Oh,
and I sell the Mercruiser injection for $1100. Let’s not forget about the boat headers
for $200 on ebay, either. See? Lotsa stuff to clear out.
With all that done (your SERIOUS prayers and help will be appreciated, including
10% cash bonuses for selling any of the above), I will poised to start enjoying the
race car, driving the Condor, and quelling the hemorrhage of money into the
“projects.” Now THERE is a concept.
Mil Spec wiz Rob Anderson has sent me plans for his garage cabinets using my
trademarked “drawerganizer” systems. I am trading him labor as thanks for his
helping me on the Condor stereo amp repairs.

9/30/03
Peter Chinn called this morning and sent me some FAXes on parts drawings. I will
be getting a manual for the engine soon, and meanwhile I will have him start ordering
parts we clearly need: rear mount, intake manifold neck, turbo waste gate controller
vacuum diaphragm, and idler pulley, and like that. I need to get some brackets
welded, and learn a LOT more about how this motor communicates. Rob Anderson
has not responded, but I hope he does soon. Roy has been beyond wonderful: he
just can’t wait to keep gong on this. I need to turn him to the Condor while we wait for
parts on the Duramax. Roy is coming over Sunday to look over the condor and perhaps get us close to
starting it. Perhaps Ruben, the Dodge boy, will take a look at the Condor
ignition as well.

10/5/03
Half the items on ebay did not sell. So tomorrow it’s Recycler time. Did sell the boat
headers, FC headers, flex plates, the pallet jack, and Randy’s old Roberts tape
recorder. The BBC intake and smog stuff, two phancient phone answering
machines, and other items did not sell. Roy Ransom came today and we got a LOT
done on the Condor. We took a HUGE amount of wiring out of the fan system,
mounted the two useful relays, trashed a lot of unnecessary stuff , and corrected the
manual grounding fan switch, Turned out it had been grounded to a firewall stud
holding the power brake system, which ET3 had removed, and left hanging up inside
the dash. So that now works, and well, as does the grounding wire off the manifold
sensor switch. So we have achieved fans working, a big step. And, we have traced
the wiring for the distributor and feel we have it right. Roy will bring some wiring
diagrams for it to be doubly sure on his next visit. We need to verify the firing order,
get the front spark plug back in the motor, fill it with fluids, and give it a go. I do have
to get some proper battery cable connectors for the rear battery, which is wired in
and otherwise works fine. So REAL close. I am SO interested to see how the Bird
compares to the GN. I hope favorably after all this.

10/27/03
Roy came by yesterday and we actually got the Condor motor to run a bit!! I mean a
bit in that the fuel pump is apparently not working, so any sustained running was not
possible, nor was it possible to determine if everything is OK with the ignition, carb,
etc. It should just start at the bump of the key, but without a fuel supply, a proper
automatic choke, and given that for some reason the key/ignition switch does not
actuate the starter, we have a problem or two to solve. The starter drive hangs in the
flywheel, so I believe I need to remove a shim or two. The fuel pump and key don’t
come on, although the rest of the car apparently functions: lights, turn indicators,
windows, alarm, door locks, etc. We MIGHT have to drop the tank down, OR cut a
hole in the floor and see if the sensor/pump is plugged in. It may be the key/starter
thing is a neutral safety switch issue. The fuel pump is another matter. As soon as the Condor can fly, we’ll turn our attentions
back to the diesel.

11/8/03
Nothing has transpired on the dually or Condor. I will have Dick Dreher come over
Monday (MAJOR Ford expert), and see if he can solve the mis-timing thing (if in fact
that is what’s wrong).

11/10/03
Dick Dreher came over this morning and solved the problem in under two minutes.
Well, it was the wrong firing order, notwithstanding Roy Ransom’s book, and the
Ford website to the contrary! Started right up, but the starter is still hanging. So I
switched to the old starter, and it, too, hangs a bit. I’ll tighten it up later and try again.

11/13/03

CONDOR

Once Dreher corrected the firing order, the next problem was that the starter kept
pulling into the flywheel. Very strange, the faster I revved the motor, the more it
ground. The design of these starters is that it should throw it out, not pull it in. I tried
the old starter, which ET3 thought was bad (it was not). It, too, ground on the
flywheel. I called Hi Torque and Jack was stumped, notwithstanding a very kind and
patient talk for a long time about the possibilities, checking clearances, etc. Roy
Ransom and I were pondering whether the solenoid was defective, causing it to
keep pushing on the solenoid. As we undid and redid the wiring to the solenoid, I
noticed that the 210-amp alternator wires, which feed the entire positive side of the
car's supply, were on the STARTER side of the solenoid!!! That immediately
explained what was happening: the alternator is working (and obviously well), and
was driving voltage into the solenoid making it engage, the faster it ran, the greater
the push. DUH!!!!!!!! I don't know who did the miswiring, perhaps Randy or I or
someone way back, but that was a HUGE win. Starts just fine. Now it appears to be
running on seven cylinders. This MAY be an ignition wire problem, or perhaps some
junk in the fuel lines has goofed the carburetor somehow. Randy is bringing over
anew carburetor tomorrow just to test if the Jennings-dynoed carb on it may be
plugged with line dirt or something. Once we do that, then we'll probably find it is an
ignition problem, and move onto that with new plug wires, even though these are
essentially new. I really just need two ends replaced on the distributor cap end to
make them correct. Randy may also have some wires at home with the proper ends.
He has thrown dumpsters full of new and near-new parts away in the last year. We
might also have a spark plug with the electrode smashed down, shorting it out.
Meanwhile, the Condor has run down the street!! In my typical luck, there were two
cops in cars looking for someone in the neighborhood. Fortunately, they had no
interest in me, notwithstanding I had tail lights out, one headlight not working, an
exhaust leak, and (unbeknownst to them), the rear license missing (from the Gremlin
impound, remember?), and essentially no brakes. The power booster is not
functioning, and that means really almost no brakes. There is an accumulator pump
which pressurizes an approximately grapefruit-sized ball to about 2000 psi, and that
is the power to assist the braking. That pump is not working. ET3 had replaced the
master cylinder and power assist unit a long time ago, had not bled the brakes, and I
don't think had checked the pump function. But it needs a lot of stuff done yet. The
hifi EQ in the headliner remains energized, even with the key off, so something is not
quite right, and that may be what is draining down the battery. There are bulbs
missing from the headlights, the tail lights are not working, no flasher, and the hifi unit
in the truck with speakers and amps and crossovers needs to be reinstalled. On the
good side the 4-fan arrangement is working wonderfully, the car starts instantly, and
it appears to be quite powerful, notwithstanding the ratty tune up at the moment. The
advance is 9 initial and 31 total, so that should be reasonable for now. We may
bump it up a hair if the low octane (91) can allow it. For now we're looking at the
more major stuff. The headers do clunk against the right frame rail, so something will
need to be done there, and we have some exhaust leaks. As noted for the past 5
years in these updates, once the Bird is handled, that will be the car for everyday.

11/17/03
CONDOR

The Condor is no further, however the new carb from Summit/Barry Grant arrived
tonight. I will endeavor to install it later tomorrow after some MAJOR hectic
goings-on. It appears time for Rob Anderson to come down and sort out some
electrical Gremlins.

11/25/03
CONDOR

The new Condor carb is still in the box, awaiting an hour of free time to install. I am
going to take it to Jeff Price and let him address all the wiring/electrical anomalies,
bake booster malfunction, etc. I just GOTTA get some movement on this thing. It's
five years minus a month since it was running. YUK! Sounds like the funnycar.

11/26/03
CONDOR

Randy and I installed the new Demon carb on the Bird, but the fuel line is on the left
side, so I went to Jim Orme today and for a mere $20 got 4 hose clamps, 2 short
sections of hose, and two fittings (utterly incredible costs there, but hey, he's always
got what we need). I'll be putting the fuel line on in a few minutes and giving it another
shot. I will take the Bird to Jeff Price Friday morning and let him wade into the
electrical malfunctions.

11/30/03

CONDOR

I did take the Bird over to Jeff. I had the weirdest sensation within a block of driving: I
LOVE this car! I mean it is so weird. Every time I see one I gawk, even though I own
one. I love the feeling of the car, the seat, the steering wheel, how it rides. The go
power is prodigious, but not overwhelming as yet. It is not tuned to its fullest, and I
babied it over there. Jeff will be correcting a lot of electrical goofiness, and hopefully
the brake booster along with those corrections.

12/23/03
CONDOR

No word on the Tbird.

1/5/04
CONDOR

The Tbird is actually running now, albeit with two fluid leaks. The motor was
delivered with some oil in the crate, from what I thought was just a tip/sill. It now
appears the front seal is bad. The trans is leaking from some unknown and
unseeable place, probably the speedo sensor area just above the trans mount,
according to its builder, Gene Christensen(courtesy of his call from Texas ). The
brand new Speed Demon carburetor front float got misadjusted by Price, was
corrected here, new $100 MSD 8.5 mm wires installed, the timing bumped up, and
the vacuum advance hose put to the right place. The car moves quite strongly now,
although it just feels lazy at the bottom. It is more important now to cure the two oil
leaks. It also needs a PCV valve to eliminate any breather blow-by fumes
underhood. Once the fluid leaks are cured, it will be safe to drive up to Rob
Anderson's to get the hifi back in. Then it's over to Miranda for an upholstery renew,
then to Nick's. I should go to Nick's first, as it is usually wise to upholster after the
paint.

2/1/04
No, we did not lose info for the last month, just nothing got put in since 1/5/04. Here’s what’s happening in the 4 areas of the operation:

CONDOR
Cured the fuel situation. Apparently Jeff Price readjusted the Demon front float down to zero, essentially causing the car to run out of gas. It took several tries, as the adjuster nut was OFF the end, so nothing was being accomplished. Roy and I took the front bowl off the carburetor (I HATE messing with a new, factory-adjusted unit), and after a couple of tries, and figuring out how to put the pieces back in, got it right. So that is solved. The trans oil leak turns out to be a MISSING speedo gear/sensor. There’s a nice 1-1/2” hole in the side of the tailshaft of the trans where it is supposed to be, a perfect path for fluid to go bye-bye, which it is doing. So I am waiting for a shipment from Serramonte Ford’s Mike Kelly (from whom I bought the crate motor), along with some other pieces for the car. The oil leak at the front of the motor APPEARS to be coming not from the front seal, but rather the right front corner of the pan. I tightened those bolts a bit, and we’ll see how that works soon, after I install the speedo sensor. The car is a fire hazard with the trans fluid leak, as it goes directly on the exhaust below. Otherwise, the car runs fine, stays cool, although it has not been very hot here. The right side he4aders are hitting the frame, so creating some vibration. I’ll get it over to Huth or Sepulveda Muffler to heat them up and hopefully just push them a 1/4” out of the way. One accomplished, I will run it up to Rob Anderson for the hifi reinstall, an electrical drain solution. From there, it will go to Nick’s for the body work, one day for the paint, some color sanding and buffing, and then to Miranda for the upholstery rehab.

2/9/04
THE CONDOR
Been driving it daily, and aside from the headers hitting the right shock tower, it is quite nice. I fixed that today at Bob Huth’s Muffler Shop, and now it is the sweet, quiet, smooth thing I remember, although with much more torque than in previous iterations. Great ride, handles wonderfully, sits just right (around my body). So in about 8 days it goes to Rob Anderson (it was supposed to be tomorrow, but he’s swamped now with Vortech projects) and on with the previously mentioned scenario. Love that car.
So I’m going to get Nick to pry open a spot in his “never-have-time-do-I-have-to…..” schedule to take advantage of the delay.
I promised him a ride in the Regal again.

2/17/04
CONDOR
Left it a week ago at Nick’s Body Shop, and nothing has been done. This is not a major tragedy, although an annoying repeat of past history. It rained a lot, Nick’s been short-handed, and it did relieve me of a parking problem. And, I couldn’t have driven it much in the rain. But I’m moving on getting stuff done, and this must get moving, too.
3/7/04
Derek has been updating the site. If you are perusing it, you’ll notice LOTS more car categories, many vehicles being bought and sold (I REALLY need the cash flow!), and the addition of info on the monstrous Buick Regal Limited.

CONDOR
I am adding an “SC SAGA” file to the MY CARS section to put the previous 10 years of heartbreak of the V8 swap into the Super Coupe (aka CONDOR) in perspective. Nick was here today to help me change out a door lock switch in the GN, and confirmed with me that I want to do the CONDOR up right. He is dismantling the car, ordering new rubber and rear lenses, etc. It will obviously be expensive, and will look it when completed. The sale of either the Mercedes or Grand National will finance the whole thing with Nick (expected cost = $5000), and then some. I am hunting for hood scoops, or a complete ram air Harwood hood. I should have a decision and order within two days. I’m going to discuss with Nick getting a spare hood and having it painted in case I eventually go to a lower rise setup. Decisions, decisions.

3/14/04
CONDOR
Went and saw the “restoration” in progress. Yeah, Nick’s got the car WAY apart. If you look on the site at the CONDOR PIX, you’ll see what I mean. He has filled in the antenna, rear trunk lock, and Ford badge holes, and removed the (stick-on) side mouldings (door guards). The car will appear slightly lower in front (due to the V8 engine weight) than a normal Super Coupe, and will be smoothed. We will be replacing rubbers, etc., along with the rear lenses. The windshield will be replaced as noted before. So the antenna will be mounted inside the car over the windshield (Nick did this on his Grand National), with the antenna lead coming down inside the “A” post. Spoke with Rob Anderson, who is anxious to set the hifi back in it, which of course he can not do at this time due to the work going on at Nick’s. I intend on going over to Dick Dreher’s after paint to have the engine dress-up panels done as outlined quite a while ago. Per Randy’s concerns, I will be liberally masking, padding, plasticing, etc., on the fenders to prevent damage during that work. It would have been better to have done this fabrication before, but obviously that didn’t happen. After watching Boyd Coddington’s show about his zillion dollar rod projects, I don’t feel at all bad.
I did do some hifi work on the house, building a prototype shelving system for the big speaker cabinet. I’ve refined the design, and will commission Mark or someone to do it for me, as I just don’t have the time to devote to it, particularly with Mark using the garage for his own cabinet project.

3/16/04
CONDOR
Finally connected with the hood guy, and I am heading to the bank to get an international money order (to Canada). This thing is costing over $700!!! It is a nice hood, and I’m praying it does what we’re hoping it will do.
Otherwise, it goes on Ebay in a hurry or gets modified at Nick’s. Stopped by Nick’s en route to getting the Regal and he has done more work on the right side of the car. The hood will take at least a week to get here, and he will be ready for it, I’m sure.

3/20/04
CONDOR
Nick says he is back working on the Condor “all weekend”. We won’t see the new hood for at least a week, so it should time nicely.

3/29/04

CONDOR
I have posted the “SAGA”, and it is a brutal account of years of struggle with the car. Do enjoy watching ME squirm, knowing you don’t have to do so. I have posted some more pix of the smoothing process. Nick will essentially float every panel in its entirety to get the car really nice. That’s just how it is done. Layer after layer on, sand it off, guide coat it (that’s the squiggly black stuff you see in the pix). It’s black lacquer fogged onto the bondo coat to show high and low areas when blocked.