Tires and Rims on the Mustang
- Thread starter Mr. Ugly
- Start date
Mr. Ugly
Past President
Thx Eileen.
Phong, I got it in April. It's a used 07 V6.
The Jeep had been having problems. Rusted out freeze plugs, bad bearings on the idler pulley, bad bearings on the electric fan, etc. Been fixing that stuff as they went bad, but the wife got tired of seeing me drive the car until it completely fell apart. Wasn't that big a deal to me.
She suggested I go with one of my firiends to look at cars. He was in the market for something to replace his old Accord. We were sort of joking around about Mustangs. He and I used to drive hot rodded early Capri's when we were in college. Capri was what Ford of Europe designed for the pony car market overseas. It was like the little brother to the Mustang.
The 2.6L V6 Capri was my first car, and I learned all about cars and hotrodding and suspension mods on it. I also decided that some day I was going to pick up a 60's fastback Mustang for a project car and do full Maier Racing thing with it.
Anyway, after getting married and having a family, the Capri was too impractical. I had custom built adjustable coil over front suspension running stock car racing springs at double the factory spring rate. I made delrin and aluminum bushings to replace all the rubber in the suspension. Monoleaf springs in back. Lowered 2" on springs and another 1" on the tires. The interior was all stripped out and I had a single fiberglass racing bucket seat with 5 point harness. Handmade aluminum hood. I buiilt a custom 4" diameter Y pipe exhaust with a Supertrapp muffler on the end. More like super loud. Took the engine down to the shortblock and did a bunch of top end work. Double valve springs, swirl polished valves, bronze guides, cam, tubular pushrods, shaved the heads, cc'd, ported, intake manifold with a 390cfm Holley 4 barrel etc.
The wife refused to ride in the car. It was too scary for her. She only ever rode in it one time. And only because she was so sick that I had to take her to the ER, haha.
Anyway, I had to get rid of the Capri finally. It was super traumatic for me. Every nght for 6 years afterwards, I would dream that I was driving my old car. Like I said, I learned everything about cars on that one, and I took it all the way from stock to super crazy. I even owe my first career job to that car. I only got hired because the boss decided to take a chance on me after he found out I was mechanical enough to work on cars.
After giving up the Capri, I drove "normal" cars that I refused to mod. There was no point to it because none of them could ever be as extreme and as fun to drive. I had to force myself to think of cars as just another appliance like a toaster or something. A toaster is just something you use. Not something that's supposed to be fun.
So anyway, I said I didn't want another car. I'll just drive the Jeep until it completely falls apart. Well... unless I got a Mustang, haha.
Went to test drive some used Mustangs. My friend and I were surprised that they really reminded us of our old cars. They were like modernized more civilized versions of our hotrods. Same rack and pinion steering, same MacPherson struts, same live axle, even the V6 was descended from the old European V6 and even built in Cologne like our old ones. Plus the engine ran fuel injection and all the other cool stuff that originally was available only on the factory racing Capris.
So it was like my old car was back, and the price was super cheap, so I went for it and had enough money left for suspension and drivetrain mods. I learned my lesson though, and didn't go super extreme on the mods. The race type setup on my old car was just too much wear and tear on the chassis. By the time I gave up the Capri, the body panels were getting stress cracks and fractures from all the vibration.
Yah, and the latest on the Jeep.... I was driving it to work last week due to waiting on the tires for the Mustang, and it blew a head gasket. I'll fix it and probably sell it for like $1000. Nothing else left to break on it now. So if anybody wants a beater car with almost new tires...
Great for hauling big boxes of frags
Phong, I got it in April. It's a used 07 V6.
The Jeep had been having problems. Rusted out freeze plugs, bad bearings on the idler pulley, bad bearings on the electric fan, etc. Been fixing that stuff as they went bad, but the wife got tired of seeing me drive the car until it completely fell apart. Wasn't that big a deal to me.
She suggested I go with one of my firiends to look at cars. He was in the market for something to replace his old Accord. We were sort of joking around about Mustangs. He and I used to drive hot rodded early Capri's when we were in college. Capri was what Ford of Europe designed for the pony car market overseas. It was like the little brother to the Mustang.
The 2.6L V6 Capri was my first car, and I learned all about cars and hotrodding and suspension mods on it. I also decided that some day I was going to pick up a 60's fastback Mustang for a project car and do full Maier Racing thing with it.
Anyway, after getting married and having a family, the Capri was too impractical. I had custom built adjustable coil over front suspension running stock car racing springs at double the factory spring rate. I made delrin and aluminum bushings to replace all the rubber in the suspension. Monoleaf springs in back. Lowered 2" on springs and another 1" on the tires. The interior was all stripped out and I had a single fiberglass racing bucket seat with 5 point harness. Handmade aluminum hood. I buiilt a custom 4" diameter Y pipe exhaust with a Supertrapp muffler on the end. More like super loud. Took the engine down to the shortblock and did a bunch of top end work. Double valve springs, swirl polished valves, bronze guides, cam, tubular pushrods, shaved the heads, cc'd, ported, intake manifold with a 390cfm Holley 4 barrel etc.
The wife refused to ride in the car. It was too scary for her. She only ever rode in it one time. And only because she was so sick that I had to take her to the ER, haha.
Anyway, I had to get rid of the Capri finally. It was super traumatic for me. Every nght for 6 years afterwards, I would dream that I was driving my old car. Like I said, I learned everything about cars on that one, and I took it all the way from stock to super crazy. I even owe my first career job to that car. I only got hired because the boss decided to take a chance on me after he found out I was mechanical enough to work on cars.
After giving up the Capri, I drove "normal" cars that I refused to mod. There was no point to it because none of them could ever be as extreme and as fun to drive. I had to force myself to think of cars as just another appliance like a toaster or something. A toaster is just something you use. Not something that's supposed to be fun.
So anyway, I said I didn't want another car. I'll just drive the Jeep until it completely falls apart. Well... unless I got a Mustang, haha.
Went to test drive some used Mustangs. My friend and I were surprised that they really reminded us of our old cars. They were like modernized more civilized versions of our hotrods. Same rack and pinion steering, same MacPherson struts, same live axle, even the V6 was descended from the old European V6 and even built in Cologne like our old ones. Plus the engine ran fuel injection and all the other cool stuff that originally was available only on the factory racing Capris.
So it was like my old car was back, and the price was super cheap, so I went for it and had enough money left for suspension and drivetrain mods. I learned my lesson though, and didn't go super extreme on the mods. The race type setup on my old car was just too much wear and tear on the chassis. By the time I gave up the Capri, the body panels were getting stress cracks and fractures from all the vibration.
Yah, and the latest on the Jeep.... I was driving it to work last week due to waiting on the tires for the Mustang, and it blew a head gasket. I'll fix it and probably sell it for like $1000. Nothing else left to break on it now. So if anybody wants a beater car with almost new tires...
Great for hauling big boxes of frags 
Mr. Ugly
Past President
Phong, I grew up in the Mission in SF.
Everybody had their cars up on the sidewalk for repairs and stuff.
For the longest time, I stopped doing my own car work. It kinda sucks letting other people work on your car. It's amazing how much stuff they do incorrectly.
Had the Jeep engine rebuilt a few years back, and they used the wrong RTV and it killed my O2 sensors. After the recent freeze plug installations, I found that they had loosened the motor mount bolts and didn't put them all the way back on. I did the pads on rotors on the wife's Maxima last week... the pad return clip wasn't hooked on. When I got the Mustang wheels balanced, one of the wheels came back with a huge stack of weights on one side... 3 layers even. I told the guy to rotate the tire 180 degrees, but he said it wouldn't make a difference. Finally his boss came over and made him do what I asked, and it came out almost perfect.
Everybody had their cars up on the sidewalk for repairs and stuff.
For the longest time, I stopped doing my own car work. It kinda sucks letting other people work on your car. It's amazing how much stuff they do incorrectly.
Had the Jeep engine rebuilt a few years back, and they used the wrong RTV and it killed my O2 sensors. After the recent freeze plug installations, I found that they had loosened the motor mount bolts and didn't put them all the way back on. I did the pads on rotors on the wife's Maxima last week... the pad return clip wasn't hooked on. When I got the Mustang wheels balanced, one of the wheels came back with a huge stack of weights on one side... 3 layers even. I told the guy to rotate the tire 180 degrees, but he said it wouldn't make a difference. Finally his boss came over and made him do what I asked, and it came out almost perfect.
Tumbleweed
Guest
Looks great Norm. Great decision to go with the gun metal rims instead of the Black Ones.
Mr. Ugly
Past President
Thx Brian!
Phong, one time on my Capri, I took out the transmission valve body for mods at 11pm in a parking lot by flashlight. I got covered with transmission oil and had to wash my hair 3 times with Lava soap, haha. (My buddy cracked up and said his dad blames his baldness on having to wash his hair with Lava soap while in the army )
While I was under the car, a bunch of guys ran past shouting in spanish, "Kill him! Kill him!"
Phong, one time on my Capri, I took out the transmission valve body for mods at 11pm in a parking lot by flashlight. I got covered with transmission oil and had to wash my hair 3 times with Lava soap, haha. (My buddy cracked up and said his dad blames his baldness on having to wash his hair with Lava soap while in the army
)While I was under the car, a bunch of guys ran past shouting in spanish, "Kill him! Kill him!"
Tumbleweed
Guest
Hey quit complaining that is a everyday occurrence for me, no to mention all of the stuff people keep on the inside of their cars. I couldn't tell you how many times I had to deal with a coffee cup with 2 week old coffee in it. It still amazes me what people keep in their cars, and then forget to take out before they bring it into my shop to have fixed.
fishnfst
Guest
Wheels look good Norm;... I didn't know you were a city boy And a FORD CAPRI MAN ..... You didn't happen to know Sheldon out on California street??? He had a tubbed out Capri that was a solid low 10 and 9 on the bottle....
Was you'rs the hatch? I had one that I drove through high school.. 2.8 v6 turbo... Had a ton of fun and introduced me to the world of FI... The service manager at the chevron on 19th ave. had one as well... his was gold and black though UGLY. hahahahh
And a FORD CAPRI MAN ..... You didn't happen to know Sheldon out on California street??? He had a tubbed out Capri that was a solid low 10 and 9 on the bottle.... Was you'rs the hatch? I had one that I drove through high school.. 2.8 v6 turbo... Had a ton of fun and introduced me to the world of FI... The service manager at the chevron on 19th ave. had one as well... his was gold and black though
UGLY. hahahahh