OCTANE CARS
The first summer of Mustang, the Abarth pushme-pull-you and even a Norton Dominator ’bike
I’VE NEVER BEEN that good at buying and selling cars in the past, but maybe I’m getting better, because the notchback Mustang that I acquired back in February has turned out to be a real honey. Sure, it has a snagging list that’s pages long, but it’s all stuff that can be done as-and-when and there’s nothing preventing the car from being used – as I proved by driving it 3500 miles over the summer.
The ‘when’ bit has become a bit more urgent for some jobs. W hen I took the car to the Welsh Borders for the Craswall Classic (Octane 184), we got caught out by a massively heavy shower of rain during an otherwise beautiful weekend. Water cascaded down from the front and rear windscreen seals, proving that nearly 50 years of residence in Los Angeles had done the rubbers no good at all.
Then there’s the underside of the car. Its only protection is the waft of Emberglo top-coat that was applied at Ford’s San José plant back in ’66, which means the metal is very vulnerable to the combined efffects of road-rash and the English climate. I don’t want to cover the original paint up with gunky wax or underseal, but I’ve just been tipped-off about a new transparent ceramic coating that is supposed to have near-miraculous properties. I’ll keep you informed.
Mechanically, the Mustang has proved superb; particularly its engine, which runs very sweetly and uses hardly any oil. The one thing I need to do is fit some kind of fuel non-return valve before the carburettor: once the car has stood for a few days, it takes a lot of churning to get petrol back up to the carb, whereas in regular use it always starts instantly from cold. Imagining those pistons rubbing up and down in dry, cold barrels for 20 or 30 seconds upsets my mechanical OCD.
Two items of big expenditure that are looming, however, are the front suspension – which would really benefit from aftermarket wishbones that are fitted with grease nipples to cure the infamous ‘Mustang squeak’ caused by dry pivots – and the exhaust system. The latter is just too quiet! It’s a single-pipe rather than a dual system, and when I pulled up alongside a friend he asked me if the car was a ‘six’. Nooo!
One of the Mustang’s most recent tasks was to collect a set of P38 Range Rover 16in alloys that were being given away free by someone on Facebook. This early type of alloy, which was standard fit on both my 1994 press-launch Rangies (see Octane 185), is rare now because many owners junked them in later years for more fashionable bigger rims.
Luckily, a pair of wheels fitted neatly into the Mustang’s boot and, because they were located just a few miles from my storage unit, I didn’t mind having to make two return journeys to shift them. Did I mention that they were free?
‘MECHANICALLY, THE MUSTANG HAS PROVED SUPERB; ITS ENGINE RUNS VERY SWEETLY’