The annual Rec Camp Car Show took a different twist this year.  They rescheduled the date to coincide with the Armed Forces Chili Cook-Off and combined the events to be renamed “Ruckus at the Rec Camp.”  Not sure I care for the new title, but having the events combined isn’t necessarily a bad idea.

Unfortunately, that pissed off the San Angelo Car Club, who traditionally had sponsored and ran the event… so they decided to hold their own car show on the ‘normal’ weekend.  This 1st annual Ruckus has mixed results: it wasn’t well-organized, so things kind of happened hap-hazardly… but it was cool because they had a concert and got Horny Mike and Ryan Evans from Count’s Kustoms to show up as car show celebrities.  The car show started later than it should’ve, and the awards were given out as it was getting dark (which can be bad news for folks driving home to other towns).  All-in-all, not a bad turn-out.  Hopefully, with some better planning, next year’s event will be better.

The Mustang did GREAT!  Won Best In Class – ’70-’79 Modified, and also People’s Choice!  Here are the pics:

Here’s the Mustang as it sat all day for the car show.

Right after the awards presentation, getting ready to take off and ‘feel my way home,’ since the headlights aren’t exactly aimed properly.

Here’s the “hardware” take from the awards ceremony

Horny Mike and Ryan presenting me with the People’s Choice award!  Those guys are as cool as they look, and are exactly how they are on TV – coolest celebrity car guys ever!

Since the rear wheels were sticking out just enough to ‘buzz’ the wheel well openings when the suspension cycled (as in, going through dips and stuff), I decided to get some new wheels with a bit better back spacing.  The originals were ‘off-the-shelf’ Cragar S/S 15x10s with 4 1/4″ back spacing.  Here are a couple of shots with the original wheels:

I called up Summit Racing and ordered a set of custom back spaced wheels from Cragar (15×10 S/S with 5 1/4″ back spacing), which cost the same and only took a week for Cragar to make and ship to me. Took the ‘old’ ones to Discount Tire and had them swap the Cobras onto the new rims, then stuck ’em back on. Much better:

Well, much better for driving, but I lost a bit of the ‘deep dish’ look I’d wanted. Oh well… still looks cool.

Here are a few things I shared with the 7173Mustangs forums when asked about how I’d done them differently from ‘factory.’

I replaced the woodgrain vinyl with 3M Di-Noc black carbon fiber vinyl – MUCH better!

Here’s the Pyle Audio monitor for the back-up camera sitting on the rear view mirror – as designed. I couldn’t find the flip-down bracket I bought a few months ago, so I’ll mount it up later.

Center gauge pod with 3M Di-Noc black carbon fiber vinyl instead of the woodgrain. Still need to make a bezel for the AOD shifter.

Cut-Pile Lloyd’s Mach 1 floor mats over the ACC cut-pile carpet – WAY better than the old “loop-style” carpet that came stock with these cars.

Retrosound 6x9s in Retrosound risers (rather than cut the package tray sheet metal). Added some cut-pile carpet to the cheesy painted masonite package tray cover that came stock. How about that “gun-turret” rear window, eh?

Installed some rear window louvers a few months ago – I think they’re cool. The back-up camera is in the license plate frame.

The louvers makes it look mean! They don’t really hamper visibility… not that there is much to begin with.

Today we replaced the Holley “Black” (rotary vane) fuel pump my pal Jim Eimer provided to get it all running… it was just too loud and took up a lot more space. Here’s a new solenoid style in-line Holley fuel pump. Fired right up, no leaks, and is very quiet.

This is a rock guard/cover I made from a plastic undercarriage panel someone took off when changing oil at the Auto Hobby Shop [and just left there – griping because it was in the way or something].

Well… we’re here. Despite putting the ‘Mach 1’ decals on at 11:30 last night, we made it. We had a great day just relaxing and Frank actually won a Best In Class award – on his first time out!!

The best part was when the MSG Commander was walking by admiring Frank. He actually told me it’s a beautiful car, to which I replied, “Looks a lot different than the last time you saw it, eh?” “Excuse me?” he looked confused. I told him that this is that pile of project car that took up so much space in his Auto Hobby Shop while Jim and I was running it for him for the past 18 months on the weekends.” His demeanor changed as he said, “Oh. You must be Eric.” “Yes Sir, I am.” He kept staring at Frank, grinding his teeth, and finally said, “Nice car,” as he turned and stormed off.

Oh. My. Gawd. I felt SO good. I delivered a nice verbal equivalent of a kick in the nuts to the elitist asshole who’d caused Jim and I so much hassle. My day was complete at that point… until he had to hand over a Best In Class plaque later that day, that is. Best. Day. Ever.

Showing off the engine at the GAFB Car Show.

Got the tires slicked up and everything polished.

Even the trunk was in inspection order.

Interior’s pretty much all finished up, except for the seat belts and a couple more details.

Didn’t get the trunk stripe on yet – still gotta adjust the trunk lid… and pretty much just ran out of time last night.

No words… just a cool car and a cool guy – my pal Jim Eimer. 

My pal Jim and his Jeep after the show and everybody bailed. Just grabbin’ a couple pics and having a celebratory Guiness.

Here’s the spec sheet from the day.

And one of the new hardware.

Got some stuff done today: installed the quarter window adjusters, trimmed the package tray trim to fit better, tucked more wires in the dash and test-fitted the glove box insert, and my wife installed the front license plate bracket and this plate – all by herself! 

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any more pics of things going in – I was so busy trying to get things done, I didn’t make time for progress pics.

Wiring Nightmare! This is the result of all the extra wiring for all of the modern add-ons I’m installing: power windows, power locks, Classic Auto Air HVAC, Retrosound stereo, alarm, and a back-up camera. It’s all independent of the car’s original wiring harness that included zero power anything.

Rims & tires certainly make the car. This is after all the day’s fun and slapping on the new shoes. 245/60R15s on 15x8s up front, and 295/50R15s on 15x10s out back.

I love how mean these wheels make this car look – and it’s almost exactly how I was hoping it was gonna go.

Holy Cow that’s some rubber. Everything clears, and I hope the suspension is up to the task of keeping the tires off the sheet metal. I’d hate to have to go down to 275s on 15x8s. Still gotta align the damn trunk lid…

Here’s how the car [most likely] came from the factory. The Marti Report just said “wheel covers,” and since I happen to like these Sport Covers better than the Corporate “dog dishes,” I picked up a set.

Getting closer. Still need to finish up the interior and get a windshield installed.

Headliner and sail panels are in! It was a whole lot easier without any of the glass.

Looks like the passenger side forward coat hook cast a shadow from the flash. Still gotta cut-in and mount the sun visor brackets and all the plastic trim (after I paint it all, that is).

“Holy Auto-Focus Fail, Batman!” The Mustang has a ‘face’ again. Only took almost 4 years and 6 hours. Still hating crawling around on the garage floor, but at least it’s getting closer. Trudy Hansen actually turned a wrench or two today!