ROCKY MOUNTAIN

      MUSTANGERS

Ross's Rants and Raves

By Ross Shwyhart

Suddenly it hit me! Another September! As you know I don't like the month. As I thought about it I came up with another reason why. We car lovers have been robbed!! And the car that started this great hold up is none other than the Mustang! What's been taken away from us is new car introductions! I can remember when new car introductions were a BIG deal.

I thought back to one of the last things that my dad and I did together. The year was 1955. For a boy of eight going down town to see the new cars was every bit as exciting as getting your first kiss. Man, oh Man! There were searchlights, hotdogs, free yardsticks and color brochures and tons of people out on that Friday night. At every dealership my dad and I were greeted by a salesman and treated like somebody special. I know that the salesmen figured that by making and impression on a youngster that maybe some day I would be back to buy that new Chevy or Ford and they would be there to help me do it.

For weeks after I was single handedly trying to destroy the tree population of the world putting those exciting new cars on paper. The stodgy old image of every car line was gone! Chevy and Pontiac had V8's for the first time! Ford had a new design with the dipped V on the side and the Crown Victorias. Chrysler had their 3 tone paint jobs with new styling by Virgle Exner. Just a hint of the tailfin wars that were to come. Shoot, even Ramblers had 3 tone paint and hardtops!

Those were great years. You could really tell if the car was GM or Chrysler and you could tell a Dodge from a DeSoto. Every year had some new piece of chrome or a different grill. None of this cookie cutter stuff we have to put up with today. I know late model Mustangs pretty well and from 1987 to 1993 without looking at the VIN it's pretty hard to tell one year from the other! At least, when you see a Mustang its profile doesn't look like all the other areo blobs that are on the road! Maybe that's why there is such a following for old cars.

In the 50's and 60's next year's cars were a surprise for the public. The dealerships would use special white paint and cover up the showroom windows to give an impression of great secrecy. Many times they would remove the cars from the floor so that it appeared that they were waiting for the new ones to arrive. Since I was well known around the car showrooms of Canon City I was given special 'early' showings of the new cars. Quite a change from today when you can pick up a copy of Motor Trend, Auto Week, or Car and Driver and see pictures of what the 2003 cars will look like.

My life has centered around cars for as long as I can remember. I can still see the first 1958 Impala 2 door hard top that came into Canon City and the first 1963 Galaxy with a 406! These were the kind of cars that made me wish I were older so I could be the one that was buying that car. Buying that car I would know that in a couple of years I would be back buying another new car just because they looked different. Just think about the change in Fords from the box on a box style of the 59 Galaxy to the fastback 63 and ½ Galaxy.

I can really say that I'm sorry that Ford choose the World's Fair in April to introduce the Mustang! It was the beginning of the end of one of my life's greatest pleasures. Now we see cars that are 'next year's' in almost every month of the year. And go to the dealerships now days; I have walked around on the lots for hours without anybody asking me what I wanted. Sorry, but as ESPN Classics asks, "Are you old school?" I have to answer YES because I want a good old fashion New Car month!

See you on the road or at the meeting.

Ross

Club Events

The sun finally made an appearance in the afternoon and we got to the TransAm cars race. It is always good to see the Mustangs in front. Thanks to the staff at PPIR for once again providing us with a chance to show our cars and enjoy to day of racing.

Speaking of Cobras now that the weather has driven us in doors it's time to think about a trip to the Cobra Museum in Boulder. At this time it looks like November 6 will be the day. I will have to see if the museum is open then. More to follow.

By The Numbers

This formula is good for seeing if your speedometer is reading correctly.

MPH = RPM x tire diameter / rear gear ratio x 336

or

RPM = MPH x trans ratio x rear gear ratio x 336 / tire diameter

Neil's Two Cents

By Neil Case

We finally raced our mustang in this year's SCCA event at the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup in Steamboat Springs, as well as showed the pony in the car show. It was a good time. I sure could tell by the photo's that were taken (the car leeeaning in the corners) as well as the tires rubbing on the fenders, that it needed a new suspension. My eyes were focused next on All Ford Day, August 22.

All Ford Day at Bandimere Speedway. I couldn't wait! I've gone to the last two or three and they have all been very exciting. Each year I've gone, I've told myself, "I will be here next year with my car". And each year I was sitting in the stands with one or more of our fellow club members watching other mustangs run down the track. Last year, the SOLO event bit me. I didn't drive in the event, but watching Hap, Stew and other mustangs being challenged by those bright orange cones (sometimes driving on the wrong side) made me want to do it. By the way, Hap got first place and Stew got second place for those of you that didn't know this. Yep, two of our fellow club members out performed all others in there class that day. Between RMMR and All Ford Day, I ordered a new suspension kit and installed it in two weekends. Yep, I was going to be out there on All Ford Day zipping around those cones and Jamie wanted to race in the Quarter Mile event.

Hap broke the news to me at our July meeting that they had canceled the SOLO event due to a car hitting the wall last year. They felt that the track wasn't wide enough should a car get out of control. I was bummin' big time. We had just spent a bunch of money getting the car ready for the race. Jamie tells me the car is never ready because I keep wanting to put more into it. I'm sure you all know how that goes. Well, my event was out but Jamie's wasn't.

We tried to go up to Bandimere the first few weeks of August for test and tune nights (held every Wednesday) to see what the stang could do. If you recall, it was pretty wet around here then. We finally had our opportunity the Wednesday before All Ford Day to get a few laps in a ¼ mile at a time. I ran the car twice down the track and Jamie ran it three times. We only had time for five runs because a lot of people showed up that night to fine tune their cars. Jamie's reaction times were in the 0.5-to-0.6 range, which is real good. We know that was not enough runs to figure out a strategy for Sunday but it was all we had. We knew we had at two practice runs on Sunday to see if the car would be consistent.

The club was to meet at the Sears shopping center parking lot at 7:30 AM on the 22nd. Our car was the only mustang to show up. Clark Uhrich, Dave and Brent Gardner and Michael Silok met us there in their non-mustang daily drivers. Clark jumped in Dave's car and they followed us up to Bandimere. Where were you guys hiding the rest of the day, we never did see you again?

In the two practice runs, Jamie pulled a 0.591 and 0.613 reaction times, not to bad. Come on car, be consistent. Needless to say when Jamie brought the car around for the first elimination run, it wouldn't idle. She had to keep one foot on the gas and one on the brake up to the staging lights. She pulled a 0.509 and almost won! Her mechanic had failed her. It appeared to be a fuel system problem. Going back home at higher rpms, it ran okay. Just at stoplights did I have to power brake it slightly to keep it running. The car went into the garage and the door was closed for over a week before my disappointment in the way it had behaved subsided. I have played around with it since, but it still isn't running as good as it had been. Don't you just love to work on your mustangs?

Until next time I write, . . . Neil.

Year 2000

That's right kids it's never too soon to start thinking about serving on the board and getting your say so on what the clubs gonna do in 2000. Plan your move, plot your strategy, form an alliance, . . .cause it's time to step right up and be counted. We need your support to keep thing running smoothly for the upcoming year. Please lend a hand and run for office for year 2000.

Decoding Ford part numbers

Where:
F is the decade in which the part was released ( in this case the 90's)
0 is the year the in which the part was released (in this case 1990)
Z is the car line (in this case Z which is Mustang)
Z stands for Ford
3A674 is the part number
C is the part revision number

Note: Any number starting with just an M is a Ford Motorsport part number