You better wake up boy!

Building a race car is an amazing process of planning, ordering parts, coordinating the entire project and more but the dream of all of the above rules out over all. Speaking of dreams, last night I dreamed I had forgotten a very important part of the build process on my car. In the dream I found myself in Mexico with a car that wouldn't handle properly and no matter what I did something was wrong. When I woke up I was trying to recall what it was in the dream that was wrong. Not being one that believes that dreams are anything to be concerned about I just laughed it off. But as I was having my morning cup of coffee all of a sudden it hit me... I FORGOT TO RELOCATE THE UPPER CONTROL ARMS!!! I couldn't believe it. Relocating the upper control arms on a Shelby race car is just about as important as putting fuel in the Space Shuttle.

It's a well known fact that possibly the single most important modification Shelby did to the 1965 GT350 was relocating the upper control arms. The overall result was one of fantastic results. Actually Shelby wasn't responsible for the design but in fact Klaus Arning, a Ford Suspension engineer designed the 427 Cobra and GT40 suspensions to be used in unison with a four-link independent rear suspension. It turned out they decided not to use the independent rear suspension but the design was then turned over to Carroll Shelby who put it to good use. To this day many Shelby enthusiast are under the belief that all Sheblys used this modification which is far from correct. Another falsehood is that more is better so many made the modification using various dimensions but the correct measurement is extremely important to the driver that knows how to achieve optimum performance.

Like I said, I don't believe in mysterious or complex reasons as to interpretations of dreams. On the other hand I do believe that somewhere in my sub-conscious my brain was saying something like, "Hey stupid... wake up, have some coffee and get your butt down to the shop and fix your screw up. After all, we're not driving a Chevy." LOL.

So today I was able to remove the upper control arms and make the correct modifications and then reassemble them to the correct location.

More good news is that a special parts delivery arrived yesterday which was the original Shelby dash panel and lights that will handle all the new gauges that will be here later this week. That will make it possible for me to get a major amount of work completed on the dash instrumentation.

Getting started off on the right foot

It's always important to keep a sharp eye out for new drivers and as a family man I feel it's very important to get our children and grand children started off in the right direction so today on my grandson's birthday we went for our first ride together in his new set of wheels. If you look closely you can see Tyler sitting between my legs navigating. All in all the test was a good one and now all we need is a bigger hill. I have promised to keep an eye out for any good hills in Mexico. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!

Keeping track of time La Carrera Panamericana Style

Since someone brought it up and seeing how it is related I thought it only fair to mention the famous TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph (Click on "Carrera").

The “Carrera Panamericana” was an epic race that was started in the 1950s and attracted many of the leading drivers of the time. Juan Manuel Fangio, the famous Argentinian driver who was Formula 1 World Champion five times, won the race in 1953. To pay tribute to this unique adventure, in 1963 TAG Heuer launched the Carrera Chronograph that combined refinement with the spirit of sport. It was an immediate success. It has been modernised but still retains its sober elegance. The Carrera perfectly embodies the vibrant memory of the era of “Gentleman drivers.”

Carrera is Spanish for "race", evoking the famous Carrera Panamericana rally in Mexico. Big name drivers like Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon wear it, and while the TAG line is full of iconic motorsport-inspired timepieces (like the square Monaco popularized by Steve McQueen in Le Mans), the Carrera
Automatic Chronograph Tachymetre is many driver's favorite.






And speaking of Juan Fangio, for the real connoisseur try this on for size. It's an original watch worn and then given by Fangio to his #1 mechanic. This 1950s Vetta manual watch is silver with a silver face, two subdials, and was worn by Fangio, and then later gifted to his friend and mechanic. It's inscribed at the back - Para mi amigo, companero y mecanico "Jungo" Justo Perez este presente de todo corazon 10/8/58 Juan Manuel Fangio. The front is marked "Cuervo Y Sobrinos, Habana", which was a famous store in Cuba specializing in high end watches. This was the year Fangio drove the Maserati 250F, having also raced for Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes and Lancia. This is an incredible piece of automotive history - perfect for the car or watch enthusiast. In case you're wondering it's also been sold. See, you snooze, you lose.

Click here for other inspirational driving watches.

But we all know ROLEX is the indisputable king of wristwatches.

La Carrera Panamericana... The Board Game

While running the La Carrera Panamericana is no game and not for the light hearted, there is still a way to put your skills up against other drivers as you travel the Pan American Highway through Mexico. It's the 1950s CARRERA PANAMERICANA MEXICAN BOARD GAME! Well, they're very hard to find but it looks like keen fun to me. You can rest assured I will be looking for one while in Mexico. (As if I'll have time to go shopping. LOL) I saw one for sale on eBay but one hundred dollars plus shipping seems a tad high even though it has got to be more fun than Monopoly.

The description is as follows; Rare and original board game includes: board, five tiny plastic cars (game chips) and two dices. The 13 x 13" board features beautiful graphics of racing cars, drivers and the cities and small villages visited by the drivers during the road race. Made in Mexico by an unknown manufacturer under license by the organising commitee of the race.

I aslo found some very old collectable La Carrera Panamericana post cards of the original Lincolns which would be a nice addition to anyone's collection.

Finally we have tail lights!

This morning I finished installing the spindles, strut rods and sway bar and even the rear shocks. I am still waiting for the spring perches to be powder coated so I can finish installing the front springs and shocks. And check out those snazzy looking strut rod bushings in the top photo supplied by MAIER RACING ENTERPRISES. They're not just for looks. They allow the entire strut to move freely but lack the usual play that even polyurethane bushings have. For years I have built front ends on Mustangs but NEVER have I felt the front end suspension "work" like it does on this car thanks to Mike Maier's advise and products. Typically the front end of a Mustang gets the job done quite well but they usually feel like something that was meant to be part of a D-8 bulldozer. On the other hand the front end on this car feels more like a work of art or as if it was built to go on the space shuttle. I can't wait to be on the receiving end of the steering wheel once it's ready to dance. Hot damn!

It was nice to get some smaller items finished as well like the door sill plates to cover the wiring, some brake hose safety brackets and even the headlight switch is in and plugged into the wiring harness. And better yet the taillight lens are installed. YEAH!

Rosana Rosanadana where are you?

Today as soon as some of my parts came on the UPS delivery I was on a roll getting things done one after another. First I made a new harness for the FUEL SAFE fuel sender as well as wiring for the dual electric fuel pumps that will run from the fuel cell area all the way to the dash. When I was finished with that I finished installing the heater control cables to the heater box. Then I finalized the installation of the WILWOOD RESIDUAL PRESSURE VALVES between the brake lines and the CNC master cylinder.

For some crazy reason I was excited about getting the new taillight housings and seals installed so that I could install the taillight lens and bezels. Everything was moving along perfectly and the last thing I had to do was install the eight tiny screws that hold the bezels onto the housing and wouldn't you know it, there were no screws in the kit. If that wasn't bad enough they are some special headed screw that even the hardware store didn't have in stock. Damn... so close and yet so far away. By the way, never walk into a shop full of guys and say, "I need a screw." Once again I was on he horn with DELTA BAY MUSTANG and once again Tom said "No problem." and once again Lucky sits with no taillights. Rosana Rosanadana of Saturday Night Live fame said it best, "It's always something."

Out with the bad and in with the good

Today was a good day since I got some basic jobs done on Lucky. It all began with removing the old front upper and lower control arms as well as the spindles and strut rods. Then I installed the new Maier Racing Enterprises upper and lower control arms. In the meantime the spindles and strut rods will be bead blasted and prepped for reinstallation along with the new rotors and bearings. Hey, now we're cooking with gas!