J.A. Ackley
J.A. Ackley Senior Editor
4/13/24 8:06 a.m.

There’s always something you can improve when it comes to classic cars. It doesn’t matter if you have a concours-grade car or a project that has yet to be started. The only difference is the length of that list and the degree of difficulty in checking off those boxes.

When we got my mo…

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Vintage79
Vintage79 New Reader
9/24/24 11:06 a.m.

I've had 25 years of pleasure from my '99 Mustang Cobra.  A terrific local paintless dent removal specialist took three parking lot dings out of the car at modest cost several years ago.  A couple of years ago the mice in our garage discovered that the pressure relief air vents in the trunk had a grid behind their flaps with rectangular openings exactly the cross-sectional area of a nickel, just mouse sized.  They set up shop and the car smelled like it.  Fixed the source by adding 1/2" hardware cloth behind the plastic grid, halving that cross sectional area and "closing the mouse doors".  The odor remained.  

Other than that, the only "drivability" issue was the original seats, with wear on the driver seat leather and not enough comfort for my spouse to enjoy a drive.  Thorough cleaning and liberal use of Febreeze eliminated the odor after we removed all the old carpeting.  Yesterday we finished installing new carpet on top of carefully fitted Dynamat sound absorbing material throughout the interior and trunk, and reinstalling the recently purchased primo Recaro seats with heat, ventilation fans, etc.  She loves the Recaros, so that was a good investment.  Not long ago put 4.10 gears in it so that 6800 rpm 4-valve engine could stretch its legs without sending me to jail.  Yesterday's test drive was a joy.

Now that last "list" item: those 25-year-old chassis bushings.  Already have nice, just slightly firm Bilsteins, but the bushings rattle a bit and jolt a bit too.  After much agonizing about durability, control and ride comfort values, settled on the street-level Maximum Motorsports selection of urethane bushings as the most comfortable (lowest durometer numbers) option other than replacing factory rubber bushings that will dry out and fail again someday.  Now have to get those installed, and hoping the driver's low back and his spouse's sensitive tush will still enjoy the toy.   That's my list, hoping to end it with high satisfaction soon smiley

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