Happy Birthday, Frog

Nice Photos, Another 1993 You can get some of the fasterner HW for the panels, but the one by the speaker, cannot find. The stock radio works most of the time, but sometimes gives off that burned resistor smell, comes on but no sound. Paint is faded bad, el cheapo paint over a cop car. You can see some of the old black and white throught the paint now, waxing it takes off a little of the paint each time. Windows on both sides channel guides are a mess, hard to get up the windows. This one is at 145k, just got a rebuilt engine, 8# boost from KB, tuned, nice and very fast for in-town driving. On third clutch, (second one at 95k, another at 140k) interior is in good to great condition, some screw holes in the dash where the cops had their radios. Some good summer performance tires made a huge difference in hooking up.

Now that is what I call passion for a car!! Keep on rolling!!

Shelby-1

Congrats and Happy Birthday!!! Your cars are awesome and an inspiration to the rest of us!

Nick :)

That's one nice looking Fox... I mean frog.

Oh, and get to know 5.0Resto.

Patrick

There's no question - with every passing year, these cars will become harder and harder to maintain, let alone repair and refurbish. Well over 1,000,000 Fox Mustangs hit the streets between '79 and '93, but the point of my post was simply to point out that ALL of them are now at least 15 years old. That's ancient for an automobile (classic owners, don't scoff).

Keep at it. Fix one problem at a time. I find that when I look at the car as a whole, the list of issues becomes daunting. But when I replace a little thing like door handle bezels, I think, "One down, XXX to go..."

dwight

I took a break from waxing and came into the house for a soda. My clothes were soaked through (hot, sticky day), and my wife took one look and laughed. I'm not as young as I was when I first waxed TFrog, that's for sure, so it now takes a good four to five hours for the whole process. She said, "You love it," and I said, "Yeah, when it's DONE."

I took the car out yesterday for a couple of hours (why is gas $3.51 in the middle of nowhere, but $3.73 in civilization?) and I thought, jeez, the thing is 15 years old and still drives like a kid. I am not hallucinating when I say that a fresh polish and wax makes the car drive much better. It is always quicker and stronger when it's shiny - it's not just my imagination. Less wind resistance?

Anyway... I still love the looks of the LX Fox bodies, and the configuration fits me to a tee. It's almost the perfect car. Days like yesterday remind me why I want to keep this car forever.

dwight

Thanks, Nick. The cars photograph well (especially TFrog), but don't look too closely. On inspection, they are definitely 15 year old cars. They are good-looking 15 year olds, but still showing their age.

The paint has worn off of those front fender panels around the headlights and the front bumper. The GT convertible looks like it was owned by a serious tailgater (I've had it now for going on four years) - the windshield and the nose of the car are pitted as if sandblasted, and the paint on the nose is cracking and could start peeling any day now. Like I said, a laundry list of issues.

Still, they are among the best looking Foxes around. That's easier to say every year, since there are fewer Foxes every year.

dwight

Oh, you KNOW I've got an account with them! I like Mustangs Unlimited for my immediate needs (water pump, brake rotors, etc.), but I enjoy shopping

The plastic grille on the hood of TFrog is still broken, where a tree limb came down on it years ago. That's $75+ and still on my list. CFrog has glaucoma and needs a new set of headlights ($180+), like I did for TFrog a few years ago. (What a difference!)

Just a couple of examples of things I keep putting off. Of course, whatever the cars need to RUN and/or pass inspection, they get. The rest is optional and "someday," unless it's something I just can't live with - like TFrog's peeling wheel hubs.

dwight

"dwight" wrote in news:VrmdnZLdNMP6MivVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

dwight, kudos to you! Both frogs (T and C) look awesome. Now if you were my neighbor, I might not have sold my LX...

The headlights look pretty clear - are they originals or replacements? Also, you could take the caps off and give them a shot of silver - would look tons better than the scarred black. Or just remove them altogether. You can probably find caps on the Internet somewhere.

You might consider a resto at some point, as I believe you are correct - these cars will continue to cost more with each passing year. If it's not yet time for the resto, maybe retirement to the garage is in order until resto time arrives.

Best of luck with them!

...and if you were mine, I'd probably spend more time on keeping them in better shape! I'm a competitive son of a bitch, but there's no one around here to compete with.

TFrog's were replaced about 4 years ago. CFrog is overdue.

Take 'em off... That never occurred to me. I'd have that dragstrip look.

Which one gets the garage, is the question. I like the convertible for commuting, since it has auto, but the LX is better in bad weather - especially snow. No, I trade off between the two all through the year, so neither one is going to be a garage queen at this point.

The eventual plan is still to have TFrog undergo a complete restoration project at some point. I'll let the pros handle it, everything from engine and drivetrain to interior and exterior refresh. I'll keep the stock look and have a much-better-than-new LX for less than the price of a new car. Planning on this for it's 20 year celebration, at which point, yes, TFrog becomes a garage queen. All of which assumes, of course, that there'll still be gasoline available...

Thanks, Joe. Hard to believe it's been 15 years. Jeez, that's way back when I had little kids...

dwight

Well, TFrog is still holding up a whole lot better than many people I know. Sure, a little wear and tear. That's why women wear makeup and cars wear wax. :0) May you be blessed with another 213k.

By the way, I'll bill ya for that sound bite that blew up my pc sound system! hehehehehehe and a LOL, too!

That reminds me... I have to re-record the thing, this time in real stereo. Can't figure out yet how to hang the mics off the back of the car while I'm driving it, though.

The mics were about a foot away from each tailpipe, as I recall. Thought I had the levels set (using a laptop), but, yeah, it's a mite loud. Sorry.

:()

I was just kidding. :0) I normally keep the volume down whether it's music or anything else. At least in the beginning. :0)

Duct tape will hold those pesky mics in place... unless you want to bore a couple of holes through the bottom of the car.

Now that Cherry Bombs are back in production......

Your cars are a testament to the durability and bullet proof design of the Fox Mustangs.

You know it. I've been abusing TFrog all this time, and it rewards me with nothing but joy. I think I might pay it back with its 100,000-mile oil change.

dwight

"dwight" wrote in news:u_SdnUGiAvdQryXVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

It's not about competition, it's about pride. When you own these cars, there's a ton of pride involved.

Heh. It actually looks better than the half-black stuff. Check it out.

Those are real nice. Not that bad of a price, either. The bitch is the insignia in the middle. Lots of detail including the colors.

Admittedly, you have a unique problem in that you have two cars.

Of course there will, even if BO gets elected. ;) But if T becomes a garage queen, you have to give it up as a daily driver. That's going to be tough!

Yeah, I can still remember buying the LX new. Wow - who'd have thought we'd have them so long? Anyway, I wish nothing but the best for the Frogs and their owner.

I think I had had TFrog for a good three or four years, and guys were still stopping me or coming over to talk about "the car they used to own." At that time, I thought about holding onto this one, so that I'd never be in the same position. I remember writing then that "this one, I keep forever."

On its 8th birthday (somewhere around 125,000 miles), I wrote another post renewing this pledge. And a couple more since.

I find myself in an interesting place now. Still love this car, still enjoy the hell out of it, still want to keep it and look forward (still) to a total restoration. Every year, I have the same debate - keep it or sell it off. Fact is, it's not worth selling. Realistically, it would go for less than $2,000 (as you know), and is probably only worth anything at all to me. If one of the Frogs gets sold off, it'll be the convertible, which is worth a lot more today. But even that one is declining in value every time the price of gas goes up.

I have a lot of history with the LX and I know the car inside and out. I can easily see keeping this one for at least another 15 years, becoming one of those sidebars about a guy with a "classic" Mustang, original owner, blah blah blah. It's an interesting commitment, one that will become harder to keep with every passing year.

This year, though, it's a no-brainer.

dwight

"dwight" wrote in news:tfedneomYrgrPSfVnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Good deal. At least we know which Frog becomes the garage queen..

I'm not as young as I was when I first waxed TFrog, that's for

Five hours? Next time try Turtle Wax Ice. Wash with the Ice Liquid Clay stuff, wash it off with the Ice car wash soap, then apply the Ice polish. 60 to 90 minutes for the whole deal, including soda breaks, which you might need more of since you can apply the polish in the sun. Keep the car dusted and every two or three weeks wipe off the horizontal surfaces with some Ice spray detailer. Works for me with my black '04 GTO anyway.