Falcon Ranchero

Yesterday finally found ten screws that I was looking 3 days for. Left a buncha stuff on the workbench in my grandma's garage before going camping, came back on Sunday and all that stuff was gone. On that day I found stuff in one side of the recycling bin, and in one of the drawers of the workbench. On Monday found stuff at the bottom of the kitchen garbage bag, and then searched every possible place for those 10 screws which at that point were the only things lost not recovered. Found them yesterday in a pill jar with other screws that was on the workbench in the garage. Right in front of my fricken face the whole time and it took me three days to realize that.

It's a definite issue. Mentioned the hell of a time I had with the side stripe decals on my '69 Galaxie XL GT model kit. Didn't crumble in the water, but were extremely delicate upon application and didn't stick well. Ripped in a bunch of places too. Not sure what the heck AMT's doing with their decals these days but they are definitely cheaping out on them.

Got a scam text the other day. Can't remember if there was bad spelling, but the scam said I had gone 63km in a 40km zone and that I had to resolve the ticket by clicking on the link in the text. Couple problems with that. 1) No vehicle in my name. 2) Cell number isn't registered anywhere at all. 3) Was out camping for a week when I got the scam. 4) Hadn't driven a car that whole week either. Sometimes scams are so plainly obvious it's sad.

Yes mine has that too. Forgot to mention even pushing didn't budge it. Ended up being a two-person job to get it off the slope.

Saw this ole truck in the rearview this morning, for the second time. Mid-70s stepside 4x4.

Not an animal but I got my mower stuck my grandma's yard today. Usually I can do the slope part there but it got the rear wheel stuck in a dip and reverse wouldn't even get it out. Had to call my dad to come help get it unstuck. Didn't even make it around the lawn once before it got stuck.

That's a great price; I so wish I could take that one home. One day for sure for sure. Have to focus on the '69 LeMans I have now, and then add on to the collection once I am older.

One of my favourite stories of old cars has to be about the three Roman Red Corvairs, that, in 1961, braved a section of roadless jungle between Panama and Columbia. First read about it in a past issue of my favourite magazine, Collectible Automobile, but from time to time when I see a corvair, this story comes to mind. Don't have the article with me at hand, but from my recollection, in 1960, three red Corvairs did something similar, but stopped before they got to the actual Darien Gap. It was in 1961 that another 3 red Corvairs actually went through it, with two making it out alive, and one having been ditched quite close to the Columbia border after running out of gas. They were accompanied by 3 Chevy trucks, two Suburbans, and an Apache 4x4 or something, and I don't think any of those made it out alive, one having broke an axle, the other having fallen down a gully. The whole thing was to promote the Corvair's rugged ability, but by that point consumers were more focused on muscle and sport than on whether or not you could brave a jungle with a passenger car, and so nobody really cared, and Chevy then focused on the sporty Corvair Monza. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and even though I've heard stories about how bad these cars were, this accomplishment makes it kind of hard to believe. Mind you they were beaten senseless by the jungle, but became the first passenger cars ever that made it throught there. Pretty cool. Here's a video from 1961-ish that has actual footage of the 1960 run, and the 1961 expedition through the actual Darien Gap. That part starts around 13:35 in the video. It's pretty crazy.

That is a pretty nice Cougar there, it for sure looks like the one I saw yesterday. That car is just a 289, and I believe it's an automatic and power everything.

Some news about my ebay order; was refunded this morning because the seller couldn't find it, and then sent me a message this afternoon saying that he couldn't find it but then just did, so I've been refunded but that apparently won't happen for another 3-5 business days, and I'd rather wait until that comes in before I buy it again, and so now there's all this dumb waiting and unsurness going on for what I thought would be an easy little thing to just purchase to see how my first order off of ebay would go and it didn't even work now. Kinda not happy about this at all but I'll just have to see what happens. Seems like every time I want something 1960 Plymouth-related it just never works out.

Last evening was pretty awesome. Remember back in May I mentioned about having gone and looked at a 1980 Z/28 Camaro barn find, and that the guy who was selling it had five other classic 60s Chevy products? Well we went to see that guy about parts for our car, and got a couple radios to try out and see if they'll fit, and discovered he just bought the most beautiful 1968 Mercury Cougar you've ever seen. The car is a local car, and we have seen it at shows before. My dad said that would've been one to go see for sale, but it was never listed, so obviously we never had that car as a prospect buy. The guy who owns it now absolutely loves it, and has been driving it literally everyday. He said some of the other guys have been buggin' him about having a Ford among his Chevy cars, but TBH brand loyalty was never something I cared much for. If the car is cool, buy it. And that's what this guy did, and that's just awesome.

On Monday took some advice about ordering on eBay, got me a gift card, had to make an account to use it, and ordered a 1960 Plymouth sales brochure. Should be in in two weeks. Seems like a long wait since it’s coming from only one province over, but as long as it gets here I’m good.

Got the Highway Star more chromed up; if you've noticed there's a somewhat dissapointing lack of chrome on the car, other than the window trim, door handles and side mirror. Got the wheel opening trim all put on; my dad having done the front ones earlier in the week while I was away. But we tackled the rear ones this morning. What a pain. It was tricky because at somepoint during the bodywork, all the holes for the trim on the rear openings were covered up. Some of the holes on the front were there, and some were covered up also. But what made doing the rear ones even worse was that the screws that came with the trim set were actual garbage; very easily stripped. Mind you they are designed for the holes that are already there, not ones you drill yourself, but we ended up using stronger screws that also had a self tapping end, which made a night and day difference. From what I heard, the front ones went on pretty well with just the screws they came with, but again, most of the holes were already there on the front. What we did was kinda trying to set the trim in place, and drill the holes in the body through the holes in the trim. Had to take the wheels off to get the drill in there. Looks pretty good. Used all but one of the screws it came with on this side. The other side didn't like any of the screws it came with so we used those self-tapping ones. This side was the most tricky for some reason. Gotta watch you don't scratch the paint with the trim piece. You can see it got pretty scraped on the lower front side. We got two screws in and decided to break for lunch. Finished with the better screws. And bonus, yesterday afternoon, in the garage while it was raining, I put strips of chrome vinyl in the grille to brighten that up, make it look more stock. Stretched the vinyl a bit too much going up that curve that leads out to the beak, but if you take a hairdryer and blow the area with intense heat while rubbing the sticker in, it melts and comforms to the shape better. They should stay on pretty good now.

Really like the ‘59 Cadillac and the ‘70 Marauder as well as the ‘58 Olds, and the ‘70 Fury

Some camping trip sightings. Saw an old '80s Chev plow truck parked behind a store on the highway, but then also saw a beautiful 1972 Suburban at Sand River (roadside rapids attraction) that I have seen at car shows back in town. And a '34 Ford coupe was camped out at the campground; an older couple came from southern Ontario drove just that car all the way up here and then are heading back. The guy said he built 20 of those an then finally built one for himself, as was this car.

Saw this nice two-door barge on Monday, a circa 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. Saw it in the same spot two years or so ago, but finally got a photo.

Looks better already 👍

The crows around here are especially vicious, all through spring they were raiding grackle nests of eggs and chicks.

Today was a sad day in the yard. This robin fledgling here in the video was perched on the wheel of the recycleing bin. About an our later he made his way over to the sill of one of the basement windows. After another hour I heard a ruckus outside, and almost a scream of some sort. Look out the window and this robin was being killed by a crow. Rushed out there to see if I could get the crow off, but as soon as I stepped out on the deck the crow picked it up in its beak and flew away with it. Just two hours prior this bird in the video was alive and just like that it was killed. Kinda sad now but that's just how nature is I guess. Bird Rob.mp4

Also the 1955-56 Gaylord Gladiator is pretty cool.

I like the Kaiser Darrin; fan of those doors that slide into the fender.

Looks awesome, like the colour.

I can just hear that ‘60 Plymouth Fury in the first photo saying, “Nathan come save me!” Looks to be in not bad shape at all. I’d take that home if I could.

That would be cool to build

Ah yes I see; the only 70s El Camino we have in town here is actually a ‘74 GMC Sprint. Those round headlights definitely look better than the stacked.