Blog Presentation

Dear blog reader,

 My blog is all about car restoration and how we took a 68 Mustang coupe and started to restore it in Fortuna High auto shop. This has been a bigger project than Nick and I have expected. It has stumped us in many different ways. We have also accomplished a lot. We cut most of the parts we couldn't use off and replaced them. This car is still not done; however nick will  continue working on it.

Besides that note this project has been a little bigger. However, we did learn a few different things in writing our blog. It has helped me get better at writing. Like if you  look at some of my older posts, like from the beginning of the year and compare it to a newer post they definitely get a lot better.

I also learned a few different types of writing like haikus and other creative writing skills. Without this blog, I think that I wouldn't have learned too much about writing. Like if it was normal assignments because I get to write about stuff I have a passion about. However, there are new writings I haven't learned about until this class, so it was a little harder learning so many different types of writings. In the end, I have a lot that will help me out in the real world.

these writing skills will help me out in adult hood by starting my own bigness and knowing how to be able to right about what my business is and how it will help people. This writing will also help me get approved of different companies for the different work i will do.i believe that in adulthood writing will need to be used a lot in many different ways such as homework and Repair orders. In conclusion writing will help later in life. IH

Sincerely,
Isaac Helton

Blog Presentation NV

Dear blog reader,

  My blog is all about restoring my 1968 Mustang. I have been working hard on this blog all year, updating it every time I do something new on my car, and it has taught me different types of writing, and helped me put physical work, into my writing. 

• Our first post was about why we chose automotive restoration. I thought the blog would fit perfect with restoring my mustang because I could update everyone on the car, while also writing about it. You can see how my writing started at the beginning of the year, short and to the point, but it gets better through out the year. 
• February 12th I did a post about the current state of the Mustang. I cleaned, stripped and sanded the engine bay completely to get ready for paint. Next I cut out the battery box and molded in a new one because of rust issues, then  Primed the engine bay and got ready for the top coat. I sprayed the top coat gloss black.. It turned out awesome! 
• You can see how my writing has developed in my SSR post. It has more details and is well written.
• You can see in my free write post  a story about the Mustang. The story is very detailed and well written because I am passionate about this topic.
• This is the current state of the Mustang. 

 I have a passion for cars and fixing them. I'm fully restoring my Mustang from the bottom up, replacing and fixing all the rusted parts. The car was sitting underneath a tarp in Eureka for 20 years before I started working on it. Being next to the ocean, the car rusted very easily. I tore down the engine and rebuilt it from the bottom up in my uncle’s shop, and painted it Ford blue, just like it came from the factory. The front half of the car has been the easiest to restore, I sanded, degrease, and painted the engine bay. Next I rebuilt all the steering, and front brakes. I changed the original drum brakes, to more efficient and safer disc brakes. I did this by changing over the entire spindle, which holds the bearings and all the parts to help the vehicle roll and stop. My uncle was given the disc brake conversion many years ago, so all I had to do was take it apart, and clean it up a bit before mounting it on the car. Next is the hardest and most time consuming part of the restore, the cowl panel. The cowl panel is the panel between the hood and the windshield, where the wiper arms go into the body. The cowl panel has a vent for fresh air, which is cut out on the top to let in the fresh air, what about water you say? That’s the problem. The water is supposed to run into the vent, down the lower cowl, around the fresh air vent collars, down to the lower cowl corners, and pours out the drains. The problem with this is that the water sits next to the vent collar and doesn't drain, which rusts the lower cowl panel, creating holes for the water to go through, which travels down to the floor boards and down the A pillar panel, rusting the floor boards and rusting out the A pillar, creating a very extensive and expensive repair. N.V.

Whats going on with the Mustang? Well....

Many things have been happening with the mustang! As you can see in the pictures below I am replacing the passenger side A pillar panel. Its an extensive job but it must be done, due to horrible past repairs, and again rust. Everything has to be perfectly placed for the fitment of the lower cowl panel.

A pillar panel cut out on the passenger side

Navel Jelly on the rust to eat it away. (Floor board passenger side)

Old A pillar panel, you can see the extensive rust and messed up welds from the previous fix.  Below the black pen line to the right is suppose to be perfectly flat.

Inside the old A pillar, you can see the bent metal at the top where the old repair was.

This is the inside of the pillar on the car. You can see the layers and layers of Bondo on the upper left. You can barely see the metal underneath the bondo.

This is where the bottom of the A Pillar welds to the rocker panel. You can see the water ran down the pillar onto the rocker panel and began to rust.

4/1/14 This weeks Mustang project

This week on the car I am prepping for this weekend  to get the cowl panel welded on. I will tow the car to Eureka to my uncles house so we can weld. This week I am bedlineing the inside of the firewall, to prevent future rust and to tone down the acoustics from road noise and engine heat, and noise. Next I will flush the heater core and blow out the heater box and clean all the foam and make sure the box is free of dirt and dust. At the beginning of the week I ordered a heater plenum and heater hoses from cjponyparts.com. This will complete the heating system. Once I put together the heating system, the cowl panel will be ready to be welded onto the car.

SSR NV Demographics of Enthusiast Vehicle Owners Revealed

According to Demographics of Enthusiast Vehicle Owners Revealed Mustang owners of the 2005-2013 years are typically a homeowner,who  has an annual household income of $72,115 and 68% are male.1994-2004 mustangs, 53% of owners of the SN-95/4th generation Mustang own their own home, have an annual household income of $61,741 and 62% are male. The 2010-2013 Chevrolet Camaro 22% of 5th generation Camaro owners are 35-44 years old, have an annual household income of $74,203 and 72% are male.

S.S.R I.H

IN the article  There's Nothing 'Average 'About Mustang or its Buyers  its all about  the people that like and buy mustangs it says that there is a lower percent of woman buying mustangs . it also list the income if most people that buy mustangs have an income of $55,000 there is a 60 percent of males buy mustangs and the rest is girls with 40 percent. all this article rely talks about is what kind of people like and buy mustangs and what most people like. IH

book report IH

I read a book called sport cars and I do not recommend this book unless you like to read about what it took to make different sport cars and how much different the different parts on this book I think is more for the pictures then anything else i did not like this book and i will not read it again.

creative writing IH

turning and burning 

the road is slick

another turn ahead 

up shift the gear pull the e brake

flipping sideways around the corner   

drifting the stang in perfect form  

IH

passion IH

I am passionate about creating a car that everyone will be interested in it now matter where you go and ask you where you got the car. This makes it feel like I did a good job when I get told that everyone like the 83 Toyota pickup i restored, I also like to make new finders and creating a whole new look to the car. there are many people that liked my truck and asked me to build them a flat bed for there truck i also got asked to restore multiply engines and Bondo there cars. i love to make people want verticals that will make people stop and stare. IH

This weeks project 3/19 NV

This week on the mustang I am looking into changing the rear end from 4 lug to 5 lug. I have the 7.25 rear end in the mustang now. But I have a Ford 9 inch rear end that I could swap out the 7.25 with. I'm looking for 5 lug axles for the 7.25 rear end right now, so I don't have to take the time to make the 9 inch fit right. If I cant find 5 lug axles for the 7.25 I will have to make the 9 inch fit.  NV

Ford 7.25 rear end

Ford 9 inch rear end

creative writing IH

Million

Users 

Storing power

Till 

A

Nos shot makes it

Go

Rear end difference between the Mustang Coupe and GT NV

The 1968 ford mustang has a very sleek design. The coupe has a nice body line that runs from the headlight through the doors disappearing on top of the quarter panel. The GT's have a totally different roof design. Instead of the coupe's "drop off" hood design that drops right into the glass, the GT has a more horizontal look.  The trunk is flush with the window. Here is the difference between the Coupe and GT- Notice the rear end difference. The GT symbol stands for Gran Touring. This is the sport edition to the coupe. The coupe mainly came with a 6 cylinder engine, making it better fuel mileage, and a better family car than the GT's V8.    NV

Coupe

GT

a ssr by IsaacHelton

1968 Mercury Cougar XR7

This guy is practically doing the same car as us it even uses some of the same parts. the mercury is on top and the mustang is on bottom. the 1968 mercury cougar is made fore guys 'project cars are typically less than half their Mustang equivalent with similar options' 

SSR California Mustang, Parts and Accessories NV

California Mustang (http://www.cal-mustang.com) is yet another great website to get your classic mustang parts! They have everything from body panels, to accessories, even electrical! California Mustang is located in San Jose California. I think that Cal-mustang is a great place to get your classic mustang parts. They have affordable prices for anyone to restore their classic! They also have a show room that you can check out that is in San Jose. Compared to CjPonyparts.com, cal-mustang.com is not much to brag on. If I were to recommend a website it would be CjPonyparts. They have a more variety or parts and their website is all up to date. I have not delt with cal-mustang so I do not know how their customer service is, but CjPonyparts would be hard to beat!

SSR NV

I am doing my self-selected response on the website cjponyparts.com. I get my mustang parts from this site. They have great quality parts with low prices. Even fast shipping! They are based in Pennsylvania so the parts take about a week to get here. They have every part imaginable for your Mustang! They even have body metal for the most common rust spots. They have mustang parts from 1964, all the way to 2015! cjponyparts.com has everything from apparel, gifts, electrical, to wheels and tires! They also have parts for your ford Raptor. The customer service is excellent. I bought two parts that I ended up sending back because I did not need them. As soon as they got my package they refunded me right away. Over all Cjponyparts.com is the best website for your mustang parts! 
NV

A story about the Mustang

I was born in the year of 1995, that was the same year my grandma stopped driving the Mustang. When I was just a few months old she drove her car down to Fortuna from Eureka to my house just to see me, her grandson. When I was around 5 months old she stopped driving the car because she would not see as well anymore,but still wanted to drive to the store! My uncle took the car apart for her safety so she would not drive anymore. It was then parked between the two houses and covered up, but never forgotten.

Every Wednesday I spent the day at her house while my parents were at work, I had toy cars all over the house that I use to play with in front of the TV while she watched soap operas and the 49er's game. She told me everyday that I went to her house, that someday I will be driving her mustang around thinking about her. At the time I had no idea what a Mustang even was! I never seen it before! One day she walked me out between the two houses. "Nicky ive been waiting a long time for you to be old enough to see this" She pulled  off the tarp and reveled the baby blue 1968 mustang. It was under the tarp for 5 years. It brought her to tears to see her car again, because of all the great memory's."Can I get inside?" I said. "Of course! I think their is still a driver seat!" she said. I opened the door to the Mustang and carefully looked inside, there was old car parts that filled the backseat and over flowed onto the passenger side. It smelled musty and rusty and was filled with spiderwebs. I dusted off the black leather seat and sat inside. The steering wheel was above my head and I could barely see over the dash. My grandma stood to the side and watched me smile and have fun pretending to drive her car. 

Ever sense that day I asked my grandma everyday if I could go out and play in the car. Of course she let me, she loved it that I was interested in the car. I sat in that car everyday until I could see over the steering wheel and look down the long hood. A few years later my uncle asked me if I wanted to try starting the car and airing up the tires and giving it a quick wash to get the mold off of it. Of course I said yes! With a little help and a battery the motor fired right up! As my grandma watched, I pulled the car out from between the houses and into the open. I gave her a quick wash and the car looked better then ive ever seen it! i was proud of myself. 

A few years passed and my grandma passed away. Her house sat empty. My uncle still lived next door and the Mustang, once again sat between the two houses. 5 years passed, we still go to the house off and on, expesualy when my aunt comes from Hawaii and stays at the house during the holidays. The summer of 2013 I got more interested in the car. That summer I went to the house and uncovered the Mustang, and started it up. It was a little harder this time sense it wasent started in 6 years. I talked to my auto shop teacher about bringing it in so I could get it running and restore it. He said yes, I brought it in that first week of school.
Follow me on my journey to restore my grandmas 68 Mustang!

NV

How to make your car faster without any money

First you have to find out what year make and modal you have then you can have pictures of where your distributor is there should be one bolt on it  loosen that bolt and while the engine is running slightly tern it to hear the engine ether idle down or up if idle goes down tern other way once you have turned  hit the gas of your car to hear for tick if no tick then tern up a bit more if hear a tick tern down instill goes away once finished tighten bolt and you made your car/truck faster another way is you can advance your air fuel mixture to get the perfect air/fuel  by turning the air fuel mixture screw in you should hear your idle go up or down you want to go up so play by ear when you hear the best idle

How to grease your suspension and steering

Sorry about how the video is flipped we are working on fixing that asap!

Humor response NV

Q: What goes on pages 4-5 of the Ford's user's manual? 
A: The train & bus schedule. 

Q: Why are FORD dealers giving away a dog with each FORD sold?
 A: So the owner has a companion to walk home with. 

A blonde took her car into a mechanic shop she said her 710 cap came off and fluid was spewing everywhere. The mechanic asked her to show him the problem. She game him the cap and opened the hood to show him. he replied, " Ma'am, this is an OIL cap and the fluid is oil, Thank you and have a good day.


NV

A funny story about cars

This one time in auto shop I was working on a Ford, tearing the engine down to take out the good parts and put them on a better engine, so that it will run better. My  partner and I had to take out the "fly wheel" and as we were taking it off my partner dropped it on my finger. I started to bleed all over and I ended up getting a scar.  

What not to say to the nice police officer  Hey, you must've been doing about 125 mph to keep up with me! Good Job!

A guy walks into a bar and demands to know "Who's the strongest in here?"The toughest guy looks at him and says "I am the strongest around here!"The other guy politely asks "Can you help me push my Ford to the gas station?"

IH

Interview post

I interviewed Tony Miles, of the Fortuna High School Auto Shop. Tony has years of experience in the automotive field. He Worked at Lithia, a Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge dealership in Eureka, for 11 years. Before that he went to school to be an automotive mechanic. Tony states, "The best part of my job is teaching young adults, and helping them accomplish a big project." " When did you turn your first wrench?" I asked. " When I was going to school at Hoopa High School I was in the auto shop program.  NV

Guest blog from Isaiah Smith

            Automotive restoration guest speaker

Automotive restoration is very difficult thing to do. It can be pricy and time consuming but if you know how to do it can be easy. You may already have a vehicle to work on, but if buying one particularly for restoration keep in mind that sourcing parts for the rare makes will be more difficult and more expensive. Classic cars of the 50’s and 60’s are popular models for restorers, but any model can be re-built with time and patience. As restoration involves much more than making the exterior look good, you will need all the right tools from the wide range of them; including torque wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers as well as those for the specialist jobs of welding, polishing and painting. Almost every part will need replacing to produce a traditionally accurate and fully operating vehicle. The amount of work needed will depend on the condition of the vehicle. Clearly you may find in a junkyard will naturally need lots more muscle than one that has been garaged by a dedicated owner. The car may need entirely re-upholstering, perhaps new seats are needed or the dashboard gauges will need replacing and an original radio to be located. You will need to paint the exterior and clean the interior with a vacuum. The after some tweaking here and there you have a beautiful car that should last a life time.

Guest blog from Tanner Cordeiro

Cordeiro’s Guest Blog for Nick Vellis

            When crafting such beauty as Nicks “soon to be beauty” 68’ mustang. When you are creating a car from ground up, you need to know a little about what you’re doing, and it just takes some TLC (tender loving care). When creating an older car, you cannot just start ripping off all of the body parts, half the time the parts aren’t even being made for the car you’re working on, it’s an old car. Almost all the older cars that need some type of body work, whether it’s the frame, dints, scratches, humps, bumps, rust, corrosion etc. Typically it takes the right tools and the right technique to be able to smooth out the body and make that car look as amazing as it possibly ever could. Normally when it comes to bad rust issues, you could have to cut out metal, form new metal to weld back into place, and then take a grinder to smooth it out. For dints and dings, normally would pound out the dint with a slide hammer after welding a piece of metal to the part of the dent you’re going to pound out. To finish smoothing out the dents / dings to a complete smooth surface, normally you would use plastic filler called Bondo. People when talking about Bondo they are usually referring to the automotive filler. Bondo is a compound from a resin base resembling putty an a thick liquid hardener. When kept separate, they remain supple. Mixed with one another the compound becomes hard. Upon application the Bondo dries to a nice hard finish, it is marked to be as durable as lead itself! After application you take certain grades of sand paper, to finish and get that smooth surface across the body of your car. When sanding Bondo you can use your eyes for looking at different textures, patterns, or lines, you feel along the Bondo and the body so that you find out when it is smooth. This could take multiple layers of Bondo to get it right, but whatever it takes to make that car look amazing!

The ALL NEW 2014 Ford Mustang GT500 NV

The 2015 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 offers a 5.8L DOHC 32-Valve V8 engine delivering a whopping 662 horsepower. With its TREMEC 6-speed transmission and supercharger with intercooler, this Mustang can pull 0 to 60 MPH in 3.5 seconds. Which is very impressive for a street legal, all factory car. The brakes are also impressive. Brembo setup this car with a 6 piston front brake caliper. Your everyday vehicle is only a 2 piston caliper. Other options include a navagation system,recaro seats, heated seats, and a 1,000-watt stereo system. An Electronics Package bundles the nav system with HD radio and dual-zone automatic climate control. As you can see, this is a fast, badass car. But of course it has its problems too, because well....it is a FORD. NV

Dodge Charger progression

The Dodge Charger has changed through the years from the 1960s to 2014. The newer Dodge Charger doesn’t   have the original two doors. It’s got four doors and has new features for luxury. For example, it has seat warmers and also heated steering wheel. The old Dodge Charger was made because the Ford dealers were ahead of them, so they had to make a car that everyone wanted to buy so they made a fastback with a big block engine in it the older Dodges went out of style and decided to make a torque car that could burn the tires in any gear. This big engine makes it easy to drift around corners or even win drag races. Some people modify their Dodge Charger and make the engine have more horse power by putting blowers and superchargers on it. The new Dodge Charger  has much better gas mileage. It gets about 31 mpg on highway.

1964 Mustang Types

            In 1964 Ford came out with a brand new car, the Mustang. The Cheep end hard top coupe came with a 170 cubic inch 2.8L straight 6 engine with a 3 speed manual transmission. Which retailed for $2,368. Today, early mustangs have always been popular and are an American icon. Actually there aren't any Mustangs that are stamped 1964.  They all carry a 5 in the VIN number, meaning a 1965.  Mustang Coupe and Convertible production began in April 1964. Being that Ford started production of the mustang on 1964, but stamped the cars 1965 people have been calling this year of production car the 1964 ½. It can be difficult to prove a true 1964 1/2 Mustang, but any early Mustang with a D, F or U engine code is definitely a 1964 1/2.  Mustangs with engine codes A or T are considered 1965's.  Mustangs with the C or K code engine option could be either a 1964 1/2 or a 1965 Mustang.  It is important to check the date on the door tag.  This date gives you further information for when the car was built. Other than the engine codes and vin numbers, as you can see in the pictures below, the difference between 1964 ½ and 1965 mustangs are mainly cosmetic,    

http://www.ebay.com/gds/1964-1-2-and-1965-Ford-Mustangs-What-Is-The-Difference-/10000000001688094/g.html

Date codes used in this list are as Ford used in 1964 and 1965:

	Jan. 1965 = A
	Feb. 1965 = B
Mar. 1964 = C	Mar. 1965 = Q
Apr. 1964 = D	Apr. 1965 = R
May 1964 = E	May 1965 = S
Jun. 1964 = F	Jun. 1965 = T
Jul. 1964 = G	Jul. 1965 = U
Aug. 1964 = H	Aug. 1965 = V
Sep. 1964 = J
Oct. 1964 = K
Nov. 1964 = L
Dec. 1964 = M

1964 1/2

1965

68 stang poem

Turn of the key, the mustang fires

put it in first, the revs get hire

pop of the clutch, the tires turn

shift into 2nd, burn baby burn

Here I go, approaching the turn

60 mile an hour, on a 20 hour turn

crank of the wheel, smashing the gas

spin goes my 68, drifting  holding the gas

Around the turn she goes, sparkling on the moonlight glow.

fabrication can be fun and also rely complicating

  this is why fabrication can be fun and also rely complicating. first it can be fun because you get to weld and make it like factory parts but know its limits and also be proud of what you made. Sometimes factory parts aren't strong enough to be used because they try to rip you of by selling you parts made with cheaper metal. It can be extremely hard  because the angling has to be perfect or you would have to cut the weld and re weld it again it and this can be frustrating after the forth time doing it. you can also get electrocuted or evin burnd and it sucks.  ih

The current state of the Mustang 2/12/14

Over the Christmas break I got a lot done on the mustang. We molded, shaped and welded in place the new battery tray. We removed the lower cowl panel, because we saw more rust underneath. Next we removed the lower side cowl panel on the passenger side,between the door jam to the firewall. This piece had extensive rust near the door jam, it also had a bad patch panel in the middle of the panel. I ordered this panel off of CJponyparts.com and just received it today. NV

Lower side cowl panel (passenger side)

         

After engine bay primer 

Before engine bay primer

Inside the dash with the lower cowl off

outside of  battery box

New battery tray molded and replaced and ready for paint

Upper and lower Cowl Panels out

Driver side lower piller replaced

Engine bay painted- final coat. waiting for the cowl panel to be welded in to complete painting.

The battery box still has to be completely welded

Engine stripped down and cleaned. Ready for reasemble

Cast iron intake piece welded from being broken

Cast iron intake piece welded from being broken

In 1964 Ford came out with a brand new car, the Mustang. The low end hard top coupe came with a 170 cubic inch 2.8L straight 6 engine engine with a three speed manual transmission. Which retailed for $2,368. Today, early mustangs have always been popular and are an American icon. Even though they arnt as pricey as Corvettes or anything with a Hemi, values of early mustangs, expesually convertibles, are gaining value steadily. While Mustangs are quite reliable, the early mustangs are not built to last. The lower cowl panel, located where the windshield wiper arms are mounted, between the hood and the windshield. Are prone to rust. The upper cowl panel has vents,  water travels down the vents and runs down to the lower cowl panel, and then travels down to the lower vents that let the water run out. The problem is, when leaves or pine needles block the lower vents, the water does not drain, and the water lays on the lower panel, rusting it out causing water to run on the floor panels and rusting out the floor, creating the Flintstones car. Fords horrible design was set to fail. I believe this should have been a recall and fixed as soon as it was found. All of this leads up to this....

NV

hope to achieve

i hope to achieve a well built mustang that i could be proud to say i helped on it and tell stories about it. i also would like to make this car go as fast as the engine could make it go by putting after market parts on it such as higher cams and a turbo kit. I want to learn how to properly lay down paint and primer. this is what i hope to achieve. IH