Hi guys!
hope all of you are doing good
by what got us there i mean how the pacecar ended up getting so much respect in a show with so many nice cars.
i had been fixing things on the car weeks earlier to impress since the foxbodies usually get less attention in shows here.
my friend with the 67 fastback and i send progress pics to each other and he is friends with the organizers of the event and had sent pictures to them to which they didnt have much to say about but they wanted me there because its a Mustang.
The dashboard looked like crap so i went to a paint shop and had them spray it, the car looks ok outside but the interior panels had like 20 years of gunk on them because they had never been cleaned, i spent a couple days wiping hard with armorall all interior plastic to clean them up and it did clean up to look nice when you press your face against the window
I painted all the black trim, resprayed the FMIC since the black paint was coming off. i was really focused on making the car look good but the main thing i should have been concerned about was a bad starter. i didnt really care because for months ive had a 3/4 inch steel pipe in the car to tap the starter and it "clicks" and starts ok. i didnt want to get into that and have a shop scratch or dent the car when i wanted it to look good at the show.
so on my pursuit of making the car look nice 4 days before the show i decide that the decals would be a good way to go since im so tired of having people look at me as if i have mental problems explaining to them that i have a pacecar and showing them pictures on google images to prove it. i had tried to make them a while back locally but the guy was a flake so i decided ill hold on and someday buy the original decal kit. But with wanting to impress in the show i decided to do it and went to a guy with a reputation to keep so that he does his best to get them right.
He charged me $250 dollars, we didnt have time to do the scoop or the taillight panel but im going to bring it back this week.
these are after i left the decal shop:
so after these pictures with the decals is where the whole ordeal takes a turn. i sent the pictures to my friend and an hour later the show invite changed from "yes you can come to the show" to "Sir, would you like your car indoors or on the sidewalk?" or something like that
i said i wanted my car indoors to which they said that there was going to be a ride around town and the cars inside will not be able to attend because its to hard to take them out.
so this was music to my ears! bad starter = not interested in riding around and stopping in different places
so the cars that were going to be indoors had to be there a day early.
with the news of getting to be in the showroom with 8 or 10 cars out of more than 60 i decided to put a new set of tires on since the ones it had were really old and had been driven flat. they just ruined the whole look of the car. so i roll up with my new set of tires and the organizers are there setting everything up for the show. I was driving towards the showroom but waiting for them to wave me in because i didnt know anyone, all the arrangements were done through my friend with the 67.
they wave me in but i get out and they say "your car cant be in the showroom"
It turns out they had seen the pictures and wanted me to pace the ride around town. i tried as hard as i could to convince them to just leave it in the showroom because of the bad starter but in the end they agreed that it will be the ONLY car to leave the showroom.
Funny thing is i went to pick up my girlfriend to ride with me and when i showed up half of the cars had already taken off and they had already made room for my car to get out and everybody was looking for me!
so we jumped in the car and it took us like 10 minutes to get to the front of the line! I didnt immediately get in front because the president of the club was in front in his 66 convertible and didnt know how he felt about my tardiness. but he waved me to the front and we got to a big park that we were trying to circle. cars that didnt have a space would come to the front and i would make space available behind me.
We were trying to circle this whole park here in Santo Domingo its the Plaza de la Bandera. but we didnt have enough cars. maybe next year.
We had been there like half an hour and everybody is getting ready to go, so you know that this is where the starter comes into the story.
Believe me theres alot of pressure when 60+ cars behind are waiting for you to take off and your car doesnt start.
but my friend jumped out and pushed us, the car wouldnt start and i hear my friend scream "what are you doing put it in second gear!"
and thats the day i learned push starting works better in 2nd and not 3rd. lol
The last stop of the day was in the Alcazar de Colon, a park where christopher Columbuses family home is on the island, built in 1510.
The car got alot of attention, people driving by while we rode around town were asking us if everybody was following us, in the showroom people were taking pictures, at the park i could tell that people were really interested in it and wanted to meet the owner and know more about it. i had no idea that the decals made such a difference on the car.
Anyways my advise to the other decal-less Pacecars is put your decals on and the car will be greatly appreciated!
hope you guys like my story
Marshall
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