Volume 29 Issue 10
October 2007
A Word From Wayne
SMC Pony Tales Page 2
Up to the
Minutes
Suncoast Mustang Club
Meeting Minutes: September 10, 2007
Meeting called to order at 7:45 p.m. at AutoWay Ford by President Wayne Farnham.
We had a very interesting slide show presentation given by Jim and Lucy Carroll about their month long vacation in England. Jim and Lucy narrated the slide show and told us all about the people they met and places they saw. It made us all wish we were retired so we could take some of the cool trips like Jim and Lucy.
The Tampa club has their MOSI show on October 13, 2007
Super Sunday in Bradenton is November 18, 2007
Toys for Tots toy drive and fun run is coming up, TBA.
Our next meeting will be at Quaker Steak and Lube on October 8, at 7 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Hansen
Secretary
“Mosey on over” to MOSI
On Saturday, October 13, The Mustang Club of Tampa will sponsor their annual car show at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), 4801 E. Fowler Avenue. The show runs from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm, with awards at 3:30.
Registration for the show includes two free passes to the museum. The first 100 pre-registered will get a free show T-shirt. Only pre-registered cars will be judged. A registration form is included in this newsleter.
Every year, our club is well represented with a large number of our members driving across the bay to enjoy the day’s events. Make plans to attend the show and make our club the “best-represented” at MOSI.
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In Remembrance 
Bob Kellow was someone we always looked forward to visiting with at car shows in this area. Bob wasn’t just a Mustang parts vendor, he was a guy who took a personal interest in people. Bob didn’t just ask about how your car project was coming along, he wanted to know about how the family was doing, or how the job was going or just how things were going in general. He had lots of advice when needed and he also knew how to listen.
We recently lost Bob from a heart attack which happened as he was sleeping. His passing will leave an empty spot for many in our club. Bob was always a lot of fun to be around and always had a positive way of looking at life. He had a way of making you feel special just by the interest he took in what you were doing whether it was about your mustang or just about you.
Bob leaves behind his children and grandchildren and a lot of others who were his friends. Those of us who were fortunate enough to know Bob are saddened by his death. We must take comport in knowing that a good person such as Bob is now in a better place. If our “maker” is a Mustang restorer, He or She will probably asking Bob for advice and Bob will be smiling and helping just as he always did for us.
Happy
birthday 
Bob Nielsen October 6th
Joe Speakes October 9th
William Johnson October 9th
Ron Dring October 24th
Sherman Bliss October 28th
Gloria Lockwood October 28th
Karen Slacter October 29th
Belated birthday wishes to Kathie Robison 8/7 and Jim Robison 9/27
Happy Anniversary
John and Donna Mastalski October 10th
Gary and Gail Oakley October 22nd
Joe and June Brend October 27th
Victor and Karen Slacter October 27th
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AUTObiography
by Finley Johnson
My first experience with owning an automobile was more an issue of necessity than a love affair with any particular car. Being a teenager in the early 60’s in South Georgia was a real bore if you didn’t have wheels. You would even have to bum a ride to the local Friday and Saturday night drag races!! Dad had a ’63 Rambler American station wagon, but it had to be a special occasion to use it! My Dad said I could have a car when I could afford to pay for it. That meant “not likely anytime soon for a farm boy”. Well a friend and I decided that things were going to have to change. We managed to scrape together $50 between us and a trip to the local junk yard proved successful as we drove away in a 1954 four door Dodge, Red Ram V-8, automatic with a beautiful view of the highway under our feet as we cruised down the road. Dad wasn’t too happy; but we did pay for it! I don’t remember exactly how long I drove the Dodge before we sold it to a guy in the army who drove it all the way from Georgia to Washington State.
My next vehicle was a Ford. With the money from the sale of the Dodge, plus $10 a month to a family friend, I closed a deal on a ’46 Ford, two door sedan, flat head V-8, with the trunk floor area rusted out from having fertilizer hauled in it. This car did manage to get me most of the way through high school before its mechanical overhead forced me to sell it to a friend (at a loss)!
Then there was the ’56 Ford truck that I had to park on a hill everywhere I went because the starter was bad. The engine always quieted down once the STP oil treatment got circulated. Then there was the ’55 Olds that I finally traded in on a used yellow ’64 Ford Fairlane, two-door hardtop, 260 V-8. This was a really nice vehicle and quite an improvement over some of my past transportation. However, this love affair was short lived. The mid 60’s were not to kind to 19 year olds who dropped out of college, and it wasn’t too long before Uncle Sam was looking for me. I went in the Navy in 1966 and the Fairlane went to a friend who took over the payments. At the time the basic pay for a new recruit was $86 a month---not enough to make car payments, buy gas, etc.!
There were three cars that sort of took a small back room in my mind. Back in those good old days in Georgia there was a beautiful red ’65 Mustang convertible and a bad ’65 poppy red Mustang fastback hipo. Obviously not my rides! Then in 1967 I was stationed in Memphis, TN. There was an Auto Show in the Civic Center in Memphis and one of the cars on display was a prototype Mustang Mach I. I took pictures of it; but they were lost along the way. As I remember it did look a lot like the ’69 Mach.
Fast forward to 1985. There were a few cars in between, including a ’74 Datsun 260Z bought in 1982 that we still drive. Susan and I were looking to buy and we started looking at Mustangs. In January 1985 we found a ’65 Mustang coupe 289-4V, Arcadian Blue (yes, a ’66 color) with a white vinyl top, pony interior, A/C, and power steering and brakes. We bought it! It was a solid original car that we decided needed some freshening up. We had a fresh coat of paint and a new vinyl top applied. But then—we decided the interior needed doing also. So we put in new carpet, upholstery, and door panels, and painted the metal surfaces. Looking good! Everything was looking so good that we decided to detail the engine compartment! See how the project grows.
(continued on Page5)
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Somewhere along the way Bob Wilhelm left a card on our windshield at Ponderosa with info about the Suncoast Mustang Club. I joined and started going to the meetings. We were encouraged to take the ’65
to the Gulf Coast Mustang show in Pensacola in March 1986. We thought the Pony looked good but we were not sure about showing it. Lost the muffler off the car between Tallahassee and Pensacola (a trip to Midas after registering for the show). We were more nervous about showing the Pony after we found out that there were about 36 cars in the “driven class” including all body styles and years from ’65 to ‘73, and this was when they only gave awards to the first three cars in the class! At awards Sunday, you can imagine our surprise and excitement when Susan’s name was called for 1st place. We were hooked! We continued to show the car and went into the concours driven class. One Saturday night at a cruise-in St. Petersburg in March 1989 a Canadian took a liking to the ’65, and after some negotiations, the Pony was on its way to Canada.
Too bad you say. Finley and Susan without a Mustang. Not hardly! You have probably heard the saying that once you own a Mustang, they tend to multiply. It happens. By the time we sold the ’65 we already had three more Ponies in the corral! We had bought a “plain Jane” 1967 coupe, 289-2V, automatic, Acapulco Blue, in 1985 shortly after the ’65. What started our to be a redo for a daily driver soon turned into a full-blown restoration of the ’67.
We started the restoration of the ’67 in December 1986 and after many long hours of hard work and Susan lying on her back under the car sandblasting the undercarriage, three paint jobs (my first attempt at painting), and a work marathon of 34 ½ hours straight trying to get the car together for the Eastern National Show in Atlanta in May 1987, we didn’t make it. Just ran out of time, so we took the ’65. The ’67 did make it to the Great Southern Grand National in Biloxi, MS in August. Reward for all the long hours was a 1st place award in concours driven. For a while we had two ponies to chose from when going to the shows. We continued to show the ’67 until it found a home on St. Simons Island, GA in 2001.
In the meantime we had purchased a ‘64 ½ “D” code 289-4V Mustang coupe, a ’64 Fairlane hardtop, a’64 Ford F100, a ’69 Mach I, 428 Cobra Jet and an ’83 Mustang GT convertible (1 of 1009 produced). We did a driver restoration on the ’64 F100 and the Datsun 260Z in the early 90s. With Mustangs, you have to be patient. We had good intentions of getting right to work restoring the ’64 ½ and the Mach, but it didn’t work out that way. The ’64 ½ had been sitting for about 15 years and we finally got motivated to start a restoration on it in 2005. It is currently a project in process and should be ready for paint soon, Wimbledon White with red interior.
The ’69 Mach has been even more patient. We bought it in 1987, needing a total restoration, and it has been sitting in the garage for 20 years waiting for us to decide that we are ready to tackle that project. Once the ‘64 ½ has been completed, it may be time for the Mach. We look at our previous efforts, mistakes, and successes as practice and experience gained to eventually begin a total restoration on the Mach! Be patient and enjoy your Mustangs!
“AUTO” BIOGRAPHIES NEEDED
There are so many great cars owned by SMC members with an interesting story waiting to be told. Submit your “auto”biography and let your car get the attention it deserves. Stories may be sent to jdellert121@hotmail.com to be published in Pony Tales.
Thanks Finley for your excellent AutoBiography
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Southern Arizona Mustang Club visits the
3rd Annual Route 66 Days in Flagstaff, Arizona
Submitted by Sandy Hand
Friday, September 7th dawned bright, sunny and hot in Tucson, Arizona. We were staging for the convoy up to Flagstaff in the early morning. As we gathered, two things were on our minds: looking forward to cool temperatures for a couple of days and eyeing the clouds overhead threatening rain on all the nicely washed and detailed cars.
We ended up with 18 cars from Tucson making the trip. As we passed by Phoenix, another member, Bernie Burl, hooked up with us. We all continued up the pike, stopping for lunch at a roadside café about an hour outside of Flagstaff.
Things always happen in 3’s, right? Well, the service was terrible and after a long wait, we were finally able to finish lunch and continue on our way. About 40 miles south of Flagstaff, one of our members, Andy Hernandez, blew out a rear tire. We all stopped to assist him in changing the tire and most of the guys huddled over him like surgeons in the operating room, volunteering their knowledge and experience in the finer points of tire-changing. My husband, Jim, jumped out of our car, set up a safety zone, and directed traffic around it. A half-hour later we were on our way again.
When we arrived at our hotel, the third thing happened. None of our rooms were ready! After waiting for a while out in the parking lot, we were finally able to check in, dump our bags, and head over to the Car Show Registration Desk.
You have never seen a slick operation until you have watched this gang in action. We were very impressed. The Route 66 Car Club has this down to a science – everyone who was involved actually showed up, knew what they had to do and did it professionally and accurately – this was no amateur group by any means. After registration, Andy, of course, had to go to the Ford place and buy some new tires. The rest of us separated for dinner or participation in the Ice Cream Cruise and Poker Runs after making plans to stage the following morning in the hotel parking lot.
Saturday morning we caravaned over to the nearby Target parking lot to hook up with Phoenix’s Copperstate Mustang Club. They had about 35 cars so we made an impressive showing traveling back through town towards the main event area. The exhibit area consisted of almost all the downtown area – about 12 blocks, and was limited to pedestrian traffic except for two major East/West streets. A total of 300 cars, trucks, and motorcycles were on display. The City of Flagstaff limits them to no more than 300. If your application is 301, well, sorry, try again next year.
The Southern Arizona Mustang Club and the Copperstate Mustang Club had the honor this year of being the featured clubs. As a result, we got the best exhibit space to park our cars. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the cooler temperatures. The show lasted officially until 4pm.
SUNCOAST MUSTANG CLUB
6705 Cardinal Drive South
St. Petersburg, FL 33707-3803
We’re on the Web!
www.restomodplus.com
Happy Fall!
Members who wish to advertise a car or parts can do so at no cost. Contact the newsletter editor with your ad. Ads will be placed in the newsletter for the following month. If you wish to continue the ad, let us know at least one week before the next meeting