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I think I mentioned earlier in the thread that I had my local trimmer, Alex, redo my dash pad.
The original was ferked not as good as it could be so I bought a replacement from eBay. The replacement was a different color and would require a re-color to match - I spent quite a few shillings at my local paint supplier and had them custom match some vinyl paint for me. In the meantime, because I a) have no common sense b) am impatient c) have a slavish devotion, bordering on insanity, to reusing as many original bits as I can I took the old dash pad to Alex. Alex was reluctant beyond words delighted at the challenge
Before After  I will be up with the car next week and will try to get a better picture - at the time it was too exciting to get the dash pad in to worry about photos. All in all, it cost me about the same to have Alex retrim the dash pad as it did to buy and get the eBay one delivered. The only difference being that Alex had to put a seam along the edge to get the vinyl to sit right - I think I prefer it that way.
WOW. I just said some rude words, looking at that result. Beautiful. |
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A long while in the making but, here is another annoyingly brief update.
I had previously mentioned choosing a personalized plate for the wagon - my first choice being 46O WGN as it is a 460 CI powered wagon. The problem being that the DMV doesn't allow substituting numbers for letters and letters for numbers - the number zero not being available for personalized plates I was substituting the letter O for the zero.
DMV requires an explanation of the meaning so I couldn't provide the actual meaning or it would be kicked back for violation of the rule mentioned above - despite the best efforts of some here on RR and a few of my mates nothing sounded plausible - I then opted for plan "b"... to lie. The other night I sat down to put said plan into effect only to discover that the DMV website won't accept 46O as a valid combination - it let's you go all the way through the application process right up until check out and then it kicks you off 
I have another idea but I am not sure... 46T WGN......... thoughts?
As you will see from earlier pictures of the car there were some almost imperceptible signs that the original owner's failing eyesight had caused him to brush up against it with his forklift - really only visible in the right light. Like this:
Here it is after a light rub with some T-cut, I am afraid I don't have pictures of the process as I am sure you're all familiar with it.
Some of you may have seen this posted on grizz 's USA road trip thread:
It was a posting on Craigslist and was listed at $1,800 with buggered timing - grizz declined, can't think why  I mean, who wouldn't want a non-running 4,800 lb car based miles and miles from where you are located? |
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Last Edit: Oct 8, 2022 22:50:49 GMT by wildrover
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Knowing the outcome of car no 2……
I am crying not so quietly here.
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Nov 10, 2022 16:55:50 GMT
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Somewhere near Los Angeles.
At the bottom of the Grapevine  In the middle of nowhere, California
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Last Edit: Nov 10, 2022 16:58:07 GMT by wildrover
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Nov 10, 2022 21:14:58 GMT
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Just wonderful in all respects!
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1968 Mini MkII, 1968 VW T1, 1967 VW T1, 1974 VW T1, 1974 VW T1 1303, 1975 Mini 1000 auto, 1979 Chevette, 1981 Cortina, 1978 Mini 1000 1981 Mini City, 1981 Mini van, 1974 Mini Clubman, 1982 Metro City, 1987 Escort, 1989 Lancia Y10, 1989 Cavalier, 1990 Sierra, 1990 Renault 19, 1993 Nova, 1990 Citroen BX, 1994 Ford Scorpio, 1990 Renault Clio, 2004 Citroen C3, 2006 Citroen C2, 2004 Citroen C4, 2013 Citroen DS5. 2017 DS3 130 Plenty of other scrappers!
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Nov 12, 2022 21:53:39 GMT
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At the bottom of the Grapevine, many, many, many hours after the photo above
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Nov 12, 2022 23:19:02 GMT
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The next morning... trying to pinpoint the exact moment in a series of poor decisions that led to this being parked outside my house...
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Sooo... I guess stuff happened. A while back a friend sent me a link to a 1974 Country Squire listed on Craigslist for $1,800 - I say "friend" but I am having a rethink. I mean, he knows my weak spot is large green 70s Ford wagons so, sending me this link is like offering a recovering heroin addict a free hit "just for old time's sake" - so, you know, friend. Regardless of Sal's malicious intent I stayed strong and instead I taunted Rian with the notion of buying this while he was on his epic road trip forum.retro-rides.org/post/2748248Clearly Rian is made of sterner stuff than I as he declined but, the rot had set in. Every day I checked the link to see if the car was still for sale and every day I talked myself out of it... until, one day, the ad was gone and I was bereft - still, at least I hadn't made a foolish purchase. I emailed Sal and told him it was a shame but, as I didn't get the phone number there was nothing I could do now... then I got an alert on my phone - Sal had already spoken to the seller and had just texted me his number and some more pictures, ballz. Of course I did what any sensible person in my position would do - I called the seller, Joe, and after chatting for a few minutes I made a cheeky offer of $500... he said yes, double ballz. I gave Joe some spiel about I couldn't collect for at least 5 weeks as we were going on vacation etc, etc. He still said okay - *sigh* Me and Lesley set off on vacation to our happy place in the town of Occidental in the Sonoma Redwoods - one night at dinner I raised the notion of buying this wagon (of course I laid the blame squarely at Sal's feet) and, to my everlasting surprise she agreed  - who are you and what have you done with the real Lesley?? Now a clever man would use this as an opportunity to "discover" and "buy" the wagon I already own and bringing it out into the light, thus relieving me of keeping its very existence secret. Yes, that is what a cleaver man would do, I am not that man - instead I was now committed to buying a second station wagon, a non-runner based only on a few Craigslist photos.
Back home from holiday I reached out to Joe - he was a little snarky despite me having told him that I would need about 5 weeks - he told me that he needed it gone as his landlord was giving him grief. He told me that pick-a-part had offered him $600 - there it was, my way out "oh dear, well you should take the better offer, thanks anyway." But no, I just said I was sticking with $500 and could be there on Wednesday... once again, he agreed - why oh why did I forgo the lifeline I was offered.
So now I was committed. I called Sal who had just bought a new trailer - yes I could use it, no the winch wasn't installed yet but he would get it done for me and hell no, he wasn't coming with me - barsteward.
I have a 2012 Touareg TDI as my daily which is rated for towing 7700 lbs - the wagon weighs in at about 4,800 lbs and the trailer was somewhere around 1,500 lbs so it seemed as it would be fine. I arrived at Sal's work on Wednesday morning at 10 - he wasn't there but had left his guys with instructions to have the winch fitted to the trailer and everything ready for me when I arrived - they were just wrapping up when I got there so it was only a matter of a few minutes before the trailer was hitched and all the straps and winch batteries were loaded. Now there was nothing but highway between me and the town of Tracy. As a way of showing Sal my appreciation for all that he had done I broke one of the lights on his new trailer within the first 15 feet of driving!
Leaving Los Angeles was awful, traffic on the 405 up and over the Sepulveda pass was the usual mess and, the first 25 miles took me almost an hour. The VW pulled the trailer with no problems at all. It has been a very long time since I drove with a trailer and Los Angeles traffic wasn't the most fun place to reacquaint myself with the art but, I survived. And I now had another 350+ miles to polish up my skillz.
The first real challenge was the Tejon Pass, known locally as the Grapevine - it's a multi lane freeway so not all twisty, turny like some mountain passes but the grade is pretty fierce and, as it's a major freeway it is heavily used by trucks running up and down the state as well as to and from Mexico, Canada and all points in between. The high point of the road is right around Fort Tejon and is 4,144 ft - the descent headed north is a bit of a roller coaster ride, the freeway is a bit twisty and it's a 6 - 7% grade for about 5 miles. Throw in a thousand big rigs and all the "weaver birds" speeding by in their jelly moulds and you can imagine what it's like. I kept in 4th on the autobox and let it burble down on engine braking - faster than the 18 wheelers but a lot slower than the suicide jockeys.
At the bottom I stopped for tacos and a wee break. The overarching smell here is burnt brakes and in my time I have seen more that a couple of big rigs with flames coming from the hubs.
The next stretch of road is a bit featureless - especially when you have driven it many times before, it really is just a means to an end - I suppose for first timers it's all new and interesting. I heard a story about American pilots during the 1st Gulf War, they kept hearing RAF lads reporting they were flying over MMFD - where was this secret location and why didn't it show on American maps? Turns out it stood for miles and miles of f*****g desert - that kind of sums up the 5 freeway although there is a lot of flat agricultural land as well as a huge cattle yard.
I arrived at Joe's place just before dark - I was all about getting loaded and back on the road so it was a fairly quick affair. We chatted briefly, exchanged money for title and loaded the wagon on the trailer - thank God for the winch, without it I don't know how we would have managed. With the load on the VW had a serious squat so, we re-positioned the wagon mindful of needing to keep tongue weight and also not overhanging too far. Coming in I had to cross railroad tracks, now that I was loaded I knew there was no way I could make the crossing again and I didn't want the day to end with the headline of "70s Wagon in Tracy Train Wreck" - so a longer, less train-wreckish route was found and off I did go, out into the night fully loaded with my latest mistake in tow 
The drive back was long, relatively uneventful and tiring - there is no relaxing when you're towing. I arrived home just before midnight - knackered.
On our recent vacation my car averaged about 30 mpg (US gallons); however, on this trip I barely managed an average of 15 mpg.
I drove a little over 770 miles and spent 12+ hours on the road.
I'll give an assessment and outline of plans later - thanks for reading this far  |
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Last Edit: Nov 13, 2022 6:45:28 GMT by wildrover
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Can't complain about that fuel economy, especially given that your gallons are only 0.8 gallons each. Congratulations on your purchase.
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igor cheers mate. Yeah I s'pose I can't grumble about the fuel economy too much, especially as I was hauling the best part of 3 1/2 old money tons up the near vertical cliff face of the Grapevine
I am afraid I have some tough decisions to make about the new wagon. More on that later.
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I never know when to keep quiet and when not, ask my boss. But I can say that I am pleased for you, and in equal measure envious. That wagon appeals in a big way, but I suspect it would have just ended up being too much car for my space here. akku probably would be able to use it a lot more effectively than me. I also really enjoyed your write up and commentary of the “Fetch” Thanks. |
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Last Edit: Nov 13, 2022 9:13:37 GMT by grizz
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Nov 13, 2022 16:03:22 GMT
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grizz - one of us had to buy that wagon, only to find out if its a Country Squire, Country Sedan or a Ranch Wagon! If it had been a 4 door pilarless it would have been mine... But I'm glad someone has done the right thing and saved it.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Nov 13, 2022 23:06:19 GMT
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akku - you raise an interesting point that I forgot to mention earlier - is it a Country Squire, Country Sedan or, a Ranch Wagon? Over on grizz 's thread akku rightly pointed out that it wasn't a Country Squire, which is how it was advertised - at the time I noted that it didn't appear to be a '73 as listed, the front grille and headlight bezels seemed to point to a '74 model. There is an extra layer of mystery that won't be solved until I take the time to decode the door tag. Speaking to Joe he told me that it was a Country Squire that had had the vinyl wood removed and had been repainted; he also said that it was definitely a '73. Just to confuse matters even further the pink slip/title/log book notes that it was first sold in 1972. All of the above can't be true. After hearing Joe's version of events it all made sense until I took another look at the pictures - if what he was saying was true, someone would have to remove the trim surrounding the wood grain, fill all the holes and, then locate the trim from a Country Sedan and install that - I agree with akku that it is most likely a Country Sedan model. I don't have a picture of the door tag that would give paint colour, body style, axle, etc. But, I do have the VIN that gives some basic information - hopefully akku can help out and double check me on this. The VIN starts with 3J76S. 3 indicates it was built in '73 which under the nomenclature of the time indicates a 1974 model year, which appears to be confirmed by the front end styling - this also shows that the title has the wrong year of manufacture but... meh! J indicates the car was built at the Ford plant in Los Angeles. 76 is the body serial code and in my parts interchange book it shows 76 as a 4 door wagon, Country Squire - however, I would need to confirm by locating the body style code. If it's 71F it's the Sedan and 71H is the Squire. S is the engine code - my parts interchange book has a typo here that says this is the body type but that is incorrect - S indicates a 400 CID engine with the 2 barrel carburetor.
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Last Edit: Nov 13, 2022 23:28:53 GMT by wildrover
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Nov 15, 2022 22:54:01 GMT
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I now have a picture of the door tag, although it is very faded.
I have a correction to my earlier decoding - the 3 in the VIN denotes the model year and not the year of manufacture, so it is a 1973 model year not a 1974 and it was manufactured in September 1972. This also means that the pink slip is correct and first date of sale was 1972.
According to the door tag the body style code is 71H which means it is in fact a Country Squire - which is very odd as there aren't any visible signs that it had the vinyl wood and surrounding trim and, the trim it does have is the same as the Country Sedan. Perhaps there was a vinyl delete option? Unless the 1973 body style codes differ from 1974 (my book is 74 onward).
The front grille and headlight surrounds are definitely from a 1974 but it's not a hard swap.
The paint code is 4S, imaginatively known as light green. There is evidence of a repaint but, it seems to have been done in the original colour.
Interior is PR medium green.
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May 31, 2023 20:50:29 GMT
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,046
Club RR Member Number: 181
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May 31, 2023 21:24:17 GMT
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All the way to reno? How are the county squires going?
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Absolutely mega wagons! Love them!
I hope the GMaps image above is the precursor to going to get a third...
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All the way to reno? How are the county squires going? The word glacial springs to mind when thinking of the Country Squires... The '74 is my choice of the two cars and will be staying with me, there are a few things to be done, but work has stalled for various reasons. My mate, Sal has had a change of familial circumstances and he is no longer living locally - this means that he is not around much on the weekends. As the cars are parked in his work yard it means that access for working (and hanging out) is reduced somewhat. We will get back on track eventually, but for now nothing has happened.
The '73 as I think I mentioned in a previous post is more of a project that I want to take on right now. However, I believe that I have found a new home for it - again, it's a timing thing and so nothing much has happened. A big thanks to akku for helping locate someone equally demented as me to take in the wagon. As soon as I stop dragging my ar$e I will update on it's final destination  Absolutely mega wagons! Love them! I hope the GMaps image above is the precursor to going to get a third... Hello, my name is Alan and I have a problem, I am addicted to 1970's full size wagons...
Somehow, I feel that as a support group this is not the place that would help me refrain from indulging in my addiction passion...
I hate to disappoint you, but... I have temporarily sworn off full size American V8s... although, I can't say that I have sworn off V8s altogether... /mysterious/
I will leave you with some information about my foray into deepest, darkest Nevada, and I will update soon...
Miles driven: 1,012.4 Hours on the road: 17 hrs 4 minutes (not including wee stops, loading, fuel and other essential breaks) Average speed: 59 mph Average fuel economy (US gals): 20.3 mpg Regrets: I have had a few, but too few to mention.... Highest point in journey: 8,000 + ft
No. of times my wife has murdered me in my sleep: 0 (at this point in time)
So, in sum, yes I have bought another car from far, far away. It is not American, nor is it full size, but, it is a V8...
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Last Edit: Jun 4, 2023 5:58:47 GMT by wildrover
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,046
Club RR Member Number: 181
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You bought another rover? Although i partially hopw you've bought a straight piped lexus or a mad tvr or something!
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You bought another rover? Although i partially hopw you've bought a straight piped lexus or a mad tvr or something! Good guesses mate, but... no.
To clarify, it's not an American V8, it is from the 70s (as that appears to be my happy place), and, it's not from the land of the rising sun...
Oh yeah... and whatever happens, I cannot say what I paid for it for fear of criminal prosecution for theft |
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Last Edit: Jun 4, 2023 6:32:55 GMT by wildrover
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I mean, who wouldn't want a non-running 4,800 lb car based miles and miles from where you are located?
- who are you and what have you done with the real Lesley??
