So here is a short tale that I am sure will spawn others and it all started with a sand blaster....
A quick recap.
Woody now down to bare chassis, decided to blast the frame, bought sandblaster from Johnny Bravo, my big compressor not man enough for the job.
Right, lets get on with it then shall we.
The way to make the blaster work is to increase the air capacity so a quick look on eBay turns up a 200ltr compressor about 10miles from home for the princely sum of £25- the plan being that I will use the tank from this to give me enough air to get the job done.
Arrange to meet the seller, Steve, at his place of work, jump in the Super Fiesta(tm) with #3 Son and head off into the sunset.
The thing about Essex, well one of the many things, is that you will always meet somebody that says, I designed that when it comes to a Ford and Steve was no exception. As I pulled up the rear seat base to make room for the compressor he suddenly pipes up with - when I designed that there was supposed to be a pin in the hinge so you could take the seat out completely but it got overruled as Ford thought that people would take the seats out and lose them - and so began an hours chat with one of the most interesting guys I have met in a long time.
Started talking about why I needed the tank, which then got onto cars I had owned before he smiled and said, let me show you my Mustang, pulls out his phone and there is a picture of a 69 or 70 Mustang parked in his front garden being used as a planter!
Conversation continues and he then says do you want to see what I am working on now? Cue another flick through his phone and there is a picture of him standing next to an AC Cobra. Now my thought is, rough looking kit car, but my new bestie can already sense that coming and says its a real one and it has a story. I am hooked.
Without going into too many personal details it appears that his father worked at Fords on special projects, one of which was the Cobra. Steve didn't really remember the Cobra when he was growing up but after his Dads past away one of Steves older brothers wrote him a letter in which he talked about the car and the fact it was still - I assume - at the family home.
Problem was it was in a very poor state, the body was wrecked and the engine, a 427, was buried in the back garden! As he put it there was no value in crashed old cars back then so it was just pushed into a corner and forgotten. It must have been in a bad way as he laughing told me that the body was 2" shorter on one side than the other where he had beaten it back into shape...
The point of this little tale, cars bring people together and everybody has a story to tell, just some are better than others. And I now have all the air I will need to get Woody a step closer to the road and a new friend with a Cobra... Bruummm Bruuummm
P.
A quick recap.
Woody now down to bare chassis, decided to blast the frame, bought sandblaster from Johnny Bravo, my big compressor not man enough for the job.
Right, lets get on with it then shall we.
The way to make the blaster work is to increase the air capacity so a quick look on eBay turns up a 200ltr compressor about 10miles from home for the princely sum of £25- the plan being that I will use the tank from this to give me enough air to get the job done.
Arrange to meet the seller, Steve, at his place of work, jump in the Super Fiesta(tm) with #3 Son and head off into the sunset.
The thing about Essex, well one of the many things, is that you will always meet somebody that says, I designed that when it comes to a Ford and Steve was no exception. As I pulled up the rear seat base to make room for the compressor he suddenly pipes up with - when I designed that there was supposed to be a pin in the hinge so you could take the seat out completely but it got overruled as Ford thought that people would take the seats out and lose them - and so began an hours chat with one of the most interesting guys I have met in a long time.
Started talking about why I needed the tank, which then got onto cars I had owned before he smiled and said, let me show you my Mustang, pulls out his phone and there is a picture of a 69 or 70 Mustang parked in his front garden being used as a planter!
Conversation continues and he then says do you want to see what I am working on now? Cue another flick through his phone and there is a picture of him standing next to an AC Cobra. Now my thought is, rough looking kit car, but my new bestie can already sense that coming and says its a real one and it has a story. I am hooked.
Without going into too many personal details it appears that his father worked at Fords on special projects, one of which was the Cobra. Steve didn't really remember the Cobra when he was growing up but after his Dads past away one of Steves older brothers wrote him a letter in which he talked about the car and the fact it was still - I assume - at the family home.
Problem was it was in a very poor state, the body was wrecked and the engine, a 427, was buried in the back garden! As he put it there was no value in crashed old cars back then so it was just pushed into a corner and forgotten. It must have been in a bad way as he laughing told me that the body was 2" shorter on one side than the other where he had beaten it back into shape...
The point of this little tale, cars bring people together and everybody has a story to tell, just some are better than others. And I now have all the air I will need to get Woody a step closer to the road and a new friend with a Cobra... Bruummm Bruuummm
P.
