'70 County Squire - a never ending project

@jr4xi think I misunderstood your comment. She is just as weird as me and likes these old things and enjoys learning how they work and how to maintain them as they are. So she's perfectly fine with me leaving it the way it is, as long as I keep it usable. She's actually the main reason I swapped the 2 for 1, because I got sick of her telling me I needed to do something with them.

On her cars, she does enjoy modifying them so I help her with that as needed, but those are hers and she can do what she wants with em. Here's her throwing some long tubes on her stang:

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Which I'm pretty glad she did that one mostly by herself because that job sucked.
 
Tryloff said:
To keep her out of my zj, she got a yj. To keep her out of my wagon, she got a mustang. To keep her out of my duramax, she got a terrain. To keep her out of my studebaker, I'm just not going to teach her how to start it, lol.

Its not a cheap solution, but a solution nonetheless.
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Tryloff said:
@jr4xi think I misunderstood your comment. She is just as weird as me and likes these old things and enjoys learning how they work and how to maintain them as they are. So she's perfectly fine with me leaving it the way it is, as long as I keep it usable. She's actually the main reason I swapped the 2 for 1, because I got sick of her telling me I needed to do something with them.

On her cars, she does enjoy modifying them so I help her with that as needed, but those are hers and she can do what she wants with em. Here's her throwing some long tubes on her stang:


Which I'm pretty glad she did that one mostly by herself because that job sucked.
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And maybe I don’t understand the tone of your post. If I upset you somehow that was not my intention. It is a cool car!

I was more making a joke about the points dist leaving her and you walking one day when the contacts burn together. Or the starter you’ll fry when the points give up on you. Good looking ol lady! Hope you get to take her for a ride in the back seat of that boat on date night. 🍺
 
Tryloff said:
@jr4xi think I misunderstood your comment. She is just as weird as me and likes these old things and enjoys learning how they work and how to maintain them as they are. So she's perfectly fine with me leaving it the way it is, as long as I keep it usable. She's actually the main reason I swapped the 2 for 1, because I got sick of her telling me I needed to do something with them.

On her cars, she does enjoy modifying them so I help her with that as needed, but those are hers and she can do what she wants with em. Here's her throwing some long tubes on her stang:

Snapchat-1093858685.jpg


Which I'm pretty glad she did that one mostly by herself because that job sucked.
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That’s badass.
 
JR4X said:
And maybe I don’t understand the tone of your post. If I upset you somehow that was not my intention. It is a cool car!

I was more making a joke about the points dist leaving her and you walking one day when the contacts burn together. Or the starter you’ll fry when the points give up on you. Good looking ol lady! Hope you get to take her for a ride in the back seat of that boat on date night. 🍺
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The points failing and leaving us stranded is what leads to the back seat date night! Then I show her how to file some ****ty points down and make it run (although poorly, probably) enough to get us back into town.

I'm not upset, just a duntz. :beer:
 
Tryloff said:
The points failing and leaving us stranded is what leads to the back seat date night! Then I show her how to file some ****ty points down and make it run (although poorly, probably) enough to get us back into town.

I'm not upset, just a duntz. :beer:
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Finger nail file like she carries in her purse. No joke, easiest way to dress burnt contacts.

My first vehicle was an old ford with points. I carried spare points. A .017 feeler gauge. And a cheap, woman’s finger nail file with a screw driver in my glove box. I could fix it on the side of the road in a few minutes. Had to do it on a first date once.

I’ve also converted a handful of points engines to duraspark. Still looks period correct and way more reliable.
 
Projectjunkie said:
The hot ticket is to get a newer gear reduction starter from a 90s 460, so 96 f250 7.5 auto, then swap your cables around a little
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Measure the nose cone of yours, and the replacement and make sure they match, two diff lengths 2-1/4" and 2" IIRC.

What year is car #3? 429 thunderjet 4v?
 
My Folks had one with a Moon roof over the second row seat. My mom swears I was too young to remember that, but I sure do, and I remember the lady running the read light and hitting us on vacation in colorado. In the 70's. LOL

It was like this, I am sure it was a 429 as well. My dad always drover Ford Big blocks.

Anyway, cool project.

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Levigarrett76 said:
Measure the nose cone of yours, and the replacement and make sure they match, two diff lengths 2-1/4" and 2" IIRC.

What year is car #3? 429 thunderjet 4v?
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Car #3 has the numbers matching 429 4v in it. P.O. swapped an edelbrock intake and holley carb onto it, and removed several vacuum lines. Im going to put it all back to boring ol original ford intake and carb. Hopefully over the winter, but I guess we'll see.
 
350TacoZilla said:
Yeah thats the car I was thinking of, kept thinking it was a 429 4spd but I couldn't be sure. both cool cars. I don't know why the wagons aren't more popular for a muscle car play toy that can also haul the family around. I always wanted to build a pre-runner style 4dr 1955 chevy wagon to look similar to Larry Schwacofer's green 55's. That or a Chevelle Greenbriar with a vista cruiser roof swapped on, pro street style build but with creature comforts.

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Amen buddy! Which might be why that 55 is sitting in my shop right now - albeit in a lot rougher shape...
 
dman33733 said:
Amen buddy! Which might be why that 55 is sitting in my shop right now - albeit in a lot rougher shape...
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Holy **** you ended up with that? I know it was found many years ago and was flat black. Please tell me you have a build thread somewhere for that thing. No joke I watched Rockin' and 4-wheelin' so much my parents swore I was going to wear the tape out. His cars were one of my favorite things on that tape and in my forza games I would always do a custom paint job to match his race car but the support wagon was my fav. Little did I know it would be hard to find a working VCR years later.
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350TacoZilla said:
Holy **** you ended up with that? I know it was found many years ago and was flat black. Please tell me you have a build thread somewhere for that thing. No joke I watched Rockin' and 4-wheelin' so much my parents swore I was going to wear the tape out. His cars were one of my favorite things on that tape and in my forza games I would always do a custom paint job to match his race car but the support wagon was my fav. Little did I know it would be hard to find a working VCR years later.
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First off - that Forza skin is awesome!

It is flat black, the owner before the guy I bought it from was part of the Alpine Assassins Snowmobile group and they beat the tar out of it so it needs a lot of love (and a new roof - but the cage held). No build thread yet because life has just gotten in the way of it, but hoping to start getting after it this winter little by little. It's crazy how hard it is to find pictures of the wagon to base things off, but my plan is to keep it fairly OG with maybe a few updates (EFI, new switch panel - maybe a Switch Pros setup instead of toggles) and just drive it - Maybe hit up NORRA with it at some point.
 
Thread bringing back memories for me. I had a 1974 country squire while I was in college. Green/woodgrain with green vinyl interior. Car was in nearly perfect shape overall but the 390 was worn out. Needed an engine and I didn't have the cash. Ended up selling it for scrap money; often wish I still had it.
I will try to find a picture.
Current stalled out wagon project is a 1994 caprice wagon. Third seat faces out the back instead of across like the ford.
 
‘26 Driving season prep!

I finished the battery to solenoid and battery to engine block cables. In doing that, I saw the wiring nut on the alternator wiring harness, and multiple are wire sections. Good catch before the wiring harness fire! Both the voltage regulator end and the alternator end of the harness were in good condition, which is good because I couldn’t find and exact harness so this gave me something to go off of when building the new one.

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Using the parts manual, I found the D0AZ-14305 part number, but I couldn’t find a harness for a full size car with a big block and low mount alternator.
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What I could find, were 25 different vendors selling a 1970 mustang harness that has the correct 3 wire connection at the alternator, and the same voltage regulator plug.

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I would have to switch a wire around on the regulator plug, add a ground, extent the Bat + wire and connect the yellow wire to that. Then re wrap it to look original.
 

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So I got the mustang harness and chooched it up a little bit.
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I replaced the rubber washers under the battery tray, cleaned the loose paint and road grime off the inside of the inner fender, and gave it a fat coat or wax. I didn’t want to paint this fender and have it look over restored compared to the other side. I can do both sides another year. Wires all routed as close to what I can tell was original based off of harness hold downs and old photos. I also degreased the alternator, and found a cut in the alternator belt so we got a new one of those too.

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I can’t stand ****ty battery cables or wiring. Especially on old cars. I’ve seen way too many of them catch fire. I’ll definitely keep posting. This is one of my favorite cars I’ve ever had.
 
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