It's been a long and interesting half-year. The sad rotted carcass that was my black '86 Cougar has been hauled away and I replaced its position in the driveway with a boat while my '88 patiently sits awaiting spring. I've recently considered selling the '88 but can't help but smile every time I look at it. I've spent the majority of my time on the job hunt going on interviews and sending out applications but with the economy, many positions have dissolved and many other companies aren't eager to work with a recent grad. Thankfully I slipped into a full time position at the place I've been working part time for the past four years but I really want to have a chance to use my degree. That's about it on my front, I just wanted to stop in and say hi and I'll be around more often. Doesn't look like too much has changed around here although the new banner looks sweet. Looks like I have a ton of reading and catching up to do...
Well, it was five years in the making but yesterday I graduated college with my BA in Graphic Design :D
It's been really hectic these past few months gathering my portfolio, finishing off classes and spending more money than I ever thought I would all while working two jobs at 44+ hours a week. All of my excitement was almost shot down for me this past Monday as I got rear-ended by a school employee exiting a parking garage. Everything worked out with that though. So now I'll continue working my two jobs until I find something to get into and with an excess of graduation money, I'll begin resurrecting the Cougar this weekend.
Well enough of that. If anyone knows an available job or is in need of a graphic designer in the MD, PA, DE area, let me know. I'm very well qualified.
As the title says I finally got my Mac. I drove up to Delaware last night and picked it up tax free ;) Suck on that Gov. O'Malley.
Tis a MacBook Pro 17" antiglare screen 2.6GHz Intel Core Duo processor 2GB RAM 200GB 7200rpm hard drive She's nearly fully loaded just missing the 4GB RAM and Hi-Res screen.
I picked up the Apple Protection Plan, USB modem so I can hook up my home dial up(whoop-de-doo!), and a mighty mouse.
Let me just say that this thing is friggin awesome and puts my sister's Windows based Toshiba to shame. Oh and the backlit keyboard is dead shagy. I'll be putting in my order for Adobe CS3 come Monday if I can't get a copy from work.:headbang:
I was messing around on the MVA's website since I'm stuck at work and have nothing better to do. They now have this new thing online where soon to be drivers can practice before taking the real test to get a learners permit. These questions are extremely simple but it's the choices that you are given that are flat out hilarious. It just brought back all those memories of drivers ed and how obvious the correct answer was and how silly the other options were.
This one had me laughing. Only Maryland would pose a question where you (pimpin in your red CRX) approach an intersection that has a handicapped vehicle, an emergency vehicle and a blind man all trying to go through at the same time. This is a tough one. Notice there aren't any stop signs either :hick:
I'm looking into purchasing a MacBook and wanted to know of any pointers or suggestions. Right now, I'm looking at the MacBook Pro with the 15in. screen.
Okay so my first question. Am I wasting money by going to the pro or would the standard MacBook with the 13in. screen suffice? I would primarily be using it for design work so the ability to handle the CS3 package is a must. I know the specs are a little different between them but to be honest, I know squat when it comes down to the nitty gritty components. Specs for all can be found here. Considering the purpose it's going to serve, the larger screen would surely be nice but on the other hand the smaller 13in. one would probably be a little easier to cart around.
Now my second question. This is the first Mac that I'm purchasing so what all extras should I get with it? How about the service plan?
I know it's ultimately my decision but I just wanted to get opinions. I know some of you are diehard apple users so your input would be greatly appreciated.
1986 Cougar GS Location: Rising Sun, Md 21911 Price: make an offer I posted this car a while back here and had a sale pending but it fell through due to logistical issues.
The car comes with No Engine or Transmission pictures can be seen here
The body is in good shape but both front fenders are trash. The rear bumper is also cracked. Other than that, there is very minimal rust at the rockers and a trace of bubbles beginning at the lower rear quarters. The doors however are rust-free. There is no damage to the rest of the body save for a parking lot ding here and there. The frame rails are rusty at the towers and is probably irreparable without replacement. There is also a hole rusted through the driver's side floorpan (see pics at photobucket).
As you can see from the pictures, the car is pretty stripped. It has dual manual seats, crank windows, manual locks and a manual driver's side mirror. No tilt wheel, no passenger side mirror and no rear window defroster. Originally a 5.0 car, it has a double hump trans. crossmember and a 7.5 traction lock rear. The driver's side axle is bent. The body has about 106K miles on it. I have a couple spare parts that will go with it that are 85-86 Cougar specific as well as the original cruiseless A frame steering wheel.
The car will not come with the 10 holes pictured but will come with the black steel wheels I got it with. Pictures of them on the car can be found at my cardomain page. The original TRX wheels will go with it if the buyer would like them. Obviously, the car will have to be towed. I am giving this ad until Saturday morning and if there are no serious takers, the car will be stripped and junked by Monday morning.
Here is your chance to resurrect this lightweight cat either to its former show-room glory or to a full blown race car. Or of course there is the option of a solid parts car.
If you are interested or have any specific questions, please post here, pm or email me. My email is fiveowillgo@hotmail.com
I was messing with the cars today and while looking over the '86 I found some nasty rust issues that combined with evertything else are leading me to get rid of the car. The driver's side floor is rotted through and there is bad rust at the base of the strut towers where they meet the frame. Due to these problems and the other problem areas of the car, it is just too much for me to take on right now.
So here is the plan. I will do one of two things. 1. Sell the car as a whole sans current engine and transmission (*edit see second post) 2. part it out
Please leave feedback because depending on how much interest I get in either part of the plan will decide what I'll do with the car.
The details. '86 Cougar GS original 5.0 AOD car (engine and trans don't go with car) 7.5 traction lok rear - 1 axle is bent no rear defroster no passenger side mirror- just a manual driver's side mirror no cruise no tilt wheel no power locks dual manual seats crank windows
The body on the car is good but has its fair share of dings with the exception of both fenders and rear bumper which are trash. The paint flat out sucks. Doors are rust free and free of any other damage.
If you are interested in the whole car, make offers. If not, I will be parting it out and there are plenty of good parts on it.
Also I ask to please bear with me since I'm working a lot now, it may take me some time to get the ball rolling on all of this. I have big plans for the white cat so help me make them happen :D Car is located in Rising Sun MD, 21911
Location: Abingdon, MD 21009 Price: $750obo If you are serious about this car, email me at fiveowillgo@hotmail.com or pm me and I will give you the sellers phone number. I don't plan on calling them.
Details-- Original oxford white paint and it still has the factory striping with no dents. Blue cloth interior Options that I see: Power moonroof, Power driver's seat, Cruise, Leather wrapped steering wheel, Premium Sound with eq (still in tact), ATC, power antenna, and the light group.
It has the buttstuffog cluster but with the poor lighting I couldn't make out the mileage.
The body is free of any dents, just some scratches and some small paint pen type touch-ups. It looks like it would shine up well with a thorough cleaning. The underside looks to be good and free of rust.
The interior is pretty clean, just needs to be gone through. No tears or wear on the seats. They all look great and unstained. It does have the standard chipping on the center console plate. I have a picture of the interior but it came out lousy so I'm not posting it.
Problem areas - Standard yellowed headlights and cracked dash. Missing one Cougar center cap and molding around left front cornering light. The lower spoiler on the front bumper has seen its fair share of curbs so it's hanging on only by a couple clips. There is visible rust on both rear quarter panels, side rockers and the bottom of the passenger door. The worst appears to be the passenger rear lower quarter where a patch panel may be required to fully stop and prevent further spread of the rust there.
It appears as if it would make a decent easy fix project or a quick easy daily driver. It is an unmolested original.
Again if anyone is seriously interested, let me know. I may be able to go take more pictures of it if it's necessary and just contact me and I'll give you the seller's number.
On this website, you can look up old versions of websites dating as far back as 1996. I looked up coolcats.net and found all the old versions of the site. It's awesome!
This one especially is meaningful for me since this is what greeted me the night I came home after first seeing and putting my deposit on my '88. I couldn't have been happier on that day and I remember spending sooo much time glued to the internet reading through Eric's site.
I thought it was pretty cool so I thought I'd post it.
I've been working like crazy on my '88 for the past few days trying to get it done for Carlisle. I was planning on revealing it there but since it won't make an appearence, here it is...
wait for it....
just a teaser... wait until I get back from Carlisle
This isn't meant to be a pity post by any means but I have about had it.
Once again, I will be making an appearance in Carlisle as an onlooker as opposed to a partint. I have just spent the last five weeks working on the '88. I replaced the lifters, gaskets, engine harness, various broken connectors including the tfi plug not to mention other hoses and minor stuff of that sort. So I put the car back together, fill her up with antifreeze and low and behold, my radiator was leaking. Thankfully I got one from Jim (thundr306) a while back so I didn't have to hunt down. I get the thing installed and all seems good. I fire up the car and it sounds beautiful. I double checked everything, reset the timing (I had to pull the distributor- another long story) and headed out on the road.
When what do my ears hear when I get back? The wonderful tone of a rod knock.
First thing you'll all say is "It took you 5 weeks to do all that!" Keep these in mind... 1. Full time work and school 2. I rareley if ever get home before dark 3. I don't have a garage 4. I only have every other weekend off of work.
I give up. I have two weeks before Carlisle, a registration in, a hotel reserved and no car to take. My '86 you ask? Well that needs too much work for the time and money I have left.
I could just drive the car. It might be alright but then again it might not. Besides, I have no desire to be coasting around with the audible knocking to let everyone know where I am.
Unless I manage to pull a rabbit out of my hind side, There's a pretty good bet the show's off for me. I will be walking through like last year. Might just go one day as opposed to all three but I'll be there.
Need help guys. I've spent the weekend working on the '88 replacing the lifters and was reassembling the manifolds and ran into some problems.
1. Does anyone know what sensor/sender is supposed to go here? This is the front driver's side of the lower manifold between the first bolt and injector.
The one on my '86 looks like this... sorry the picture isn't more clear. Anyway the sensor/sender there is connected by a single red/white wire.
On the '88, I have the same single red/white wire connector that isn't hooked up to anything. Instead, there is a sensor identical to the ECT sensor and a connector. The wire for this connector has the same red/white type of wire as the single one on the '86 but has the additional black/white wire. Also, this connector is not connected to the top engine harness but leads to a cluster of wires between the battery and coil.
Here's a shot of both. Again, the one on the left is connected in the position questioned above on my '86 but there is not one like the connector on the right (at least that I can see). The connector on the right is connected in the position questioned above on my '88 but the wire on the left is dangling free.
If you know what goes there, I'd greatly appreciate knowing so I can get this thing back together.
2. I found a wire that has been severed on the engine harness. I can't locate the other half of it or find where it went. Anyone know? It's a solid orange wire.
I'm unclear as to if this is a difference between an '86 and '88 harness or if this is some of the genius work the mechanic did on my HO swap 4 years ago. I'm working on locating a new engine harness to just replace this mess and have one potential lead I'll find out about tomorrow. Thanks a million for any help. Fred
Everything worked out with that though. So now I'll continue working my two jobs until I find something to get into and with an excess of graduation money, I'll begin resurrecting the Cougar this weekend.
