Recent content by tbm3fan

I like the Avid Ascend very much. However I got them because I deal with dry ground over 300 days a year and they handle fantastic in my Focus which was the point. My other two daily drivers are still running on their General Altimax RT43 tires at the moment. Those two are the 91 Mazda 626 and...

Well my 2004 Ford Focus is now officially 20 years old. Now how many 1st Gen Foci do you see anywhere on the road even in California? Yet, my paint/clear coat is holding up fine despite parked outdoors it's entire life. One must note that I wash the car every week except during the rainy season...

Only one summer, 1973, when I lived in an apartment for 3 months. After that never until this past February when I washed the new wagon at one. Main purpose the high pressure spray to blow out decades of debris behind trim and to clean the underside. Now back to never.

Wrote a piece on the car for Curbside Classic. Lots of pictures. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/my-curbside-classic/my-curbside-classic-1972-amc-ambassador-brougham-station-wagon/

Well I have had my Cougar since 1969 after buying it from my father. Under my care for 56 years which is 80% of my lifetime. So a likely candidate. It is also a twofer sice it is also from the 60s. If not then I would choose a 1988-1992 Mazda 626 Hatchback LX.

So it is a 1972 Ambassador Brougham wagon with the 360-2V engine. Most everything was standard except disc brakes and the styled wheels which the original owner opted for. One side has two small dents which a PDR guy will take care of for me. The original paint is in great shape. The original...

While doing machine work on my 410 FE, rods right now, I am helping out some teenage volunteers aboard the USS Hornet break down a flat head four out of a little tug.

Saw this about 14 weeks ago and fell in love with the body lines and overall look. Can't recall ever seeing one. Tried to resist contact. Yet after 12 weeks I felt it was hanging around to torture me unless I went to see it much like my Parklane did in 2003. So I went, I saw, and I bought. Owner...

In 54 years somewhere around 850,000 miles. One car had 375,000 on it alone. Then there are the four company cars in San Diego where I was driving all over the county from Oceanside to San Ysidro. Luckily not my car.

This to me. One person could live in the San Diego region with little rain, no snow, and not baking sun so a 20 year old car could "look" pretty good. In a snow region and salt on the roads it could look "old" between 5-10 years same car. Both my Cougar and Mustang are 56 years old by the...

On Monday making oil modifications on a Mercury 410 engine.

That is true if you clear them but here the car, itself, cleared them.

The car in question is my wife's 2018 Mazda 3 2.0L Skyactiv. She tells me around noon, as I am vacuuming the inside (she is a mess) that the check engine light went on late last night. Why? How do I know until I put my scanner on. So I scan for codes and get six of them from Camshaft, to Fuel...

The water pump on a LeSabre 3800 is pretty easy to reach as you can see here. Had a story all written up for Curbside Classic about all the engine preventative work done on my 3800 Series II before it could become a problem. Could have read step by step there except powers that be decided not to...

Yearly registration fee by any other name