Excited to get 2010 started...

When I first got this car in 2006 I wasn't sure really what I wanted to do with it but I had ideas.  One of which was lighting it up but in such a way that it would be unique and "my own".  After getting other parts of the car ready and finally entering shows in July 2007 I put this idea on hold.  I kept coming back to it and again and again but always putting it on hold...

Well, the planets and stars were finally in the right place I guess.  I found what I wanted at a reasonable price and put it on my Christmas Wishlist.  Santa Susan got it for me and my talented installer, Tyler, made it a perfect show-quality install.  (Honestly folks this is your go-to-guy if you need something done!!)

The interior is a four piece one-color kit, the underbody is a four-piece one-color kit, the engine bay is a four piece seven color kit, and the trunk is actually the wheel well kit minus one... Tyler didn't feel he could hide them well enough in the wheel wells so they were moved to the trunk.  There is one extra that will be used in the grill.   All are sound sensitive. The headlight housings are new CCFL Halo's, all the front bulbs have been replaced with Sylvania SilverStars, and we have added new Billet Grilles top and bottom to finish out the new look on the front end (although we still have to install the lower one this weekend).

RECENT MODIFICATIONS:

*         Blue LED Interior & Trunk Lighting - LEDGLOW
*         Blue LED Underbody Lighting - OPTX by StreetGlow
*         Headlights (H13) & Fog lights (H11) – Sylvania SilverStars
*         Chrome Mustang Headlights (housing) with CCFL Halos (05-09) - Eagle Eyes
*         Chrome Pony Package Upper Billet Grille - Stack Racing

*         Chrome Lower Billet Grille - Stack Racing (Not installed yet)

*         7 Color LED Engine Lighting Kit – LEDGLOW

There is some tweaking to be completed on the lighting and we have one more item left to complete from "Santa", not counting the lower billet grille, but it will not be completed until after we have settled up with Uncle Sam for the 2009 Tax Year.   We're also going over the paint and body for any imperfections that need to be addressed and reviewing other items that should be changed to keep in line with the recent changes we've made.

Now, my follow up appointment with the spine surgeon isn't until March but I am confident I will have a good checkup.  I've been very good and extremely careful during my recovery.  I have every intention of showing in 2010 whether that is at NTMC shows, local MCA shows or just shows around town but wherever we - Susan and I - show this car we plan on just enjoying the hobby and having fun with the car.

Here are some new pictures for you:

OMG, she's CLEAN again!!!

It took one very nice power washer, a couple hours, a muscle relaxer and a pain pill but I got my baby washed for the first time since Memorial Day weekend just prior to my surgery. Pictures were taken in the neighbor's driveway... our grass was being mowed and I didn't want the car getting dirty again...

I'll admit that once I had her all cleaned up that the urge to show her started pulling at me again. I can't wait until next Spring. Maybe then I won't need medicine just to detail my car.

Looking hard at replacing some audio pieces... A friend has an X pipe and duals on his V6 which got me to thinking again about putting those on Trinity. Would have to get a GT bumper though... don't want to cut mine.

I can't believe the car is now over 3 years old but just rolled over to 21K miles this weekend. I can't remember ever keeping a car this long. OMG, it's actually out of the standard factory warranty and into the extended warranty now! LOL!

Hmmm.... what else can be done to this car that is "bolt on" and would be easy to remove later when I want to return to stock? Has to be tasteful and classy...

2009 Season...

The surgery went well and I'm doing good but I am out of the rest of this season meaning I will *not* be showing my car in any shows. Right now my car is DIRTY. The emphasis on dirty is because I can't believe it! I am looking forward to being able to participate in next year's season and, as such, I have been limiting my activities. Today is the beginning of week 12 post-surgery. The incision sites (about 5 inches in front and 5 inches on my back) are healed and the muscle spasms are not as bad but the bone is still in a fragile state. We aren't talking a fracture or break here... we are growing new bone... fusing two parts of my spine together with new bone that my 43 year old body is trying to create. I have to remind myself of that often. I feel good, hell I feel great, but I know that I can screw it up if I am not careful. The bills are coming in now and I can tell you that I'm thanking the LORD that I have my job and my insurance!! We would never have been able to afford the hospital room alone without it. I have been very blessed to have Dr. Scott Wieser on both my surgeries but specifically on this one. Folks, there is no way to make anyone understand the pain of 4 pinched nerves for 3 years, the feeling of bone on bone when you moved and the sharp pain when a nerve got "caught" in the process. No way I could express the pain, frustration, tears, and heartache it took to get to the point where someone finally did the MRI. And during that time... 2006-2009 I've been showing my car because that car has a special connection to my Dad who died in 2006. It is for him that I show it. Next year I'll be able to continue showing the car with my Dad's memory close in heart. I look forward to seeing some of you at the shows next year! Especially Yellow Rose!

New Mods, Pics, and End to 2009 Season?

Here are some more new pics... Check out the honeycomb tail light pieces with the black tail light trim from http://www.stangmods.com/. Looks sharp with that honeycomb trim between the tail lights (Silver Horse Racing). Thanks goes out to Matt for your quick service and excellence in customer support! Also, today I added the Action Artistry Chrome Radio Button Highlights and Chrome Radio Volume Knob, both were purchased from http://americanmuscle.com/. Install took about 10 minutes total including pictures. :) Lastly are pics of my Stampede tucked under its cover. I may drive it over the weekend but, if not, it will be covered for a while. Monday I have surgery and will be unable to enjoy my Mustang for at least 3 weeks. I'll be off work for 6-8 weeks. My 2009 Show Season has been curtailed. It may not be over, as Donnie reminds me, but it definitely isn't going to be as active as I would like it to be. The May NTMC Cruise was my last this season probably. (Got a First Place though!) We'll see. Susan and I agreed that Yellow Rose would not be a good idea. Even if I am back at work by then I will not be ready to do that type of detail work on my car. Being that this is a spinal fusion it may be awhile before I am 100%. I won't go into all the details but suffice it to say this is major stuff. Oh well, 2009 will be the year to heal and 2010 will be my time to kick ass. Right?

Updated Photos...

Took some photos on my way into work this morning...

These two were from last night's Show-n-Shine at the NTMC meeting in Irving. That is a Grabber Blue 2010 Mustang GT next to my Stampede. It is the first 2010 in the club and a gorgeous car! The second picture is an updated shot of the engine bay.

It wasn't the lights...

There really is a problem that causes my battery to fail... and it wasn't my blue lights.

My 2006 Stampede has been having battery issues. The indicator on the battery was red and, to my knowledge, has always been red since I bought it in June of 2006. On Saturday the stereo would turn off when I shifted into Drive from Park or accelerated. Happened on while playing a CD, while playing AM/FM, or if it was playing the iPod through the Harmon Kardon drive+play.

I took it to Best Buy since they installed the Harmon Kardon and had Tyler check the connections but all was well. We found that there was 15 volts going to both the stereo deck and the Harmon Kardon instead of the normal 12 volts. This spiked to 17 volts when I revved the engine. We tested the battery while the engine was running and it was 16.3 volts. We disconnected the battery positive cable with the engine running and the car died. We then reconnected it and tested the alternator. It too was getting 15-16 volts with spikes to 16.8 volts when I revved the engine. After some discussion Tyler and I agreed it was best to disconnect anything that was not covered by the Ford warranty just in case the higher than normal voltage causes a problem before I got it serviced.

I called and made an appointment with Bankstston (Texan) Ford for Monday, 3/16/09. It was determined that the voltage regulator had gone out on the alternator. Bankston tested the battery prior to replacing the alternator and then tested it again afterwards. They decided it was too damaged and went ahead and replaced it as well.

This apparently happened some time ago and consequently the battery was slowly being damaged. This explains why I couldn't leave the lights or accessories on for more than a few minutes without the battery dying. The iPod player, the Harmon Kardon drive+play, doesn't place a large load on the electrical system. The stock stereo system is the Shaker 500 so the electrical components should be designed to handle that. The addition of the speaker box in the trunk without adding an amp did put a bit more stress on the stock amps but not enough cause this. In other words, I didn't have enough electrical modifications to have explained this.

The car will technically be three years old later this month (built 3/30/06)... so the logical conclusion would be that it was just time for it to go out. However, I know that the battery has had issues since I've had the car. The battery indicator light has always been red, the fuel gauge has freaked out several times and they replaced the whole console as well as the brain unit. (I actually had daytime running lights for a day!) My gas milage as been crap... far worse than it should be. I've had many mornings where it the starter stuttered before starting. For the last several weeks my GPS system has been sending me "Cut Battery Cable" alarms. Lots of little things that now have gone away. Suddenly at 1/4 of a tank I have 104 miles to E? Finally!!

I am very pleased with the service that I received at Texan (I just can't call them Bankston!). Everything was covered by my warranty and, since it was due, they even asked for permission to send it over to the Quick Service Lane for the oil change (part of my extended warranty). I had the car in to them at 8 and back to me by the time I got off work at 5:30 PM. The coolest part is you can't tell they worked on it. There is NO oil, dirt, fingerprints or anything on that engine bay or on the alternator. They topped off all my fluids and all my caps are lined up properly just as I left them and still polished. Kudos Texan!

Today the Stampede is at National Tire and Battery (NTB) for it's tire rotation, balance, and alignment. Later this week I'll head back over to Best Buy so that Tyler can reconnect the iPod player.... again, under warranty... so that it will be ready for Palestine!!

Installed!! Check out the pictures!!

Here is the install of new coil and spark plug wires... Yup, did it myself! Well, Susan was my assistant and photographer! Next... replacing the spark plugs and opening them up to 0.065". The looms are cool! I had to go buy the tools needed to install them but, hey, who doesn't need more tools? Anyway, they came the day after I installed the wires so the first set of pictures show them held with zip ties and the bottom ones show the billet looms. Enjoy!

Been Shopping...

My Mom and Dad taught me that the best way to make a decision on something was to sleep on it... well, I've been looking at the Screamin' Demon Coil and Livewires for a long time (in blue) of course and kept putting them off. I finally gave up and bought them. I guess if I kept coming back to them then Mom and Dad was right. Now, I realize that whatever performance gains I may get from these will be nominal at best but as this site will attest to, the Stampede has been more about Show than Speed. The coil and the wires should be here today per the tracking number provided by site owner Don Tate. (A nice guy to do business with by the way!) I also picked up the Livewire looms which should be here tomorrow. These are made of billet and should accomodate the nearly 1/2 inch size of each wire... a feat the stock looms could not handle. The weather was nice this weekend so I cleaned the car up and went through my supplies. I had to touch up a couple rock chips and noted my touch up paint bottle has a broken lid... So I found a few things to play with so that the paint wouldn't go to waste. I'd been wanting to do this all along but had been hesitant on messing it up. They turned out ok. (Pictures to follow.) Guess I'll have to pick up some more paint before next show season starts. :) Here are pictures from the V6MustangStuff site of the coil, wires and looms. Be sure to check out that site for the description and prices: Now, this morning I took some pictures of what the engine bay looks like now along with some of my painting handiwork. Donnie should be proud. :) (I wish AirRaid put out a blue throttle body spacer!)

More pics to follow once this is all installed. :)

- Reba