a short introduction

zray · August 23, 2017, 11:02pm

Hi,

I’ve found my way here by the courtesy of another forum member, jpfll . Thanks for the invitation !
( He just posted a review of a product I make: Competition Crossmember - Classic Cougar Community Discussion - Classic Cougar Community Forum ).

I’ve been loving, buying, and working on Ford and Mercury products since 1969. Sometimes professionally, but usually on my own cars. My professional work in the transportation service industry has been mainly confined to those vehicles having just two wheels. I stated working in a Triumph motorcycle dealership in late 1969 and from there have worked at nearly all the Japanese and English motorcycle deanships at one time or another. In the 1980’s I switch over to the production side of the Film and video industry, mainly working the filming of TV commercials. That kept me pretty busy until I retired in 2010. Bored, and under orders to get out of the house at least once a day, , I started worked at a vintage motorcycle restoration business in Austin Texas for 2 more years before my move back to my hometown in North East Oklahoma.

All during my working life I’ve continuously owned at least one car made by Ford / Mercury. A partial list of my most recent cars include :
1965 Mustang fastback HiPo K code
1969 Mercury Montego
1966 GT-350 Shelby Mustang (several of those)
1967 Mustang GT coupe
1969 Mercury Cougar
1970 Jaguar e type
1963 Jaguar e type
1964 Triumph TR-4a
1980 Triumph Spitfire
1975 Triumph Spitfire
1969 VW Karmann Ghia
1964 Ford Fairlane
1965 Ford Falcon
…………and a couple dozen more cars that were too boring to make the list

I thought I was fully retired until I bought a competition engine crossmember for my K code from a well known east coast speed shop,. I had lowered the engine so my Weber carb set would have more hood clearance and the stock crossmember didn’t fit anymore. . Sadly, even though I was told it would fit, the new crossmember hit the oil pan, and the customer service advice was nonsensical . So I got fed up with aftermarket parts that didn’t fit, and made my own crossmember. Enough people liked it so I began to sell them. Three years later I’m still at it, but not so busy that I can’t still claim to be retired. Having a small part in peoples projects has been very satisfying.

here are some photos of some of my recent cars, most of them I restored myself.

Cougars_R_Grr8 · August 23, 2017, 11:29pm

Nice. I used to have a '74 Spitfire with the engine and 5 speed out of a 240Z. One of a few cars I really miss.

xr7g428 · August 24, 2017, 12:42am

Welcome! do you have a picture of the cross member?

1967_S_Code · August 24, 2017, 1:08am

Welcome to the Classic Cougar Community. It’s great to have another member. That’s quite an impressive collection of car you’ve had.
Steven

zray · August 24, 2017, 1:48am

sure, here’s a couple of photos, one with, and one without the jackpad. They come with a full set of camber plates, which replaces the stock eccentric LCA bolt set-up… If anyone would like more information, my email address is in the ad. Available direct, or thru ebay or Opentracker Racing products. Been making them for about 3 years now, with over 300 sold.

the crossmember is based on Fords own crossmember design for the 1969 Boss 302 Trans-Am team cars. Ford determined that an improved crossmember could reinforce the LCA pivot point and eliminate flexing at a reasonable cost, thereby avoiding a costly re-design of the chassis. Not just for racing, every car regardless of how hard, or easy, it’s driven can benefit from this crossmember, it’s guaranteed to improve steering stability & precision at all speeds.

reviews:

ad:

thanks for asking,

Z.

SuperCJcat · August 24, 2017, 1:54pm

Hey Zray
Welcome!!! Nice to see you make it over here. We have chatted before on the SAAC forum. I’m sixx7shelby over there.
Btw… Nice parts!!

zray · August 24, 2017, 11:16pm

OOPS ! left out two important cars in my automotive history, both manufactured by Ford Motor Co. of course.

second is dads '46 ( or '49 ??) Ford sedan, I came home from the hospital in that car, and was still riding in this car years later. As you can see from the photo, my parents didn’t believe in wasting money on my wardrobe.

first is a 1966 Galaxie 500 I bought 5 years ago. A great highway car, like riding on a cloud.

( loaded down with 1st shipment of crossmember boxes )

Z