After trying to untangle some electrical troubles under the dash of one of my classic Mustangs, I wondered what the under-dash looked like in my new one.

Nice and tidy and clean. Everything’s all wrapped up and there isn’t a whole lot under there except air.

My other cars… Well, the fastback has about 250K on it and the vert has about 150K but somehow underneath, they both look about the same.

Here’s the fastback:

Notice the overspray from when the interior was painted. I could kill the guys at the shop for that. I mean, is it really that hard to mask it even a little so that I’ll be able to see what color the wires are later on? That kind of shit irks me something fierce. I was unable to do the paint job that time (after a big wreck) due to time and space constraints and boy oh boy am I still paying for it all these years later. When I first got the car, yeah, Mickey Mouse had done a lot of electrical work under there, but I’d cleaned it up through the years. I recall one wire changing color three times between the firewall and where it was going. It was amazing.

I’m quite enjoying the 3-pin connector that goes nowhere (I still haven’t traced what it’s supposed to be for!), the cut-off butt connectors, the bare bullet and all the junk hanging out of the fuse box. And you’d think that with all that overspray, perhaps the bottom of the dash would have more paint on it. Nope. This car did, however, have an electrical fire, so that accounts for some of the bits of electrical tape. It’s gonna be an interesting year for this car… During the cowl fix and paint job, I’ll likely be doing a rewire. Could be fun. I like electrical stuff–but only when I’m forced to do it out of necessity!

Here’s the vert… Mind you, it’s got 100K fewer miles on it.

Not much difference between the old cars, huh? There’s questionable spaghetti plus overspray on both.

The convertible ‘68 does have air conditioning, so there’s less room under the dash, but still. What’s with all the electrical tape, bare bullets and butt connectors?

They’ll likely never look like my ‘06, but that’s certainly something to work toward whenever I finally get around to the big rewire. Wish me luck and hope it’s soon!

I like to think I brought in the New Year right by doing an oil change on my ‘03 Viper and my ‘06 Mustang GT.

This year should be a pretty big year for working on my rides. I might sell one or two as well. I dunno yet. The year is still quite young and anything can happen.

I’m writing this now so that I can look back next year and laugh at how much I accomplished (or not)!

I plan to swap the engine in the ‘68 Mustang Convertible for one I’ve got sitting on a stand, swap the tranny out for the AOD sitting next to it. And unclog the damn radiator!!! I hardly drive the car because of the damn radiator right now. I might also swap the flat hood for one with scoops like my fastback, but mentioning that is just so I can laugh about it next year.

I plan to at least start on all the exterior work the fastback needs. It has been 8 years since the last paint job–which sucked mightily. It’s about time that car didn’t have a primer spot on it for a change. I mean, I’ve owned the car for almost 15 years and during that time, the car has had either a primered panel or a large primer spot on a rear quarter panel for a total of perhaps 9 or 10 months. I figured I was doomed to never have the car one solid color for longer than five months after complete paint jobs.

But, it’s time to buck that curse again, I think. The worst part is that this time around, there’s rust in the doors that needs to be patched and the cowl is leaking, too. This is going to be a monumental task and I hope I’m up to it. I’m also hoping to bribe a friend or two with beer in exchange for a little help for the stuff I can’t do by myself.

And since I’ll have to take the windshield out to do the cowl, I might as well take out the rear window–it’s not leaking, but the seal is ORIGINAL! If I don’t change it while I have this opportunity, I bet it’ll start leaking as soon as the car is shiny again. It’s just my luck. I’ll also have to redo the interior. I’d painted it to match the car last time and not only does it need a repaint, I’m going to go with a slightly different color…maybe even the same as my convertible of the same year…maybe. I dunno yet.

As for my other rides, I don’t have anything major planned. I’m just hoping nothing breaks in the mean time!

I’ll admit the car was down for a few months, but it was in the garage. The windows were down, too, but when I started driving it again, yikes! it smelled funky. I can’t even really describe the scent… Maybe like boiled sweat. I’ve never smelled anything like it. Not putrescent, but certainly not a pleasure to inhale–especially in a car with such a small passenger compartment.

But it didn’t keep the car from running, so I drove it anyway–windows down, of course. LA weather’s good for that.

I was fortunate enough to get a week’s worth of work on a movie and that car is one of my favorites to drive on studio lots, so on the Monday, I kept the windows down until I got there and all was well, but funky smelling.

On Tuesday, as I was tossing my stuff in the car before heading out, I just by chance happened to look behind the driver’s seat. I found the cause of the funky smell, but didn’t have time to deal with it. I mean, I didn’t know how long it had been there and didn’t want it to either come apart in my hand or drip something icky that I’d need to clean off the upholstery right away. I’d need to take precaution. The only immediate thing I felt I needed to do was take pictures!

So, I drove to the studio that day knowing what was stinking up my car and I wished I’d taken care of it because it was kinda disconcerting for it to be there, me knowing it but not doing anything about it. Until I got home.

Yes, there was a dead bird in my Prowler…and it had probably been there for months! I still every now and then chuckle and utter, “There was a dead bird in my car.”

I’ve yet to name the poor thing, but it is now the patron saint of my garage. I’ll mount him on a plaque or something soon, but right now, he’s resting by the door, watching over my cars. Poor little thing. Completely mummified, too.