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!