I've been trying to drive my cars a bit.

Why is this pavement wet?

I have been cycling through my stable.

Using one car after another for errands. This way the fuel systems get a jolt of fresh fuel flowing through the injectors, the oil gets up to operating temperature, so does the coolant. The battery gets a chance to charge itself back up again. Fluid flows through the braking system and the automatic transmission. The brake rotors get that film of surface rust skimmed off, even the tires get to roll round for a while.

I get a chance to recharge myself a bit also.

Uncovering my nice clean car and driving around the extended neighborhood gives me a little opportunity to enjoy the things that made me like the car in the first place.

This was the second run-about that I'd taken the XJ6 on.

Wouldn't you know it, I was almost back home, approaching my street, when I started to notice the smell of hot coolant! I can't say that I was completely surprised, as the same thing  has happened several times before. The radiator connection of the upper radiator hose, the spigot perhaps? has been eroding over time. This leads to the hose end popping off the remnants of the spigot dumping most of the coolant on the road. Luckily this has happened close to home and I've been able to reattach it and refill the system.

Since I've always been able to stop the car before it pegs the gauge I've been lucky to avoid any damage to the engine.

I parked at the curb in front of my house,parked at he curb, shut it down, and opened the hood. Sure enough, the hose was detached from the spigot. I could see that the spigot was even shorter than it was the last time.

Houston we have a problem. I think I know what it is.
I even used two hose clamps!

I've known for awhile that the probable remedy is a replacement radiator. Either new or used.

I will admit that I did enjoy the episode, at least until this happened!

The biannual smog test is coming up soon, and the CEL has been on since shortly after I passed it last time. The car always seems to run fine, starts easy, idles fine, and never stumbles or stalls. Even the fuel economy is normal. The last test didn't reveal any basic problems. It's not that the tail pipe emission levels were out of whack. It usually some relatively minor condition that trips the CEL.

Every time that I visit the Jaguar forums I often read posts from some unfortunate owner that is having some real problems passing the smog test. You can't cheat with OBD II, and it seems that Jaguars are very sensitive when it comes to the emissions control electronics. It appears to be our cross to bear.

I scanned for codes before I left on my annual Oregon vacation. I figured that I'd have time to do some research on the problems.

Uncovering the meaning of the codes.

There are three codes that presented themselves; PO411, PO420, and PO430.

The first, PO411 states that there is insufficient airflow to the exhaust, I take that to mean that there's a problem with the exhaust air injection system.

The second two codes are related, PO420 and PO430 deal with catalyst efficiency. In other words the catalytic converters are not working properly. It could be the oxygen sensors, or it could be the catalysts themselves.

Further investigation is needed, obviously.

I've also have to investigate finding a used radiator for the car. I see them on occasion in the Pick and Pull, and there is a couple of Jaguar wreckers within a couple of hours of me. There are also some large ones, Galaxy comes to mind, located near Los Angeles. My initial explorations have shown that the bottom pricing of a new unit is around 400.00. I think that it will be worth my efforts to find something cheaper, if possible.

And then there's the suspension.  The traditional Jaguar bugaboo.

This car finds itself in a position that most old Jags will fall into: some pretty pricey repairs are called for. Objectively, they will amount to more than the value of the car. However it is still so beautiful!

That's a whale watching boat. I can actually see the whales from my deck.
That dark speck to the left of the boat is a dinghy.

I'm sitting at a table overlooking the Oregon surf. The second time we came here was in my XJ6. I had just bought the car and driven it home from L.A. a couple of months before. I decided to drive the car everyday, which I did. No guts, no glory! I decided that if it was going to break down, it was going to break down. I wasn't going to treat it like a crystal figurine. Something that I treat delicately and handle with so much care, displaying it with so much caution. It actually ran so well that I developed a lot of faith in it.  I ended up driving it on a nearly two thousand mile vacation trip with my Wife.

Glory Days.

It was a dream trip, and the best initiation into the Jaguar experience. I found that a Jaguar is the supreme highway touring car.

I have three major issues that have to be addressed with the XJ6: suspension, emissions, and the radiator.

I did some initial pricing on oxygen sensors, as well as a replacement radiator. I'm in no hurry to spend any more money than necessary.

Again, I have the luxury of time. I don't need the car for transportation and if I can't resolve the problems than this car will just have to go on non-op.

I'm beginning to understand all those ornery old coots that don't want to sell their non-running old cars.

photosource: roadkill.com
"I can't sell that car to you, I'm gonna fix that up- Someday!"

I've been pouring over the Net looking at all kinds of old cars. Looking for something that could grab my interest. I even find that I'm trying to convince myself that I want certain cars.

If you really wanted something, why would you have to convince yourself?

So many cars are out of consideration because they cost too much.

Others are out because at least to me, they're not worth the prices that are being asked.

I keep looking, hoping to stumble over something cheap and great.

Of course I can just sit right where I am.

It's been my experience that all the cars I've sold in the past have become much more valuable were I to repurchase them Today. Buy high, sell low? Not quite, more like buy low, sell low.

Old Sixties Cadillacs and Buick  Rivieras. I bought my last Riv for 2,500 bucks and sold it for a couple of grand. Now when I see a junky one it's usually around four grand!

'70s Datsun Z cars. I sold my last Z about four years ago for 1,500 bucks. I now see really rough beaters selling for at least four thousand bucks.

I'll just bet that my XJS will climb out of affordability just as soon as I sell mine for peanuts.

My XJS runs well, it looks pretty good. It really just needs to have the front suspension rebuilt. I've resigned myself to the fact that if it is ever going to get done, I will just have to do that on my own. My car doesn't cost me anything to hold onto. I wouldn't get any real money for it if I were to sell it. Geez, I only paid 1,200 dollars for it! I've only put another grand or so into it at this point. I can safely store it in the garage while I decide what to do and wait to repair it. I can just put it on non op, suspend the insurance, and run it occasionally and keep the fluids circulated and the battery charge up. This is a good way to hedge my bets and is a sensible alternative.

I don't really want to let it go, though I can't say that I always feel like spending money or time working on it. At least at the moment. I can't even honestly say that I love the car. I like it enough, but the main thing is that it's really something special. It's probably going to be a prisoner in my garage for who knows how long. But it won't be deteriorating during that time.

I guess I'll become one of those crabby old men that have a cool car hidden in the garage.

When it comes to my '96 Mustang it has been cursed with the sin of being ordinary, but that is also it's saving grace.

I just put the top down, driving around on some errands, of course I took the longest route. My Wife and I even drove it down to Pismo Beach a while back.

It's a great car that always pleases.

I know that it's the "gutless" edition, blah, blah, blah...  But who cares? I don't. It's fast enough, fun to drive, sounds great, and gets good gas mileage. It doesn't look as good as an early 70's Trans Am, but really, what does?

I'm at the stage where choices start to be difficult, but very critical. I'm at that point where I  must decide whether or not to just hold onto something until it's a better time. This is a stage of just holding on. This is the stage that you read about in all those articles about survivor cars.

This can lead to a long periods of storage. Hopefully keeping everything well preserved.

Am I sick and tired of even looking at cars?

I'm beginning to think that I am.

Lately, I've been doing the CL" cruise."

I set the search parameters by model year only. 1949 to 1973.

The search will produce cars of all makes at all prices.

The idea is to see if anything grabs me. Results have not been encouraging.

I'm constantly on the Jaguar forums. It is depressing to hear posters talk about problems with their "newer" cars. I've considered moving up to a newer model, but those are not without their own issues. It appears that there is never a free ride on the Jaguar train.

I'v also considered more basic American cars.

After reading a series of posts on Curbside Classics about Corvettes. I started cruising through the Vette listings. They are out there, available at almost any price point.

After all this Mustang talk I've been searching for alternative Mustang solutions. I'd love a new model Mustang GT convertible with the new 5.0 engine. These cost money. More than I can comfortably spend on a hobby car.

It's not that I haven't indulged myself a bit  over the years.

I've bought a variety of different type cars. My Wife is always cautious about me buying anything expensive. Unless it fits into the family car niche.

These are tighter financial times, but my problems are less than many others. So far, my family and myself  are healthy and I'm thankful for that.You can't enjoy any type of car if you're in the hospital. Events of this type make you realize what is really important. Spending a lot of money on an old car isn't one of them. Although I'm trying to keep my life as "normal" as I can.

Being older also adds a different perspective.

Do I really need anything different? I haven't found anything that really lights a fire under me. I remember reading a column by Peter Egan where he admitted that at this point in life, his "automotive heart" couldn't be broken.  There is not a car that he has, that cannot be replaced by something else, something as interesting, something different that might be cheaper and easier to acquire.  The heat of passion has cooled.

Of course it's all about wants, not needs.

But do I even want anything?

A sporty convertible.

Don't I already have two? One, of which I can actually drive! The other I can keep as an artifact. Hey it runs, I can work on it and improve it over time. Best of all, I already own it. And it was cheap. I don't have a lot tied up in it.

A luxury SUV, don't I have one of those too?

I really like that new Lincoln Aviator,  but I don't have an extra 50 grand laying around to spend on a new one. Then how about an older one? Sure, I see older Aviators and Navigators, for that matter, offered up at good prices. They are nice, but I already have an Explorer that I like. I can sit on that until I really need to replace it.

How about a real vintage car?

I wanted something that was "analog" and didn't rely on any electronics to run. No automatic transmission to fuss with.  No electrical assists.

I think that I've got that covered, also.

My '51 Jag doesn't have many electrical doo- dads besides the electric fuel pumps. It is a cool looking, relatively rare car. The closest I'll ever get to having a classic Bentley or Rolls. I probably don't want to get any closer than this!

My Dad used to say that all motorcycles were the same- they all had two wheels!

That used to get me kind of mad, because I thought that he was being dismissive of my interests. But now I can really see his point! Maybe all cars are the same, they all have four wheels!

Thinking about a new paint job. Epilogue

Right behind behind the driver's door is the worst area of the current original paint.

After exploring the different options, and investigating the procedures, have I drawn any conclusions?

One of the first questions that the service writer asks you is. "How long are you planning on keeping your car?"

The length of anticipated ownership is important, not only because the better paint jobs will likely last longer, but the length contributes to the amortization of the cost of the re-spray.

If the car is to be held as a  cherished collectible than it means that you can rationalize spending a larger sum. If the car is just going to used for a year or so then you would like to invest less.

What about the color change?

How satisfied do I think that I would be with the results?

My off the top estimate is that the color change paint job will run from between 2,000 to 2,500 dollars.

Since I take good care of my car and keep it covered up, the re-paint stands a good chance of holding up quite a long time.

An exterior re-spray alone, could be done for around half of the above amount, 1,000 dollars. It would probably have fewer "problem areas."

I have to consider all the options financially. This blog is called Better Beaters after all!

Would it be worth it financially? I only paid 2,800 dollars for the car initially.

What other options might I consider?

How about if I just bought another car?

An alternative has come to mind. What If I buy a car that has an exterior color that would harmonize with Highland Green?

A black Mustang convertible would do the trick.

If I bought a black convertible I would have a two tone combo, The interior door jambs, trunk, and under hood areas would remain glossy black. Black goes with green very well, just ask the Green Lantern!

I always thought that ol' GL had a cool outfit!

I could have the black car's exterior painted green, leaving the other areas the original black. That would extend the two tone combo. In this case I think that it would look pretty good!

This is a '07 model about the newest that I could afford.

I have done a little research looking at black Mustangs circa 2010 vintage. I can only afford the V6 model, but with 300 hp. and snazzy factory dual pipes I'm not giving up much. I also think that the black area under the rear bumper would provide a nice contrast.

Still we're talking from 7,000 to 10,000 dollars, a good chunk of change.

The smart thing to do would be a stock color re-spray.

Not only would it be cheaper, there would less problem areas and I'm sure that I'd ultimately be more satisfied with the result.

Honestly, it would contribute to the maintaining the value of the car, I'm sure that the next owner would be less forgiving about the "problem areas"  than I would.

There was a similar Mustang convertible on the shop's website. They had both before and after photos. The final result looked pretty good.

Not that bad looking, but then neither is mine.

The car looks great afterwards.

A paint job like that would really make my car stand out.

I think that if I do decide on the respray, I'll choose the smart route, this time. I can always find another green car.

I haven't really considered my '96 Mustang to be a vintage car.

Until last weekend.

The Wife and I had considered taking a little extended drive  a couple of weeks ago. At first we just considered driving down to Monterrey and back in a single afternoon. But then my Wife suggested that we go down to Pismo Beach.  She found us a reservation to stay just one night.

Pismo is only about an easy three hour drive from San Jose taking Highway 101. Always a pleasant drive for me.

The car was still nice and clean after I had washed and waxed it. It did look particularly well cared for.

I hadn't been driving it very much over the last few months, but all it took was a fluids level and tire pressure check and it was ready to go.

This is one of my cars that I keep in good running condition so it's always ready to hit the road.

While the car is capable of any speed, I wasn't in a hurry and wasn't going to fall into that trap where I find myself pushing the speed ever higher, zooming around traffic.

I was going to follow my usual pattern. I'll just cruise at 70 mph. until I get south of King City then speed up to 75 mph. Just five miles over the limit. Occasionally I'll speed up to 85-90 to get around a slow knot of traffic.

But I wanted to relax, the car is geared so high that even 75 mph. is less than 2,500 rpm, and the Flowmasters just emit a mellow burble at that speed. Completely inoffensive.

It's as well equipped as most modern cars with A/C, cruise control, tilt wheel, and a CD player. The sports seats are upholstered in a very comfortable tweed-like cloth, which allows for air flow between your body and seat. Even better than leather, which most of my other  cars have.  It also rides a bit rougher than my other vehicles but it's a performance car. Yes, it doesn't have all the latest bells and whistles like navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, or active cruise control. But who cares?

You'll never find me over in the right lane holding down a speed of 55 mph. Like some old muscle cars or Low Riders. My car is a driving car.

As a '96 model it's 24 years old. The SN95 model goes back a couple of years more, a quarter of a Century. Kind of hard to believe, I remember when a bunch of my co workers were driving Mustangs like this. That was after they traded in their Fox bodies!

It's vintage but you can drive it like a new car!

We were waiting for our to-go order from Brad's and watched some of the cars cruising down Pomeroy, which runs into the pier.

I saw a couple of custom cruiser cars on the main street near the pier. A chopped, fully customized 49 Merc, then a 49 Chevy Low Rider and as we were leaving the restaurant, another Low Rider, a '62 Impala convertible.


It was a Sunday afternoon but I didn't see any more SN95s. In fact I only saw a few new Mustangs. When we arrived at Pismo I saw a white Mustang parked at the curb. As we left in the morning I saw one parked on the side of the street just before the freeway entrance.

Once we were on the way home on US 101 itself I see didn't see many other older cars. We did get passed by a slightly raggedy purple VW Golf convertible. That was north of Paso Robles. There was a young blonde girl driving solo making pretty good time. She exited south of Santa Maria then we saw her again, as she  passed us north of Salinas.

Oh, there was a another beat up old Honda which paced us from King City to Salinas.

For the most part all the other traffic were much newer models. I have to admit that I saw a couple more new Camaros compared to the Mustangs.


Last year when I was getting the oil changed one of the techs, an old guy like me, went on and on about the condition of my car. He advised me not to sell it unless somebody makes me an offer I can't refuse. Even a homeless guy panhandling on the corner asked me if it was a 5.0. He said that he used to have a GT like mine. Then a young middle aged couple in their Forties remarked on the sound of the exhaust when I started it up. "Yeah, we could tell that it was Mustang." The guy said that they used to have one, when they were first married.

Wow, these were the kind of contacts that I used to have when I drove my old '66 Ford F 250.

I always considered that to be a vintage vehicle.

But my Mustang?

I guess when your choice of car triggers nostalgic reactions in on lookers, I guess that it does make it vintage.

I still see quite a few early SN 95 Mustangs around town. Also the "New Edge" facelift models. Many of the older cars are V6 beaters which are primarily used for low buck, in town basic transportation. I'd say that most of the  examples I see that are in better shape are the V8 GTs.

Some of which have obviously been fixed and freshened up a bit.

You could call my car a survivor, it's pretty original.

It may be getting to the point where it might be too original!

Maybe I'm not really a car guy. Part Two.

I picked up this magazine at the news stand.
I was 20 years old at the time.

The reason that I made that mention to Pat Ganahl's Rod and Custom blog is because he recently had an article on a pertinent subject.


He discusses a cover photo shoot that made the cover in 1975. Strangely enough I had bought that issue off the news stand back in the day. I'm pretty sure that I still have it in a box somewhere.

The magazine was printed in 1975, and by that time the owner had owned the car since 1961. It was finished with paint and upholstery by 1970. So by the time the magazine was printed, he had owned it for 14 years.

Now it gets even more interesting. Pat said that he lost track of his old buddy. Just last year a mutual friend went by the owner's house, where he still lived (!)  and saw the '32 in the garage!

1975 to 2020 is 45 years add 14 years to that, and we are talking 59 years!

The '32 had been undergoing a stalled refresher. The owner had a couple of other cars that were currently ahead of it in the queue.  There had been a time when he was also working on fixing up his house so as usual, life does get in the way.

I was also looking through my old magazine library at a Rod and Custom issue from 1989, the giant issue on custom Mercuries. Besides the Mercs there was a story entitled "Menage a trois," concerning a rodder, his real name is Joe, that owned three very desirable cars. A '32 Ford two door sedan, a 32 Ford three window coupe, and an historic custom '50 chopped Mercury coupe.

The article describes the cars, then asks if the reader is jealous. Or maybe the reader thinks that the owner is just very rich or very lucky. It turns that he is neither, just smart, persistent, and hard working. It took him thirteen years to acquire the three cars.

The sedan was the first one, bought as a basket case and rebuilt. The '32 coupe had been known to him for twelve years, as it was stored disassembled in another  old hot rodder's garage. Joe  bugged the guy to sell it to him for years and the old guy finally relented. The hitch was that he had to take all the old junk that was in the garage with it. Of course, the old junk was actually valuable and desirable old Ford and hot rod parts which the Joe took to the swap meet. It turns out that this reduced the Joe's actual investment in the car to 900.00!

The Mercury came about because one of the neighborhood kids told him that he had seen some old car, probably a Merc sitting under a tree in the  backyard of a house in East LA.  Joe figured that it was probably something like an old Hudson, so he was skeptical. Later the kid returned with a copy of Street Rodder and showed him that it looked like a custom Mercury.  So Joe went to take a look and sure enough it was a chopped Merc.  Covered with corrugated sheet metal panels with white house paint on the roof for protection. The owner wanted to sell it but was asking  3,500.00. Joe said that it would need a lot of work and was able to  bargain it down to a price well below that. It turns out that the Merc was truly historic, the second one chopped, featured in the little books back in '51. Customized by Gil Ayala, if you know who that is. The Merc was transported home and by the end of the week was up and driving. It was eventually restored to it's original build appearance.

This is a story that will not likely be repeated again. Though Joe did all the hard work to bring the cars back to life, the buy in price alone, for most of us Today would be prohibitive.

I've spoken to several old guys in their Seventies, at car shows who told me that if they hadn't held onto their cars they wouldn't be able to afford to buy them now. I'm sure that is true.

It's just like real estate, when you bought is a huge factor. In my court of eight homes there are just two original owners, I am a long time owner of 33 years and there is another owner with a few years on me. The rest of the owners have been there for around five years. At current prices I wouldn't be able to afford to buy my house. I'm glad that I bought when I did and have remained there.  I almost didn't buy my house, because at the time I was going to have to really stretch financially to afford it. Luckily it turned out to be worth it.

One reason that guys can hold onto cars for such a long time is that they were desirable cars when they first bought them. Not necessarily valuable, but desirable. They were cars that enthusiasts wanted to own. The passage of time has not made them any less desirable, or less valuable.

It's not that these guys were rich. Most were not. They were young and money was tight.

But they were focused. They bought what they really wanted.

They usually bought cars that needed finishing and put the work in.  Sweat equity it's called.

New cars are expensive, Even worse they all depreciate down to almost to nothing.

Even Today while a nice Mach One will go for around mid thirty grand, a new GT will go for about the same price.  A fixer upper will go for a bit less. Back in the day the classics were just a fraction of a new car price. So a working guy could stretch a bit and get that car. And still buy that used Accord for his Wife.

But he had to want it.

One of my co workers has a '70 Corvette. He's had it for more than twenty years.  His Wife bought it for him for one of their wedding anniversaries.  He enjoyed the car for years until things like refinanced home mortgages and upcoming college expenses for the kids loomed in the near distance. So he decided to sell the Vette. Now I don't know how much he was asking for it, but his Dad decided to buy it from him. Might as well keep it in the family right? His Dad held onto the car for around ten years or so then sold it back to his Son. Cool right?

Now this wouldn't have made sense if the car was a new Hyundai Excel, would it?

So the moral of the story is to pick the right car. Do not compromise. If possible. Of course that ain't always or usually possible.

My '94 Seville STS was another of my dream cars. It was three years old when I bought it. It cost me almost thirty grand. Was it worth it? That thing was incredible. It had it all. No early Vette, Jaguar, or muscle car could match it on the road.  Did I enjoy it? Yes I did. Was it prestigious to own the car? In the beginning I guess that it was, since the new '97 models looked exactly the same.

Was prestige or status seeking the reason that I wanted that car? No, it was like my prior '77, it was what I felt was the ultimate expression of the Cadillac marque.

Did I get to bask  a little in it's reflected glory? Yeah, sure for a while at least. Though I could have easily bought a nice Vette or early muscle or pony car for what I paid for the STS, I didn't. I saw some Mercedes S class sedans  and coupes, even a Porsche 911 that were cheaper. I still could have also picked up a good used Accord for family use. But I didn't.

But it depreciated over the ten years that I owned it so much, I was happy to sell it to some kid for 1,600 bucks. Just to get rid of it.

Could I have just kept it and fixed it? Sure. It was just as fast as it ever was. It still looked about 80% of new in and out. It was still a great looking and driving car. If I had it Today in perfect shape would I be proud to own it?

Yes I would. Then why didn't I just keep it? It's not like selling it would return very much money. It didn't.

Therein lies the whole crux of the discussion.

Yes, it needed some work. The engine developed some substantial oil leakage. The a/c stopped working, the driver's window stopped working, and the ride control quit working. It only had 116,000 miles and the engine was still strong. There was a parking lot abrasion to the left rear door. Pretty much what is on my Explorer. The paint was still very good with no oxidation. The leather interior was immaculate.

From a strict economic standpoint it needed work that would cost more than it was worth, dollar wise. Couldn't I just do the work myself? Isn't that what I do?

Well I kind of thought that it was.

It's not like I worry about resale value.

Unfortunately, familiarity sometimes can breed contempt, or at least apathy. I was ready to move onto something else, so I let the car go, primarily just to get more space.

I was looking forward to the next big thing, I've always been that way. While I enjoyed the older cars that I have owned I was usually looking to move on to a newer version. With Cadillacs it lead from my '64 convertible, to my '77  Coupe de Ville, to my final Cadillac the '94 STS.

That didn't stop me from going back. I did go back to experience a '56 Cadillac and my Rivieras, right alongside my Datsun Z cars.

While I still have a real appreciation of old cars and hot rods, I honestly wouldn't want a Model A or even a '32 Ford coupe or roadster.  A '40 Ford coupe is still beautiful and a 57 Cadillac can make a cool cruiser, but not for me ...anymore.

I don't think that I'll ever have a forever car, I'm just not wired that way.  Maybe that makes me kind of dumb as I'll usually sell something cheap, just before it goes up in value. When I should have just held onto it. Maybe I'm just shallow, as I don't form an emotional bond with a car or the personal or family memories that are attached to it. Maybe I'm just not disciplined enough or persistent enough to hold out for that car that I really want. Maybe I just don't even really know what I really want! ( That's what my Wife accuses me of! )

A few years ago in an earlier post entitled "Real cars versus tourists; Us vs. Them" ( August 11th. 2018)  I stated that there is no way to define the right way to be a car guy. We each will do it our own way. DIY or write the check, classic or newer car, hot rod, custom, or sports car, American or Foreign. It's our choice to pursue what interests us at this time. Some will cherish the classics that they acquired through the years, others will enjoy what they can currently afford to buy. Today. Still others will just finance the newest and shiniest thing. Nothing wrong with that! Our varied choices is what makes the hobby so interesting and rewarding.

So ultimately, am I really a car guy? Absolutely. You probably are too if you're reading this. Who needs labels?