Canadian Newbie
 

Hi folks. This site was recommended to me by my favourite Forum's webmaster. I usually hang out at Stationwagonforums.com. He passed this site tip because he knows from my rants and tech threads that I'm all over this issue and the many ways it can be achieved. So for me this site is a real breath of Fresh Air!

Thanks for being here. Looking at what some of the vehicles are achieving already, one wonders why Henry Ford's Model-T system wasn't built up to go from it's original 40 MPG on Wood Alcohol, Farm Gas, kerosene or regular fuel, instead of seeing the car take the brunt of today's messed up environment.

Hopefully, more sites like this will prove to politicians that their constituents are the people they should have backed, instead, from 101 years ago.

Hi Norman, welcome to the boards.

I must say the 79 Fairmont Squire is an interesting choice, is it your daily driver?

My first "car" was the family farm truck, it also had Fords straight six in it, albeit at a higher (300ci) displacement. Good engines those, nearly bulletproof.

Hi Stormin' - you're not the first Winterpegger in this group!

Glad to have you here. I see from your profile you're a semi-retired engineer. Which field?

cheers-
Darin

I've been restoring it since November 2006, our only car. We lived in Mexico and bought her there in 1997, then drove her here with the 302. I blew the 302 in my yard, after replacing a new factory-rebuilt carb (I dropped a bolt into the carb by accident) but was planning to swap it to a stock 200 inline six. I'm still waiting for the cold weather to warm up (2 to 3 weeks) to finish reassembling the interior, electrical, etc. I did a full torn-down restoration, because the car had no rust.

With a couple of MDS Ignition springs in the distributor, I can get the car up to 35 MPG city driving (CDN Gallon). With a few more tricks, I can improve that by another 15% at least. It only weighs 2,645 lbs. Wet.

Industrial Eng. Manufacturing, Numerical Control, Workflow, all that jazz, and Software Eng. (was a Microsoft Solution Provider for 15 years) and a degree in Bus. Now my wife and I are starting up a Bird/Bat/Yard Friendly goods shop, making our designs and marketing locally, starting later this Spring.

Welcome to EM. Sounds like you have a classic wagon -- you don't see many of those around anymore, let alone in good condition.

I look forward to the progress...

Best FE,

RH77

Welcome to the forums. It's always an absolute delight to see people who want space for cargo and such and not using an SUV.

Truth be told: the very first car my dad and I looked into getting (even before taking my driver's test) was a 1979 Ford Fairmont Coupe. It was light blue in colour and had a V8 engine. We probably would've bought it for the $400 they wanted for it, except the engine had a knocking noise :(. I still remember the mono sound stereo and the neato vent window that opened by a turn knob.

Enjoying this -21*C weather? With the past few days in the -30s, the -21 was a beautiful day for riding a bike around the University of Manitoba :p.

Welcome to the site Norman!

Here's a few pictures:

December 12, 2007 (Too cold to carry on):
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...e/IMG_2754.jpg

November 14, 2007 (finally woodgrain is on):
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...e/IMG_2668.jpg

December 10, 2006 (Finally got the six cylinder into the car):
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...h_IMG_1926.jpg

October 14, 2007 (engine compartment almost done):
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...EngineComp.jpg

November 6, 2006 (Project donor car and my Squire wagon crossmember swap):
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...8_I6KFrame.jpg

October/November 2007 (Roller painting under way):
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u...ntBooth011.jpg

You can see more about my roller project here:
http://rolledon.com/projects-f2/1979...-rose-t135.htm

Your warm welcome just took some of the chill out, we're at -38C tonite, -48C with the windchill tomorrow. :)