Last weekend I had a tiny run-in with a parking stop.  Nothing major, but me being as obsessed as I am with my car, it's a somewhat big deal.  This parking stop managed to tear my passenger side rocker panel slightly.

All this week I was looking for a replacement.  I came across someone up in New Jersey selling sets of original Saleen side skirts for the "New Edge" 'stangs for $100.  So I decided to make the 3-hour journey up there and picked up a set.

I just hope the body shop has a better time with these than they did with the Saleen wing I had.  First I'm gonna make sure they'll look right with my setup...stock bumpers, but the front at least has the Mach 1 chin.

I just got back from the Virgin Mobile Festival which had numerous artists playing, one of which being Stone Temple Pilots.  It's great seeing them back together again and good to hear them still rocking out as they used to.

I only mention this because I found it really cool that while they were playing their song "Crackerman", the video screen behind them was showing clips from one of the legendary Mustang movies, "Bullitt."  Mostly the chase scene through the streets of SF of course.  I thought that was a nice touch.

So if anyone will be seeing STP soon, keep an eye out for that.

The Southern Maryland Mustang Club held it's second annual car show yesterday (5/3/08). There was a pretty good turnout...I was in attendance as well. Lots of nice cars; it was an all-Ford show so more than just Mustangs showed up. I'd figure around 50 cars were there, give or take.

Of course, I've got some pictures in my gallery so stop by and check them out.

Saw this posted on another forum, and couldn't believe it. I haven't watched American Hot Rod since even before Charley left...I just know that early on the show was decent. But Boyd's been a pretty big name in hot rodding long before the show even started.

Rest in peace, Boyd.

http://jalopnik.com/361391/boyd-codd...dead-at-age-63

The cold winter months really take their toll on a Mustang enthusiast. It's been a long winter so far, and it still has a little more to go...just over a month to be more specific.

Much like many Americans wait for football season, I await "driving" season. Granted, my car gets driven year round, but it isn't until the nicer weather breaks that I can truly enjoy the experience. Keeping it shiny, cruisin' with the windows open, taking in the air from the open road...these things just aren't quite as enjoyable (or possible) when you have daytime high temps in the mid 30s. I am not a cold weather person at all.

So once it's in the 60s, 70s, etc on a regular basis, I'll be able to take in the full experience. Hitting the road and cruisin', with nothing much else to worry about. I'm sure OPEC would love me. LOL. I can't wait for the tracks to open up...I'm really thinking of doing one of the "Friday at the Track" events out at Summit Point.

I really need to live in a warmer climate. LOL.

Yesterday, my GT's odometer turned over 75,000 miles. I've owned the car since new back in June 2003. Pulled up to a light yesterday and it clicked over to 75000.0. I managed to snap a pic with the camera phone:

It still runs as strong as it did on day one...gets all the required maintenance on regular intervals; only problem I've had was with the rear (well, and a few fender-benders...heh). Other than that, flawless. I'm sure I'll be celebrating big sometime next year as it turns over 100,000 miles.

Today I ended up needing a new battery in my GT. Fairly normal procedure; it's a 2003 GT and it had the factory battery still. Just like every other work day, I went out for lunch...when I got back in the car to go back to work, I found that the car was dead. Flipped the ignition switch, and it "coughed" once, but that was it. Stone cold dead. So dead, the horn wouldn't even blow.

The plus side is that there was a Sears right there. So I bought a new DieHard...eventually got that installed (that's another ordeal in itself) and went on my merry way.

The irony comes in from this past Saturday. I was at the local Goodyear Tire Center on Saturday morning getting some new "shoes" for the car, and was waiting in the waiting area. There was another lady there getting some stuff done on her car, and having the battery checked was one of those items. The tech came in and told her the battery was marginal and she ended up replacing it. That got me to wondering how much longer mine had on it...I've owned the car since June 2003, and usually batteries are good for about 5 years before saying kaput. Well, little did I know that my battery had approximately 2 days left in it before giving up the ghost.

Like I said, I was very fortunate in a few ways. Fortunate that I went to the mall and had a Sears right there so I could buy a battery, and fortunate it gave up at that time instead of in the early morning or something.

Over this past weekend in Ocean City, MD there was a big semi-annual car show with all kinds of classic muscle, hot rods, etc. This year Courtney Hansen made an appearance on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't find out till after the appearance times Saturday, so I decided to get up a bit early on Sunday and make the drive out there to check out some nice rides while they were still there, and meet Courtney.

That's my goofy mug with the beautiful and very cool Ms. Hansen. It was nice being able to meet her. I just wish she could've signed my car!!

I did get a few pictures of some of the cars that were there. The batteries in my camera died too quickly though, so not a whole lot in there. You can see them at my online album.

So I've installed the shocks and brakes that I was waiting for, and I must say both items are quite a nice improvement.  Especially the shocks.  They have so much range of adjustability.  The ride has improved and so has the handling.  Cornering is amazing.  I would highly recommend the Tokico D-Specs.

The brakes are great too.  Not just because the old ones were getting worn down to nearly nothing, but also that they're bigger and do provide better stopping power vs stock GT brakes.  Why Ford didn't put 13" rotors on these GTs, I'll never know.

Anyhoo...now I've got a couple other things on the way.  One is maintenance, the other just for aesthetics.   I'm in need of new tires so I ordered some new Goodyear Eagle F1s today.  Got a pretty good deal on them too.  The aesthetic item I purchased is a Saleen S281 rear wing.  I was debating this for a while because I wasn't sure how it'd look on a non-Saleen car.  I finally got to see a couple non-Saleens in person that had the wing on it and I thought it looked pretty sharp.  So I took the plunge there.

Once all that stuff is done, the car should be pretty well set for a while.