Well, no one can say that I can't get dirty with the best of them! When I bought my SVO I decided that I wanted to learn as much about the car as possible and that also included working on it. I have always been interested in that part of car ownership but never had any good teachers. Thanks to Lou Medina, Dean Cofer, Tony Partida, Harry Davis and Dean Rogers I think I am getting there. My 1984 SVO was the recipient of a transmission replacement at the first 2002 NorCal SVOOA Tech Session. There were only 3 of us that could make it but Lou Medina, Dean Rogers and I took on the project. My original transmission was actually a good one but the connection to the speedometer cable drive gear was broken. So I never knew how fast I was going and the car wasn't tacking any miles. Luckily, I rarely drive it since I want to keep the original miles low. Lou gave me a 1984 transmission out of one of his parts cars in exchange for the one currently in my car. We met at Lou's work in Oakland on a Sunday. All dressed in our white jumpsuits (we looked like the Michelin Man), gloves and goggles (can't be too safe), we got started about 10:00 a.m. We got down to business with Lou and I working on the trans mission and Dean working on the exhaust and documenting it all with pictures. I really appreciated them taking the time to explain to me the steps we took and why. Luckily, we did start early because little did we know, that we had to drop the exhaust system in order to get the transmission out. I heard a lot of the "f" word from Lou at that juncture of the project! We got it out in about 2.5 hours then started on the replacement which seemed to go a bit faster. We put in a new fluid from Red Line called D4 per Tony Partida's recommendation. We put everything back into place, tightened all the bolts and four hours later we were done. I took the car for a test drive and all was well in the world. There will be a couple more "Tech Sessions" before the end of the year. I hope that more of you will be able to attend them because it is very informative, a good way to network with each other and fun.

Laura Mize
DVMA Board Member & NorCal SVOOA Events Coordinator

Vallejo. CA -- Saturday afternoon a group of us were mapping the parking arrangements, posting signs and laying out the barricades and the wind was howling through the parking lot with enough force to down barricades. This didn't bode well for Fun Ford Sunday. However, Sunday dawned with clear skies and just cool breeze. There was no sign of the blustery day that preceded.

Many members of the Nor Cal Ford Car Council had expressed worries that the crowds wouldn't show up to the new Solano Fairgrounds venue, but their fears proved groundless. There were well over 400 cars in attendance. Galaxies, Falcons, Fairlanes, A's, T's, Thunderbirds, Trucks. assorted other Fords. Lincolns, Mercurys, Jaguars and, of course, Mustangs filled the fairground's parking lot when our parking chores came to an end. We had to keep stuffing Mustangs into the Mustang rows until they seemed ready to burst from overfilling.

One of the most popular attractions was the pre-production 2002 Thunderbird that S & C Ford brought to the show. The crowd never seemed to drift away from it. Elizabeth Cofer and Donna Baker and Bruce Baker got to take the Thunderbird for a drive; Debbie Guyton only got to ride shotgun on one trip. You should have seen the envious looks from the bystanders. The drivers had nothing but praise for the new car.

The crowd of Ford fans was cheerful and enjoyed a great day.

Antioch, CA -- The participants started showing up at a quarter to 8am and kept coming, and coming and coming until about noon. All in all we had 126 registered Mustangs from 1964 to present day. There was some first class restorations and some great mods represented.

Everyone knew their spot and helped! DVMA's store was busy all day, selling raffle tickets. Over 70 items were there to give away donated by various vendors throughout the day which ended at 2 pm. We had fun, doing that.

We had a tech session by Bruce Couture, from Nor Cal Shelby and VMQA on T-5 transmission installations in eariy model mustangs. There were various clubs in attendance from, BAMA, SAC, VMOA, Sierra, Nor Cal Shelby and Golden Hills. The NorCal SVOOA was out in force with 12 vehicles including 2 from LA. There were people there from Sacramento to San Jose.

What a turn out!!