Reproduction “Feature car” headrest and door panels from TMI

I meant to pass along this tidbit from Carlisle about some reproduction interior items. TMI Classic Automotive Interiors was there showing their white pony headrests and white “feature car” door panels. I checked their website and found no mention of these items (there availability was mentioned on this site in the forums). So, I thought I should share my pics. Here is the door panel –

TMI Repro Feature Car Door Panel

And the head rest:

TMI Repro Feature Car Head Rest

It’s pretty good looking stuff. Although, there was one observation that I thought was right on. Tim H. said that when he and his wife looked at the headrest he noticed something didn’t look quite right. She, who is into sewing and embroidery, noted that the thread of the pony stitching was too silver.

TMI Repro Feature Car Head Rest Closeup

I fully agree. It’s a good thing to keep in mind if you are going to order some. I can email more pictures if anyone is interested.

2009 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals Wrap-up

It was another great year at Carlisle. The three days just flew by and I didn’t want it to end. I guess, it’s always good to end something when you still want more.

Attendance was good again this year even. It breaks down as follows:

Jeff G. (from NJ) – Sat – 2 @ 1993 Canary Yellow/White
Ken B. (from NJ) – Sat, Sun – 1992 Vibrant Red
Nick P. (from NY) – Sat – 1990 Emerald Green
Pete V. (from MA) – Fri, Sat – 1993 Vibrant White
Randy M. (from PA) – Sat – 1992 Vibrant Red
Tim H. (from PA) – Fri, Sat, Sun – 1993 Vibrant White
Tom G. (From MD) – Fri, Sat – 1992 Vibrant Red
William F. (from PA) – Sat – 1993 Canary Yellow

The weather cooperated on two of the three days. It was a great opportunity to see some people that I see only on an annual basis and to meet some new ones. There were a few people who came by even though they didn’t bring their cars. One was Amy H. who couldn’t bring her car due to some mechanical limitations. Another was Dawn L. who didn’t bring hers because her only available day to come was Friday and the rain would have negated all of the detailing done to her 250k mile car. Even so, they still stopped by to offer their support for us.

Another person I got to meet for the first time was Terry M. who runs the other registry for our cars. He’s the one who can tell you what number your car is of the total number produced. It was great to meet him and we had some in depth discussion on these cars.

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Black and White

No, it’s not what you are thinking. No problems with the police. The trip into Carlisle was pretty uneventful. Just some heavy construction delays for about 6 miles on 81 before exit 159. I made the trip with 5pt0joe. He owns a 1990 SSP so I did have a police car in my rear view mirror for the whole trip.
Black and White

Our cars are polar opposites. His is black with black wheels. Mine is white with white wheels. It was good to have another car to ride down with in case of problems. I’m probably not the easiest person to follow. Thanks, Joe.

Road ready

The winter was long and hard on the old triple white fox. At some point late last fall or over the winter I noticed a spot of fluid under the right rear tire. I thought nothing of it. Perhaps, I thought, it was just a residual spill from an earlier jug of motor oil that I had in the garage which sprung a leak. With that cleaned up and the car back in use I was surprised to find some fresh fluid under that same tire. I thought it was a possible brake line problem and immediately took it in for repair as this seemed beyond my abilities.

It turned out that it was beyond me. The fluid was not brake fluid but from my rear end. Apparently the rear axle seal had developed a leak that traveled to the wheel. The worse news was that axle leak had saturated the brake which also needed to be replaced.

The good news of all of this is that the car is now mechanically ready to hit the road. The shop did a once over and everything appears to be in order. The only thing that I could kick myself over is that if I only knew the rear end was going to be worked on I would have considered it the perfect time to upgrade the gears. That’s one change I want to do but can’t seem to justify the expense on its own. Darn.

My major remaining task in getting the car ready for the trip to Carlisle is to integrate my iPod into my factory stereo w/CD. I figure I need that to keep me going on the 6 hour trip. I’m afraid an FM transmitter is just not going to be good enough. I want to do this of course without any non-reversible modifications such as wire splicing and so on. I think I’ve got some ideas on how to accomplish it

Tent @ Carlisle All-Ford

Tent from Carlisle All-Ford Nationals 2008

As I mentioned in the forums, I have reserved a tent for our 2009 trip to the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals. The total cost was $160. If you would like to contribute to the cost you can catch me on site there. Although, it’s never been a hard requirement to contribute. I just want you to have a good time.

If you don’t feel you can contribute or you can’t go and would still like to support us and/or this site in general please use the ebay links. Even if you don’t purchase a directly linked item but purchase something else in that session that started with a link from here, this site gets a small commission. Every little bit helps. In fact, over the course of a year it can be enough to pay for that tent! [/end plug]

Also mentioned in the forums was the “Coolest Club Hangout” Award –

All clubs are required to display a banner at their tent with their club name. We ask for the banner so that we can judge the Coolest Club Hangout Award, which was a hit in 2008. The Coolest Club Hangout Award will be presented on Saturday morning to the club with the most creative club tent display. In addition to the display you must also be an example of what Carlisle Events is all about: HAVING FUN! The Coolest Club Hangout award is a groovy banner for your club to proudly display at Carlisle, at your home gatherings and at any other events your group attends.

I am still open to ideas. The only thing is that it can’t require a lot of stuff to pull off. Since we all drive essentially the same car I’m sure you feel the pain when you pack for a trip like this and don’t have room for much else.

I have the banner covered. In fact, I ordered a second this year so it can be visible from two directions. It just came today. You can see last years in the photo above. It’s green with a running fox. Look for it once you arrive.

Registered for 2009 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals

Carlisle AdCarlisle is only a few months away. So, it was time to register for the 2009 Carlisle All-Ford Nationals. This year it will be held from June 5-7. Similar to in the past we will be attending as a club and reserving a tent. Planning information has been added to this site on the Carlisle page.

I have begun lobbying for a separate class for feature cars. I don’t know how far I will get with this but it is worth a try. I’ll keep you updated in this space.

UPDATE: added a discussion thread on Carlisle 2009 as well as a post seeking your feedback related to the impact on attendance if there were such a class.