12-17 came and went, wifes Bday, had things to do...

oddly, had ordered some jewelry for the car, and it happened to show up on the 17th too- finally got a SHR rear medallion like the one Brad Barnett had put on 'project source horse' long ago- silver ring/black lid and added ford 'pony' emblem... havent installed yet, as *think* my magnetic blackout will show a gap, so gonna probably semigloss vinyl the recess... SHR honeycomb rear panel is a nice piece, but I'm kinda stuck on the more 69-ish look of the recess/blackout.

and gotta say these rear medallions look even better in person than in pictures- thinking about getting one for the other car too, as theyre on sale a couple more days... just put the genuine Ford pony on it, and noticed the center black area has a slightly brighter semigloss than the recessed outer edge, really looks beautiful- tried to get a picture, but it still dont do it justice- Nice Work SHR!

Anyways- even a decade after this first picture was taken, still gotta repeat:
Best car I've ever owned, still as fun to drive as that first time ten years ago. too bad Ford wasnt on the ball with the hood paint prep- the only real complaint about these cars is the original hood paint bubbling off...otherwise, couldnt ask for much more. Finally did get a tuner, put the canned 93 tune in- yes, I shoulda done that long ago- much of it is just a placebo effect of opening the throttle quicker with less pedal (feels stronger) but also, WOT power even at lower rpm has a definite boost...so maybe even a little MORE fun to drive than that first time even

Ford did a WONDERFUL job on these cars- well except for the hoods... and seriously, not because all three of our otherwise fine cars had the hoods bubble, but because of reading about even 14's still having the issues, I highly doubt i'll ever buy another new Ford car- not because of a process oops either- but 100% because corporate Had to be aware of the issue and kept pushing crap quality hoods out the door

 

Mine has birthday coming up in a couple of months.
I still love my '06 Vista Blue best after buying another '06 and an '07.
Sorry you have the hood bubbles.
I've seen several low miles cars with them.
I have yet to see any on mine (built in March '06) or the other 2 I had.
Keepin' my fingers crossed.

 

I'm lucky I don't have a blistering hood (yet) but agree with the comment about Ford knowing about it and doing nothing - because they were covered by the words in the warranty about perforation. I can't imagine buying a new F150 and seeing it in 3-4 years after the corrosion hit the aluminum and steel. Imagine the mess it someone put mud flaps on with steel screws. I don't drive mine in the winter so I avoid all the salt spray etc. Hopefully that will keep the blistering away.

 

I dont think it matters- our 09 has been washed once or twice, stored inside under cover, never ever been even test driven, and started blistering on the underside a 5 yrs old...picking the paint off that time capsule of a car really broke me regarding being a 'ford guy'... love these cars, but really makes me sick seeing even 14's going in for hood issues. doubt i'll ever buy another new ford- their 'good enough' mentality towards what to many of us are more than just commodity cars is unacceptable. they knew of the problems, knew the economics of it were in their favor as most wouldnt be seen till after the warranty...if thats acceptable to ford's corporate bean counters, fine- but theyve got the last of my dollars. if its gonna have original paint fail in 2-3-4-even 10 yrs of proper care, I might as well buy used and rebuild- knowing with enough effort it could be better than 'good enough'.
the biggest 'selling point' to me on a new car has always been virgin factory baked paint- its about as good as it gets...but when they cheap out on prep, ignore known defects and spray/bake over dirt/sharp edges/contaminants... just says volumes of their quality ethic being second to pushing product out the door, long as on average the defects will fall on the consumers tab, not the warranty.

glad yours hasnt bubbled- but gotta say- keep a close eye on that underside perimeter of the hems. even the nicest ones ive seen had it starting somewhere- catch it/seal it before the topside original paint suffers the creep youll be fine. my wifes 07 and my 09 both seem held at bay for now, the 06 hood suffered massve blistering that went from tiny bubbles to feet across over a few months back in 08, didnt notice till too late- but gave me a reason to get the shaker hood(and two more stored away for the 07-09 eventually)... I*think* peeling the blisters, ospho acid etch to neutralize the corrosion, then caulking worked, but only time will tell... I used 'automotive goop' on the 07, messy... used clear 3m seam sealer on the 09, messy... but so far so good. the wifes 07 i removed th hood, poured ospho inside rolled around nose-down, flushed with water, let dry a few days, poured rustoleum in and tipped/rolled to coat inside between layers, let dry, then overcoated the underside- shoulda used different paint as sealer, and sprayed, as brushing made the underhood paint krinkle up- like laquer over enamel next time will try some kind of urethane maybe- but next time (if) the topside will probably be affected, time to put the shakers on...

 

heres the emblem on the car- really like it... funny how such a 'small' piece can change a look...next up is fixturing taillights in the mill, cutting a precise red chunk out of donor lamps, cutting out the clear backups, and trying to make all-red tails, hopefully if the cut fits tight enough, the glueseams will be invisible... gonna do the donor backups first to test run the idea, before ruining two sets of tails

 

Raxiom doesn't make an all-red tail light that you like?

 

Nope, sorry to say it wont. My 2014 Roush bubbled with 5k on the clock and had never seen a lick of salt and just a couple times being caught in some summer rain.

 

nah, I've seen some of their tails, didnt care for the 'led' look...they have a set with the 4 backups that look pretty good(better than the 10-12 IMHO) but not into that much...I did a quick photochop on mine and another guys in here, thought they really looked more 'mustang-ish' without the clear backups... they make LED backups that double as license plate bolts, think thats the way I'd like to try...

 

Sounds like a great idea Tim ! My only concern however, is would the clear led backups that double as license plate bolts be visible enough and most of all be able to pass inspection

 

another year gone by- didnt mark the cars 11th birthday either- but did get the snow off/wash it up (garages full, shes sat out yearround most of the time since new)
did get spare set of taillights to eventually cut/fit red inserts from, and test cut the clears from before cutting the existing set... but havent had ambition to make a mill fixture up yet- or get much of anything else done this past year...
still love the car, already cant wait for salt to go away, even though only been driving the mercury for a few weeks...

hope you all had a great Christmas, sure feel like i coulda used a few more days off this week, seems its been zoom-zoom-zoom since before Thanksgiving...oh well, just thankful for a job to get back at tomorrow, among many other things
tim

 

That emblem looks great. I never had any paint problems on my 05. I've checked under the hood after reading about some owners paint problems there and mine looks fine. I guess I'm lucky. Maybe due to the dry warm climate where I live?