Hello everybody. My name is Patrick and I just joined from Luxembourg, Europe. I own a 1970 Ford country squire. I imported the car from San Diego, CA. It was first registered in Albuquerque, NM and was sold to a guy in San Diego in the early nineties. I bought it last year when visiting my sister in law in LA from the guy in San Diego. I saw it parked in LA with a for sale sign in it. I caled the number and I bought it on the spot. Then had it shipped to Luxembourg at the end of my vacation. It is a wonderful car with a pristine interior and exterior. The only serious issue is that I need to fix the tailgate window which is getting stuck about halfway down, replace all 4 wheelbearings. That is it ! On the exterior the woodgrain vinyl has been eaten by the CA sun and I was wondering if there is a way to restore or repaint the vinyl short of replacing it completely. I would like to figure out more about its history like the name and location of its first owner, first registration, exact date of sale from NM to CA but do not know if that data is openly available on the internet. Is there a website where I could decode the VIN ? Thanks and I look forward to talking to all of you wagon lovers. Oh, I also own a 1966 Ford F 250 Camper special. Cheers, Patrick
It seems to me that other folks have wanted to decode their VIN. I think it might be Stormin Norman who had that info. I was able to have mine decoded through another forum and was able to get all the other info like specs, where the car was built, where(the dealers name and location) it was orginally sold. But I live in Canada and got this info from Canadian GM Vintage Service which is of no use to you. However there must be the same info avaliable from Ford I would think??? Some of those blue oval guys should be along shortly to point you in the right direction. Glad you found your way here, aboard.
Welcome. A Marti Report is what you need to get for the info you want.. http://www.martiauto.com/reports2.cfm
Welcome aboard! For VIN info, try this website: http://www.lovefords.org/vin-information.html Some of our members have posted recent threads regarding restoring wood grain - try a search of the forum. Post some pics when you can.
welcome newbie Thanks guys!. I will be posting pictures just as soon as I can download them from my iphone. Back soon. Patrick
pictures from newbie squire here are the pictures I promised. I hope I did it right and that they came through. P
newbie from Europe story (continued) I have posted two pictures. I bought this car 2 years ago in Los Angeles. We were visiting my sister in law and I saw it parked outside of a Trader Joe*s parking lot. It looked great. Surfboard on the roof and a ton of beach and surfgear inside. The car was full of sand when I had to clean it out back here in Europe. The interior is very nice, the undercarriage is ultraclean, no rust whatsoever and the engine runs smooth as silk. The woodgrain is eaten up by the CA sun, it has a small ding on the front right hand side and the tailgate window gets stuck halfway down. I will do the woodgrain as suggested by some on this forum. I replaced the 4 wheelbearings and I am in the process of rebuilding the rear differential. I love this car. I actually always preferred the 66 and 67 models but this one really caught my eye in the LA parking lot. It reminds me of the late sixties, early seventies rock music festivals and it is a classic family wagon. I find the front end more agressive than the 66 and 67 models. With a few more bucks spent it will be be in pristine condition. We use it as a family car in good dry weather over here in Europe. I also love its New Mexico history as my wife and I lived in Santa Fe for three years. Now all our relatives live in LA. I was trying to track down the original owner but I have not been able to. I will try going through the NM DMV. Cheers, Patrick
The wagon is beautiful! If she is all original, I might be tempted to leave well enough alone, rather than bringing her back to as new condition. The one thing about the Dy-Noc is that even when it is shabby and worn, it does not cause further deterioration of the metal. There is something I love about a woody that shows its years and wears them proudly. With the dent in the front wing, if it is smooth-edged, you may be able to pull it out using a sink plunger. Get the suction going and give a good pull, and it is amazing how much you can make disappear. Best of all, it is free! Have fun with the old girl, no matter what you do with her.
leave 70 alone Thks Mike. I agree with you. I will not replace the vinyl. Freshen it up a bit. She is all original indeed. The interior is so nice that both previous owners must have taken good care. After I vacuumed all the sand out a gave it a wet cloth wipe it was as good as new. The dent is not sharp. I will give the plunger a try. That is a good idea. Patrick
