a bit of good luck

Well it’s been kinda quiet on the site lately, maybe it’s the economy, maybe it’s boredom, but things are getting better.
What a streak of luck! Yesterday was a slow day, we were asked to clean the shop. At first it’s the same ol’ same ol’, clean the floor, dump the garbage, put the shop tools away, fix the lights & brake lathes and rejoice when finding a long lost tool. Today was different. My bud came over and asked me if I wanted a 4.6 throttle body, my reply was the usual, what year was it, what’s wrong with it. He said I could have it, along with the other stuff and that it was against the wall under a blanket. I left it for a while, and he returned and said I better wiggle my tail, or it’s going in the scrap pile.
I finally went to his stall and couldn’t find it, oh well, I have plenty junk that I am getting rid of and swapping for other junk, which will probably be thrown away or swapped next week or the week after, because that is what we do we give, swap or just move stuff around to make it look like we cleaned up.
What I didn’t know was the throttle body was hooked to a complete 4.6 liter from a grand marquis, to include intake, fuel rail & injectors, coils, egr, manifolds, flywheel, the whole enchilada!!!
Yeah, the side of the oil pan has an in-pan connecting rod bearing inspection port hole to allow immediate and constant visual inspection of the internal workings of the block, and it doesn’t require the oil drain plug, but that’s cool, the block can always be sent back as a core on another engine.
I was kinda pissed as I gave an intact mustang away the other day because the transmission was junk, but I gave it to a kid in high school for a project car, he comes by and asks questions and tells me his plans. He’s all psyched-up about it, and I think his dad is equally enthusiastic. We have been taking about suspension & brakes and the like, but I think he wet his pants when I told him about the k-member in jegs that comes as a clean member, and you can add mounts for a Chevy 350. And they have a two wheel drive suburban that that just sits as the whole suspension and steering column is junk. I said I would help with the wiring for injection system. They can sell parts from the suburban to raise cash for the mustang.
Maybe the crappy economy is good for father & son projects, it’s got to get better. And another kid will get a jump start into the automotive field.
This has certainly inspired me to get playing with my Fairmont again, as the grand marquis & mustangs all share the same motor mount configurations and are the same, and this includes the new 5.0. I was looking forward to changing to hydraulic power boost brakes anyway.
It would look like everybody in this little circle has come out smelling like roses, and I hope all you guy’s get a bit of the same kind of luck in one form or another.