AM Blog
January, 2011 (Archived)

ARCHIVE:

- Current Blog

2010:

- 12/2010
- 11/2010
- 10/2010
- 09/2010
- 08/2010
- 07/2010
- 06/2010
- 05/2010
- 04/2010
- 03/2010
- 02/2010
- 01/2010

2009:
- 12/2009
- 11/2009
- 10/2009
- 09/2009

Monday, January 31, 2011 6:46 AM

Just a quick update to let you know that we're still working on the Movie and TV-Bird pages (we won't link to them, as they're a mess right now). We're attempting to bring them up to current standards, as far as code goes, but have discovered that our third party vendors aren't providing code-compliant scripting. In short, this means things do not display on the page as intended.

Once the HTML code on these pages has been fixed, we will likely split them up by series and will then update all of them with new information, as they are long past due for a big update. Thank you for your patience as we work through these tedious tasks.

Saturday, January 29, 2011 7:56 AM

AutomotiveMileposts.com sets new monthly traffic record for January 2011!
As of Friday, January 28th, AutomotiveMileposts.com exceeded our all-time peak monthly unique visitors record. Unique visitors is an important measurement of site popularity and reach, as each visitor viewing the site is counted just once during the time period used as a measurement, which in this case is 24 hours.

There's still three days to go for January, so we'll be working to better this month's record in future months. This is a great way to start 2011, and our thanks to all of our visitors for making this possible. Enjoy your weekend! (We're working on updating the Movie and TV-Birds pages still, so don't be surprised if they have a different look from time to time as you view them this weekend.)

Thursday, January 27, 2011 8:13 AM

Movie and TV-Birds
We've updated our Movie and TV-Birds section to include video clips of Ford Thunderbird appearances in classic movies and television shows. In future weeks, we will be totally reworking these pages to bring them up to current standards, and to minimize the time it takes them to load on your computer.

We are also considering splitting them up by series, such as grouping the 1955-57, 1958-60, and 1961-63 cars together. This would require more clicking to view the various years, but it will also make the page sizes smaller as we add more and more content and information in the future.

Most of the movies and TV shows are available for purchase at Amazon.com by clicking on the title. We will be updating these links as well in the coming weeks. Why not relax and spend a few hours watching classic cars when they were new, appearing in contemporary movies and television shows?

Pick the decade of interest: 1955-1960 Thunderbird, 1961-1969 Thunderbird, or 1970-1979 Thunderbird. (The video clip at above left is a scene from the 1964 movie "Good Neighbor Sam" starring Jack Lemmon and featuring a very agile 1964 Thunderbird Convertible, with a very nervous front seat passenger!)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 8:50 AM

TECH TIPS:
1967-1971 Ford Thunderbird and 1969-1971 Continental Mark III AMP Gauge Repair
Owners of 1967-1971 Thunderbirds and 1969-1971 Continental Mark IIIs have long been bothered with factory ammeter gauges that appear to be non-functional. Even when these cars were brand new, movement of the gauge needle was quite small, with noticeable indications of charging or discharging reserved for times when there was an electrical problem or severely discharged battery being charged by the alternator. Owners of other Ford vehicles of this time, including some Mustangs, Cougars, and Ford Trucks, also experience this.

The problem is related to a shunt circuit that sends a small sample to the ammeter gauge, and over time resistance builds up in the circuit so that there's virtually no movement of the needle, even though everything seems to be working properly.

We've included a little history regarding these gauges, and step by step instructions that may help return your gauge to normal operation.

Saturday, January 15, 2011 9:31 AM

We've just updated a few older pages, and expanded the information on those pages or added new pages with additional information. One of the pages updated was our PerTronix Electronic Ignition Conversion page. It now covers all three models of the ignition upgrade: the Original Ignitor, Ignitor II, and the Ignitor III. They are side by side to make it easier to compare. Also, we've provided individual links to purchase the kits, along with detailed model applications.

And to help you install it once you receive it, detailed instructions are provided on installing the system on classic Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles on our PerTronix Installation - Ford page. We will be adding instructions for GM and Chrysler vehicles soon.

If you haven't made this upgrade, you really should consider it. So many starting, idling, and performance problems can be traced back to the original style points, it's just a good idea to get rid of them. When they fail, they often do so without warning. The PerTronix module is completely hidden under the distributor cap, so no one will ever know you've made the conversion. There are no external boxes to mount, and you don't need to replace your distributor if it's functioning properly. Installation takes about 30 minutes, and you'll be pleased with the smoother idle, easier starting, and better overall performance you'll receive.

Additional new pages include:
PerTronix Ignitor Model Applications
PerTronix Ignitor II Model Applications
PerTronix Ignitor III Model Applications

We've also provided an installation secret that you might be interested in—it could provide that extra measure of security for your car when left unattended. It's on the installation instructions page. Amazon.com provides order fulfillment. We chose Amazon because most people have accounts there, and they provide good service to customers.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 3:18 PM

Effective with most of the new pages published in 2011, we are changing our document encoding to Unicode UTF-8. This reflects current standards better, and should help our pages display properly in all browsers, regardless of where in the world it is viewed. If you notice any changes (which you probably won't), this may explain it.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 2:26 PM

We noticed that a couple of recently-published pages were rendering incorrectly in Internet Explorer 8. After a great deal of research on the issue, we can only say that we don't know what the problem was. The HTML of the pages as well as the CSS was validated with no errors or warnings, which means they should display perfectly in browsers. But for some reason they didn't in IE8.

We have made changes to the pages to correct their appearance for now. We will make repairs to any others that we come across as well. Our apologies to those who may have come across these pages.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 4:05 PM

Mercury: Rolling Into History
The last new Mercury rolled off the assembly line around 8:00 a.m. this morning at Ford Motor Company's St. Thomas, Ontario assembly plant. The Grand Marquis was part of a fleet order, and was scheduled to be built late in 2010, but snow storms delayed the arrival of parts shipments to the plant, bumping the build date back.

The Grand Marquis has been built at the St. Thomas plant for 25 years, and the plant will remain open until September of this year, building the Ford Crown Victoria for taxi and law enforcement use.

Mercury debuted in 1938, and built over 21 million cars during its 72 year run. Over the years, Mercury built some very popular cars, including the Cougar, which was introduced in 1967 and immediately was designated Car of the Year by Motor Trend Magazine. The Colony Park Station Wagon set the luxury standard for that body style for many years, and who can forget the Marauder, Cyclone and Comet?

Thanks for the memories, Mercury. Sad to see another American brand pass into history. It has lots of company, joining Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, DeSoto, Packard...and so many others. If you have a Mercury sitting in the garage or driveway, be sure to give it a pat on the hood tonight, OK?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 10:46 AM

1961 Lincoln Continental Quality Control Audit
Numerous quality issues dogged the 1958-60 Lincoln motorcars. When the '58 models were introduced, they were the largest unibody production cars in the world, and while unibody construction has a lot of benefits, it brings with it some issues as well. Luxury car buyers were well aware of the quality issues with Lincoln prior to the introduction of the 1961 models, so Lincoln had its work cut out to convince people that the newest edition of the motorcar was world class when it came to quality control. The steps Lincoln took to ensure minimal quality issues were incredible, to say the least. This was likely Lincoln's last chance to get it right in every area: styling, quality, performance, luxury appointments, and resale value.

Lincoln struck a home run with the 1961 cars. The styling was unlike that of any other car, and Lincoln's engineering, design, and testing procedures resulted in cars that were loved so well by their original owners that they held on to them longer than normal.

Every component was thoroughly tested before and after installation on the car, and no expense was spared to make sure the very best materials were used in the manufacturing and construction of these parts. Here's a fascinating look at some of the details of Lincoln's Quality Control Audit, which every 1961 Lincoln Continental motorcar was required to pass with flying colors before being approved for shipping.

Post 3: Saturday, January 1, 2011 6:31 PM

About this time a year ago, we were announcing the 1971 Lincoln Continental section had just been published. Now, one year later, we step back in time a decade before 1971, and announce the long-awaited 1961 Lincoln Continental section to the site. This was the deal changer, folks. This is the one that made everyone take notice of Lincoln. Stunningly elegant in its simplicity, its designers received an award for their hard work...and they deserved it. Rarely does a new car have the impact on the automotive industry that the '61 Continental had.

The new Lincoln broke all the rules. It had center-opening rear doors. It offered the world's only production 4-door convertible at the time. The new Lincoln was offered in a very limited array of models (two, to be exact). It was smaller at a time when bigger was better. It had a very restrained use of chrome and extra trim when other cars tacked the stuff on like it was free. Quality control was enforced by checking components before they were installed on the car, and then checking them again after they were installed. Each completed car had to pass a 12-mile road test with a very intolerant inspector behind the wheel. If anything seemed out of place, the car wasn't approved for shipping. It was corrected first.

Today's Lincoln vehicles still have a hint of 1961 styling in them. The true test of timeless styling? The 1961 Lincoln Continental. Not a bad way to start off a new year, eh? Enjoy!

Post 2: Saturday, January 1, 2011 9:25 AM

Looks like we made it, another year has arrived. With its arrival, a year has also passed into history. Automotive Mileposts set new traffic records for 2010, and we'd like to thank all of you for enabling us to achieve these new records. Unique visitors to the site was up 119% over 2009, and individual page views were up a whopping 165%, which means more pages are being viewed during each visit.

Thank you for your continued support, we appreciate it very much. We added an average of .65 new cars to the site per week during 2010, which was a pretty big achievement when you consider the amount of time and work that must go into each year, make, and model that we add.

Next in line are the 1961 Lincoln Continentals, as we continue to work toward finishing up Phase Three of the site and move on to Phase Four. (We hope to have the '61 Continentals online this weekend.)

Thanks again for your support, and best wishes for the new year.

2011 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Saturday, January 1, 2011 12:04 AM