Okay, putting on my asbestos suit.

Hey, everyone. My name's Joey. I work as a facilities tech and play the saxophone on weekends in a Jump Blues band in Seattle.

This is my first hot-rod project (using the term loosely), I'm about to start work on the second round of mods.

What I've got is a 1978 T-top Fastback Mustang II with a 302 bored .30 over, Edelbrock 600 cfm on a 289 manifold, '66 HP 289 heads, and twin pipes with turbo mufflers. It sits on a set of custom wheels and the ramped-up MII Rallye suspension kit. Tranny's a built C4 with a shift kit and a floor shifter. It's currently Polar-white and has gremlins in the electrical system.

I had no experience with cars at all until two years ago -- I could barely change a wiper blade. I bought this heap with no engine or tranny and have been learning as I go, through forums, hot rod shows, and mostly through the patient guidance of my father-in-law, who's a hard-core resto-rodder. It finally came to life after five months and a couple square yards of knuckle skin.

After having gone to several shows and seen everything from T-bucket, beer-keg-gas-tank rat rods to $100,000 trailer queens, I'm afraid I've fallen in with a bad crowd; I find myself inexorably drawn to the Rat Rodder ethos: audaciously loud, irreverently ugly, home-built, and mean as hell. When I was in high-school, muscle cars were all the rage; this next project strives to combine the two.

What I've got sitting in the garage, to be cobbled together starting after the Holidays and incorporated into the II: Weiand dual-quad tunnel ram hi-rise intake, twin 390 cfm Holleys, Hedman headers, 3" racing plugs, Hilborn scoop, spoiler wing, a whole lot of sandpaper and satin black paint, and rattlesnake-print vinyl for the Targa stripe. Wish me luck.

Mostly, this iteration will serve to frighten guys in slammed-out, multicolored Hondas.

I plan to redo the electrical completely in the fall.

Future mods -- 2007 or so -- will include a 393 stroker, 5-bolt wheels with Mickey 275/15 rears, and a nitrous fogger.

I'll have a lot of newbie questions but I'll use the Search function as much as possible. I'm asking for your patience and your guidance. I'll post pics as it goes.

Immense Peace,

- Joey