merc
07-26-2004, 11:35 AM
It’s good to be back home from the trip to Team Ford in Atlanta. In the last two years I have read thousands of posts and visited several Marauder groups within the United States. I will never forget the Welcome to LasVegas gathering and my first official meet in Hershey P.A. The N.Y crew laid out the red carpet for Pam and I and we were involved with their new game called “Find the Diamond”, hosted by Martyo and his insurance company. What a great bunch of people coast to coast. The Southern Marauder have their own unique flavor and style. As an enthusiast of modified Marauders I thought I died and resurrected in Ford Heaven. The Team Ford shop is a great experience for everyone to see.
In the last two years of ownership I have had several major problems and a handful of minor ones. Motor at 10.000 and transmission at 20.000 miles approximately. These type of headaches makes me review my loyalty toward ford products. As some of you may know I have not had much joy since L/M dealer rebuilt my transmission and my PI converter installed. I sent out several SOS messages to vendors on this site and members. All of them offered assistance and directed me to a solution. It was now up to me to save the funds and make a decision. I don’t want to travel around the world because I thought this would be a simple fix for some of the local shops in my area. The laundry list of suggestions was getting larger and my aggravation level was off the scale. This year alone I spent thousands of dollars trying to make my car perform better. Following the decision tree that most members on this board used to enhance their cars looked like a good idea. But in my case things were not working out as planned.
During the Cam (Capital Area Marauders) meeting last month and I was able to drive one of the member’s cars. He recently upgraded his transmission and installed a shift kit. Wow, now I had a baseline on how a transmission should run. I am very thankful for the ride and it’s not often that I get to ride in another Marauder that is not on the dealer’s lot. Now I was on a mission and this problem was going to be resolved one way or another.
Todd Fisher sent me a P.M that he had similar transmissions issues and others in the areas found a reliable source that would tune the shift points and torque converter locking and unlocking problems. He also explained that Fordnut ( a member on this site ) would also be tuning his car that morning. Others in the area were also meeting for breakfast and a mini meet. The temptation was overwhelming to attend the Atlanta group breakfast but as a bonus I would see the Secret Project Car, now that’s an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Explaining to my wife that I was going to Atlanta to see someone’s car and meet a bunch of guys in the morning for breakfast took some real creative talent. She claimed that I love the car more then her and she wanted to see what all the hype was all about. So she packed up the bags and off we traveled. To keep a long story short we were very happy to meet and greet everyone that showed up. I never had the chance to attend Marauder Ville 1or 2, but I believe that we captured the spirit of the occasion. I would like to thank the Southern Marauders and Team Ford. We had a great time and look forward to returning in the spring. My transmission issues were resolved as promised and we feel deeply indebted to Todd Fisher for the weeks of effort and costly phone calls. YOU ARE THE MAN. A special thanks should also go out Logan and the members on this site, because without this place we would truly be lost.
In the last two years of ownership I have had several major problems and a handful of minor ones. Motor at 10.000 and transmission at 20.000 miles approximately. These type of headaches makes me review my loyalty toward ford products. As some of you may know I have not had much joy since L/M dealer rebuilt my transmission and my PI converter installed. I sent out several SOS messages to vendors on this site and members. All of them offered assistance and directed me to a solution. It was now up to me to save the funds and make a decision. I don’t want to travel around the world because I thought this would be a simple fix for some of the local shops in my area. The laundry list of suggestions was getting larger and my aggravation level was off the scale. This year alone I spent thousands of dollars trying to make my car perform better. Following the decision tree that most members on this board used to enhance their cars looked like a good idea. But in my case things were not working out as planned.
During the Cam (Capital Area Marauders) meeting last month and I was able to drive one of the member’s cars. He recently upgraded his transmission and installed a shift kit. Wow, now I had a baseline on how a transmission should run. I am very thankful for the ride and it’s not often that I get to ride in another Marauder that is not on the dealer’s lot. Now I was on a mission and this problem was going to be resolved one way or another.
Todd Fisher sent me a P.M that he had similar transmissions issues and others in the areas found a reliable source that would tune the shift points and torque converter locking and unlocking problems. He also explained that Fordnut ( a member on this site ) would also be tuning his car that morning. Others in the area were also meeting for breakfast and a mini meet. The temptation was overwhelming to attend the Atlanta group breakfast but as a bonus I would see the Secret Project Car, now that’s an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Explaining to my wife that I was going to Atlanta to see someone’s car and meet a bunch of guys in the morning for breakfast took some real creative talent. She claimed that I love the car more then her and she wanted to see what all the hype was all about. So she packed up the bags and off we traveled. To keep a long story short we were very happy to meet and greet everyone that showed up. I never had the chance to attend Marauder Ville 1or 2, but I believe that we captured the spirit of the occasion. I would like to thank the Southern Marauders and Team Ford. We had a great time and look forward to returning in the spring. My transmission issues were resolved as promised and we feel deeply indebted to Todd Fisher for the weeks of effort and costly phone calls. YOU ARE THE MAN. A special thanks should also go out Logan and the members on this site, because without this place we would truly be lost.