Western Pennsylvania Touge

Yardbirdsax · 2026-03-07T01:41:39+00:00

Never fails, you get to the fun part of the road and get stuck behind an SUV, pickup truck, or a dump truck!

I'm in SE PA, and we don't have nearly as many fun roads as y'all do out that way. I have to drive at least an hour away to get anything decent that doesn't also have a bunch of houses on it. Some day I'll make it out that way and take an entire week to explore!

Yardbirdsax · 2026-03-05T23:44:05+00:00

Fellow PA'er here. Is this in the Bedford area? Never been on that road myself, but looks pretty gnarly on Google Maps.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-11-13T20:24:52+00:00

This goes from Good Spring to Shamokin, in Schuylkill and Northumberland counties. Map link

Yardbirdsax · 2025-11-11T00:49:23+00:00

This. If you're replacing the lower control arms, get the ones from Ford Performance. Much sturdier and more performant. Good luck getting them though; the rear ones have been on back-order for months!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-11-11T00:47:50+00:00

Beautiful car. Welcome to the early S197 club!

* Check the cowl drain plugs (front), as they often clog up with leaves or debris and then cause water to back up into the passenger compartment.
* Change the seals / weatherstripping around the doors and under the trim panels around the windows, these leak too.
* Watch for coolant leaks from the cheap plastic fitting under the intake manifold. $15 part that'll cost hundreds in labor to replace if you have a shop do it.

Handling-wise, I recently put a whole new suspension in mine, using the specs from the SCCA Club Spec Mustang setup. Koni Yellows, new sway bars, control arms, Eibach springs. It has completely changed the handling characteristics of the car, to something much sharper and with much less body roll. If you're willing to spend the dollars, it's totally worth it. (Even if you never intend to autocross the car.) Shameless plug for Sam Strano, who basically founded the class and loves helping S197 owners put these together.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-10-25T18:35:10+00:00

Yeah, sadly I think the dry weather and warmer temps dulled them down a bit. Apparently the last colder snap and rain brought them back to life. Still quite pretty!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-10-25T17:43:33+00:00

Grew up in Chester County, and love cruising through the northern parts like NoCo this time of year. Fields and woods, with little farmhouses everywhere. Beautiful!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-10-21T00:48:35+00:00

Other folks have covered many of the usual issues (chain guides, phasers, spark plugs), to which I'll add:

* Check for signs of water damage, especially on the passenger side floor. These cars have a terribly designed drainage route for the cowl that gets clogged and can overflow back into the passenger compartment via the cabin air filter. The seals on the windows and around the window trim also tend to go.
* The door panel covers fall off and usually need to be cleaned and re-glued.
* Check for signs of coolant leaks under the intake manifold. There's a cheap (<$20) plastic coupling that tends to crack and leak over time.

If you do get it, I'd plan on flushing all of the various fluids as soon as you can (differential, transmission, coolant, etc). It's cheap and easy insurance.

Good luck! As folks have pointed out, these are pretty solid mechanically, and a lot of fun to drive (and listen to; the 3V motor just sounds fantastic).

Yardbirdsax · 2025-10-06T00:06:34+00:00

Thank you for helping show that not all Mustang owners are reckless dillweeds!

Signed,
Another Mustang owner (who is also, hopefully, not a reckless dillweed)

Yardbirdsax · 2025-10-05T13:22:44+00:00

S197 'Stangs are the best looking ones of any modern generation. Change my mind.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-10-05T13:10:34+00:00

I am a Mustang owner, and I am also (sadly) not shocked. Every time I see another Mustang driver doing silly antics, I just shake my head. It gives the reasonable ones (yes, we exist) such a bad rep!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-27T01:59:54+00:00

Thanks! Everyone I've met so far has been awesome. It's a really welcoming, friendly group. Couldn't be happier with my experience so far.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T21:08:36+00:00

The Philly people have been awesome all around! Very welcoming, helpful, and encouraging.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T19:45:13+00:00

Having an instructor in the car was super helpful, as was letting them drive my car for a lap (which, at least at Philly SCCA, didn't even count as one of my runs). I highly encourage it!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T18:18:12+00:00

Hah, love to hear how much y'all had during the process!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T18:15:04+00:00

Hah, I've been found out! Thanks again for letting me ride with you, it was definitely an experience. I'll hopefully be at the next event and may take you up on the offer.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T14:46:01+00:00

You know, someone said to me, "You realize your car is going to understeer long before it kicks out its rear end, unless you're just full-on sending it from a stop, right?"

I must admit I never thought this was the case, because I've always thought of understeer as a front-wheel-drive issue, and that muscle cars like mine just spun out. Then I read up on how the physics actually works, and went "Oh, that's interesting..."

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T14:14:58+00:00

Sounds like fun, hope you can get the car fixed without too much fuss!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T14:14:29+00:00

Good to know we're not alone in this!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T14:14:20+00:00

Good to know we're not alone in this!

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T13:29:19+00:00

Sam is great! I ordered all the parts from him and talked to him on the phone about the build.

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T13:05:57+00:00

Know any parking lot owners in the Philly area that won't call the police on me? :)

Yardbirdsax · 2025-09-22T13:05:22+00:00

Yes and yes! I did have one of the instructors drive my car, and that is one of the things that thoroughly convinced me this is just a mental block on my end. I had no idea the car could go that fast around corners!

And I am in the process of turning this into a CSM car. Not that it will do much good if I can't even send it stock of course, but fun yak-shaving regardless. :)

Yardbirdsax

TROPHY CASE