The heading suggests this week that we are talking about Research and Development, however in this case it means Restored and Dangerous. So we start with a really serious note, in fact we were shocked to such a level that Adam has made a video of it. An unprecedented move, but Adam felt that this really warranted a video to show our readers exactly what is out there. The laws in the UK have changed (a bad move in our opinion), for the MOT (Ministry Of Transport) tests for road worthy vehicles, the rules state that you don’t need an MOT if;
- the vehicle was built or first registered more than 40 years ago
- no ‘substantial changes’ have been made to the vehicle in the last 30 years, for example replacing the chassis, body, axles or engine to change the way the vehicle works
As we have said before in a blog; we can pretty much say that all our customers still go for the MOT even though they don’t need to have it, why? To make sure the vehicle is safe. That’s safe to drive and safe to other road users, the last thing Classic Car owners want is their pride and joy have a failure resulting in it getting smashed up somewhere. A vehicle that was ‘fully restored’ in Europe (that’s all we are going to say), was shipped to the proud owner in the UK. The owner of this vehicle paid some strong money for this car at the time and was expecting a top quality car. After the car was imported to the UK the car was taken to a well-known Mustang ‘specialist’ restorer (whom we know of by the way), where this car was given a full UK MOT.
As with all new cars that we haven’t seen before in our care, we always give them a safety check and full once over. The reason is we want to be sure that we are not going to crash and die in the vehicles, and to also get a baseline of what needs to be done if anything.
We are going to respect the owners privacy on his Mustang, understandably he is not impressed as some serious work needs to be done before he can even think of driving it again. Even after the restoration has been done.
The video of Adam’s inspection comments is here and will be posted on YouTube as soon as we can get to the account and upload it. The sound on the video will show just how bad the mechanical parts are, the idler arm, geometry, ball joints, grease points valance are all covered here, that’s before we inspect the brakes, engine, electrics etc.
These worn suspension parts are not supposed to move in the manner that they are.
Yep, Adam on video!
The moral of the story here is to make sure you know what you are getting. Ask other people who have had work done by other specialists to get an idea of their reputation. Lots of people claim to know what they are doing, but letting a car on the road like this is just dangerous and potentially lethal.
The blame is two-fold here, the restoration in the first place and then the person who gave the car an MOT afterwards.
Customers Cars
The Onion,
Last week we promised a big update on ‘The Onion Mustang’, and here it is. Yogi has been busy getting the panels together and wanted the car on her own wheels to get the weight right ready for gaps. Most of the parts have been powder coated to a high standard and we have had them for a little while now. Yogi and Adam inspects the new parts;
Yogi and Adam seen here fitting some very special suspension parts to this little lady;
The suspension on this car is made up of some rather clever movable parts called roller bearings. This allows the suspension to move much more in a controlled way, unlike the video above.
We have a couple of video that show what we mean;, and the movement here on the suspension is supposed to be there!
The car has also been treated to a ‘Shelby Drop’ using our own template which can be seen here with the suspension mounted below the original holes. Before you ask – no we won’t sell you one!
In order to get the correct geometry settings these car’s suspension on this year are adjustable via a cam and not use shims like the 64 – 66 cars, thus making it much quicker and a lot nicer to set up correctly.
As these parts are adjustable they did have a tendency to move on the odd occasion, to get around that we have some special parts to stop that.
These rather clever upgrades should enable the tyre to be in full correct contact with the road at all times. We must admit that we are looking forward to the road test on this suspension set up.
With the suspension in place and the rear axle bolted in the car sits on a set of (borrowed) wheels. In order to make the gaps correct Adam and Yogi placed a couple of engines in the car and a little trick the guys don’t want us to show you as it’s a Mustang Maniac secret. Now the car is a rolling shell, Yogi can set the gaps correctly and weld them up properly.
The Dreaded “C” word; yep it’s Christmas time!
At Mustang Maniac we try not mention Christmas untill December and as this is the first post of December we decided to mention it. We have already had a few early purchases of our very popular Mustang Maniac Gift Vouchers. We have had some more made up for us and are now back in stock. So if you want to buy something for that lucky person who owns a Mustang, and don’t know what to get them – then this is your dream come true to let them get what they want. They are available in £10 and £20 and can be used in the WebShop. during your purchases.
The links for the £10 voucher is here or click on the picture below.
The links for the £20 voucher is here or click on the picture below.
Exciting News from the WebShop that starts in the New Year:
Adam will be running a special offer once a month, for one week only where he will be having a promotion of a particular product. Once the product have gone, that’s the promotion done, even if it lasts for a day or two, so be quick. What will the promotional items be?
We can’t say at the moment so you will have to watch this space – or bookmark the WebShop or copy this link to your favorites to find out!
Mustang Maniac 
