On This Day…

Posted on March 26, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

The day is Saturday 26th March 1932 exactly eighty-four years ago today, the great man Henry Ford was photographed standing next to a V8. Although Ford was not the first to introduce a V8, his engine broke new ground as it was the first ‘compact V8’ using a different ‘v’ angle so he could build them smaller and therefore cheaper. It also released the V8 technology for use in smaller cars…which gave ‘race car’ performance.

The greatest example of this was the praise given to Henry Ford by Bonnie and Clyde who credited the engine for being able to escape the police who only had four-cylinder cars.

Today, the actual 1934 Ford Model 730 Deluxe Sedan (boasting a massive 85bhp at the time) in which Bonnie a Clive took their last getaway and where they ceased their reign of terror, is on display at Whiskey Pete’s Casino. Las Vegas.

Customers Cars:

Speaking of engines, we had a ’67 fastback dropped into us for an unexpected visit just after the car had just passed its MOT with flying colours. On the way back from the test centre the engine decided to have an episode and blow a head gasket. This is never a good thing at any time, but you just can’t predict these things, ever. The engine had the dreaded sight that all mechanics cringe at, the oil in the engine looked like it had been replaced with Bailey’s liqueur. Yogi had an evaluation (we called it a guess), he took a head off from the left hand side and sure enough, number six pot was all shiny and clean.

To recondition the engine and do the required work can usually cost more than a crate engine. We had a new engine in stock and the agreement was to swap the engines out. So Yogi got to work straight away and put the kettle on, then had a cuddle with Enos first.

The engine was to use the original components where possible and came out fairly easily although there were some issues with the starter motor having a stripped thread for the retaining bolt. At this point, a two man job to get the engine out with the hood still in place so the pics are before and after.

The new engine dropped back in, but we had to be careful of the headers so they didn’t get damaged in the process.

We hope to have the car tuned, settled down and ready to be taken away early part of next week. How’s that for service?

The Country Squire:

The Ford Country Squire is a full-size station wagon that was assembled and marketed by Ford Motor Company from the 1950 to 1991 model years in North America for its namesake Ford division. Throughout its entire production run, the Country Squire was the premium station wagon model of the division, sold only in the full-size car range. In use for 41 years, it was the third longest-used car nameplate used by Ford in North America (behind only the Thunderbird and Mustang). Distinguished by its wood grain trim, only the first-generation 1950-1951 versions are true “Woodies”; to lower the high production cost of true woodgrain trim, the body trim on subsequent versions was composed of various simulated wood grain trim, with varying degrees of coverage of the body. Prior to 1986, other variations of the “Squire” name would be used on smaller “wood grained” Ford station wagons. Initially based on the Ford Custom Deluxe and the Ford Crestline that replaced it, in 1955, the Country Squire became a distinct model as Ford separated its station wagon and sedan model lines. While sharing trim with the Fairlane and then the Galaxie, the Country Squire remained a separate model line until 1968. For 1969, Ford consolidated its sedan and station wagon model lines, with the Country Squire becoming part of the Ford LTD line, gaining its model prefix. With the 1983 split of the Ford LTD and Ford LTD Crown Victoria, the LTD Country Squire remained part of the full-size line until its discontinuation. During its production run, the Ford Country Squire was joined by two other equivalent wood grained station wagons in other Ford divisions: In 1958, the Edsel division sold the Edsel Bermuda (which became the rarest Edsel); from 1957 to 1991, Lincoln-Mercury sold the Mercury Colony Park, sharing the body shell of the Country Squire from 1961 onwards. Ford Motor Company elected to discontinue the LTD Country Squire and Colony Park during the redesign of their Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis sedan counterparts for the 1992 model year. With the discontinuation of the Chrysler Town & Country in 1977, Buick Roadmaster Estate and Chevrolet Caprice Estate in 1996 (the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser was discontinued in 1992), the full-size station wagon segment disappeared in North America, with the lone exception of the 2005-2008 Dodge Magnum.

The second generation 1952 – 1954; In 1952, Ford expanded station wagons into a line up separate from its newly redesigned sedans. The Country Squire was the top model, now available solely in a four-door configuration; it was the wagon counterpart of the Crestline series. Joining the Squire were the four-door Country Sedan (Customline) and the two-door Ranch Wagon (Mainline). The 239 Strato-Star V-8 was the only engine offered in the 1952 Country Squire. Unlike its predecessor, the 1952 Country Squire no longer was a true woodie; like the Country Sedan, it wore a full steel body. The wood grain finish was now constructed by wood grain transfers edged in real wood trim on the sides and tailgate.The real wood trim was discontinued halfway through the 1953 model run and replaced with fiber glass trim with a wood grain finish.

This customers 1954 Ford Countryman Squire will be used to tow a race ready Mustang to and from meets we understand. The car has been standing around for a while and needs some serious work to get her road worthy, whether this will be a full restoration or a patina car we are not sure yet. But this is a big, big car.

The engine was a bit of a concern for us, parts and availability of course. So Yogi rolled up his sleeves, put the kettle on and took a look at the “Y block” series engine while scratching his fur. We made sure it was all free by hand cranking, checked there was some oil in it and got some fresh fuel. We cranked it over for a few turns, then started it in anger as it were.

The result was a short lived, but very sweet success, we now had positive something to work from.

To finish we thought we would share a funny photos of the dogs, what Enos didn’t realise was he was going back in there shortly, if looks could kill!

One last thing:

We shall be holding enquiries in the yard next week as to who “accidentally” left this glove on the engine swap out that Yogi was working on. When we find out who it was there will be some serious questions asked; “what exactly were you trying to point out?” Very funny though and Yogi is trying to find the culprit, I doubt very much that we will find out who left it somehow. 😀

Have a great Easter and don’t eat too much chocolate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bonnie & Clyde, Countryman Squire, Enos, Henry Ford, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, v8, Yogi | 7 Comments

Breakfast With An Ol’ Friend

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

At Mustang Maniac we love our job, we enjoy working on the cars and we enjoy the satisfaction to know that our customers are pleased too. This week an unexpected visitor turned up to see us again; the legendary Mastic Mustang ’67 Convertible. We sort of grew quite attached to this car considering how bad she was when she came in first time around. The car arrived with the top down looking pretty cool with the threat of rain to follow shortly. So we quickly found a covered space in a secure area for now, just in case.

Yesterday the sun was out and we needed to road test her again as she had developed a small over heating issue which we wanted to sort out. So what better way than to drive to a local pub first thing who serves a really great full English breakfast. After filling ourselves up and getting set for the day, we drove a little more and parked up at a garden centre for a couple of bits, just because we could. Although this may sound strange, but we are simulating the short drives she currently gets to try to replicate the issue. We didn’t have any issues so far with over heating, but something is not one hundred percent how we like it as the gauge did creep up a little. We found a nice open area to park up and before we knew it we had cars parked next to her and people taking pics, so we did too.

A couple of good questions came our way from a lovely chap, he asked about the interior so we said that this is not a “Pony Interior” as that was the previous few years, this was now called a “Deluxe Interior”. The trunk rack was an optional extra that we fitted for the customer, an unusual option, but we like it and it definitely suits this car.

What a fantastic way to start the day, Sun out, sound of a V8 rumble, convertible and wind in your hair, all just chilling with an old friend.

Customer Cars

Yogi has been a busy bear starting to assemble the French convertible that we picked up from last week. The pressure is to get this car back together again ready for a show, so it’s all hands on deck to get the lady ready where we can. But, we will not rush a job just to get it out the door and the owner is aware of that fact. Safety and quality of our work speaks for itself. The back of the car has been almost completed now and so far everything is going well and we are on schedule.

The upgraded SPAX gas adjustable shocks all round been fitted.

The front upgraded sway bar, springs, disc brakes are now all in place.

Our Gas Monkey Challenge!

We like to think that we are up for any challenge that comes our way, from reading our Blog you will know that we have had a few challenges in the past. We had a phone call to say that we going to be given a non-rolling chassis Mustang. We had no more than three days to get the wheels on the chassis, body panels for the hood, trunk, rear quarters and front fenders. Yogi & Adam said it wont be perfect, but suspected that it could be moved. Apparently we didn’t need to do any electrics either. Three days, are we mad?? Oh, we were only allowed one spanner! Obviously that was successfully challenged should we say, stating that no way can it be done with only a single spanner. So, the rules were relaxed with two ratchets each, a set of sockets and a rack of spanners and a screw driver of our choice – if you wanted that is. If we wanted? Are they mad now? The challenge was dubiously accepted with some head scratching and chin rubbing as to what was going to arrive at the yard. The car was expected some time on Saturday. Preparation and discussions at a secret location, OK it was in a workshop, the bare essential tools were readied as agreed. They cheated a little with the screwdriver as the extra “bits” were not mentioned so therefore not excluded. The “set” of sockets was elaborated appon as they all came as a “set” on the tray. Good lateral thinking from the guys to get a edge where they can.

We were told the car was five minutes away. Spaces were cleared and Chris walked in, alone. “Where’s the car?” With that he reached in his bag and pulled out the car! It was indeed a Mustang GT, a little newer than we expected though.

We’re not sure if it was a laugh of relief or not, but an impromptu adult conversation took place. 😉 Anyway, the challenge was still on and the task was palmed over to a secret, now sub contracted LEGO builder. Due to the fact that this was recommended for ages 7 – 14 yrs, the guys were going to be challenged as they would have to follow a set of instructions to build it. Everybody knows that the unwritten rule in a man cave is – you don’t read instruction manuals. Gloves were off… (well after the photo at least!)

The clock started. The first part was to build was the lap timer and the guy with the single spanner, we shall call him “Enos”.

The chassis building was going well now and the initial bout of not being able to see the small parts was overcome!

She was coming together. Tea break was required after the front and rear quarters were assembled. Next up the front end, hood and trunk. This was getting tricky now as the tiny stickers need to be added.

Wheels, exhausts and tyres up next with more pesky little stickers.

With the car completed and Enos now in the vehicle, the clock stopped after 1 hour and 14 minutes. Not bad considering there was fifty-one pages of instructions.

All we can say is that LEGO has moved on in the decades since we last had seen it. Well done Lego. So Gas Monkey, you take weeks to build a car, we had three days, we smashed that and done it in less than two hours! 😀

Ford Fact Time:

Back by popular demand we have a couple of facts for you.

Q: What is the link between Kermit the Frog and Henry Ford?

A: Henry Ford disliked and disagreed with US President Roosevelt and his politics…Roosevelt had a son called Kermit…who incidentally had a frog puppet named after him in the “Muppet Show”!

Q: What has Henry Ford and Brazil got in common?

A: In the 1920’s Henry Ford worried that the world rubber production was dominated by British plantations. Considering 50% of the worlds car sales at the time were model T Fords – all needing at least 4 tyres, he bought 2.5 million acres (the size of Tennessee) of Brazilian rainforest along the banks of the Amazon to plant with rubber plants to create his own rubber supply. He built a whole city with schools, churches, shops etc. and named it Fordlandia. Unfortunately it was not a success.

WebShop

Already we have sold a number of SPAX shocks and seem to be popular as we suspected they would be. They can be found on the WebShop or click here to go straight there.

Blog

Our blog will need to have to get an upgrade shortly, so keep an eye out for that soon.

Posted in Blog, Customers' Cars, Photos, Repairs, Service, Webshop | Tagged full English breakfast, Gas Monkey Challenge, LEGO, mastic mustang, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, Spax, Yogi | 2 Comments

Spring Time

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

We would like to say that summer is on the way which it supposedly is but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. But we are not talking about the weather here, we are talking about a very common question that we get asked, it was asked four times last week alone. Will changing the shock, springs or anti roll bar make a difference and what’s involved? We can say that they definitely will make an instance difference to the car. It also depends on what you want of course, the most common is the shocks to be replaced. Mustang Maniac are now proud to announce that we are an authorised SPAX dealership, we not only stock Mustang components for our customers, but we can also source SPAX parts for any vehicle. Yes you did read that right – any vehicle! We may even stock a selection of the more common types going forward. We have added link to the right side menu now, and also under the heading “Our Partner Products” along with Evans Coolant and Gibbs Brand Lubricant. Click the logo below to go to the WebShop for our in-stock items.

Back to the point, all this is to show you what we do when we change these parts. We often get queries by customers who buy parts saying they don’t fit or don’t work. So we now have a NEW section called “How To Projects” from the menus above. We will not repeat everything on those guides as you can read that if you want too, but here we have a selection of Yogi doing his thing in his cave from those articles!

We must say that like all these DIY projects – if in any doubt DON’T do it. Use the correct tools and be safe.

The first article: Replacing Front Springs or Shocks or click here for the quick link.

The front springs are under enormous loads and really should be treated with the utmost respect. The shocks are straight forward enough to replace. With the shock tower caps being removed and two bolts top and bottom of the shocks. Performance shocks will enable the car to ride over bumps or holes in the road ensuring tyre contact with the ground.

The other part is the ride comfort of the vehicle being the springs. The Shocks and the springs are separate items, but they work very much as a pair. We can’t stress how important it is to change these items in pairs of shocks or a pair of springs otherwise you may get unpredictable car handling characteristics.

For the standard springs they have to be compressed in order to remove and refit them from the suspension spring perches. To do this we have our own design and built tool for the job. This allows us to compress the springs from the top of the shock tower. What ever happens you will need a good quality spring compressor.

Here you can see the difference between the standard and the performance 600lb rated springs with a 1″ drop.

The process to fit the springs is much easier with shorter springs as they will just about fit in without any compression if you are lucky. With the springs and shocks replaced you are ready to have some wheel alignment done.

We have not done these upgrades yet without the geometry needing to be adjusted afterwards.

settings BEFORE adjustments

The difference is very subtle and just takes that front up stance away and gives a more even level look.

The other big difference that can be made is the replacing the front anti-roll bar or sway bar, from the menu above.

“Replacing Front Springs or Shocks” or click here for the quick link.

The sway bar will stop body roll around corners and also help keep the tyres in contact with the road. There are two brackets under the chassis that holds the main sway bar in place and at each end is a long bolt that will connect the end of the sway bar to the lower part of the suspension. We recommend loosening everything off first, then removing the suspension connection then the chassis clamps.

The difference between the standard and the uprated one is quite noticeable when compared next to each other.

The long suspension bolts MUST be fitted with a certain sequence of rubber and metal, often a point where mistakes are made. The spacer collar between the sway bad the suspension will be shorter and must be used, again this is often a mistaken as the parts not fitting correctly as the wrong parts from the original fitting are sometimes used. The clamps for the sway bar might need to be adjusted to fit the chassis depending on the model/year of the car as the clamps are generic. This is simple enough to do by slightly elongating the holes to allow the bolts to fit through if you have too of course.

Here we check the correct alignment before we start the fitting.

lengthened hole and corners removed.

checking for bolt clearance

The 1″ sway bar clamps are bigger and must be used, we suggest fitting the chassis clamps first loosely to the chassis as the bar will need to be adjusted. We sometimes remove the corners to fit the chassis easier but it’s not required.

Correctly fit the long bolt for the sway bar to the lower suspension.

Once everything is evenly spaced out then start the tightening up process.

We would suggest checking the wheel alignment, although this shouldn’t affect the geometry.

Check out the new Menu “How To Projects” as we will be adding some more simple projects in the near future.

Customers Cars:

We went to pick up the French convertible from the paint shop and she looks a real treat. Paul and Adam discussing the next project. The stripes on this car are not stuck on., these are sprayed onto the car giving a perfectly smooth finish if you were to try to feel them. We only have a short time to get this little lady ready for her debut car show. We will be having more on this in future posts.

Due to the fact that we were out virtually all day Friday delivering and picking up cars, the office was unmanned due to circumstances beyond our control. We came back to the office late afternoon to find 137 missed calls. With that volume of call somebody wouldn’t have got through anyway. We called a number of people back who only wanted to order parts. So we talked them through the process of ordering online from us so they don’t have to call us just for parts. Our WebShop will automatically calculate postage and packing for you, and in most cases it will be quicker for the dispatch department to send out to you without having to speak to us if that helps. Let us know if there is anything specific you would want to see in the walk-through guides. Please let us know what you think about the guides.

Posted in Articles, Customers' Cars, Parts, Repairs, Sales, Service, Walk Through Guides, Webshop | Tagged car show, Evans Waterless Coolant, geometry, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, shock tower, Spax, Spax shock absorbers, springs, Walk Through Guides, wheel aligment | 4 Comments

Shelby 1, 2 or 3?

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

Some decisions in life are more difficult than others such as what to drive. Here at Mustang Maniac we have an amazing selection of cars to choose from. In the words of a customer who recently had a guided tour of the yard “It’s like a museum”. We are immensely proud of that fact, and that decision making process has just gotten harder. What to drive this weekend? To see a true Shelby is rare, to see a collection of them is even rarer.

We have here the ever classic Shelby KR, Hertz Shelby and the beast of 2014 GT500 SVT edition.

The 2014 SVT is the baddest official Ford Mustang made to date, the SVT (Special Vehicle Team) has created a their first 200+mph car, that makes it a super car by any imagination. and all for under $70,000. The car has an incredible 662bhp with similar spine shattering 631lb torque at 4000rpm. What you have here in effect is a fully fledged track race car you can drive on the road. The builders of this car have even had the nice touch to sign the engine.

Yes we know the car is pretty dirty, but it’s not been in the yard long enough to clean it!

The difficult decision is “What would you drive for the day?” Please vote below as we would love to know what you think.

WebShop

We have now had delivery of the Shelby classic Steering wheel which is an incredible exact top quality replica.

Of course to go with the wheel you just have to have the Concours horn button. We now also have these in stock, either the GT350 or the GT500. These are not your “Enos Range”, these are the exact opposite. Easy plug-in fitting to the wheel and your done. If you want you car to stand out from the crowd….. Need we say any more?

Model: DeAgostini Shelby GT500

Every now and again something catches our eye, this company DeAgostini has started to produce a very highly detailed model of the now legendary ’67 Shelby GT500. This is no ordinary model, it’s a die cast 1:8th Scale Model. We have collected a few issues together now and have started the build process. We will not be doing an exact step by step process as that would just be copying the magazine instructions. We will however be publishing the completed sections as we go along and some interesting points we find. From what we have seen this is an incredible model and after the 100 issues it will take to complete you will have a spectacular model to be proud off. The attention to detail is much better than we expected to be honest. Even to the point the headlights have a correct left and right side for the lenses. We have not seen that on any previous Mustang models we have seen.

Part 1 issued 9/10/2016 in a promotional pack

Issue 1

The start of the project is the front of the car, grill, headlights, bumper etc.

The headlights are incredibly well detailed and do indeed have a correct side for fitting.

Completed:

Issue 2

The Left side front wheel, the parts.

The tyre is in fact a very heavy rigid plastic, to make it fit you have to have a hair dryer to warm it up. They say a little heat, but we found that it was a gradual heat up till it was quite warm to get any sort of give in the moulding. It also cools pretty quick and when it does it becomes rigid again. The last picture below here shows the comparison of the supplied screw driver and the precision ones we are using.

selection of screw drivers

Completed:

Issue 3

The top part of the engine block supplied here, air intake, twin carbs, valve covers.

parts 2 & 3

Completed:

Issue 4

In this issue we have been supplied with a huge slab of metal that is the hood. It’s heavy and gives you a rough idea of the scale of this model as the hood is getting on for the size of A4 magazine it comes with.

The quality of the paint is pretty amazing for a model, we have tried to show the corner of the hood in detail here. Along with the hood comes the rest of the front grill will is screwed into your previously stored front section from part 1. The detail is top quality and intricate to say the least. The spotlights are pressed into the radiator grill and held in by small metal flaps to hold it in place. We would suggest that you do this once as repeated pressing of the lights could weaken the grip.

Completed

Issue 5

This issue was a very simple section of the left front seat back rest. This came in three parts and is held together by a number of screws at each corner. They do offer the advice to use model glue for extra strength if you want to, but we found the snap together a good enough solid fit. You can see from the detail on the seat finish they really have made some excellent tooling for this level of quality.

We have a dedicated page to the building of this model under its own section : DeAgostini Shelby GT500 1:8th Scale Model. We have also placed a link on the Right hand side which will take you straight to their website. Or click here.

https://www.deagostini.com/uk/collections/buildshelbymustang/?gclid=CIWl_7zHrMsCFRUW0wodngUPrA

Office News:

This week’s weather has been pretty rubbish to say the least, so how do we know that? I guess we don’t need to say any more here either!

Posted in 1:8th Scale Model, Articles, Customers' Cars, News, Webshop | Tagged Build a Shelby, DeAgostini, gt500, hertz, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, rent a racer, Shelby, Shelby GT500KR, SVT | 4 Comments

Diamonds (Are Forever)

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

At the end of last year Adam was at the SEMA 2015 show in Las Vegas (the annual Mustang Maniac trip), where he promised he wouldn’t buy new cars. True to his word, he didn’t buy any new cars. But while he was out in Vegas with his wife he promised to buy some “diamonds are forever”. Obviously she wasn’t too excited when Adam showed them to her, it wasn’t quite what she was expecting. Adam did promise not to buy a “new” car, but he did buy an older car, a forty five year old car to be exact. That car has taken a while a to be shipped over from the USA, but she arrived here in the UK late this week. The car in question just happens to be exactly the same model as was used in the James Bond movie “Diamonds Are Forever”. This great looking, all original 1971 Mach1 351 Ram Air which has only ever had the original owner from brand new. The car came with the unique documentation from the initial point of sale. The pics here are of the car before it has even been cleaned and polished. The car even has the original hub cabs which are a rarity on their own. A great car looking car that is becoming a true classic.

On Saturday morning Chris was helping out in the yard and going through the incredible document pack that came with the Mach1. In the pack there was the original owners manuals and user guides that came in the Ford reusable bag.

There was a rare 8-track cassette from Ford, there was even a Gary Glitter 8-track and Perry Como choices too. Remember 8-Tracks way back then?

So on Saturday Adam was running around asking people “do you wanna be in my gang?” Moving quickly on, Chris was taken out in the car for a spin, any excuse to blast out a few notes from the Glitter song “Leader of the Gang” apparently. But it was decided that maybe a little bit of Perry’s “Magic Moments” would be better instead but still didn’t seem quite right.

Adam and Chris in the car sorting out the potential sounds for the trip, a mutual compromise was agreed, “lets just listen to the engine noise.” That was of course only ever going to be the soundtrack for real petrol heads.

Customers Cars:

We have the nice ’67 Convertible that has come back for the annual service and check up. The stainless steel rear case rack was fitted by us a while ago and gives the car a different look to all the other convertibles out there. We have these in stock on our WebShop if you want to add this optional extra. Click here for the link.

We will have some great pics soon of the increasing Shelby Collection so again watch this space!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged '67 Convertible, 351 Ram Air, 8 track cassette, Diamonds Are Forever, Ford, luggage rack, Mach1, Mustang, Mustang Maniac | 4 Comments

Classic Bullitt

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

This week we have a very special car in our workshops. The car has come in for some of her regular servicing and we are pleased to have her back. There are plenty of Bullitt replicas or “Clones” out there, as you have no doubt seen with the same colour etc. However driving this little lady is the closest you will ever get to the original Bullitt car, for handling, sound and look, especially here in the UK. Now we all know that Bullitt was a ’68 etc etc. This ’67 390GT in Acapulco Blue is true to the original spec Bullitt car. The car has a four speed manual with the legendary 390ci big block as you would expect. The car sounds incredible and not had the super loud exhausts on it (yet). She drives like an absolute dream and turns heads wherever she goes.

There is even a rumour that this car could be coming up for sale very soon. So, if the rumours are true, pay a visit to your bank manager and get your money ready. There is already huge interest in this pretty special car with the attention to detail as you would expect. If she is up for sale, the first person with the money gets her. An absolute classic car that will only ever go up in value.

Adam does his best Steve McQueen impression backing this car into her temporary home.

Watch This Space for news on this beauty coming up for sale.

Customers Cars:

The ’70 fastback is starting to have the back-end welded into place now. The rear quarters are dry fitted at the moment and will get some colour on the insides before the final welding up.

The rear axle has been treated to some paint and is almost ready to go back on the chassis.

News:

Adam and Yogi had an impromptu visit to the The London Classic Car Show on Friday. They decided to have a look round, the trouble is the look round ended up Adam reaching for his wallet. He did buy something and that something will appear here very soon. You don’t need to ask what it is just yet, but it’s pretty special. Adam even has some special number plates for it. As we said above – watch this space for news on that one!

Ford History Lesson:

Part 1:
When Henry Ford first set up the auto company in the 1900s he had 6 other investors and they all wanted to build expensive cars for the rich as there was more profit in such cars – like they were doing in Europe. Henry was strongly opposed to this strategy but was out-voted. He went on to developed and built a luxury car made using his skills to engineer it to extremely high standards. Once built, he decided to go his own way and to buy out his partners and start the Ford Motor Company. As part of the deal, the newly built luxury car was left with the remaining investors…..and it went on to be launched as the very first ‘Cadillac’ car!

Part 2:
Henry Ford is famed for inventing the ‘moving production line’ which allowed 50 cars a day to roll off the line. A much lesser known fact is that his grandson, Henry Ford 2 is responsible for creating the first ‘automated production line’ ……allowing 400 vehicles a day to be produced.
Part 3:
Henry Ford 2 loved the name ‘Maverick’ and wanted it for the now famous Mustang. Ford ‘owned’ the rights to the name along with 800 other names for possible future cars. But where did the name Maverick come from?
In reality there was a rich Texan cattle baron called Samuel Maverick whose claim to fail was he never branded his vast heard of cattle…as he thought the process of burning his mark into an animals skin was barbaric. So, if any cattle was found without a branded mark it was said to be a ‘Maverick’ – interestingly he lost very few cattle and had little trouble from ruthless thieves simply putting their brand on his cattle. His name became the definition of someone who did not act traditionally or conform to the rules of society in any way. So the Maverick was born….and Henry Ford 2 wanted to call the Mustang Maverick because it did not conform to any of the car rules that went before? He got his way later in the decade when Ford launched the all new Ford Maverick in the US. The name was given another outing in the 80/90s in the UK with the Ford/Nissan joint venture 4×4 – Ford Maverick and Nissan Terrano.

Thanks to Gary W. for the information.

The Pups

This week in the office customers have mentioned they like the idea of the pups being in the office. Now we can’t be sure if this is true or not, but the husbands wait for the their wives to be distracted by the pups while they pay for their parts or for the work on their cars! 😉

Mother Ellie and daughter Daisy

Posted in Cars For Sale, Customers' Cars, Service | Tagged '67 fastback, 390 GT, 390ci, Acapulco, Bullitt, classic car, Ford, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, puppies, Steve McQueen | Leave a comment

A Little Change

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

Most of this week has been around small changes here and there, but they all make a difference. Like all these things a small change can lead on to other bigger changes. Some you are expecting, others you don’t. A varied week for us with everything from getting a paint brush out, to gassing cars and we don’t mean with gasoline! We tend to do that quite a lot with the cars already believe it or not. 🙂

Customers Cars

The first job was a change to some Aircon gas, we do this for our own LAR and SMR trucks not so much on cars. This nice Oldsmobile was booked into us for a little work and we were asked about the aircon. Normally we would decline for older cars, but as this car had been converted to a modern system so it was a simple job. A little early for a chilly cooling system though?

Next up we were asked to replace some HT leads, exhaust system and a carb. OK, not so much little job the exhaust, but we could see why they wanted them changed as they were a little weathered and dented in places.

The fuel and brake lines will also be replaced as they are not what we call safe, but we will be much happier when they will be replaced away from the hot exhausts and secured properly.

With the exhausts off and out-of-the-way we will be replacing the gear box to take an AOD version. The OverDrive makes a big difference for cruising and fuel consumption.

The top side of the car was the place we started to make sure the engine was OK first. We were asked to swap the HT leads for a nice performance set and a bigger Holley carburetor, and air intake.

’70 Fastback

The smaller panels returned back from shot blasting towards the end of the week and will be treated before being bolted and welded back into place. The rear axle has seen some factory style painting going on. The axle stands doing exatly what they were designed to do, but without the car bolted to the axle that is.

As soon as a car sees a little paint it looks so different and all of a sudden the car is moving on.

Paul the Paint’s ’71 Mach1

We have moved onto to creating the new arches on the car where we managed to save the old metal which we were quite pleased about considering the amount of rust that was here previously. The Yogi polished his claws and showed of his fabrication skills again.

Then the outer side welding up and grinding back to get ready for the filler.

Models

Last week we posted our model and asked for some details and we have been sent a picture of what it should look like. It seems as though somebody has had our engine too.

Ours

Good condition coupe

67 fastback

These are vintage 1/12 scale AMF Wen Mac Mustang GT’s that were offered exclusively through Ford dealerships in 1966 and 1967. The 1966 came as a poppy red 4-speed GT coupe and the 1967 came as a blue automatic GT 2+2. There was also a gas, (Cox style) engine option offered by Wen Mac, which could be purchased in 1967 for $2.50! The gas-powered ones are very rare!

Models from Ford; A History Lesson

Continuing on the ‘model’ theme, back in the late fifties/early sixties, when Ford of Britain wanted to introduce a new model, they had to gain approval from Henry Ford 2 and the Ford board in Detroit. Henry Ford insisted on seeing ‘actual prototypes’ or ‘detailed models’ rather than simple drawings or design visuals. Without today’s modern CAD or virtual reality images sent via the Internet, Henry either had to come to Europe or models needed to be created, packaged up and sent on the company plane to Detroit for his review prior to him approving the significant funds to put the car into production. Ford had a team of highly skilled ‘model makers’ who would produce detailed models of every proposed new car or commercial vehicle – down to the last detail, and also make padded/fitted travel cases for each model in mahogany with brass fittings enabling the valuable models to be transported safely. All the models were hand-made in a mix of metal, plastic, chromed brass and glass. Each was an ‘exact copy’ of the full-sized vehicle and only one was built with the significant cost of each model being no object. The final models to be used for programme approval were the Mk1 Escort and Mk3/4 Zephyr Zodiac introduced in the late 60s. Consider this…the historical Ford Escort was approved for production by Henry Ford 2 using the model shown …. here is where it all started!

Over the passing years, these models seemed to ‘disappear’ until a few years ago, a number of specially made travel cases were ‘found’ covered in dust in a corner of one of Ford’s storage sites. Each case was cleaned and carefully unpacked to reveal these rare design models – still in perfect condition. Needless to say, they are now kept securely in the Ford Motor Company archive facility, not only are they extremely valuable but one offers a real look back in time. If one didn’t know they were models each could be mistaken for a real full size car!

Thanks To Gary for the details.

Not to be outdone with all the talk of rare Mustangs, Adam decided that he was going to buy another Shelby Mustang!

Last but not least, some of our orders have had a little free gift with them. Nothing spectaular, but we are pleased with them. Our new corporate pens that have a very fine writing tip and a smart rubber tip for navigating around smart phones and tablets. If you are around in the offices ask for a pen if you want one. Limited stocks so be quick, not many left in the boxes now.

Posted in Customers' Cars, Service | Tagged aircon, exhaust, Ford, Holley, LAR, Mach1, models, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, SMR, Yogi | Leave a comment

Wheels & Deals

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

We have a fairly large update this week with lots of work going on and new parts in stock and an exciting new distribution deal for Mustang Maniac. More requests for the pups pics this week as well, so lets start with the cars, parts and pups that aren’t so much puppies anymore if that sort of makes sense.

Customers Cars:

Last week we showed you the MSD Ignition upgrade on a car, now we have done more to it. As the car is going to be drag raced this car has a rather unusual engine in it.

We were asked by the owner to fix a few issues and upgrade a lot more in the mean time, which of course we were happy to do. The requirement was to have a “Line Lock” installed which allows the front wheels to be locked by the brakes and the rears left free. Why? For that all important burn out to warm the tyres up. A fairly complex set up which requires a set sequence of buttons and pedals to engage for safety reasons. The brake lines have to be re-routed first to an electronic valve.

The best part is it that the switches to engage the “Line Lock” looks pretty cool on the console with the jet fighter control switches.

Switch off

line lock engaged

To complete the set up the important shift indicator was mounted on the steering column.

Obviously not everybody will like this look, but we think it suits this car it certainly looks ready for Santa Pod drag strip now.

Belgium Convertible:

This convertible was last mentioned around October time last year where the inner side of the rear quarters were sprayed and ready for the paint job. The car was taken to paint and left in the very capable hands of “Paul the Paint” and the slow process of bare metal strip down started. The result was not off to a good start and has taken longer to sort out than was planned for. The front fenders had been patched and the rust was eating away what was behind them and had to be cut out and made good. All of which takes time.

The rest of the car was stripped back to find quite a lot of filler, that is not unusual by any means, but again, it all takes time to remove and investigate.

Partial removal of filler

With the car down to bare metal, the process of adding filler and aligning up the panels again can begin.

The front rust damaged fenders were patched, filled and rubber down.

The trunk lid was showing signs of the dreaded rust worm and need to be sorted out.

rust close up

rear lip rust

rubbed down

The braised areas was rubbed down and all in place where it should be, not just welded.

With the hard work completed the expertise of the paint can begin. The etch primer was applied, then the grey primer.

That’s the story so far, hopefully the colour can on then we can get this lady back to finish it off.

Dealer News:

Very exciting news now; Mustang Maniac has been appointed as supplier of Spax Shock Absorbers in the UK.

We shall be stocking a range of their products which will fit the Classic Mustangs and other makes and models too. No sooner had we had a set of Gas adjustable shocks delivered in, they were fitted. We mentioned above the drag car, well they went on that. A very nice pair of Krypton Gas adjustables.

To complement the shocks a pair of our new traction bars was added, not just bolted on like they advise, oh no. These brackets were welded to the rear chassis legs to take the torque delivered through the 9″ rear diff and axle. Yogi said enjoyed this part as he drag races his Mach1 as well.

Wheels:

Mustang Maniac & Scott Drake has secured a very unique deal to fabricate some BESPOKE wheels just for us, which will fit the Ford UK spec four lug wheels. We will be bringing you more news and pictures when they are on their way. Please email if you are interested in the purchase of the wheels and we will add you to our lists and advise when they are here.

Parts:

We have been asked for our connoisseur engine tuners who want the best of the best for their cars. We now are stocking some wooden carb to engine spacers that will dissipate the heat much better, these are definitely not your Enos range. We are also stocking a wider selection of spacer styles and thickness’. There are even now ARP styled stud bolts to fit now as well to give that finishing touch.

We are now also stocking some top quality gaskets now, metal framed in sandwich of sealer material. Again more top quality parts that we are selling more of now.

We of course now have a larger selection of throttle control springs too, not only do they look great, they also add the extra spring for security and peace of mind just in case one fails.

There are so many hood scoops out there, after market styles, Shelby style, made from fibre glass or metal. Well Mustang Maniac now has a stock of some stamped steel GT350 hood scoop. These are heavy gauge steel and not the cheaper fibre glass versions. Again we had a request for a metal one so we ordered in a few more while we were at it. They are now in stock on our WebShop, click here for the quick link.

Models

Mustang Maniac wasn’t to be left out of this model thing and hs gone eco-friendly and got a working electric-powered one.

This toy has had a hard life by the looks of it, but it still works. The battery compartment takes a couple of batteries and the single light bulb will power the headlights and the tail lights. The steering is just angled to where you want it to go, and off it goes.

The only down side is that it has lost its hood. We have not seen another like it and would like to know more if you can help out, let us know.

Ours

Important Signature:

There are some autographs you want to collect, but Mustang Maniac has been given a signature by the late Henry Ford II. Henry Ford II was born 4th September 1917 and died 29th September 1987. He was sometimes known as “HF2” or “Hank the Deuce”. Henry II was the oldest son of Edsel Ford and oldest grandson of Henry Ford. He was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1960, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) from 1960 to 1979, and chairman for several months thereafter. Notably, under the leadership of Henry Ford II, Ford Motor Company became a publicly traded corporation in 1956. From 1943 to 1950, he also served as president of the Ford Foundation.

The significance of the envelope was that his was the first time Ford was to make a World Car. This item will now be part of our very much prized possessions hanging in our offices. A huge “Thank You” to our very kind friend and customer who donated this to us.

Pups:

Last, but not least the pups, not too much to say here as the pics speak for themselves. They are getting bigger by the day and are 11 weeks old now. The pink Collar is Daisy and the other two in the blue ones are PJ and Enos.

They were in the offices yesterday and cause mayhem as usual, but they all got their cuddles when we could catch them. Enos was on Adam and even got on the lap of another customer. He came in for parts and almost went home with a puppy!

Mum and pups all doing well.

Posted in Cars For Sale, Customers' Cars, Memorabilia, News, Parts, Sales, Webshop | Tagged 4-lug alloy wheels, bespoke, Ford, Line Lock, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, primer, rust, Scott Drake, self etch primer, Shelby, Spax, Spax shock absorbers, Stroker powered | 4 Comments

A to B

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

A busy week with so much on the go we have had to carefully plan what we can and what we can’t can turn around for our customers in a realistic time scale. We have had plenty of visitors to the yard and few guided tours as a result.

Customers Cars:

Yogi has spent a couple of days on the ’70 fastback where he had previously declared war on rust. The back of the car is now coming together again and looking a bit more like a car. We decided to replace the inner and outer rear wheel arches as a single piece. We could have saved most of the inner arches, but by the time the cutting and welding had been done it’s more economical to replace with brand new panels.

The arches were put in place and dry fitted up with rear quarters and clamped in place. Final adjustments made to the arches and the full proper spot welding done. None of this drill a hole, weld, and rub it down if you’re lucky sort of efforts. During the aligning up of the quarter panels it was noticed that the back had a little fender bender and distorted the back frame. Yogi had to straighten that all out first so the new B pillar would fit correctly. The current B pillars won’t be able to be saved due to heavy the rust at the bottom which obviously forms part of the structural strength of the car.

Rotten b pillar

New pillar

With the new arch in place and sealed after the standard coat of Red Oxide had been applied. The original cars were just left as bare metal as it wouldn’t be seen, we prefer to treat and protect even what you can’t see.

The right side is shown here for comparison with nothing in place just showing the bare metal.

We have kept the old panels where we can in order for us to use the original brackets and take measurements from them. We always clamp and dry fit before we tack weld and refit again, only once we are happy we get on with the full welding into place.

The rear quarters will be sandwiched in place and we will lead fill and make sure they are brazed in position like they should be.

The inside floor pans from the A pillar back to the B pillars is now completed and coated with the trusty Red Oxide for protection again.

The owners of this car popped down to see us on Saturday and see the work in progress so far. It’s always a little bit of a shock to see half your car missing. But as we know what we are doing, Yogi says “in a week or so it will be a shell again”. The rear axle, brackets, mounts and other parts will all be sent away for shot blasting before being treated and fitted back onto the chassis. We hope to get the colour of the car on the inside of the quarters early next week. But, like most things, if we have an emergency job to do then things could change.

We have had a ’66 Coupe in for a number of upgrades and new parts to be fitted. The first of which was to fit a complete new MSD ignition system.

Stock News:

We are very excited to say that Scott Drake have now produced a pretty awesome 4-lug alloy wheel which we will be holding in stock. Now there is no excuse to leave those rusty old steels on your car when you can have these great looking wheels.

These wheels are a single size of 15″ x 6″ in either Gloss Black or Charcoal. We have ordered 36 wheels and they have already been sold before we even unpack them. We will be getting some more but the demand has been high for the long-awaited wheels. We often considered the 4 lug wheels to be left out a bit, but now Scott Drake have put that right. We will be putting these on the WebShop for prices and availability very soon.

We have some more very exciting news for Mustang Maniac being a supplier for another company in the UK. This is exciting for us and we will reveal all shortly, we are convinced it will be good news for a lot of people. Watch this space!

Models

Last week we posted a piece on the promotional Mustang models of that era. As a result of that, we received an email which arrived with some more interesting info on Mustang Models. Thanks to Ian C. who kindly took time out send these pics with the following note.

“Your readers may like to know about the pics I have attached. They are all working promo radio’s from ’65/’66. They were made by Philco and run from a 9v battery, the speaker is mounted inside the car. The gold version is mint, the other two are in good condition. As far as I am aware all were fastbacks and had 1966 on the number plate, various colours were made.”

If anybody out there around the world has any other Mustang memorabilia you would like to share with us and our readers, please email us and we will get it on the blog for you.

Got to give him Credit!

Barclays Bank in the UK will allow you to personalise your credit cards. Adam decided that he would put the love of life on the company card. It just had to be the Shelby KR!

Posted in Customers' Cars, Memorabilia, Parts, Repairs, Webshop | Tagged 4-lug alloy wheels, fastback, Memorabilia, models, MSD ignition, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, red oxide, Scott Drake, spot welding, Yogi | 2 Comments

Models

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Mustang Maniac

This week we have put the finishing touches to a car we have had for a while now and sort of sad to see it go. To make up for it we have started on another car to be built up from bits over two years, but more of that later. There has been requests to have pics of the pups again when customers have arrived at the office, so of course we have a pic for you, Needless to say these pups have had a sudden growing spurt. It can get a little cramped in the offices on occasions now, but when they look like this we don’t care.

Customers Alpha Red Convertible

This car has taken longer to complete for various reasons, but now we are pleased to say that she is now fully completed and ready to go back to the owner. With everything in place we’re pleased with how the car has turned out. The bespoke seats, unusual paint job colour, Scott Drake’s latest set of alloy wheels, lots of billet engine parts, a great sound and a new soft top certainly makes this a little lady a real head turner.

Our Cars

Lime green Mach1 is now getting the final fitting of the new metal work and the cowl is now fully in place. The inside of the cabin is now fully Red Oxide treated.

Models

As part of Ford’s Mustang launch activities during 1964/5 they commissioned a number of 1/25 scale models of Mustang Coupes and Fastbacks and sent them to its dealers as promotional items – they had done this before with Galaxy, Falcon and Edsel cars around launch. They featured on dealer sales desks etc and some were given to key customers who bought the first cars. Whilst it is thought that a selection of colours were made, most Mustang models were made in red reflecting the colour of the Fastback prototype shown at the World Fair Launch in New York in 1964.
Made of plastic and metal, they were only intended to last a short period but some have survived in remarkable condition and are now appearing from time to time in US ‘estate sales’. Needless to say these launch models have become highly collectible with both model car collectors and Mustang enthusiasts worldwide.
One of our Mustang Maniac customers and good friend is lucky to have recently found two:

Are we jealous? Yep we sure are, but the owner of these great rare pieces is a great guy so we don’t mind really.

Shelby GT500 1:8th Scale Model

Speaking of models we are now starting on our own model, well it’s from DeAgostini weekly build up of the Shelby GT500. We have a page dedicated to the build and we will be updating it. We won’t be going into it in great detail as the instructions are pretty good and clear. We now have a few issues so we decided that we will do this in batches as they arrive. We have the first three now so we thought we would start now. The expected packages should have four editions each month.

Click here for the link to our build, or it’s located above Menu tabs: “Projects – Shelby GT500 1:8th Model”

Here are some pics of the build so far.