Short Weeks

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

Easter week for us has turned out to be very busy and we are trying to squeeze in 5 days work into four for the next couple of weeks. That is often easier said than done unfortunately. We have had nearly all the parts delivered for some of the cars. We have had new stock in as well as an unusual newer generation Mustang for some minor work to be done on her. We have decided that we are going to recommend that when we do an engine rebuild or restoration we would like to have aluminium sprayed exhaust headers used. This will protect the exhaust, they don’t discolour and look amazing even after a year. For the relatively small cost and the big difference it makes, we think it’s worth while. We have added them to the 302 – 350bhp we will be fitting into our convertible project car.

aluminium sprayed
302 – 350bhp

We detailed this engine and fitted the aluminium coated headers, and after a year they look as good as new. Of course we can fit the polished stainless version, but they will go blue and require a lot of cleaning to keep them looking in top class condition.

still looking good

Cars:

We have had the seats arrive from the upholsterer and the full leather seats look perfect in the car and the smell on new leather in a classic car is really an amazing smell. The seats are black but the flash on the camera has lightened them up a little. We have also sent the centre console away now to match the seats as we wanted it to all match. Although what was there was fine, but we wanted that little extra special touch. The scuff strips will be fitted once the inside seating and console are finished. That’s it. she’s as good as done.

Stock:

We have had some great looking parts in this week. For those who want to detail their engine then we have some nice air-filters for you.

plain
“Shelby”
“Cobra”
Black & chrome long

We have had some nice fill chrome rocker covers come in as well, we have a variation of these in black and chrome which also looks fantastic on the car.

 

all chrome

all chrome

Lights:

It seems as though we have a theme over the last few months of custom lighting again. We produce out own custom-made LED light kits, but this time we had a request for mirror lights. Now these are nothing new and you can buy them off the shelf, but not ours. We have had these made specially for us in Amber lighting instead of the standard red. They make a difference to say the least. We understand that some people will like them and some won’t. We have them so give us a call for more details. We will putting up a YouTube clip of the lights working and a sequential bonnet set too.

Off
Amber

 

As it’s Easter we will have observation test – it’s not hard honestly.  Last week we mentioned we were going to do a little spring cleaning and we have stuck to that. So we decided to see if you can spot the difference on these two pictures.

Yep, we pulled out the white Shelby GT350 for a blast. She responded well to a little road test where the acceleration, gearbox and temperatures were all checked. A little fact for you, did you know that the gearbox on this car does not go into fourth until 110mph under heavy acceleration! Not that you can try that on our roads of course, but on tracks etc. it’s an awesome ride. We even took a customer out for a spin in her to as he showed some interest. He needed a little sit down and some fresh air when we got back. It was a brisk road test to say the least.

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Classic Or Modern?

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

This week we had a couple of real nice guys from Ford Motor Company UK pay us a visit. They were after some parts for a little project they have on the go, all of which will be revealed next year. We obviously know what it is now, but it’s not for us to say. However, we can say that the wait will be worth it. We did find it quite surreal that Ford (Motor Company UK) are getting some parts from us for their cars here in the UK. We welcome trade enquiries as it were and I hope we will be doing some more business with them too. All the best with the project guys.

Spring Clean:

The weather has remained good at the yard and we have managed to give back some cars to their loving owners. We have decided to do a bit of spring cleaning and make some space (again) for yet more stock that we had from the “Barn Finds“. We had another of our lock up garages open and spotted a similarity by accident of a picture we had taken earlier, our modern classics are a bit dusty to say the least and boxed in, literally. There are gearboxes, boxes of parts and stuff that we couldn’t find a few days ago that we put in there a few weeks ago. We decided that it will be time get the wax out and spring clean some Shelbys up, then give them a blast down the road, just because we should. They looked pretty sorry for themselves all covered in dust, they could almost be our own barn finds in fact. The photos, there is the Old School Classic Shelbys and the New Generation Shelbys and people are a little divided on the choice. Given the choice what would have?

Classic
Modern

Cars:

We have had a very nice ’71 Mach1 come into us this week for a little TLC to sort a couple of little issues out. Not often you get to see a genuine good conditioned Mach1 and we have added plenty of photos of this one on our Customer Cars – ’71 Mach1 or click here for the hyper link.

The ’66 Coupe full restoration has had another good day on her when the owner came down to work on the clean up. We told him that as he was our “volunteer apprentice”, no electrical tools allowed. I’m sure we see his bottom lip quiver and tears well up. The reason being we wanted to see exactly what we are dealing with and sometimes mechanical tools don’t always help to be fair. Towards the end of the day when the under seal and everything else had been stripped away, we did use a few tools on some test patches to see what the metal was like under the rust. Quick link here.

We hope to have a nice update on the KR Replica next week!

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London Marathon Charity Run

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

We need your Help!

A friend of ours is running the London Marathon this Sunday 13th April 2014. Andy Hedley is running in aid of a really great cause for Visually Impaired Children called “LOOK”. The charity has a mission “to improve the lives of families with Visually Impaired children and young people by providing support, information and activities with a view to helping them gain the best outcomes in life and reach their full potential”. Their website is http://www.look-uk.org/

Andy is trying to raise a healthy £1000 for the charity and he has already raised half of that figure to date. Here at Mustang Maniac we are proud to sponsor Andy, please donate anything you can to help Andy raise his target figure for his charity.

You can donate via his link:  www.virginmoneygiving.com/MustangdeBlanc  Andy uses his car to help raise funds his charities, what car does he have?

Mustang charity

 Thank You. Adam.

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Differences

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

We have been making some changes at Mustang Maniac in order to make things run more smoothly and efficiently. We are getting lots of orders now from the Web Shop and as a result we have taken on our new Office Manager: Beth, but her nick name is Yogette (pronounced – Yo-get. It has nothing to do with her going to get stuff either before you ask her). Beth has been brought up with cars and the sounds of American Muscle Cars ever since she can remember, so it was an obvious no brainer choice for us to welcome her to our team. Beth had made her mark with us after a day or so as she couldn’t find some of the stock as Adam was working on a car. As a result she has re-labelled the entire small parts stock room. This small difference has not only made her life a lot easier, but ours as well. If you ring up and get a woman’s voice instead of Adams, don’t worry she really does work here.

We have taken a few pictures of “Yogette” as she was proudly looking for a place to hang our new Silver Award from Scott Drake. “I also want the Gold Award to go with this one!” said Yogette with big a big grin on her face. So it looks like we will have to find a place with some space next to it then ready for the next one.

Yogette holding our award
sorting the Web Shop invoices
more formal
lunch time with some of the other staff 🙂

We have also had a new metal security door fitted to the front of the office which we will have sign writing with our logo so there is no mistake of the Aladdin’s cave you are now entering. Hopefully next week we shall be posting some pictures of our new “Barn Find(s)”. We are a little sceptical of some barn finds as they seem to be to good to be true, but what we have more than enough dust to show it has been laying around for a while!

Here is a little teaser for you.

NOS headlight parts covered in dust

NOS headlight parts covered in dust

The 1964 1/2 & 1965 Differences

At Mustang Maniac we can tell an original 1964 1/2 model from a 1965, some even say there was no such thing. But, there was a difference and we have listed a few of the important ones apart from numbering here etc. Our original Indianapolis 500 Pace Car, which can be found here, is a another such example of a true 1964 1/2 car.  We often get asked what those differences are between the years or models. So as a little educational piece we have decided to list some of those differences along with some pictures to show you where those differences are. What prompted this post? Well a very nice ’64 1/2 has come back to us for some work to be done on her and we thought as she is to hand, and the camera is nearby why not take a few pics while we are taking a look over her.

How can we tell this is a genuine ’64 1/2 model? Well, there are some very subtle differences that we will point out here on this car. Some or all of these may appear on your car for a 64 1/2 model. It’s a known fact that the product line would use up what it had from the Falcon to Mustangs. It’s not inconceivable that consecutive number cars would have different fixings as the parts were used up and replaced by the newly fabricated Mustang parts.

Engine:

1964

March 1964 = C                    April 1964 = D                    May 1964 = E                        June 1964 = F

July 1964 = G                        August 1964 = H                September 1964 = J            October 1964 = K

November 1964 = L             December 1964 = M

1965

January 1965 = A                February 1965 = B              March 1965 = Q                    April 1965 = R

May 1965 = S                        June 1965 = T                     July 1965 = U                        August 1965 = V

Date Timeline.

Production began March 9, 1964 and ended August 17,1964 with only Coupes and Convertibles were manufactured during this period.

Only Generator equipped cars were produced during this period.

Date codes are OCO through OHO, (found on the VIN Data plate).

64half19

Engine Displacement & Code.

170 cubic inch 6cyl 1bbl “V”

260 cubic inch 8cyl 2bbl “F”

289 cubic inch 8cyl 4bbl “D”

289 cubic inch 8cyl 4bbl “K” (Available in June of 1964)

Under the Hood:

Generator.

The first thing is the “Generator” and not an alternator. The generator sits quite high up on the block rather than the traditional place to the left of the block under the rocker covers. (Note towards the bottom of the picture here.)

64half9

Dip Stick.

This is mounted on the passenger side and is very long. See pic above.

Horns.

The traditional place for the horns were larger and located on the front frame and not bolted to the front behind the grill at the front. The twin horns also had the relays on the side of the inner wing to cope with the larger horns.

64half12

Power Steering.

The power steering is called an “Eaton” model and is a very distinctive design before the more horizontal barrel design was used later on.

64half10

Brake Reservoir.

The brake switch is mounted on the on the master cylinder itself.

64half11

Body Work:

Hood.

The hood has stiffening skirts (flanges) and is quite different to the ’65 onwards.

64half13

Headlight Extensions.

The headlight extensions have a bevels that match the profile of the hood.

64half14

Hood Bumper Stops.

These rubbers are recessed with a cross head screw and not a domed. (See pic above).

Gas Cap.

The fuel gas cap has no security cable

Logo’s.

The fender “Mustang” logo was 4 3/8″ long but was later lengthened to 5″

Interior:

Door Locks knobs.

The Door knobs are colour-keyed to interior, changed to chrome in 1965

Fresh Air Vent.

The knob under the dash for the Fresh air on the drivers side is marked with a White “A”

64half15

Dash.

Instrument Cluster has Red “GEN” light (Generator), later 1965 models had Red “ALT” light (alternator)

64half17

Heater Blower.

The heater blower is two speed with the “OFF” position located in centre

Carpet.

The carpet had colour-keyed rubber heel pad, no toe pad, as in later models

The carpeting stops at rocker stiffener plate, colour-keyed vinyl under door sill plate

64half6

Shifter.

There is a smaller “T” handle on automatic transmission equipped cars. (See above)

Seat Belts.

The front Seatbelts are secured with an eye bolt

Seats.

The passenger seat was fixed into position with no fore/aft adjustment

 Web Shop

Don’t forget if you can’t find what you are after on our Web Shop www.mustangmaniac.co.uk then please give Adam or Beth a call to see if they can help you out with your request.

 

 

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Colours

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

Every Mustang is unique and no two cars are the same even if they are meant to be the same, there is just something about them maybe character perhaps. When we restore a car from the ground up and it needs a paint job the colour is such a personal thing we can only advise not pick the colour. This week we have seen some very different coloured cars come in this week.

We have a few fantastic examples of individual choices of colour. We have a head turning ’66 289 Coupe in a deep burgundy “Alfa Romeo”, then we have a ’68 302 Coupe in Seafoam Green which is very nice off white colour. Last but not least an old friend has come back to us for few little tweaks, another unusual colour Gulf Stream Aqua ’65 Coupe for her year, but it certainly suits her. All very much loved by their owners and justifiably so too.

The “Alfa” Coupe has already had her paint job before we got her and the owner would like us to put her back together again, basically from the paint upwards. We have added this little lady to our customer cars to see her being rebuilt. Link below or here.

The Seafoam green coupe is in for a  new floor pan on the passenger side as she has gone a little rusty.

The Gulf Stream Aqua Coupe.

GulfStreamAqua

Quick links:

Customers Cars – Alfa (Romeo) ’66 Convertible 289 or click here.

Customer Cars – Gulf Stream Aqua ’65 Coupe or click here

 

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Allan’s Mach 1

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

American Classic magazine: October 2013 Issue Number 270.

At Mustang Maniac we still get a kick out of seeing our cars featured in Magazines, TV slots (5th Gear) or on promotional posters for a big prize give away. We are delighted to say that Allan who works for us got both his and a good friends cars into American Classic magazine last October 2013, Issue Number 270. Allan’s Mach 1 is the Candy Apple Red, and his mate Spencer’s is the darker ’69. Allan built the cars, body worked them and painted them to the high standards that they are now. Together these great friends have become known as the “Bully Brothers” on the drag strip scene. We would have featured this a little earlier, but we lost our copy of the magazine but managed to get hold of another in the mean time. These cars are something else, and Allan likes nothing better than taking his car for a blast down a drag strip with some impressive times too.
We have got the full spread in pictures in single picture file format or the double pages. We have even created a full spread PDF for you to download and read at your leisure.

cover

pair1

pair2

pair3

last

The Full sized PDF version of the spread can be downloaded here: Classic American Oct 2013 prot.

Be patient for the download as the size is just over 8mb!

You can also see the article under “Our Cars – Allan’s Mach 1” or click here.

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Mastic to Metal

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

The Final Chapter – Mastic to Metal

The week brings to an end the long journey of Mustang from mastic to metal. The classic ’67 Convertible transforming from a filler and mastic filled rusty dangerous car, into a safe drivable classic that will turn heads wherever she goes. We have had many views of this car’s journey to date, alas, it’s time to say goodbye to an old friend we have grown to love and proud of what she has become, the now legendary “Mastic” Mustang. The owner came down to inspect her a little while ago and wanted a few little upgrades, those upgrades are now fully completed. The upgrades were quite large and resulted in her going back to the ramps. The single exhaust is gone and new twin exhaust system is now in place. The custom-made LED conversion kit is now installed and working correctly. The last little luxury was the wooden steering wheel instead of the old original white one. The results are amazing, the car sounds like she means business, and with the hood down will make those sunny days out something to remember. The lights upgrade means that she can be seen from behind safely. The standard lamps are fine for America, but over here the flashing rears can be a little difficult to spot. We are pleased to say that the road test was as good as we expected it to be. We took her for her MOT which she obviously passed first time round. The owner will be picking her up this week and we wish him many happy hours driving her. We will be a little sad to see her go, but there will be more.  We have uploaded a video of this Mustang starting up on YouTube here,  or you can go to the quick link below.

A quick recap where she was when we got her:

left side floor
started the strip back of the weleded in floor pan

Where we have taken her to now:

Inside
cross support
torque box right inside

The end results:

The light(s) at the end of the tunnel:

Main lights
main close
sides
sides close
indicators
sides rear
Stop lights
indicators

Here the Mastic Mustang start-up on her new twin exhausts click on the YouTube link Below:

YouTube small

For the full story and journey of this car click: here

Stock News:

Gauges

We have bought a stock of various gauges as they become available for various years and options. You can buy them of bid sites if you’re lucky but it’s a bit of gamble. Speak to us first to see if we have the new gauge you want for your car.

64-65 Std Speedo assy
64-65 Fuel Guage
65-66 Oil guage
66 Speedo
67-68 clock
65-66 Dash in black or wood style

Shocks:

We were asked a while ago if we had any gas-filled shocks, we had a limited supply but we now have upped the stock to cater for this option should you wish to upgrade of course.

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New (Old) Company Car

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

This week we have added to the company fleet of vehicles. We have the newer Smart car in the Mustang Maniac livery of course, but we decided we wanted something a little more “us” if that makes sense. We wanted a car that would allow us to pick up larger parts, put them in the back to bring back to the yard. The Smart car is an ideal run around, but not to good with anything to be picked up over the size of the passenger seat. But our new car had to have character just like the cars we look after. We have been looking around for a while now then this little beauty came up. 1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero, we just had to have it, I do believe we will be using this on a daily basis, the only problem is – who gets to the keys first. The Ford Mustang was heavily based on the Falcon and many parts of the Falcon can be seen on the 1964 1/2 Mustangs. So as I bought the car back to the yard the general consensus was it was a good purchase and instantly adopted as the work shop truck.

Parked out the front of the offices:

A little more detail: (Excuse the health lunch on the seat – it was a long drive!)

Al was the first to jump in and claimed it as his new toy!

We have added the car to “Our Cars” pages with a little history of both the Ford Falcon and Ranchero which can be found here.

Cars:

The KR Replica has been fired up with the full exhaust fitted. The tips have now been added and finished the back of the car perfectly. The aircon is topped up, the engine is topped up with “Evans” waterless coolant. We are now going to take her to our geometry bay where will align the wheels, tracking camber etc ready for the road test. The interior seats will be with us soon and will be fitted as soon as they get here. The carb needs a final tune and she should be ready for collection. We are looking forward to the road test of the beauty.

We have taken a video of the KR starting up and placed it on YouTube click here or click the logo below to go to our channel.

exhaust tips in place
wheels on
aircon connected and filled
carb
custome exhaust
note the exhaust join at the bottom

We should have a few more pictures next week of the ’66 Coupe Strip down.

News:

The WebShop sales has been going well and proving quite popular with a the full list of items we have in stock. It could be possible we might need somebody to look after the online sales for us soon. Thank you all for your support.

Visit our WebShop on www.mustangmaniac.co.uk if you haven’t already to see the improvements. Leave us feedback too.

Quick links:

KR start-up on YouTube click on the logo below

YouTube small

Ford Ranchero history click here or go to “Our Cars – 1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero”

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Counting

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Mustang Maniac

This week we have had to do a little work we weren’t expecting to do for a little while. The new WebShop facility we offer is going well, and our sales have been going to our regular customers as well as some new ones too. So we would like to say a big Thank You to those who have ordered from us recently. I hope you were one of the lucky ones to get the key hook. Back to what I was saying, the work is the dreaded stock taking! Yep, we have sold a few items and we are now starting to take control of the exact numbers we have in stock. We have bought in bulk to keep the costs down and ordered more, the reason was that in our organised chaos store rooms we thought we had lost a box of parts. We subsequently found them and we decided that we won’t need to order many more of them for a while. A picture was taken inside one of the cars in the grave yard for our Mustangs that are yet to have work done on them. The weather has obviously washed and blown some of the debris about and this was the result, an original grill Coral uncovered. We won’t be counting this one as part of our stock though.

rip

R.I.P

The cars:

The now restored Mastic Mustang has been having the finishing touches of our bespoke LED upgrade kit added to front and rears.  One man’s Mustang Coupe now has her gearbox and prop shaft out now we have jacked her up onto tall axle stands. We shall have some more photos of this one soon for you. The Rolls Royce has now been completed and back out of the workshops. We have also delivered a couple of cars back to the owners that were serviced for their yearly check ups.

Check out our WebShop on www.mustangmaniac.co.uk

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