Evans Waterless Coolant Update…

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Our increased stock range of Evans Waterless Coolant

One of the great products we recommend and use is Evans Coolants. We had a large stock of the Classic Coolant for our Mustangs and the feedback is fantastic on how it works. We have been getting more and more enquiries about the other Evans products and as a result we are now stocking them, straight out of the box! What ever your needs we have it – or we can get it.

Quick Links: We have attached the quick links for the products information and the PDF of the leaflet download here:

Evans Waterless Coolant Page click here

Evans Waterless Coolant brochure PDF download click here

Eleanor is watching…

Posted on October 6, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Eleanor Update

After a little wait we have got our custom designed and bespoke engine mounts finished and sent back to us from our supplier. As a result we were able to fit them and mount the engine properly for the first time. The engine dropped in almost perfectly with only a tiny adjustment for the perfect fit we were after. The Engine is now sitting where we expected it to be, with definite locations we can now make the bespoke air intake plate that will allow the hood to close properly. Even with the big bulge on the hood there is only just enough room. The intakes made for a fairly unusual picture, almost as if this beast is watching us!

Engine in place

different view

butterflies removed

the open flood gates!

standard fit

The angle we will need to move the intake down

slightly different angle

The engine itself we mounted close to the firewall as possible to get the weight of the engine just behind the front wheel axles as it were. The weight distribution was a consideration when this car was in the development stages. The fire wall was moved backwards and the tunnel had to be re-engineered to take the transmission and the engine.

bespoke engine mount right

Front view

close to the fire wall as we dare

bespoke engine mount left

Aircon will now be on the left and you can see the custom steering link

bare fire wall

The measurements for cooling now mean that we had to take a small cut out from each side of the chassis to allow the radiator to fit correctly as shown by the arrow here.

Radiator cut out

The pedal proved to be a little bit of a challenge as the standard fittings would not fit obviously. To get round this and to fit the customer we built a custom mount for the pedal. The floor was also covered in sound proofing, heat shrunk in place to the floor as well as the fire wall. Final tidy up and sound proofing will be done once the brake and clutch pedal goes in.

sound proofed floor

rear proofing

bespoke crafted gas pedal mount

different angle

The steering column had to made to fit the new rack and pinion steering control. The UV joint and steering column mounting are all bespoke. We went for the smooth engine bay look, so we filled the chassis fronts in under the fire wall to make it a smooth finish, (see arrow).

The upright metal posts are still in place just in case we have to lift the engine out for some unknown reason. Due to the tight fitting of engine to the engine bay, we only want to do this the once.

custom steering fitting

custom made chassis fillers

rack and pinion in place

The final part was the transmission. As we already cut the bespoke holes for the shifter this mounted pretty well and married up cleanly.

Front

centre

gearbox to prop

Quick link:

The rest of the updates can be found under the Customer Cars – Project Eleanor or click here for the link

For Sale:

We also have for sale a 1966 Coupe that has just arrived over from the states.

clean inside

colour co-ordinated engine bay

Trunk

Competition results:

There were a couple of close guesses for a vent, but nobody managed to get the correct year, so here is the answer…

1969 GT500 Front fender air scoop.

’69 GT500 front fender vent

Posted in Customers' Cars, Photos | Tagged 1966 Coupe, bespoke, Eleanor, engine mounts, for sale, gt500, Mustang, weight distribution | 3 Comments

A Bit Of A Washout

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Sometimes we have to swap the cars around and make spaces for the cars to be worked on, this week was no different. The weather was not to bad so we decided to get a last clean in before they went back into their winter homes. We might even sell one or two. After we washed them, we lined ’em up and we shoot ’em – with a camera of course.

While washing the cars we decided to have another little fun competition again. See if you can guess the car this belongs too. Don’t bother searching the pictures above as some of our cars are not in the pictures. I would like to think we have made it a little harder this time as our friends across the pond nailed it pretty quickly last time.

The prize for the winner? A mention on our blog and the bragging rights to say you got it first.

Good luck.

Posted in Our Cars | Tagged car washing, competition, Mustang, work | 2 Comments

The Boys Club

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Although we call it The Boys Club – Everybody is welcome!

We like to think of ourselves here as more than just a bunch of guys who fix or maintain your Mustang. We have an area which has progressed into much more than we first envisaged. We had an area where we keep some of our favorite cars such as the Indianapolis Pace Car and the Factory GT in a controlled environment. This was then added to with a couple of seats from cars obviously. Then came a bar, jukebox, fruit machine, Harley Davidson, PC’s, kitchen area for teas and coffee etc etc. In fact the guys took it over as their own relaxing area when they wanted to use it. I’m still not sure how this happened to be honest, but we don’t mind really. We sometimes use it as a comfortable relax area for customers when they want to talk to us about their requirements for their car’s repairs, purchases or servicing. We like our little area so much we now look out for extra little additions, such as genuine neon signs, memorabilia or anything that takes our fancy. Tip for you; If you want the comfortable arm-chair you got to be quick and get in first!

Pop down to visit us and see what we can do for you and your Mustang.

Posted in Blog, Our Cars, Repairs, Sales, Service | Tagged bar, club, fruit machine, Harley Davidson, juke box, Mustang, repairs, servicing | 2 Comments

Never judge a book by its cover….

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

We have created a little variation of that old saying: Never judge a car by its paintwork!

Why did we say that?

We got a phone call from a customer in our office who thought we would be interested in a barn find 1975 Mustang. Originally this car came from New York and was used for a while then put into storage for what ever reason for the last 20 years. To be honest they are not the prettiest of Mustangs and they tend to be quite rusty. To get a good one is also quite rare these days too. First of all we declined and said that we were not interested going by past experiences from what we had seen of them. We were talked into at least seeing it first before we made a decision, with that in mind we thought we could break it for parts which can still make some good money. The car turned up at our yard and our first thoughts we were almost right. It was a little worse for wear granted, but it didn’t look too bad at all. We had a closer inspection and we bought it as a car to keep. The car needs a fair bit doing on the outside front area, but this car has got a serious potential to be a nice car. When you look at the pictures you can see why! At last we found a nice pretty solid 1975 Mustang that is not falling to bits, like we now say, never judge a car by its paintwork!

This model is the 1975 Coupe, 4 cylinder 2.3litre Automatic, with only 54,000 genuine miles on the clock.

How she arrived to us, unwashed and very much unwanted

unwashed

We gave her a good clean, but as there were no keys we needed to use a little gentle persuasion to open the trunk!

paint not to bad

good rear end

The best part of this car is the inside which is almost brand new and unmarked apart from the stitching which had come undone on the driver seat

superb dash

excellent doors

seats good apart from a tear

The engine needs a little work but it can be made good and the engine bay along with the car is pretty rust free

A great find and we’re glad we listened and took a look after all.

Posted in Our Cars | Tagged 1975, barn, book, Coupe, Mustang, rust, storage | 7 Comments

Classic Car Show Buntingford, UK. 2013

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Most years we go to the Buntingford Classic Car Show which is a small show compared to some of the other county sized shows. But, we like it there as it’s family orientated event and you meet up with friends and some nice people to talk about cars. This year we took our latest addition to the garage – 1965 Coupe v8 auto with a single exhaust with a red interior. This car was imported over from Las Vegas where it spend most of her time. We have decided to put her up for sale as we have had a few enquiries if she was for sale, so we thought why not. We have had some serious interest about this one after just one day. There are more pictures on the “For Sale” menu or click here for the quick link.

The show 7th August 2013.

The cars here vary from the incredibly old to the latest Jaguars, bespoke hot rods to American Jeeps. We have taken some photo’s of our customers cars that have also put their cars on show at this event as well.

There are the more serious owners who take the cars to the track and race them, we even supply parts to this racer.

Next car along is a proper AC Cobra that is in a current race series. We took some pictures of this as the cars are rare let alone being raced like they were intended to be. We do like to see the children look at the cars the too, perhaps a budding Nigel Mansell or just an eye with good taste.

The gloriously huge Thunderbird that had to park the trunk deep into a cut away part of the hedge!

I was very taken with the oldest car there at the show this year. It’s a 1910 Renault. The owner was chatting to me about this car’s history and it’s really is amazing that the car still exists. This is the only known example of this model in the world and even Renault themselves don’t have one! The car was taken over to USA before the First World War and spent its life over there up until thirty years ago when the owner bought her back to the UK. The car had no bodywork at the rear past the seats as she was used on a farm as a work horse to transport hay and milk. When this work of art was not being used it just stood in a barn. The bodywork has been hand-built over many years, and yet the mechanics of this engine has never been touched since it was made, incredible. The owner takes this car on its annual pilgrimage to France back to the Renault factory where it was originally made, it receives a very warm welcome and you can see why.

There were many cars from many walks of life and the families looked like they were all enjoying the sun. The ice cream sellers definitely looked pleased with the warm weather. Just to show the diversity of the vehicles there how about a v12 trike?

Posted in Customers' Cars, Photos, Sales | Tagged 289, AC Cobra, Classic Cars, Cobra, Coupe, for sale, Ford, jeep, Mustang, race cars, Renault, Thunderbird, trike, v8, white wall tyres | 4 Comments

Time for an Australian Convertible

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

1968 302ci Convertible Right Hand Drive Australian Import.

This is a very unique car we have looked after for a while now. Recently we custom fitted an interior, now that work has been completed we can show the before and after.

The owner of this car uses it for Time Trials. Not the thrashing it around type stuff, but very regulated destinations in certain times etc.

The right hand drive conversion was completed in Australia from where it was imported from. The conversion is pretty good to be fair but there are a few little things we would have done slightly differently. This is a nice example of a 302ci that runs smooth and is not all about the noise and show. The owner just loves to drive and cruise around in it which is how it should be; used and enjoyed.

When we first got to grips with her there was a requirement to make a very bespoke radio console which includes ducting for heating and fresh air into the car. There was a requirement for the turn indicator to have a unique main beam flash function incorporated into the turn stalk, a bit of job to keep it looking stock, but it works very well and we were pleased with that modification. The Time Trial equipment required special mounting and we also added a battery voltmeter to the dash itself, so it was all change for the standard dash look.

Notice the colour of the seats here.

right hand side

wheel and dash

dash

time trial equipment & Volt guage

custom built console

We also fitted a nice rack and pinion steering setup to the car as he wanted a more responsive feel for his driving.

top dwon

underside

The latest requirement was to make some bespoke trim and seating for him. We relished this task and this was the end result. A superb looking car and the interior says a lot about the owner who intends to keep driving this car.

This a real head turner for all the right reasons, a true classic with a modern spin to it that doesn’t look out-of-place.

Posted in Customers' Cars | Tagged 1968, 302ci, bespoke, classic, cruise, custom, interior, Mustang, rack & Pinion, right hand drive, time trials, trim | 4 Comments

Back to ’67 Eleanor

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Long weekend for the UK this weekend, but it has turned out to be a long week instead of the long weekend. Looking forward to a few days break hasn’t gone to plan as the stock needed updating and the cars needed a bit of a move around on Saturday. The phone was going mad, the office was busy with customers too, but they all were talking amongst themselves while I eventually got round to getting everybody sorted out. I am not sure where that morning went to be honest, it was just a blur. On the plus side, I am sure there have been some new friendships formed as a result of the busy day all due to their passion for the Classic Mustangs. That sort of makes it all seem worth while at the end of the day.

Update on a popular project;

We are now back to the Customer Project Car Eleanor. We have finished making the new fire wall so we could move it back, we welded it in place and now we have enough clearance for the engine. We then dummy mounted the engine into the bay again, still going to be tight with all the other parts on it, but it was in.

fire wall & tunnel

closer view

What did we try to fit into that engine bay that caused us to move the firewall? This superb Genuine factory GT500 v8 5.4 straight from the factory in the USA. The nice thing about these genuine engines is this it has been signed and makes for a great talking point.

Genuine GT500 engine

signed plate

In order to try to keep this car pointing the right way, we are fitting a modern spec Rack & Pinion steering for this car. Again a bit of a custom fit, but well worth the effort. With the amount of power this will be producing, you will need to feel exactly what the car is doing on the road.

modern rack and pinion

The fire wall needed additional work after the engine was in place. Why? We had a slight change of plan to the gearbox that was going to be used. It’s a monster alright – T56 6 Speed. This gearbox was giving us no room to work with. Again, we have fabricated and rebuilt the tunnel to take the transmission with clearance so it can be maintained. We made the provision on top of the tunnel to take the shifter in its new location. We will need to treat and finish the welding properly net week.

inside welding and cut out for the shifter

The T56 6 Speed should make this car a superb cruiser and also leave a trail of rubber from the lights if the gas pedal is nailed to the floor.

T56 6 Speed Transmission

On the lighter side, while the wife was out for the day, when I had a bit of spare time, could I do a bit of cleaning in the house. What a great idea I thought!

So here was my contribution!

Am I joking or not?

We are looking at another car to add to the other little ladies we have here, I will post some pictures if we do.

Quick link to the page for the car, click here, or go to Customer Cars – Project Eleanor.

Posted in Customers' Cars, News | Tagged '67, classic, cleaning, Eleanor, fastback, fire wall, gearbox, genuine, gt500, Mustang, power, rack & Pinion, T56 6 speed, welding | 3 Comments

’67 Eleanor Poll

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

You can probably guess that we get quite a few requests for the famous Eleanor car to be built from their specifications. There are the official licensed versions and there are the replica versions. We build a few of these replicas with the body kits to the customers requirements. We only use one paint shop as his work meets our high quality standards, and these are a few photos of their work on a such a car. The paint job for these cars has to be top quality and does not come cheap as a result, but what you do get is a something pretty special I think you would agree. Even without anything else on the car, this car just looks the part already.

There are various lengths you can go to with these cars. Here is an example of a car that is spectacular to view, incredible to drive and likes to be polished (a lot) too. If you have the money anything is possible!

Here is the poll for you regarding this ’67 Eleanor:

Posted in Blog, Our Cars, Photos | Tagged classic car, Eleanor, gone in 60 seconds, paint job, poll, quality, show, spectacular | 3 Comments

Stock Supplies Reorganised

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Mustang Maniac

Here at Mustang Maniac we like to pride ourselves on stock availability. We constantly get new lines in, trial products to use and custom-made parts etc. We have updated our stores and storage of the parts which has increased yet again. We have added a few photos of SOME of our smaller stock items. The body parts and metal work and shells are stored in another area not at this location. So we thought we would share the view of our reorganisation. We have another few storage areas like this one, these photos show the more common parts we sell that are ready to hand and can be located a lot quicker too.

I’m pretty sure we will have anything you need to service or fix your classic Mustang. Why shop around and wait for your parts when we can deliver to you, or you can just pick up from or stores? We have an extensive range of genuine old parts or second-hand parts if you prefer. We try to cater for all budgets, next time you need parts give us a call or send us an enquiry email.

Posted in News, Parts, Sales | Tagged parts, photos, reorganised, stocks, supplies | 1 Comment