Just a quick post to update our customers that during the Christmas break Mustang Maniac will be temporarily closing the WebShop between 23rd December (today) until the 7th January 2023, that’s the first Saturday in the new year we will open for orders again. This is an unprecedented closure for us, but we didn’t want to disappoint our customers having ordered the parts and not getting them quickly.
Today we have been emailed to say that they can’t order from the WebShop. So to reiterate if this is true – Yes, The Mustang Maniac WebShop will be closed as we are doing a large stock take. We have had a big order arrive and we need to rearrange the warehouses to make even more room and the stock will be all over the place for a week or so.
This is a quick picture of some of the stock that arrived this week that needs a home.
We take great care with our WebShop and our ever popular Blog that we have a team to look after all sorts of social media including this blog for us. At the beginning of the week we had one of our page owner’s account hacked. The hacker then posted up a few pictures of jihad extremists. Hopefully it wasn’t noticed by many and nobody was offended (although we were). Needless to say Facebook suspended the account before we could get into the account to remove the garbage. Thanks to David F. who kindly alerted us of the hack first thing to let us know by sending us screen shot before the account was suspended. Within minutes we had declared DEFCON 2 – and we had changed ALL our passwords and notified Facebook that we had been hacked. Of course Facebook don’t give a flying fur coat with no response, luckily our recovery email got us back into the account. Hopefully now with all the password changes the links from various pages will work which also had to be updated. We’re pretty sure that we are back up and running again as normal now. We are not fans of Facebook at the best of times, and this has made us even bigger fans – NOT. We needed all that extra hassle like a rust bubble under fresh paint job!
A worry note from our tech savvy behind the scenes wizards;
With the current super fast PC graphics cards hitting the market like the Nvidia 4090, the hack rate is frighteningly fast for a brute force password attack. Our advise is turn on all the security you can, especially any two-factor authentication where possible, change and create new strong passwords regularly.
The most worrying fact about this new breed of graphics card?
Their cryptographic performance can break into an 8-digit password in 48 minutes!
Our Cars
We have managed to clear the customer cars as we had hoped in time for the Christmas break. this has allowed us to move our own project into the workshops. Our much loved ’65 Ford Falcon Ranchero needs a little TLC. However Adam’s idea of “a little a TLC” is “go to town on it”. So that is what we are doing.
Then we started the body and trim strip down.
The engine and gearbox was taken out ready for a refresh, to what degree? Adam hasn’t decided yet.
With the engine out we get a good look at the engine bay.
We shall bring more updates as we go along with this project.
This time next week it will be the big day itself. With more Royal Fail strikes scheduled towards the end of next week, time is getting very tight for deliveries, no matter who you order from. The ideal prezzie for the petrol head is still our vouchers. Download and print at home – job done.
Instead of sitting there watching recycled crap on the TV, what better way is there to spend the afternoon than browsing our WebShop for your Mustang goodies ready for the nice weather again?
As we approach Christmas we are trying to complete the projects and cars we have with us. Not that we are expecting Santa to bring us GT350 or anything, but it’s an ideal time to rearrange the yard a little as things quieten down for us, by choice. Then on the other hand we see an increase in the WebShop sales as customers treat themselves to a few goodies from Adam’s cave(s) of awesomeness.
Customer Cars
We have now finished the Mach1 which has had a fair bit work on to her. The engine has been refreshed and is now back in the car and looks amazing, even if we do say so ourselves.
All plumbed in and powered up ready to go. We just had to put the hood back on and final road test.
Here we have the glorious 428ci running after all the default timing and carb settings are applied from our little black book.
Then last, but not least is a set of Galaxy boots all round on the iconic Magnums.
’66 Coupe
This coupe came in for a set of Hi-Po rear springs and shackles as the back of the car was sagging a bit. The new springs will also improve the handling of the car. We also replaced the exhaust hangers while we were at it. They were doing the job, but we had to remove them in order to get the springs and shackles in place. As the exhaust hangers were off now was the ideal time to fit the correct ones. The exhaust is sitting correctly again with the correct clearances as they should be.
Adam has been having a tidy up of the stock and has put a number of items in the “Sale Items” section in order to make space. There is everything from car mats, door hinges, oils to suspension bushes for all sorts of years. This page changes all the time so keep popping back to grab a bargain.
About this time of year we get a common question – “What can I get <name> for Christmas?” There is so many options, but we point them to the nice to have goodies. We have picked a couple of examples for you here:
We have a nice selection of Fender Protectors in stock. An ideal gift for that Boxing Day workout when that petrol head in your life goes out to get away from rubbish TV and work off some of that Christmas pudding!
Always good sellers is the Trunk Compartment with the nice to have items and always great gifts.
Then if you really can’t find anything (which we doubt), then there is always the good ol’ fail safe; our Gift Vouchers. Print at home option now for instant delivery, or you can still pick them up in person from the offices if you want to pop in.
Article
Growing up in Tijuana, Mexico, Ricardo Garcia – as well as customers, media and the rest of the automotive industry – was awed by the 1986 Ford Taurus. His father drove one, and its futuristic aerodynamic shape inspired Garcia’s artistic passion.
“I was sitting with my jaw open when he brought it home because of ‘Robocop,’” said Ricardo Garcia, Mustang Interior Design manager, of his father’s car, several of which were used as police vehicles in the 1987 film. “I was so excited about it. I used to draw it a lot. I used to sketch it and say, ‘I’m going to work at Ford,’ and here I am. It’s been a dream come true. Ford has always been good to me.”
While Garcia admired and sketched the car relentlessly, the company also gave him an assist when it came time for him to take his talent to the next level academically. He initially took night classes at city and community colleges in California. He later attended ArtCenter College of Design, where he received a Ford scholarship that covered tuition and supplies.
“That was the first indication I wanted to work for Ford,” he said. “I’m always very grateful for the company and happy to be at Ford.”
Garcia started at Ford in 1999 as a product designer with the components team and would go on to work on the fifth-generation Mustang. He left the company in 2004 but remained in the automotive industry before returning to Ford in 2016, when he would go on to serve as interior components manager on the Mustang Mach-E. Recently, he worked as the interior design manager for the all-new, seventh-generation Mustang.
Inspired by a jet fighter cockpit, the interior of the Mustang has been completely redesigned. Customers were invited into the research phase to examine the new interior, moving items around as they saw fit.
“Ultimately, the exercise showed they were more engaged with the cockpit-style interior,” said Garcia. “It’s the fun part of the design process for us because it’s like having a canvas, but we also had to consider the essence of Mustang. It was very challenging for us in design to disrupt an interior in an icon.”
Garcia called the new Mustang’s interior a modern interpretation that retains the essence of the Mustang, as evidenced by elements such as the new flat-bottom steering wheel. Offered for the first time outside of Ford Performance Mustang models, the wheel retains traditional design cues such as three spokes and a deep dish. It also has an improved grip.
“The flat-bottom wheel has this performance feeling, and when you grab it, you’re feeling really engaged,” said Garcia, “The team lobbied to make the wheel standard on all Mustang models.”
Garcia’s team also looked for inspiration from the car’s exterior to help create a cohesive design, such as with the register vents in the car’s center stack.
“We wanted it to look sharp, but we didn’t want to make it overly refined because we’re trying to retain the American icon in Mustang,” he said.
The car’s interior also integrates today’s technology and connectivity, creating a gaming-like experience as part of what Garcia called “the most technologically advanced interior in Mustang’s history.”
“It had to adapt to our new ways of using technology,” he said, “These changes will make the Mustang more competitive in the marketplace. We didn’t want to just have a big display, we wanted to design it according to what we wanted to achieve.”
Other updates include a shift away from Mustang’s traditional “double brow” on the dash. Moving functions closer to the display freed space to create a more open center console and a storage bin that includes a phone charging mat.
“Our changes open up the interior for the driver and the passenger,” said Garcia.
The Electronic Drift Brake, developed in conjunction with professional drift racer Vaughn Gittin Jr., blends well with a performance approach to the interior. Also helping disrupt the Mustang’s interior, Garcia’s team also engaged millennial and Gen Z designers and engineers in 2020 for their input.
“We wanted to bring Mustang to a new generation,” he said. “It really helped us a lot to design from their input.”
That feedback emboldened the team to move on from the “double brow” to an angled and curved display. The younger designers and engineers appreciated the new approach, calling it driver-centric and engaging, Garcia said.
Garcia is very proud of his team and acknowledged all of the design updates would not have been possible without the collaboration of the Mustang engineering team, which led to the brow-less display cluster.
“This Mustang is a dream come true,” he said. “This is the bridge to the future of design for Mustang.”
Something a little different for you this week; we have asked our engine rebuilder to give us a taster write up of the technicalities of his work. Obviously we will leave out some of the trade secrets, measurements and settings, but this will give you an idea of what is actually involved in the engine rebuild process and why it costs what it does.
Take it away Dave, the blog is yours;
We were recently speaking to a valued customer regarding his very sorry sounding engine. It was agreed re-building his unit seemed the best solution and he asked if during the rebuild we could achieve more power. This is no problem, but the whole engine project needs to be planned from start to finish. Simply buying go faster parts and bolting them on can lead to a severe mismatch of parts and a disappointing end result.
The extra power was to be gained via some very nice alloy AFR cylinder heads and an up rated camshaft, then we have to consider modifying a lot of the remaining engine components to compliment these new parts.
For instance the AFR heads we used came with larger inlet valves which are great for airflow, but would almost certainly have hit the standard pistons. The piston valve clearance cut outs are machined to clear the standard diameter valves and a standard camshaft. With the extra lift from the performance cam, sufficient cut out depth needs to be considered.
The completely bare block casting was re-bored and chemically cleaned so new pistons could be fitted along with a new crank and camshaft bearings.
The engine is then dummy built to measure many clearances – especially the piston to valve clearances, it was evident the piston cut outs needed machining to clear the valves, also piston crowns were machined to desired height spec and then balanced as a set.
The AFR heads as lovely as they look were completely stripped down and all valves were checked for proper seal, also valve springs were checked for coil bind at full valve lift as without enough coil clearance they will break or damage camshaft etc,
The combustion chamber volume was checked and heads machined for desired compression.
The engine is then finally assembled with all new seals, core plugs etc , the rods are matched in weight as a set and ARP rod bolts fitted, new oil pump and performance pump drive, new timing chain set and front engine damper and camshaft timed as required.
Finally an often overlooked detail is the rocker arm contact point on the valve tip, if the roller doesn’t operate centrally on the valve tip the valves and valve guides can suffer. We used roller rockers to suit the AFR heads and after applying engineers marking blue, the engine is turned over to watch tip contact point – different pushrod lengths affect the position of the contact point and via an adjustable length pushrod a suitable pushrod length was chosen.
Then after the engine is fitted to vehicle it’s down to ensuring all the ancillaries are working correctly to cool and feed the motor harmoniously – then a lot of steady miles to bed everything in.
All this work and calculation is still only for a modified road engine, but must be done to ensure all parts work harmoniously together.
Thanks to Dave for taking time out and writing that up for us. If you want to know the cost, “then you can’t afford it”, as Adam would say. This type of engineering is an old school precision art form and not many can do it properly and that all comes at a price.
As ready built crate engines are becoming harder to get in the UK, this engine rebuild process is the only option. On the other hand, going down this route you know exactly what you are getting and the power you want is only determined by how deep your pockets are.
We have had a number of emails regarding the prototype seat extenders we featured a while back. We are satisfied with the results and we now have them in stock to buy here.
The prototypes were fitted by Mart D and this is what he had to say about them; “They are one of the best upgrades I have fitted to my car, they made such a difference.”
We have already shipped two pairs to customers who have been waiting patiently waiting for them. We wanted to make sure they were good to go after a season of car shows.
Christmas Gifts
We have waited until December before we mentioned Christmas. We sell lots of accessories for the petrol head in your life. Everything from little stocking fillers to full engines, gearboxes, axles, wheels, shocks etc. (Although we would like to see Santa bring a nice new shiny C4 transmission down a chimney!)
If you don’t know what to buy, give them the choice with our Gift Vouchers. You can buy them online and print them from home, no waiting for Royal Fail to deliver them (when they aren’t on strike that is). Click on the images below to take you to the WebShop.
Something we sold a number of last year was service kits, oil, oil filter, spark plugs, air filter, all tailor made for the particular model of vehicle. Drop us an email if you would like something similar or maybe a “petrol head hamper”, what would you want to see in it? Help us to help you.
First up we apologise for no post last week as our blog editor had to go away unexpectedly, so wasn’t able to do the post for us. Anyway we’re back for another instalment.
Customer Cars
We was asked to refresh a 428 Cobra Jet engine which has been now almost been completed apart from going back into the car.
The engine was stripped down with the manifolds removed, blasted and coated, new sump and water pump. The engine was painted with contrasting exhaust manifolds.
The valve covers were blasted, painted and then sanded to show the relief detail again.
The before on top and after below. The difference is subtle, but when it’s all back in the engine bay it just looks fresher, but not out of place. If they don’t look radically different you may say. Well in that case we have achieved the goal, keeping it all in style – just refreshed.
With the engine completed we can start to bolt the other parts and plumbing in place.
’66 Bad Starting
With bad cold starting this is a time consuming problem to diagnose. The reason being you have to let the engine get fully cold before trying to find the problem. Once it eventually fires the issue disappears and you have to wait again for a cold start up.
We diagnosed the initial problem down to a fuel supply from the carb squirter, this had perished and was leaking. E10 fuel? Nothing conclusive from just looking at it, but the leak was a little clue. We took the carb squirt diaphragm out and replaced it and starting was much more positive, but still not right.
We now had fuel when and where we wanted it, so now it was down to electrics or timings. We checked the HEI distributor and discovered the distributor module was intermittent compounding the problems. We pulled one from stock, a like for like swap out and fitted it with base engine timings. The car then burst into life and problem solved after a couple of minor fettling adjustments. The big advantage with this style distributor is that it only needs a live feed in.
With the main starting problems sorted, the car was in for a few other things; the inner door latches needed replacing to the correct ones.
The doors were put back together and new weather seal was fitted.
Last but not least was the Borgeson power steering conversion. Often mentioned as one of the best upgrades to go on a classic Mustang. Out with the old on the left and the new one in place on the right.
Lots of work, but this will feel like a different car when the owner takes her back home.
We are excited to announce that we now have our own branded oil filter FL1Awhich is made by the same manufacturer to the exact same standards as the originals. But our filters are for sale at cost saving on the branded originals. These filters will fit 1964 – 1988 any style.
This week Adam has taken a week off of to the sunny shores of Spain, he should be back with us next week, unless he extends his stay. We appreciate your understanding for any delays in email responses. To be fair it has never been a problem, until now.
Just to prove the fact Adam was on holiday he took this photo yesterday, you can tell by the colour of the sky it wasn’t taken in the UK!
A customer has sent a number of emails to Adam earlier in the week wanting an update. Because Adam didn’t reply immediately, the customer arrived at our offices wanting to know why he hadn’t got an answer. (Note, Adam did respond to the customer to explain he was on holiday). It took a few attempts to tell him that Adam was actually on holiday and may not be looking at emails, nothing more sinister than that. Unfortunately the customer wasn’t happy and seemed a little hacked off. We apologise to the customer for the fact that Adam was trying to relax on holiday! On Adam’s return we suspect that this customer will be taking his rightful place on “The C list”.
Customer Cars
The super charged beast had gotten the replacement differential and was fitted no problem, the shafts relocated and topped up with the correct differential oil. The clutch’s freedom of movement was biggest problem for us to fix, what had already been fitted. This clutch had its cable and cantilever replaced with a hydraulic system. This works via a master cylinder and series of pipework. The operation needed to have a gearbox shaft modification and to be realigned as a result, all subtle stuff.
With the prop cleaned and put back we could start to reassemble the exhaust and the framework.
The road test was exactly as we expected quick and enjoyable. The ‘bum hum’ from the diff had gone and the car is ready to be collected by the owner. Under power the clutch didn’t slip as it did before and now the full power can be unleased to the road.
Yet again Mustang Maniac has fixed a car that a number of other people have failed to do.
News
Mustang Captures First NASCAR Cup Series Championship as Joey Logano Wins Second Career Title with Team Penske
Avondale, AZ., November 6, 2022 – Team Penske’s Joey Logano claimed his second NASCAR Cup Series championship after winning Sunday’s season finale race at Phoenix Raceway, giving Ford Mustang its first championship at NASCAR’s highest level.
Logano dominated the weekend as he won the pole on Saturday and then led the first 87 laps of the 312-lap event. He took the lead for good after passing fellow Ford driver Chase Briscoe with 29 laps to go and never looked back as he won for the fourth time this season.
“Amazing. It felt like it took too long to get back to this point, but it’s so special to win championships. It’s what you want. It’s the only thing I race for. Race wins are nice, but championships are what it’s all about,” said Logano, who led a race-high 187 laps. “We worked so hard the last couple weeks trying to put ourselves in position. And everything that happened in 2020, I knew we just wanted to have a solid run and do this today. I can’t thank Ford and Shell-Pennzoil enough for supporting me over the last 10 years and getting us a couple championships.”
The championship is the second for Logano, who claimed the 2018 title after winning the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the first for Mustang in NASCAR’s top series since becoming Ford’s flagship model in 2019. It’s the third series title for car owner Roger Penske.
“I knew going into this thing that we were going to win the championship. I told the guys we were the favorite from Daytona, and we truly believed it, and that’s the difference,” said Logano, who started the season by winning the Clash at the Coliseum and finishing it with a victory in Phoenix. “I had a good team with a bunch of confidence, and we had all the reason in the world to be confident. I’ve never been truly this ready for a championship race, and yeah, we did it. I can’t believe it.”
Logano becomes the 17th driver to capture more than one series title and only the second Ford driver to do it, joining NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson who won championships in 1968 and 1969. It also marks the 10th Cup Series driver’s championship for Ford.
It also capped a weekend that saw Ford drivers go 2-for-2 in championship races with Zane Smith winning the Camping World Truck Series title on Friday night.
“Joey is a racer who pays attention to every single detail and especially getting locked in early like he did. That’s all he’s been focused on the last three weeks, with (crew chief) Paul Wolfe and the entire team. He’s just so committed and so strong and executed every lap today,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director, Ford Performance Motorsports. “At the end of the day and at the end of the season it’s the championship that matters, so to get the Truck championship and the Cup championship means so much, “
Logano’s win capped a dominant day in which Ford led 310-of-312 laps and had four drivers post top five finishes, with Ryan Blaney second, Chase Briscoe fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth.
Congratulations to Ford, Team Penske and Joey Logano on their win.
Last week finished the engine side of the wonderful ’67 Super charged beast, and now we move onto the other end of the car.
Customer Car
The ’67’s engine is now running as sweet as a nut, and we can start looking at the rest of the car. During our initial road tests we identified that the rear differential was making some undesirable noises. Nothing that we hadn’t heard before. The other issue was the fact under full torque the clutch was slipping. This could be down to a few reasons, but both needed to be investigated regardless.
To take the power of the engine the car has been strengthened underneath as you would expect. Some of this framework needed to be dismantled so we could get to everything.
To get the diff out the drive shafts needed to be removed. This was also an ideal time to check seals and bearings and that all is good at this end of the car. The diff will now need to reconditioned before we can get to refit it.
Once we had removed the exhaust and prop shaft we could see what the problem was. The original installation wasn’t done correctly and an issue was preventing the clutch from releasing fully, thus inducing the slip.
With the gearbox was out we could make a modification (our secret), that will now allow the clutch wo work correctly and engage drive without any slippage.
428 Refresh
On another vehicle we were asked to refresh a 428ci American Muscle. We took most of bolt-ons off the engine and inspected what was underneath. Worn parts are replaced as we check them, this is not just slap a bit of paint on the engine to make it look good.
With the sump off we could see an issue.
We had to flush the block through for the water and oil ways, the and check the oil pick up. Some parts were in a bad way and need to be replaced. Once the engine was given the once over we could reassemble the engine and start the Ford blue paint job.
All that remains now is to put the engine back into the car.
This week we managed finish this exceptional ’67 with the supercharger that was fitted by somebody else a while ago. The car had never run properly and we were asked if we can sort it out for the owner once and for all. We needed a little tweaking for the Holley Sniper for the super charger as it obviously wasn’t stock, the car was now running how we expected it to behave. We had to take it for a second road test for driveability testing.
Park & Pic
The air intake is not just for show perched on the hood and gives a rather (un)subtle hint of what lies beneath.
Under the hood we have everything in place and the heart of this car just looks so sweet.
The whine of the super charger is unmistakable, you don’t see many examples of classic Mustangs with these bolted in place, unless they are tearing up the quarter mile.
Yogi had the pleasure of taking this lady out for the test drives and we asked him what he thought of it? He simply said; “It’s fast!” For Yogi to say that about another car – it must be fast.
Inside the car the wiring was a real mess with many spliced in connections, a couple of them not even going anywhere.
We fitted the Sniper screen and tidied up the wires and put them back neatly. The interior now looks amazing as all these ’67’s tend to be.
The car is now waiting for the owner to pick her up and take her home. We enjoyed on working on this little lady.
Customer Cars
We had a car in with a blowing exhaust manifold. Sometimes rather than trying to manoeuvre an exhaust out of car to change a gasket it’s easier to pull the engine out. that’s what we done here.
With everything out of the car we had plenty of space to work around the engine so we can clean the surfaces and make sure the manifold would seal correctly. Yes, it can take more effort to get the engine out, but it saves knuckles, saves potential damage to the engine bay and potentially having to refit the gasket again. The picture above shows what is left of the gasket and some of it was also be on the engine block that had to be cleaned.
We had some replacement emblems arrive in stock. These are a subtle way to change the look of your car or just to refresh the look.
We had a second delivery of one or two Holley carbs and pipework which have been on back order for a few weeks now. Yes you can make your own pipes, but these are pre shaped and fit exactly where they are supposed to.
That second delivery also had our expected 2005 to 2014 Mustang electric fan. We were asked to order one as a special for a customer which we did of course. Adam did what he does best, he thought why not order a few for stock? So he did. Here he is opening and checking them for quality and contents.
We have updated the WebShop with all the new stock and latest partnership with “Dynamic Racing Transmissions” click here for the link. We have sold more of these parts than we expected, it shows go to show that there is a market for these performance parts.
Something a little different this week to start the post where we have been asked if Mustang Maniac would like to do some sponsorship for a football team. We thought about it and agreed, not it’s not a premier league team or anything like that, we certainly couldn’t afford that type of money for a very niche market. But we start this week with another multiple Park & Pic;
Park & Pic
A recent Shelby flanked by a couple of classics. Yes, we do look after some modern day beasts, but that is because we look after their classics or they are loyal customers.
We recently had a customer who wanted us to service their 2020 model Mustang. We have never had any previous orders from this person yet his email tone demanded that we booked his car in on a certain day that suited him and he would then pick it up a few hours later. First things first, we don’t just take drive in services from customers without being booked in. We had never heard of this person and their email was blunt and quite rude to be honest. We responded back to say we are not taking on new customers, but thanks for asking. We got a whole heap of abuse returned by email, saying we’re rubbish (not the word he used), how do we call ourselves Mustang Specialists? (He obviously hasn’t even looked at the fact we are Classic Mustang orientated). We never responded and now this person received an honorary “C” (cancelled) button.
Super Charged
We have a vehicle in with us which is having a EFI Sniper kit fitted to their car. The difference is that this one has had some pretty heavy duty upgrades on it previously. Super charger, coil over suspension, strengthening front end, all of which have done pretty well to be fair. However, the car has never run properly since. Yes you can bolt bits on and it will work, the secret is to make it all work together. The engine has run erratic, and not as responsive as it should be. The decision was made to add the EFI which would have it’s own sensors to regulate the air/fuel mixtures, power delivery curves, idling etc. The wiring under the dash was a bit of nightmare with all sorts being chopped into the looms.
To understand what we need to do, we need to understand what is already going on. So a fair bit of time was taken unpicking the redundant bits and creating a foundation to build on. The EFI has effectively five wires to control the unit. Once it’s understood where these can be added without being ‘interrupted’ we can start to get meaningful readings.
The throttle body was bolted onto the supercharger along with the controller unit over the valve cover.
Fuel lines were piped into place and the timings set back to defaults for a our baseline settings. We turned the ignition on to prime the fuel and then started the car.
The unmistakable whine of a supercharger sprang to life and we could start going about tuning the engine. Hopefully we will get to road test early next week and get a few miles on the car to settle her down.
Mustang Maniac are delighted to have struck a deal with “Dynamic Racing Transmissions”. We now have a dedicated page where we stock some of their quality mild performance and upgrade parts which can be found on our WebShop here. Before you ask – Yes, we do use them for our own projects vehicles. Depending on the needs of our customers we might, just might go down the route of the full on performance parts. But, we think the number of people who are going to go down that rabbit hole will be quite limited. But saying that, there is always demand for quality performance parts and Dynamic Racing Transmissions meets that criteria with their proven championship winning and record setting products.
Sponsorship
The start of this post we talked about a football sponsorship. The team are ‘Abby Youth’ who are based in Waltham Abby, Essex. Hopefully we can help towards their, kit, equipment travel or what ever they need. Here is one of the little guys proudly showing his new sponsors after what looks like an enjoyable muddy game of football or Soccer for our friends over the pond.
We have sponsored teams and events in the past, sometimes we just like to help out.
Last week we didn’t have a post due to the fact that the dreaded Covid had hit part of the social media team and were in no fit state at the time to post for us. But, all is good with the team again, updates collated, photo’s selected and edited ready for todays post. We start with some sad news.
Sad Passingof Robbie Coltrane
You will have probably noticed in the news that Robbie Coltrane has passed on at the age of 72. This came as a shock to us as Adam was only speaking to him a couple of weeks ago, as we have one of his cars in our yard. We had a photo taken with him many years ago in his much loved convertible we have looked after for him for many years. The photo wasn’t taken on the best of cameras and is pretty rough as a result. We tried to improve the picture as best we could to remove some of the pixelation. The filter removed a little detail at the same time, but we think it looks a bit better. In Adams main workshop you can see the much larger banner we had made of this photo.
We will miss you Robbie as a somebody we called a friend and not just a ‘celeb’ customer. Thanks for making us laugh and keeping us enthralled with your stories while we shared a good few cups of tea with you.
Our deepest condolences to Robbie’s family – May you forever drive your Mustangs on the great highways of your personal Heaven.
The original was very small and quite pixelated.
Park & Pic
This week we had a two cars waiting for collection either side of the matt black wrapped ’66. The wrapped ’66 was in with us for a once over, a couple of upgrades and a little Mustang Maniac magic to make it the car it should be.
Stock
We have a little story to share with you about a customer whom has now had the “C” button applied and added to the “C list”. A few weeks ago we agreed to make a special order for an SN95 (2000) fuel tank to be imported. We made the order using our buying power, paid the import duties, notified the customer and shipped the part to the customer as soon as we got it. While Adam was on his holidays a few days after our dispatch, the (now ex)customer emailed us to complain the part was damaged, he was really upset. We asked him if he could send us a couple of photos, just so we could verify the damage. The customer refused to take any photos. He then demanded we pick up the part at our expense and make the refund in full. We contacted Adam and he of course authorised the pick up and refund as we could only take the customers word for it. Adam returned from his break and inspected the part that was now sitting in our despatch room. The reason we might ask for a photo is for this very reason, not to be awkward. We could have told the customer at the time that the part was on fine and he would have been happy again.
The “damage” was inspected and as Adam expected, there wasn’t any damage. The box wasn’t even damaged from shipping.
The part is exactly as it was manufactured and intended to be. The so called ‘bent’ damage was in fact the original design that are there in order for the part to fit into the car. Adam was not impressed that he tried to do somebody a good deed and they then created because they didn’t know what they were talking about. We lost out on money having to get the item picked up, these things can happen. It was clear that the customer didn’t even check the part with his one already in the car, or he wouldn’t have complained. We have managed to re-sell the part on to another customer who was very happy to pick one up of the shelf.
Our own products
We have our own page on the WebShophere that is being updated with our own products. Not everything is on there yet, but we are adding all the time.
We are now developing our own ‘upgrades’ to common parts like a thermostat housing. This part has a the option for senders or anything else you may want to bolt into it.
Yogi will be back this week so we should be getting some more car related news for you.
“Adam is the UK’s leading Mustang Expert, highly recommended by the club and work out of a Mustang Disneyland with piles of spares, lines of parts cars, and treasures….”
Quentin Willson – Classic Car Magazine June 2015.
“Mustang Maniac in Ware has done a really cracking job detailing the engine, fitting new suspension, replacing both floors and now she’s solid, shiny and sweet driving.”
Quentin Willson – Classic Car Magazine June 2015.
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“Adam and the team, with a very special mention to Al, have had my car for a few weeks to carry out its annual inspection, MOT and to fix some jobs they had discussed with me last year. Having just collected it from them today (Fri 07/08/2015), it runs better now than it ever has thanks to the care, attention to detail and ‘other magic’ they know. As usual the whole process has been completely painless – it’s a great feeling to know that the people looking after my old car think as much of it as I do…so I have absolutely no worries leaving it in their capable hands. This time they completed all the jobs on my list as well as rectifying a few more that I never realised were an issue, thus saving me from future trouble. I would strongly recommend Adam and the Mustang Maniac team to anyone wanting proper experts to look after all their Mustang needs….then you can simply leave them to it in the knowledge they will always do what’s best for these lovely old cars”
GW – retired Ford Motor Company Director
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“Mustang Maniac are the font of all knowledge. Adam is always there with advice and parts I need. My one stop Mustang shop. The standard of workmanship from his team is unmatched in the trade”. 101% recommended.
http://onemanandhismustang.com
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‘Adam and his team cannot be more helpful, not only do they do what you ask to be done, they go be-yond and actually replace/repair or correct things that you would never know should be done. Always lend and ear, and get you out of tricky situations…I wouldn’t take my classic mustang anywhere else”!
Lance Barrington.
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“Wow! As soon as I arrived at Mustang Maniac I knew I my car was in the right place. The service was so efficient, professional and boy do Adam & the Team know their stuff! I couldn’t recommend a company more highly. I even drove away with a tear in my eye – and this time it wasn’t the exhaust fumes!”
Liv Davidson
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“Chaps, what a difference, a lovely drive back home and even floored it for a while which chucked 40 odd years of leaves and crap out of the vents. Great fun at last!
Thanks again for all your time and attention spent on the car you guys have done an amazing job.
Cheers.”
Jon O’Leary
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“The work that you guys at Mustang Maniacs have done on the car was phenomenal – differences you have made since you got it and did a couple of days work, Pulls and accelerates noticeably better – absolutely beautifully and even sounds better. The brakes also seem to work so much better and it handles and steers so so much better in the bends and straight – no more steering wobble or unnoticeable !!! Petrol consumption is also so much better – really very noticeable indeed.”
Adam Dabrowski.
“First of all thank you for your hospitality and the rubber aerial seal and the keyring. The drive home was an absolute pleasure. I enjoyed driving the car before, now I LOVE IT. You and Alan definitely worked your magic on the Stang. You have transformed it from a good car to a great car. I will be your life long loyal customer.”
Mitch Rustem
“Just a brief email to say thanks that I was made welcome on arrival and the effort for taking the time to show me around the workshop and meeting with the mechanic (Alan I think) who ran through the work and set up he carried out on my car, this felt a very personnel service indeed. This is testament to your knowledge and love of Mustangs and how you operate your business.
My Mustang felt so much more driveable with all the little tweaks done. The brakes felt so much sharper, I didn’t have to apply the regular 120lb of pressure to stop. The steering was much more tighter, it held the line on the motorway with no shaking at speed. The handling has improved threefold and actually goes where you steer now. I didn’t realise how poorly she handled until Mustang Maniac put it right. All the cosmetically components and upgrades have given me a huge smile. Absolutely love it.
Thanks again for making my Mustang a good drivable car. I will be back for the next upgrades and advice at some stage as a returning customer. A very happy Mustang owner.”
Paul P.
“Mustang Maniac done some suspension work on my 1966 Fastback in went in with the usual old car problems lots of noises and bangs and worsted of all lots of body roll, they fitted a new pair of front shocks and springs a new 1” shaw bar and they sorted some other jobs that needed doing, the car now looks great with its new shocks and springs and it is sitting right but best of all it’s driving like a completely different car to how it went in I’m really pleased with their service”
Kev Rushworth.
I have had a few orders from you now with many more to come and I would just like to say what a fantastic service you provide shipped on day of purchase received next day on every order 1st class the best
If only the Americans could take a leaf out of your book
Regards
Greig Duffill
Mustang Maniac 
