Last year I bought my Mustang after wanting one for many years. It had been restored by the previous owner, however it soon became clear there were a few unfinished jobs. So I took the car to John at American Auto Services in Hayes near London, who got to work on it.
He said the first thing that was shot was the front suspension, so top arm, lower arm, anti roll bar kit, saddles and the front sway bar kit was fitted. Also welding was need on the suspension mounts. The camber, caster and tracking was also set up.. He also fitted new brakes, brake hoses, wheel bearings, master cylinder, petronix, new trans seal, new propshaft UJ and rebuilt the carb. He also spotted the steering coupling was missing a bolt and was beginning to tear and the C4 trans mounts were loose! He did a great job sorting the car out and it drives much better now.
The paint on the car was quite good, however, there were a few rust bubbles on the rear deck filler panel and some rust on the leading edge of the hood, so I took the car to a body shop not to far away called Roadrash Paintwork, who specialise in classic cars. After looking over the car, they advised me it would be easier to get a full respray, as the Ford True Blue paint would be difficult to blend with the existing paint. They also said the rot in the filler panel was probably caused by the water drains down the rear hood and under the chrome lipping and sitting in a channel below the filler panel, which eventually rotted. Not the greatest design in the world.
After looking over the car for a day or so, they said it was in very good condition with all solid panels. They fitted new fender extension mouldings from CJs as the previous mouldings were just made of filler! The hood moulding was also just filler, so he fitted a new hood extension moulding from CJs. He also removed the 73 bumper and fitted an original NOS urethane 71/72 bumper (which was still in the original Ford box too).
Here are some pics. The car is still being worked on, so I'll update this thread with the work in progress:
He said the first thing that was shot was the front suspension, so top arm, lower arm, anti roll bar kit, saddles and the front sway bar kit was fitted. Also welding was need on the suspension mounts. The camber, caster and tracking was also set up.. He also fitted new brakes, brake hoses, wheel bearings, master cylinder, petronix, new trans seal, new propshaft UJ and rebuilt the carb. He also spotted the steering coupling was missing a bolt and was beginning to tear and the C4 trans mounts were loose! He did a great job sorting the car out and it drives much better now.
The paint on the car was quite good, however, there were a few rust bubbles on the rear deck filler panel and some rust on the leading edge of the hood, so I took the car to a body shop not to far away called Roadrash Paintwork, who specialise in classic cars. After looking over the car, they advised me it would be easier to get a full respray, as the Ford True Blue paint would be difficult to blend with the existing paint. They also said the rot in the filler panel was probably caused by the water drains down the rear hood and under the chrome lipping and sitting in a channel below the filler panel, which eventually rotted. Not the greatest design in the world.
After looking over the car for a day or so, they said it was in very good condition with all solid panels. They fitted new fender extension mouldings from CJs as the previous mouldings were just made of filler! The hood moulding was also just filler, so he fitted a new hood extension moulding from CJs. He also removed the 73 bumper and fitted an original NOS urethane 71/72 bumper (which was still in the original Ford box too).
Here are some pics. The car is still being worked on, so I'll update this thread with the work in progress:
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