Restoring Our Mustangs
Before taking delivery of your "new" Classic Speed Mustang it will have undertaken quite a journey...
After arriving by sea freight from the USA your authentic Mustang clears customs and is delivered to our factory.
On arrival it is catalogued and photographed before the mechanics move in and strip the engine, gearbox, diff and springs. The trimmers then remove all the trim, the glass fitters remove the glass and finally bodyworks moves in and remove the doors, fenders, hood and boot.
All panels that are to be potentially reused are now moved to our media blasting booth to be brought back to bare metal before undercoating.
Whilst this is happening the electricians have gone to work on the body shell and removed all the wiring. Once this is complete the body shell and chassis is placed on a rotisserie and media blasted. It is then rotated through 360" while high pressure air is used to remove any remaining media. Finally the body shell is inspected and primed and attached to an alignment frame and then strengthened with temporary frame braces.
Any repairs that may be necessary are now carried out and any body panels required to be replaced are replaced with Ford licensed panels from the original presses and fitted as required. Each panel is perfectly aligned to achieve an exact fit.
The right hand drive conversion is now started. The original dash is cut up into 6 pieces and fabricated to create a perfect mirror conversion in sheet metal (not fibreglass) from the original parts. New firewalls cannot be purchased for most right hand drive Mustangs so we typically modify a new left hand drive firewall to create a mirror image of the original panel.
The brake booster, master cylinder, heater box and steering column are trial fitted and the necessary adjustments to the firewall made. The windscreen wipers are also converted to right hand drive and the wiper arms and motor is modified to accommodate the conversion.
If Shelby vents and air ducts are required these are added as functional items and not just cosmetic additions. For a 66 Shelby Tribute we manufacture a sheet metal insert for the rear quarter flute (window) as experience has taught us that the aftermarket fibreglass panels that are supplied do not fit correctly and cause leaks. If the guards or inner wheel tubs need to be modified they are hammered out and remain in sheet metal, not fibreglass. If a Shelby hood is required, we hand make a steel bonnet scoop and fit it to the metal hood as a functional element. We do this as we found fibreglass hoods impossible to get perfect. Lastly, for additional strength, our high performance Mustangs have their bodies seam welded to create a race car equivalent finish. As a matter of course we straighten and strengthen the entire body, frame and chassis to a standard well above that of the original Ford factory.