Custom Car – September 2019

Mustang.Allwasgoingwellonthetest
driveuntilafewmilesinwhenKennyfound
itincreasinglydifficulttoselectgears,with
theclutchgivinguptheghostcompletelyat
thenextjunction.
Withbothpartiesequallydisappointed,
Kennyquipped,“Wehavetwochoiceshere.
Icanjumpbackonthe’planeandthank
youforshowingmeyourcar,orwecan
renegotiatethepriceandI’lltrytogetit
homesomehow.”

“Ididnoticethegearingseemedabit

hhhighthough,asat 70 mphitwasrevvingat

bbbelow 2 , 000 rpm.”

Oncehome,Kennyfixedtheclutchand

dddrovethecarasitwasforayearorso,right

uuupuntilafriendmentionedhewasimporting

aaaWinnebagofromtheStatesandhecould

ppputafewbitsfortheMustanginitifheliked

tooosaveonshippingcosts.Kennywasonline

bbbeforehisfriendhadfinishedspeaking.

Adiscbrakeconversionkit,Borgeson

pppowersteeringkit,hydraulicclutchkit,new

bbbumpers,afulllengthcentreconsole,GT

gggrilleandlights,newbulletmirrors,door

hhhandles,weathersealsandsomeotherbits

andpiecesallfoundtheirwayintotheRV

beforeitleftthedocks.Kennyfittedthe

grilleimmediately,butputtherestofthe

stufftoonesideashedidn’treallyhavethe

time,andatthatpointhadn’tdecidedifhe

wasgoingtohavethecarrepaintedornot.

Birdstrike

Fastforwardto 2014 ,Kennywasoutfora

drive,and“poppingonabit”,asheputit,

whenalargebirdflewoutofthehedgerow

andsmashedthewindscreenwithaplomb.

ItwasoverayearlaterthatKennygot

holdofanew’screen,buteventhenhe

wasn’tsurewhethertofititornot.“The

carhadbeenrepaintedinthepast,but

notverywell,”heexplains.“Therewas

oversprayalloverthewindscreenseal,door

handlegaskets...yougetthepicture.And

ifIdiddecidetopaintit,shouldIjustgive

itaquickcleanupandblowoverorgothe

wholehogandbaremetalit?”

Iresolvednotto

restorethecarto

standardspec

Clutchingatstraws

Afurtherreductionof£ 600 agreed,Kenny

bookedaferry,drovetotheportwithout

aclutchandconvincedtheloaderstolet

himgoonlastasthecarcouldn’tsitina

queue.HavingdockedatHolyhead,Kenny

thendrovethroughthenighttoOxford,

withoutaclutch,andfortunatelywithout

anyrealissue.“Theonlytrickybitwas

runningthroughsomeroadworkswhere

thetrafficalmostcametoastandstill.

h b d u a p

to

b

p

b

g

h

That’snotthekindofrideheightyouusuallyseeonaMustang,butthankstofullRideTech

airsuspensionitcansitlikethis,anddriveslikeamagiccarpet,too.

AsextetofSpeedhutgauges,withredneedlesand

letteringtogowiththepaint,nowfillthe

dashspace,whileanewsimulatedwalnutGT

wheellooksrightathomeinfrontofthem.

Amodern,butretrolooking,headunit,coupled

toafour-channelAlpineampandspeaker

systemtakescentrestage.Notethe’Stanghas

thoseallimportantthreepedalstoo,witha

HurststickshiftselectingthecogsintheBritish

T5(Cosworth)’box.