Saturday, September 20, 2008

the donor car - preparing to dismantle

The donor car is my 1990-body 5-liter Ford Mustang.  I've had this car for a number of years and am fairly happy with how it turned out.  I'll post a more complete write-up about this car later.


Here are some pictures of the donor car - looking a bit sad after almost 3 years sitting in the garage. The observant reader will note that CG has a significant amount of cleaning to do in the garage before the build gets underway in earnest.

The above shows the the donor car where it sat in October 2005.  I had just finished the driving season with a multi-day event at NHIS with the BMW Club.  It was always the plan to get the car out for the next season, but I got busy with the rest of my life and never had a chance to get behind the wheel.  


Front view of the car.  The headlights are taped over to avoid dropping glass and sharp pieces on the track if I ever hit anything (and I did once - look carefully at the driver's side and you might notice that part of the headlight cover is missing).  Also note that air intake at the bottom of the car, and 2 ducts  located just below the bumper - those push cool air to the brakes.  If you've ever driven a 3,000 pound racecar you know how hot brakes can get.



Above is a view from outside the passenger window.  You can see the aluminum race seats and 6 point harnesses.  Note that the interior has been largely removed, and the doors gutted out.  You can also see that gauges are installed where the heater controls used to be.  A large tachometer with shift light is above the gagues.  You can also see some of the roll cage and get a sense of how the safety systems were put together.


Here's a view of the driver's seat.  Note the highly sophisticated and uber-chic tape job over the fabric.  Basically the fabric wore through here.  New seat covers turned out to be seriously expensive, hence the hack job with the racer tape.  You can also see a little more of the roll cage, and yes those are lawn chair in the back seat.

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