I picked this car up about 1.5 years ago. It was parked in 1993 and overall solid, with some minor floor work needed. That’s pretty much typical with an early mustang - and the frame rails and unibody are in excellent shape. The “plan” was to just get it running and drive it as-is. But things kind of snowballed. In the middle of this rebuild we are making a move from Texas to New Zealand. The mustang and my 32 are coming with us - so I am in a thrash to get the mustang done in the next two months. The New Zealand inspections are thorough - and everything on this car (structural and mechanical) will be in new condition. So far: New painless wiring harness 347 stroker, Dino tuned at 400 hp T5Z trans 9” that came out of a 57 ford, with a traction lock 3.50 gear set New Kelsey-Hayes front discs brakes Restored interior Floors and entire underneath stripped to bare metal, coated in POR-15, seam sealed and painted New brake and fuel lines Reproduction Shelby Crager wheels Rebuilt suspension - lowered 2” Sub frame connectors, export brace and a Monte Carlo bar Shelby Hood Shelby R Model Valance that eliminates the front bumper Rear seat delete Stainless fuel tank I’ll start off with a “before” photo - as bought:
Nothing sexy about wiring. This was probably the worst that I’ve seen. It was an easy choice just to rip it all out and replace. I prefer the painless kits for a mustang. Easy to do - it’s all labeled and the connectors are mostly plug and play. Any that I had to terminate are solder connected and covered in shrink wrapped insulation. The electrical is now all new - every switch, bulb and connector in the car. Here is a before / after of the dash area:
Brakes are new Kelsey-Hayes reproductions from CSRP. Great product and customer service - I didn’t take any before photos - was just basic ford drums that had been rattle canned orange. New front discs:
Be very careful with any patch panels . And DO NOT POR-15 the underside until it has gone through compliance in New Zealand. They will ask you to remove it so they can see what it is hiding underneath [POR--15 is almost impossible to remove] Spot welded and overlapped patch panels in the floor will NOT pass inspection. One last thing ..................... give the whole car a steam clean before you load it into a container. Talk with your shipping guys. When I imported vehicles, after loading the container [and tying everything down] the entrance of the container was sealed with plastic and a "bug--bomb" was let off to fumigate the container. Leave the bomb their so the biosecurity people can see it. It can cost $1500 for them to clean and fumigate a vehicle if there is a bio risk. Nice 'Stang by the way .Do yourself a favor and send it off to a paint correction guy [reds oxidizes badly , But comes back really well] Once the paint is shiny , you might re-evaluate respraying vs touch ups A Texas car with original paint that is shiny will go a long way to impressing inspection. You have only one chance at a first impression.
POR-15 is basically a paint - it doesn’t cover anything at all (any more than paint). It is not the thick rubber undercoating. It’s already painted - I hope that it isn’t an issue down the line … The underside has no patches and the replaced rear floors were butt welded:
It will need a repair cert in NZ if the compliance deems any repair structural. The repair certifiers are tough, the compliance part easy. If they can see any repair covered over with paint [POR-15] you will need to remove that area. I had to strip the underside of my 57 because the under body was painted in "chassis black" [to cover all the black widow spider webs] After 3 weeks of scraping the Repair Cert inspector looked at it for about 15 seconds and said "OK you can paint it now" [which pissed me off] If you do any repairs TAKE PHOTOS before, during and after. With your floor because it is already painted, remove all the interior [carpets and plastics] so they can see the other side during inspection Doing this could give you a visual "free pass" on the inspection. Also do all your brake hoses, wheel cylinders, M/C and caliper seals before you export it [this will save $$] and the Park brake must be working properly. No frayed front seat belts at all. You will need to change the headlights when you get to NZ [our headlights dip to the L/H side] The only thing redeemable about NZ inspections is zero smog inspections on any car. We don't do "Catbacks" in NZ! we big bore the whole system even on our new cars
I’ll just have to work through the inspections for the mustang and the 32. Both are solid, rust-free and in excellent mechanical condition. I’m aware of the requirements and have been adapting both cars ahead of the move. On the mustang - everything from the brake cables, lines, hoses and entire brake assembly is new or rebuilt as new, along with every other mechanical and electrical part. It is spotless mechanically and rust free. I’m sure there will be issues - but I don’t expect anything major.
That'll do it !!! He doesn't even need to produce a passport to prove he's American. Passports are only needed for foreigners
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