CSE066 is another case of a customer who bought his GT500E to drive and has had limited driving time due to constant repairs on his “E.” CSE 066 is a multiple show winner in its home state but had already been back to UP 3 times for repairs and was back for its 4th trip when it was caught up in the police impound of the vintage vehicles. Once the vehicle was released, we began our rework. Some of the upgrades CSE 066 received were our fuel system upgrades with a new 22 gallon stainless fuel cell, XFI sequential fuel injection system, 700 hp Be Cool radiator package, and power steering cooler upgrade. We removed the extremely heavy cable clutch system and upgraded his T56 to our new hydraulic system with high performance street clutch. The suspension required some additional work in addition to our normal upgrades. Due to the fact that the quarter panel flares were not installed evenly to the quarter panels side to side, the rear axle was adjusted more to center the wheels in the openings than for the car to drive straight down the road. One of the owner’s complaints was that the car was unstable at highway speeds! We were able to correct the rear suspension issues to straighten the rear axle thrust line and install a set of new coilovers with spherical rod ends to correct some minor binding issues.

The owner came down for a weekend and was able to really drive his car for the first time since it was new. He was amazed at the difference in the suspension and the stability at high speed and around town. He kept commenting on how the accelerator of CSE 066 was now like a “regular car and not a light switch.” “It used to be where the throttle was either on or off; and when you hit the throttle it would bog down and you never knew when it was going to accelerate or how hard.” For the first time since owning the vehicle he was able to drive without worry and actually enjoy driving his car.

Before:



In Process:
 

CSE 066 underwent extensive body repairs at our partner body shop.  The vehicle suffered extensive damage from rough police inspection and 4 months exposed in the Texas weather.  The owner being an old school Muscle car collector was upset that his G.T. 500 E was built with fiberglass fenders so instead of repairing the original fiberglass front clip he had us rebuild the vehicle with steel fenders and all new fiberglass.  During the repairs we encountered several other issues related to the original vehicle build. A significant amount of body filler was removed from the doors that had been used to meet up with the old fiberglass front end.  The left quarter panel was welded on in the wrong place causing the panel to have a pooched appearance and did not line up with the tires when compared to the right side quarter panel.  It was necessary to cut loose the inner wheel house, the trunk floor drop and reposition the quarter panel in the correct location. Both rear wheel flares had to be reshaped as they were not installed correctly- and once the axle was straight to the suspension it was uneven to the wheel openings.  Both quarter panels had a visible "zipper" line across the top where they had been replaced and the filler material had shrunken back.  After the body repairs the entire car was blocked and primed twice and completely refinished.

Body Upgrades:
 
 

CSE 066 is gorgeous in its new paint.  The car turned out so well that we brought it to the Mustang 45th Anniversary celebration in Birmingham, Alabama for display.  There was a steady flow of Mustang lovers stopping to take pictures and comment on how great the car looked.

Completed: