New photos from painters came in. They are getting fairly close but are held up on something I screwed up, which we need to reorder.
Here is the underside of the nose that I shipped the car halfway across the country for them aluminum plate. I already brushed all the aluminum panels in the engine bay to flow the same direction but it look like the painter is going to leave the nose to me to do myself once it is back. I had been holding out hope he would just do that for me before he put the nose back on.
Paint is looking good but I really want to see it in person in daylight. There is only so much I can reasonably take from a photo in the workshop before it’s even finished. Still, the painter told me his son in law going a drone with a 4K camera and they plan to take some drone video around the car once it is done which has me excited. I think it sounds fun but I’m too cheap and self counsouns to ever hire someone to do that for me.
Good looking grandkid! You’ll know if he’s a car guy if he notices he’s in a knock-off McClaren!
I love the racing harness he has on in there. Bet that baby could turn on a dime.
I mentioned earlier that a critter tried to build a nest in my daily driver and started eating the wires. The first time is took a week to fix and the second time it took two full weeks. I’ve read some Japanese manufactures tried a bio friendly insulation on their wires that was sugar based which attracted rodents and I wonder if that is what happened again with my car as I’ve lived here for 18 years without issue before. I tied an ultra sonic emitter to try and keep rodents away after the first incident but it did not do work and I’ve read that if they try and build a nest, their sent will be in there and they will return. With me not loving the car, the poor dealer service both times, and my wife also wanting something else, it was time to move on.
I’ve wanted a GT350 since they came out in 2015 but could not swing it back then. The Voodoo motor, which is an incredible high reving monster, was a lot of the draw. It turns out the motor has terrible reliability and is $25K to replace, so I have not been able to bring myself to take the risk.
In 2021, Ford released the Mach 1 which bridges the gap between the special Shelby models and the Mustang GT. It got criticized by many as a “parts bin car” when it came out because they took the parts from the Shelby GT350, GT500, and Bullitt mustang and added it to a Mustang GT with the regular gen 3 Coyote V8. Others can talk trash all they want, I think it is brilliant. The Coyote V8 is still a heck of a motor and has proven to be remarkably durable. The big upgrades for me on the Mach 1 are the GT350’s Tremec 6-Speed transmission and the extra oil, trans, and rear differential cooling. All of these will also improve durability and allow you to drive the car hard without a second thought. I love the idea of taking all the best parts together at the end of the production run and don’t care at all that it was used on something else first and not newly designed. I actually prefer here as I know there are all well developed proven parts.
I was able to find a certified preowned example that had under 10K miles which was an older gentlemen’s garage queen. The car is in fantastic condition and in the special color they did for only the Mach 1s, so I went for it. It rained on the way home from the dealer, so hopefully I can find time this weekend to clean it back up and get some better photos.
Resale on the McLaren is ridiculously high - for a stroller.
What you have heard about rodent food based wires is correct.
It has been a real problem for outside air conditioner units where the mice get the munchies and decimate the exposed wires.
Please tell me you have garage space for all these beauties.
I watched a video on YouTube, the ten fastest muscle cars of 1969. My humble 2025 BMW M240i with xDrive was faster 0-60 and quarter mile than any of them. And if there were any curves involved, no contest.
I did a tour of the Ford assembly plant in Dearborn, 1976. They were making Mustang IIs. I wept for the future of performance cars. I needn’t have.
I have long found this amusing. But they were relatively fast in their day.
Well, at least they got atrocious fuel economy.
I used to run my 1966 SS396 Chevelle. The work required to go from the 14s to the 12s was ridiculous. My 2025 Audi will do that with the a/c running and the seat massager going.
Knocking off two seconds from any car is momentous.
As a separate matter, the way we measure horsepower now is very different from in the past, so the figures are not directly comparable.
It was almost all in the heads.
Good example of ‘dont drink and drive’!
I did my build in my 2 car garage, but when I shipped my car off to the painter I setup a temporary workbench and had expanded my woodworking in the space. Turned out to have been a mistake but I spent a good bit of time today moving a lot of wood and equipment into my basement and making space in my garage.
I’m in the middle of building myself a new audio equipment rack, which has been slow going and had caused me to drag my feet in moving everything. I had been dreading trying to cut eight 20” x 48” 3/4? MDF panels the same exact size but managed to pull it off today. I finished the jointing and plaining my wood, which I hate and now I get to move on to final miter cuts, joints, assembly and applying finish, which are the parts I enjoy.
I spent so much time cleaning up the garage, I did not get the car cleaned up. We will see if I can find the time during the week but it may be next weekend before I can really get it where I want it.
The painter says he is done. I guess that means I need to finish off some details but I do think it looks killer overall. I need to see it in person though as computer screens and bad light lie.
It is bit awkward at the moment with the suspension lifted all the way up to give it as much room as possible to get on and off the transporter. From the profile, it reminds me of someone with pant legs that are too short. I need to get her lowered down and a better backdrop for some photos once I am able to get her home and have finished the final details.
My baby is finally back home. I sent it off a little before Thanksgiving for paint and got it back at the end of May. Painting was the one thing I didn’t want to do myself and I"m glad I saved up and paid an expert. It would have been a shame to spend so much time building such a nice car and have it look low quality because it had my first paint job on top. I can be honest and admit I would not have been satisfied with my own paint job. Now it looks like a real pro built this thing.
I’m just going to share a couple shots for now. It is kind of odd but I feel a bit shy showing it before I get all the details finished and a nice photo shoot in good light. I know I am going to make it look better and kind of wanted a grand reveal, but also can’t help but want to still share a photo now that I have it painted after so long.
