Griffin Aluminium Radiator

This was a project in itself! I’ve always wanted one of these Griffiin Aluminum Radiators ever since I saw Unique Performance using them a few years back. Obtaining one for my car was to prove difficult, especially being in Australia.

The story begins by me ringing Griffin directly in the early hours of an Australian morning. After answering some questions to go back and answer about my car (size, how many core’s, left or right outlet etc) I finally placed my ‘order’

Now these things are not cheap, it worked out to be $AUD1000 all up. It’s mainly because these are custom made.

So a few weeks pass and I hear nothing, numerous emails proved futile and I began to get worried as the employee who handled my order left the company and then I heard nothing. My fears were worsened as i heard rumblings on the net that they were going bust!

But three months later the day came and I was notified that there was a package for me coming into the country! I opened th massive box and there she was, my custom aluminum radiator with fan… yum! It was worth the wait.

Fitting the kit – Another update

I most probably will have regular updates on the kit fitment so here is another installment.

We’ve now got the rear all squared up and looking good as you can see in the pics. The side skirts and wheel arches are fitted up and are being prepped for gluing.

If you compare these pictures to the ones a few weeks ago you can easily see the difference, things are lining up a lot better and generally just look right.

We’ve also had the upper exterior vents painted and ready to go, as we’ll soon have to glue the upper scoop over the top of them.

Deluxe Door Grills

Short post here but worth posting I believe. I was scrummaging through old folders and came across some pictures I took of the deluxe door grills i purchased last year.

They are remarkably good for reproductions and came with the bulbs and lens’s for the door light.

Can’t wait to have these fitted up with the deluxe door panels I also bought!

All Ford Day, Sydney

So this past Sunday saw the All Ford Day take place at Warwick Farm, and lucky for me I don’t live too far away so I ventured out to my first Ford day, well my first car meet in general!

As expected they had Thunderbirds to Mustangs, Model-A to Falcons and everything in between. I managed to take a look at some nice Fastbacks, including a RHD 1967 GT500! Another LHD Blue GT500 and a stunning 1968 GT500. I was in heaven!

Now I know everyone reading this pretty much knows what a Mustang looks like so I didn’t bother taking photos of every car there, however guess what I ran into? The Eleanor clone from my previous post about the Shannon’s auction.

Now this car was apparently sold at auction for $AUD 75,000 (Approx $USD 65,400), but here it was at the All Ford Day complete with a “For Sale” sign on it.

I must say the car was extremely rough. The kit was out of line (see photos), the exhaust tips were sticking out way too far, the upper and lower scoops were molded shut and overall the paint scheme, inside and out, is not my cup of tea.

Seeing a car like this only excites me as I can’t wait to have my old girl finished and take her to the next All Ford Day!

Have a look at some of the photos I took, although do note the picture of the full car is actually not the clone, it’s a GT350 Hertz, it’s just a coincidence they are the same colour.

Eleanor clone for sale in Australia

Tonight I came across an Eleanor clone for sale on Ebay Australia. It’s not often you see one for sale in Australia so i always like to look at what other Aussies have done.

Here are the particulars:

“This is a no expense spared restoration. 347 Windsor stroker engine. Scat crank and rods, Speedpro pistons, Moly Plasma Rings, ARP main studs, stud girdle, ARP Head Studs, aluminum cylinder heads with stainless steel valves, billet roller rockers, billet solid camshaft, dual idler gear drive, Gilmer Drive, Weiand intake, Holley carburetor, many billet accessories and stainless steel coolflex hoses, Alloy radiator, Derale thermo fan, world class T5 Temec 5 speed transmission with PBR hydraulic clutch.

Ford 9″ rear with 3.5 LSD centre. Power assisted brakes and quick ratio steering, Selby springs and sway bar, Monte Carlo bar and tower braces, correct 17×8 wheels with 245/40 R17 tyres, new deluxe interior complete with aluminum door and dash panels, Shelby scuff plates, Shelby wood steering wheel with Pioneer sound system, Autometer tacho, functional side exit exhaust and correct side mounted fuel filler. Correct cinema vehicles body kit, Shelby badges and mirrors. Show quality 2pac paint in correct Pepper Grey and metallic black. This is possibly the best Eleanor clone in Australia with almost every part used is NEW or rebuilt. This is a show quality, trophy winning vehicle with awesome looks performance and handling with excellent investment potential.”

I’m not sure about it being the best clone in Australia. It’s far from movie correct, for one the steering wheel, side mirrors, rear brake light trim and headlights all differ, though I’m not trying to pick it at and after all, my car has HID Xenon’s for the main headlights and that wasn’t in the movie. Is it just me or does the paint look a little darker than it should be?

The car certainly is a nice car and i’ll be VERY interested to see if it sells and for how much. It’s great to see good resto-mods here in Australia and hopefully in time we’ll see a lot more, especially with the Dynacorn bodies hitting the market.

HID projector retro-fit project coming to a close

Well good news in this week about the Xenon projector headlamps that are being custom made for my 67 mustang. They are almost done, we just have some testing to do and then we’ll seal it all up ready to be installed into the old girl.

The main problem we are facing is because the casing is so small and there is little ventilation there is risk that the heat generated from the lamps will melt the plastic areas of the casing. And I have been told it does happen to some custom jobs. So this is something I want to make sure is corrected before I waste over $500 worth of gear.

The other issue I must decide on before sealing is if I want the beam to be a flat straight beam or a Z shaped beam. I’m almost certain I’ll go with the Z shaped standard.

Here are the pictures which I’m very pleased with. Can you just imagine these in a Vintage 1967 Mustang?

The dimensions are 5.75″ from lens to base of bulb (total length of assembly) and 3″ from base of headlight to base of bulb (distance of what is sticking out from the back of the headlight).