The Roaring Season

over a period of time I hope to show you the 2 year restoration of the old girl form the long wait it had from 1985 when I stopped racing it till July 2011 when after considerable goading from different camps, I took time away from competition to do a full rebuild. In the shots to follow is how it looked then.

I have a couple of photos I took of you in that car racing at Puke.Maybe early 80s? You are racing Cook,Nissan. The finlays bakery Datsun,Osborne capri,A chopped up Muatang maybe Faheys old car?Your Mustang lokks like its in a Black/red.yellow liverie. I will send them to Steve to post as I have tried to no avail to post myself. A bit tech handicapped i'm afraid

[ATTACH]19865[/ATTACH] So this is how she looked before the big strip down, still in the colors I painted it somewhere around the end of 1979 I think. The only difference besides the paint was a rear wing and i changed the hood scoop to a Cobra one that I took a mold off my Falcon Cobra. A couple of times I towed the 3 axle transporter I built when I was 24 that was a caravan type front with a bed above the race car nose at the back with a viewing platform above the car, so I could stay at the track and save on accommodation with the Mustang on the back and towed by the Cobra that I also raced in Production Supercars. I do have some photos of it but being towed by my S Pac panelvan when I started my electrical business I will dig out and post.

hilstwist wrote:I have a couple of photos I took of you in that car racing at Puke.Maybe early 80s? You are racing Cook,Nissan. The finlays bakery Datsun,Osborne capri,A chopped up Muatang maybe Faheys old car?Your Mustang lokks like its in a Black/red.yellow liverie. I will send them to Steve to post as I have tried to no avail to post myself. A bit tech handicapped i'm afraid

Thanks that would be cool to see, Its funny but I dont have many photos of my racing years, ahhhhh yes now it comes back to me, I put every dime I had into my cars and it wasnt as cheap or simple as it is today with ph cameras etc.

I love those pics Tony, especially the startline one, with the four cars all grappling for grip.

Must be me again, but no pics from Tony.

Steve Holmes wrote:I love those pics Tony, especially the startline one, with the four cars all grappling for grip.

Yes Steve, this is from the reverse grid/handicap race at the NZGP beginning of 82, If the shot were expanded out, Tulloch and Crowe would be lurking menacingly as well.

[ATTACH]19947[/ATTACH][ATTACH]19948[/ATTACH] These next shots are of the car stripped out and as you can see I have already removed the floor.

Good thing the roof is there to hold it all together.
Looking at this makes me feel better about the Monaro.
WOW, WOW, WOW, big underpants time.

some more photos, these are of the floor before it was removed, note how they just cut down the center of the drive shaft tunnel and opened it out then just screwed a bit of alli over the top, no wonder my seat moved during accelerating and braking and was no doubt responsible for all the stress cracks in the floor. I cut the transmission bulge out of the new floor and moved it back then welded it in and took it up into the new panel steel firewall
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Cage fits very snugly on B pillar and down onto the floor- excellent bracing.

Looking at those photos I can see why it takes so much time to get one of these cars back to its original shape and presentation. Great work George

Thanks Big Bad Dale but then it just has to be done that way really. Anyway, a few more of the inside and of the trunk before it was pulled apart.

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[quote="George Sheweiry"]Thanks Big Bad Dale but then it just has to be done that way really. Anyway, a few more of the inside and of the trunk before it was pulled apart.

Yikes! Its not until you see these photos that you get a real appreciation for the amount of time, effort and $$$ that went into this rebuild. Only saw the car a couple of times before, but lets just say that "mammoth" would be a serious understatement of the amount of work that this was. Top job George, and even better now that we all get to enjoy it on the racetrack again

Neat photos George, and quite revealing. Although this car took on legendary status in Australia and New Zealand, to JR and the team running it, it was just a tool, built to serve a purpose. It was modified to keep pace, and the mods didn't have to be pretty, they just had to be effective.

Yes it was a rather large task and because I am not a millionaire just a dumb electrician who has a collection of cars (too many) and races them I have to do it all myself but then I am a worker and do enjoy the challenge. I guess there's worse things in life I could be doing!! Anyway, the next shots show the suspension and parts before restoration.

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Hi George, congratulations on a brilliant job, the car looks fantastic. I am not sure if you have seen these shots of the old girl in Jim RIchards hands at Teretonga 1977. These are pictures taken by the late Kevin Thomson

George , dont put yr self down ....... you have done a great job & we know this its just fantastic..... hey yr pretty handy with a camera & pc also........ Hey Jim knew the deal on getting weight out of a car lots of nice holes lol , not many did , easy cheap horse power ???

seaqnmac27 wrote:Hi George, congratulations on a brilliant job, the car looks fantastic. I am not sure if you have seen these shots of the old girl in Jim RIchards hands at Teretonga 1977. These are pictures taken by the late Kevin Thomson



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Actually, I had not looked at this photo so closely, note the damage to the right side of the front spoiler, must consult my MotorActions, Something kept the Mustang out of at least one of the Teretonga races and he, instead drove Pat Creas Cortina.