5029 Restoration

In the sun

sharp lines

That is one crazy color JT! I like it. Are those metal or fiberglass flares?
Very nice.
Mike

Very nice John. That's certainly not a color you see everyday.

I'm curious about the satin silver I see on the window trim, the front grill, and other trim pieces. Is that paint, powder coat, or what?

Gorgeous ! Spectacular ! Splendid ! Very tastefully done ! I like it a lot ! Good work John ! Cant wait to see more !

Just Stunning. Simple as that.

Looks good! drastic color change!

I love that green!!!!!!!!!!! Nice to see some guys takin a chance and havin it turn out as well. Beautiful car JT. Congratulations!!!!

Mark

Thanks for the support guys. Appreciate the kudos. The flares are fiberglass and the platinum trim I painted and cleared with PPG Flex n Flat a satin clear. The desire was to match the wheel color. However, as the paint shop told me, it is tough to do. I am thinking that gloss clear may have been closer. The wheels are anodized. However, I am committed at this point.

A unique attribute of this car is that I blocked most of the lines to a crisp edge. They are extremely straight and sharp. Hard for me to catch the light well in a photo to illustrate, although this pic give an idea. I had never done body work to this level before and I am embarrassed to say how many hours of sanding I have in the exercise.

I also metal finished the rear light to french it in like I have seen on Steve Griffen's yellow car.

Awesome color!

Here is an interior shot. Upholstery done in Gunmetal gray with a heavier grain than stock. The deto emblems are embroidered and I messed up their location as they are partially covered with the door closed. They could have been moved back a couple of inches and still not reached the hole for the window crank. Although, I have not opened up the hole at this time. All french stitching with black thread on the dash and seats. The headliner is pretty wild, yet, not installed yet.

I had taken the paint guys a perfectly detailed and surfaced engine bay. However, The paint guys didn't paint the engine bay to my satisfaction, so, I had them do it again. Unfortunately, it still wasn't right. Thus, I sanded it again and sprayed it in my garage / makeshift paint booth with the help of my local buddies. The fresh air system is not complete at this time. Although I have fabbed some really cool pieces.

Nice work John! Those headers are interesting. The color is awesome! Did you modify the edge of the flares? GT5 flares are usually flat on the edge. The lines are some of the crispest( made up word??)that I have seen. What a PITA that must have been!

Ron

the headers and trimmed flares I inherited. The header are a true bundle of snakes. The best spin that I can put on them is that a genuine effort seemed to have been made to create equal length for the generally shorter routed #4 & #8 cylinder. I prefer the look of the parrallel piped 180s, yet these seemed to function well and sound very balanced above 2600RPM.

Kirk Evans spent a week at my house 2 years ago and taught me the ABC's of body work and the humbling difference between those with an artist eye and those without. He guided me in reshaping the flares for the wheels. Kirk also was instrumental in repairing prior crash damage that had been unearthed under the bondo when initially stripping the car. However, the flat edge had been removed by the prior owner and we ultimately preferred the "lighter" look without them.

On another issue, all the lettering is painted. Including the script on the back of the car. I don't enjoy cleaning around the originals and took some liberty here.

Kirk is ridiculous!!! I recently had a customer's Amerisport GT5-S in the shop for a clutch and a few other odds and ends ,that had been hit in the passenger side rear quarter so hard that it broke the transaxle in half ! I looked it over on the lift and could find absolutely no signs of the damage! I told Kirk that and he was like " I would be surprised if you did" LOL I have had the owner complain to me that it took nearly three years for the car to be completed but I am absolutely amazed that the car was fixed at all!!! It looks better now that it did from the factory!

Ron

Nice job! Good thing you can do it yourself.

Nice work John. Love the colour!

Johnny

The color is Lime Squeeze Metallic available on several Fords between 20101 thru 2013 or so. At least that is the marketing moniker. The paint code name is Green Orchid. Here is a picture of the headliner to be installed.

That is cool!!!

Ron

Yep, incredible lines. Nice job, indeed.
Will

Really came out nice John. Wish I could have got it painted for you during it's 10 day visit last February---five more shop hands and it would have made it. Your project certainly gave me some literal pain and suffering during my Houston time.

I do have some great constructions shots of the build's repairs if you are OK with me putting them out for public review. The car has had a great deal of improving work done to it John---you worked your tail off---congrats on the success!

By the way I see a totaled GT5-S pic popped up we did several years ago---is there interest in seeing the rebuild with explanations?

Should have elaborated on the pain and suffering...I dropped a door corner on my right foot and broke it in John's garage when I was working on the car---and kept working the entire time---DOH. The x-ray that was taken a month later did not show the brake but a close friend and Pantera owner who is a podiatrist found the break several months later after the limp became overwhelming---he will be doing surgery sometime early next year.

I like it! Looks great

Kirk, I'm interested in seeing that GT5-S!

Hi Kirk. Mike Drew will be doing a story on the car for Profiles where we will cover the build. So lets hold off on build photos until after it prints. I presume that I already have the photos you are referencing. However, in case not, would you resend them to me? jtaphorn@kingwoodcable.com

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Kirk Evans:

By the way I see a totaled GT5-S pic popped up we did several years ago---is there interest in seeing the rebuild with explanations?

Yes!

WOW - Just WOW!

Two years - that's all?!?!?!

Dang makes me feel sooooo slooooow.

Great job John you can really tell how sharp the edges are in the pictures, my wife says well done. Thanks again for everything.

Car Looks Great John! I like your head liner!