Interior restoration Mangusta 8MA-1294

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I bolted plates under the floor so that I could relocate the seat belt mounts.

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I found some belts in exactly the right colour. I had to shorten them by 500mm, however, because they would not retract far enough.

Now you can see what I was trying to achieve with the gull wing release handles!

Hidden behind the bulkhead panels are smaller independent emergency cables to release the rear gull wings. This modification had already been done when the car came to me. All Mangusta owners should do this!

I had to install two extra bulbs in the radio to make it glow like this. The light below illuminates the Goose badge. I am very pleased with this bit. The carpets on either side are held in with Velcro, and the radio holder is held in with two screws and two bolts. Nice and easy to remove.

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I repainted the steering column and the rear view mirror.

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My kick plate goes all the way up the side of the dash. The original one stopped half way and left an unsightly gap.

This can't be Italian - there are no pipes and wires hanging down!

Beautiful Ferrero steering wheel unique to Mangusta. Made from stainless steel!

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The end.

Johnny Woods

Amazing work Johnny. Can't even imagine the hours required.

My hat is off to you.

Oh,la, la...

Great job, chapeau!

Truly mind blowing work!! Very nice.

I met Johnny at the Las Vegas Fun Rally a few years back and commented on his excellent upholstery work. He said he bought his old heavy duty sewing machine from a junk yard !!! Because they don't make them like they use to. Outstanding work.

Chuck

As usual... Outstanding work Johnny!!!

That is the way the Mangusta should have been from the factory. Any idea of the number of hours it took and the final bill to the customer for the great work. Perhaps I can have you come to Hawaii to work on my Goose. Ben

Your the Man

WOW! just WOW! I LOVE these types of threads and your work is spectacular!

Amazing work! Amazing tread! Just came across it today, and made my day a good bit better

I never knew it could be done that nice. I love the tight seats! Absolutly georgous! Thanks for sharing.. Bill 1362

There are two really great things about Johnny Woods. Number one is that he does such spectacular work, and number two, he takes the time to photograph and document his work so that others can enjoy and learn from his talent and creativity.

Amazing work Johnny!

Thanks for posting...

Johnny,

To say that your work is outstanding is a gross understatement of fact. I have never seen such care, quality and attention to detail. To think that you have largely been self-taught makes your work even more astounding. I only wish that my car had been the recipient of your craft (and that I was able to afford such work). Congratulations on a truly superb outcome and thank you so very much for sharing in such great detail the process. While few of us could even hope to duplicate the work, it is inspiring to see. The engine bay of that car sure has a GT40 look about it.

Many, many thanks!

Mark

Many thanks for all the kind words guys. I after reading all your posts I had to open up the double doors to get my head out! Seriously though your comments really inspire me to do more and make all the hard work worth while.

Cheers, Johnny

I was lucky enough to visit Johnny and Taz in England three weeks ago, and see the car in person. Believe me, the photos simply don't do it justice. While I was there, Johnny was fitting the windscreen. Mangusta windscreen rubber has been unavailable for years; he took a small bit of the original rubber and sent it to the original Italian manufacturer and they tooled up to make new ones!

He has been working on this interior and retrimming for the better part of two years. The results are well worth it!

Johnny!!!

WOW!!! You've been a busy beaver for the last day.......!

I know you wuz busy on this...but MAN, you was BIZZY!!!

I could only read, look, and smile at what is obviously an immense "love for the work"!

BTW, you can put more than one picture in a post!

Just think of all that "patina" you destroyed.....stay away from my car!!! I think patina is all that is holding most of my interior together!

Ciao!
Steve

Thanks Steve/Mike,

How do I put more than one picture in a post?
I chose not to use the album feature because the captions are very small white writing on black background - hard to read.
How's this for patina!

Johnny

Johnny,

"What can one say but Amadeus Mozart" or in this case "Johnny Woods!"

Detail is flawless---love your face shot.

Now I'll get off my butt and finish my own band saw---thanks for the motivation.

I looked through the pictures several times and it's still to much information to absorb. If I smoked, I'd have to have a cigarette after this photo orgy---fantastic!

I must say that trim work looks like more fun than my late-in-life return to the auto restore grind---and it's got-ta-be better on your hands and lungs. Now lets think---Kirk learning trim work??? Better chance of becoming a Ninja---probably won't happen.

With all humility Johnny your work is truly exquisite and as Mike Drew said, "the photos simply don't do it justice"---well done my friend---congratulations!

It's a pleasure to see that someone is able to afford perfection and an entrepreneur is able to provide it, and more, in a world of mass produced, cost engineered, planned obsolence, inferior quality crap. Cheers, Johnny, for your quality work and attention to detail. Makes me wish I could aford to have you work on my cars. Tommy T.

Hello Young Master Woods,

I thoroughly enjoyed viewing every photo of your amazing Mangusta project. I think Paddy Hook needs to write a proper book about this. Your craftsmanship rivals anything that has ever been done by any car manufacturer. (Seriously, the workers at Rolls Royce would weep.) The owner of the car must be ECSTATIC with the end result. Whatever you charged him, it was not enough. I wish you could work on the interior of Tom's Pantera. Alas, at least we have that lovely seat in the Lola. ~ Kelly Todak

Wow! I just discovered this post. Amazing work throughout, Johnny. Those seats are spectacular.