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Interior restoration Mangusta 8MA-1294

johnnywoodsjohnnywoodsMember
Hi Guys,

I thought you might be interested in what I have been up to in the workshop recently. 1971 Mangusta 8MA-1294.
One of the last Mangustas built, this car was raced extensively in the 80's with great success. In the 90's, it was detuned and used as a road car retaining it's full roll cage.

It's current owner, Taz Zembashis, bought the car with the intention of restoring it and converting it back for road use, whilst at the same time retaining it's AP racing brakes and bonnet vents.

I was asked to retrim the interior and fabricate all the missing bits. Taz chose the paint and leather colours and left the rest to me. In fact he gave me a free hand to do what ever I felt was appropriate! Along the way, I changed a few things in an effort to improve the quality of the interior as a whole. My overall aim, however, was to make any such improvements / modifications appear original, or at least in keeping with the era of the car.


First pic (Race car)

8MA-1294 in it's racing days.

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johnnywoodsjohnnywoodsMember
The De Tomaso factory made a mistake when they trimmed the Goose seats in not putting an edging trim along the sharp edge of the fibreglass base. The stresses imposed by people getting in and out of the car soon results in it cutting through the foam. Once that happens, the seat cover loses it's tension, which looks awful. I have therefore added extra internal padding to prevent this happening.

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johnnywoodsjohnnywoodsMember
It's relatively easy to remove the bezels from the speedo and tach, but much harder with the smaller dials as they are made from very thin aluminium and then crimped all the way around like a jam jar. It is possible to get them off without destroying them, but it is very time consuming process. Now I know why all instrument repair shops fix everything except Veglia! I found that Lucas bezels are exactly the same size, however, they are not quite the same profile. After close examination, I decided that they were near enough though. The Lucas bezels are readily available brand new for £5 each - but only in a chrome finish. While they also have the 3 little tabs to bend over - making them easier to fit, I still made a jig to hold the clock while I taped the tabs down. I have never worked on a small dial from a Pantera - I wonder if they are also crimped all the way around?

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markcharltonmarkcharltonOld enough to know better and still young enough not to care. My '71 Pantera
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
M mikedrewMember
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!
mangustamangustaMember
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! Smiler Smiler Smiler

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

Ciao!
Steve
kirkevanskirkevansAmeriSport GT5-S builder Pantera Parts Vendor
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. Frowner

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!
T tomtodakMember
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.
T tomtodakMember
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
johnnywoodsjohnnywoodsMember
Thanks again for all your nice comments guys. I really didn't want this car to leave my workshop. I would love to own a Mangusta but would never sell my Pantera.
I was lucky enough to be asked to appraise a different Mangusta in Rome in March of 2009. I advised my friend to buy the car and I drove it 1300 miles back to England. What a fantastic trip! The car was so original it had never even had a tyre change! - it was still on it's first set, Pirelli Cinturatos.

What I would really like is to find a very old man with a Miura that want's it retrimmed. I figure if I could stall him for long enough he would eventually stop calling. When his widow shows up at my workshop I would say Miura? what Miura? ohhhh, you must mean Marina.., yes of course, I will just grab the keys..

Johnny
C charliemccallMember
Not a lot to add that hasn't already been said. Congrats, Johnny, on a fantastic result. I'd bet that are few Geese in the world that have had such attention to detail lavished upon them, and Taz can be quite proud to have a very special Mangusta. And you can be very proud to have created it.

Don't worry about your head not fitting through the door - we'll slap you a couple times and push you through in Spa in June!!
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