1979-93 Mustang Parts
Follow along as Late Model Restoration restores and updates an employee's ASC McLaren with all of the latest and greatest parts.
The ASC McLaren is a variant of the Fox Body Mustang and it just so happens that one of our employees has one that needed a lot of love. Ted Vaughn, the owner of the ASC, received the car from his nephew and owner of Late Model Restoration, Shannon Guderian. Shannon had owned the car multiple times throughout it's life and eventually passed the car on to Ted who daily drove it for multiple years. Due to the abuse that daily driving takes on vehicles and the harsh elements of Texas, the ASC developed rust spots, clear coat peel, and many other damages. Rather than let it get any worse, we decided that this was going to be the perfect candidate for our Fox Body restoration project.
To make this project even better, we kept the whole process a secret from Ted to surprise him with a fully restored ASC McLaren Capri when the project is complete. Ted was a part of the initial tear down and was expecting that the car would get a slight refresh, but little did he know what we had in store....
In January of 1985, this beautiful Midnight Blue Mercury Capri rolled out of the Michigan assembly plant. Unlike other Capris, this one was destined for the American Sunroof Company headquarters to receive their high-end ASC McLaren conversion package.Fast forward to the Fall of 1992, when this car came up for sale with a seven digit telephone number and lacking an all-important area code. Young, determined, and wanting another car based on the Fox platform, 19-year-old Shannon Guderian called the number on the back glass with several different area codes until he finally found the right person of interest.
The current owner at the time was a lady from the Austin, Texas area, but had lost motivation to sell the car because no one in their right mind wanted to pay the thirty-five hundred dollar asking price. Well, Shannon convinced her that he had to come check out this car! He finally agreed to pay the thirty-five hundred dollar asking price, but wasn't entirely sure on what he had. After all, he couldn't simply turn to an Internet search and find the information he was so hungry to obtain.
A year later in 1993, he read a magazine article referencing Henry Huisman of Paradise Automotive in sunny Florida as the authority for ASC McLaren Fox Bodys. Shannon picks up the phone to reach out to Mr. Huisman, and from there, a relationship was born. After acquiring the needed parts and accessories to restore some life into this ASC McLaren Capri, his uncle Ted Vaughn was a key part in the restoration process. After all, Ted was a restoration artist by trade having worked in a paint and body shop for several years. So, he was no stranger to restoring cars back to the former glory.
Sometime after the restoration that Ted and Shannon performed, Shannon sold the car to one of his close friends who then passed it on to someone at the local Ford dealership here in Waco, Texas. In 1999, Shannon ended up buying the car back, which is ironic because that was the same year he founded Late Model Restoration. He then traded for a '65 fastback to Scott Hubbard who is also one of the ones that fueled Shannon's passion for the Mustang. In 2002, Shannon reacquired this midnight blue ASC McLaren Capri for one thousand two hundred and fifty bucks. Uncle Ted had always liked the car, so being the person Shannon is, he ended up giving the car to Ted and off he went.The car was daily driven for ten plus years and then unfortunately was retired to the elements which is the condition you see it in today.
Since Mr. Huisman of Paradise Automotive was the source for all things related to ASC McLaren Fox Bodys; Shannon picks up the phone and gives him a call. I mean think about it; twenty-five years later and Shannon calls Hank to buy the same parts that he did in '93! That’s pretty cool if you ask me.
Now, what made these ASC McLaren conversion cars unique were the high-end styling cues from lead designer Peter Muscat. Several interior and exterior components were upgraded along with an abundant of enthusiast-minded performance upgrades.
Interior styling included an SVO-style, leather wrapped steering wheel along with a leather wrapped shift knob. Other interior upgrades were sport seats with adjustable thigh and side bolsters, a premium sound system, ASC McLaren specific floor mats, and a state-of-the-art Whistler Spectrum superheterodyne radar detector.
Exterior upgrades featured ASC McLaren specific ground effects, aero-dynamic headlight and tail light covers, fog lights, custom spoiler, one-off wheels, unique quarter windows, and of course an easily identifiable graphics package to let others know that this wasn't a typical run-of-the-mill Capri.
Performance wise, the '85 ASC McLaren Capri's engine turned out 210 horse power and 268 lb-ft of torque. A Borg Warner 5 speed was mated to the high output 302 for precise gear changes. While on the assembly line, these cars had a special DSO code, D32 to be exact, which told assembly line workers to outfit the engine with a Ford Motorsport B303 camshaft and inner tie-rods from a Thunderbird to help with bumpsteer.
Chassis and suspension upgrades included shocks and struts, lowering springs, a modified braking system, and a Traction-Lok differential. All of this in 1985 could be had for a very cool twenty-one grand. At the time, these modifications and upgrades were miles ahead of its time for your average everyday production car.
We do have some very big plans for this car. As you can see, it's current state looks as if it was tucked into a barn and forgotten. From cobwebs, bird's nest, rust, and missing ASC McLaren-specific parts, there's a lot of work to get done.
So here is the full scoop; this is Project “Mercury” Rising. The plan is to fully restore the car back to its former beauty with up-to-date modernizations and amenities relative to the Fox Body culture and of course Shannon’s OCD-minded custom touches. We’re going to keep Project Mercury Rising a complete and total secret from Uncle Ted during the entire journey. This won’t be easy by any means, but we’re up to the challenge and here to prove to the world that we are the real Fox Body enthusiasts!
The first official stop for the Capri is our super-secret, disclosed location for tear down. Disassembly was short, sweet and to the point; and key contributors were of course Shannon, Scott Springer, a few of Shannon’s close friends and even Uncle Ted.
Yes, Uncle Ted did lend a hand with the tear down. This was purposely orchestrated so that Shannon could get the car in his possession and set the expectation that “it’ll be fixed one of these days”.
Well unknowing to Uncle Ted, Mercury Rising had just punched its ticket to a full restoration!
After disassembly, Mercury Rising was turned over to C&C Collision in Waco, Texas where it received its media blast treatment and many hours of structural reconstruction and enhancements.
Who better to perform the work and of course tell us a little bit more about what he did than Velton Cunningham himself. Mr. Cunningham is the owner and operator of C&C Collision and has SEVERAL years of automotive refinishing experience.
Cunningham sandblasted the ASC down to bare metal and started to access all of the damages that needed to be repaired. This Capri was littered with rust spots, dents, and damages. The frame rails and core support were cut out and replaced with our 5.0Resto frame rails and a combination of modified core supports to fit the Capri body. The fender aprons were also replaced with a pair of smooth fender aprons to give a more sleek appearance for the future motor.
The floorboard turned out to have many cracks which were hidden by the carpet. This was not a problem for C&C Collision as they were able to make the repairs needed to give the ASC a new life.
Now that Mercury Rising has new frame rails, core support, a set of LMR smooth fender aprons and is rust free; it’s back to the hideout so Shannon can begin to work his magic on a few more odds and ends before the car heads off to paint.
With the car at a remote location due to J.R. being about a week behind from getting the ASC into paint, this has given us the opportunity to be the real enthusiasts that we are here at LMR. Up to this date, we have about 160 hours of LMR employee time wrapped up into this project.
Now you are probably wondering what all of this crazy blue painters tape is all around this car. It is actually here for a reason. It is pinpointing any notes that need to be addressed on the vehicle at each location. Whether it be a rust area that JR needs dedicate some time to or we need to apply some seam seal or caulking to.
Now we have done alot of seam sealing and caulking as we want this car to be as solid as possible. We also installed a wide variety of 5.0Resto hardware to get this thing ready for paint and to bring it back to factory specs. We installed new door hinges, hood bumpers, hood hing cups, door latches, and many other factory replacement parts to bring the ASC back to life. If it was on the car the way the factory had it, we put it back as well.
While we are on the subject of 5.0Resto hardware, our door hinges were completely reworked with new pins, roll pins, and retaining hardware to ensure the doors functioned just like they did when it rolled out of the factory.
Other than all of the seam sealing and caulking we have done to Mercury Rising, there were alot of holes that still needed to be filled.
Of course, we were going to need to roll our fender lips to fit the killer wheels we are outfitting this ASC McLaren with. Now it is going to roll to J.R.'s with the front and rear bumper on it as well as the subframe connectors. This is to ensure that the full underside of the vehicle is painted to match the exterior of the vehicle. The next time you see this car, it will be rolling out of the paint booth!
Project Mercury Rising has landed at J.R.'s Custom & Collision. Here it is going to undergo a total transformation. Most of us in the auto industry know that the paint and body process can be grueling, and our Capri has a decent amount of work to be done to make it right.
So to meet Shannon's ridiculously meticulous standards, the factory suspension was removed, and the car was loaded onto a rotisserie. Yes, that's right, a rotisserie. You don't typically see Capris on a rotisserie, let alone a Fox Body at all.
Having the car on a rotisserie is going to allow the body guys to address any and all areas of concern on the Capri. This includes additional seam seal, fender lip modification for the killer wheels we are installing, and several hours of correcting imperfections before the car can be shot in primer. Not to mention, we did have to source a few bumpers until we finally found one that would work.
Once the primer was shot, the car was then block sanded to further reduce surface waves and minor imperfections. Doing this is going to ensure that once the base coat and clear coat are put on the car, you get the prestigious mirror like finish.
Before the first coat of Midnight Blue Metallic paint, the car was shot in a sealer to not only lock in the primer, but to prepare all surfaces for the initial base coat.
Some Midnight Blue Metallic paint was mixed up, and the satisfaction of seeing that beautiful color being sprayed onto the car, boy was it rewarding.
After the car was clear coated, and proper curing was achieved, Shannon initiated his appreciation to J.R. and his crew and the car was loaded back onto the rotisserie and taken back to the hideout for assembly.
On this go around with Mercury Rising, the car has made it back to the hideout, we have taken it off the rotisserie, and put it back on the factory suspension for the time being.
While the car was being cut and buffed, Shannon noticed a few areas around the hatch that needed to be reshot. Luckily, that was a lot easier to fix than what it seemed.
Because the car had been in multiple accidents, Shannon did have to source new doors. While he was masking off the doors, he noticed that he had sourced manual doors. No biggie though, just take a hole saw and drill through new painted doors right? That is exactly what Shannon did to keep things moving.
The car was then covered in a drop cloth so that several exterior components could be painted in the factory grey paint color. These parts included body moldings, rear wing, outer door belt moldings, and many other pieces.
The headlights and tail lights were installed and then Shannon switched gears to work on the interior insulation.
Now if there was a flat spot on this car, it got boom matted. From the floor pan, to the roofs, the hatch area, you name it - it was insulated.
After all of the boom mat was installed, a complete set of insulation kit was installed to further reduce vibrations and road noise.
The last step to this multi-layer interior insulation project was Scott Hubbard putting in an awesome firewall insulator to make sure Uncle Ted has a super quiet interior.
The run channel weatherstrips, outer door belts, lock cylinders, quarter window frames, and the door handles were installed.
While all of this was going down, the factory seats were completely disassembled by Dougie England, who is a long time best friend of Shannon. These were sent to a local upholstery shop to get freshened up.
With the help of Tony Heady, another one of Shannon's good friends, and his sons Jourdan and Curtis, they installed the bubble glass into the rear hatch along with a new Ford original windshield.
At this point, the Capri is coming together and looking really good. Shannon addressed a few exterior moldings while Scott and Dougie addressed the HVAC box and laid out the carpet. There is still plenty to come so stay tuned!
Thus far, the progress of Project Mercury Rising has been awesome if we do say so ourselves. There is no doubt that we are heavy in the restoration trenches with this Capri. Picking up where we left off previously, we were messing with the windshield, bubble glass, and exterior mouldings, so we installed the wing and original ASC McLaren tinted quarter glass. For those who are unaware, the quarter glass was one of the unique characteristics on these ASC McLaren cars.
Because Shannon opted for new door glass, we had to remove the bracket from the original door glass, get it cleaned up, and installed to the new glass. New guide rod bushings and grease followed suit and the assemblies were loaded into the doors.
Shannon finished painting the dash and double checked to ensure that all of the speed nuts were present along with the fuel door and hatch release button.
Scott Springer assisted with cleaning and even relooming some of the existing wiring harness that sits behind the dash. While this sounds simple, trust us, it was very tedious. The main harness was then positioned back into the dash, and the dash was set back into the car. Mike Nichols, another employee of LMR who has a very long history of mechanical, electrical, and car audio history, spent several hours dialing in anything electrical related on the Capri.
At this point, we went ahead and shifted our focus to the underside of the car. Finally, the factory suspension was removed from the car once and for all, which revealed a perfectly clean canvas to route all new brake and fuel lines.
The Fox length, 8.8" rear end was blasted, painted a beautiful gloss black, and loaded with a Cobra 31 spline differential, 3.55 rear end gears, and high strength 31 spline axles. Since the rear end was the cornerstone for our Maximum Motorsport suspension, it was set in place. The rear suspension for the Capri consists of high end components which include a torque arm, panhard bar, sway bar, lower control arms, and adjustable shocks and coilovers. Rear brake rotors, calipers, caliper brackets, and brake hoses were installed, along with the fuel tank, fuel tank shield, fuel pump bracket, and anything else related to the fuel system at the rear of the car.
From here we took a break from the rear of the car, and we shifted our focus to the engine bay to prep for the installation of our Gen 2 Coyote engine. We addressed the unused and unsightly holes at the firewall with a smooth firewall cover that was of course painted the same color as the car.
Our SVE Fox Body aluminum radiator and dual electric fan setup was set into place. We had to drill a hole into our strut tower to accommodate the new proportioning valve.
Now wheel choice was crucial for the Capri. We wanted something that shared similar traits to the original mesh wheels that came on the ASC McLaren and of course, it had to be an SVE wheel. After a few renders from our very talented graphic designer, Jeff Oliver, we decided on SVE Series 1 wheels with of course, a few custom touches. The 18x9 and 18x10 wheels were blasted, painted beautiful ASC orange, and the face and lip was carefully machined to closely mimic the original wheels. Further details on the wheels included Shannon's one off center caps that were painted midnight blue metallic and finished off with a silver ASC McLaren logo.
Now for the power plant. Scott Hubbard began dressing the Gen 2 Coyote engine which included the flywheel, clutch, and power steering assembly. The long tube headers were installed, and then the Tremec T56 transmission was bolted to the bellhousing. To make things easy, we positioned the drivetrain under the car and then lowered the car onto the drivetrain.
There is still so much to do, but at this point of the build we were starting to see a small glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Stay tuned for Episode 7 as we start to put the finishing touches on Project Mercury Rising.
With Project Mercury Rising closing in on the finish line, there are still a few things that we have to tidy up before the grand unveil. Our last checkpoint was lowering the car onto our assembled drive train, that way we could finish wiring up our one off gauges, addressing the remaining systems in the engine bay, and of course, building our custom exhaust.
Other than the long tube headers, our exhaust consisted of a catted mid pipe that was precisely modified to clear the transmission cross-member underneath the car.
A simple pair of chambered mufflers were welded into place along with our 5.0Resto Fox Body LX tailpipes.
Finishing touches within the engine bay included our custom cold air intake, adding fluids to any systems that needed it, air conditioning and heater hoses, and then bleeding of our SVE Cobra brake kit.
The interior was the next on our list to finish out. Now for those of you who have disassembled Fox Body interior, know that they come apart and go back together relatively quick.
The seats were back from the upholstery shop and they looked fantastic. As a matter of fact, they were one of the last items to be installed due to the custom touches and small details we had to address on the car.
Shannon built a one off tow hook and constructed a wicked custom splitter with precise support brackets that bolted to the core support. For added aesthetics and a more complete look, the splitter was wrapped in a high quality carbon fiber vinyl.
Now in order to prep the vehicle for its ASC McLaren decal treatment, Shannon gave the car a thorough cleaning to remove any potential contaminants that may have been present on the surface prior to installing the decals. Like many other original ASC pieces from Hank Huisman, Shannon faced the painstaking process of applying 35 year old vinyl.
Because of the age of the material and the extreme care needed from Shannon and Doug, the ASC McLaren striping took quite awhile to install onto the Capri.
Towards the end of the build we did encounter a SLIGHT mishap with one of the a/c hoses. Like any project, you can’t always prevent the uncertainties. So long story short, an a/c hose came loose leaving us with a messy engine bay and dinged up hood.
The mess was an easy clean up, but the hood had to go back to JR’s just days before the reveal to Uncle Ted.
While the hood was being painted, the Capri hit the road for its maiden voyage and driven for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, so that Hubbard and Shannon could log any last information to refine the custom PCM calibration.
With the calibration complete, final paint correction followed suit to bring out maximum gloss and clarity in the midnight blue metallic paintwork.
Because we were pressed for time, the hood was picked up from the paint shop and brought back to the hideout. Shannon blocked the hood to level out any orange peel and/or texture in the clear, and then Landan finished it off with a heavy compound and final finishing polish.
Now this was about 6 o’ clock the evening before the reveal. Even Landan found a moment to take a breather and let the Capri just pull him in, and really take in what was just accomplished by so many genuine people.
The hood was then reinstalled about 10 o’ clock the night before the reveal, and then the final piece to this crazy Mercury Capri puzzle, was Mr. Hank Huisman himself installing the Mercury logo into the grille.
Shannon then situated all of the special novelty items in the hatch area and even stuck Uncle Ted’s co-pilot in the center of the dash.
During the long journey of project Mercury Rising, it was kept a complete and total secret from Uncle Ted. For those of you out there that are wondering how we pulled this off, it was no easy task, trust us! So you’ll have to stick around until the next episode when we reveal the car Ted and hand over the keys to his beloved ASC McLaren Capri.
It's time to reveal Mercury Rising, and hand over the keys to Uncle Ted. If you have not seen the other episodes, we highly suggest you get caught up as this Mercury Capri has gotten a total transformation. So here’s the low down on the reveal! Shannon has created this simplistic, humble idea to surprise Uncle Ted with his ASC McLaren Capri.
It just so happens that it’s Ted’s brother Tim’s birthday weekend and Shannon has flown him to Texas to not only celebrate his birthday with his family, but play a key role in the reveal to Uncle Ted. The setting for the reveal is the hideout. This is where Shannon’s family, close friends, and anyone who help build the Capri gathered to share a day that I think ALL car enthusiasts dream of.The plot is as follows, Ted thinks that he’s bringing Tim to a surprise birthday party. Well, it just so happens Tim is fully aware of what is about to happen. Now that Ted and Tim have arrived, Shannon and his family exchange greetings while the rest of us stayed tucked away in the hideout anxiously awaiting!
Shannon wasted no time. He positioned himself and Uncle Ted exactly where they needed to be and with multiple cameras rolling, and even one of our camera guys hiding behind the small trailer, Shannon hit the button to the garage door! That was Hank Huisman’s que to turn over the Coyote-powered Capri and drive it outside. I mean think about, who better to drive the car than Hank Huisman! Hank was the one who helped Shannon locate most of the original ASC parts. At this point, it was starting to sink in with Uncle Ted that this Capri really was his!
Uncle Ted made his rounds and then Shannon introduced the rest of us to join in on the celebration. Still overwhelmed with joy, Ted expressed his appreciation and gratitude to everyone else who was involved with the project.
Now if you’ve followed the build, we mention in episode 2 that Ted was part of the tear down and Shannon had told him that “they would get to the car one of these days.” Well, the Coyote engine was certainly a surprise as Ted figured they would be rebuilding the carburetor and doing a tune up.
Other than the surprise, the next best thing was seeing Ted take his ASC for a drive. He buckles in with Scott Hubbard and away they go.
This gave the rest of us time to get the 4-post lift situated that way when they returned we could get the car in the air and show everyone the amount of DETAIL that was put into the underside of the Capri.
Amongst all of the car talk, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Tim and then we were able to get Hank Huisman’s feedback on this awesome, one-of-a-kind build.
During this entire journey, the Capri only left the hideout twice, and that was for structural work at C&C collision and paint at JR Customs. Shannon put a lot of 14 to 16 hour days into this car over the course of several months. Not to mention the help from multiple amazing people.
This ASC McLaren is now 1 of 1 and was HAND built for Ted Vaughn
Like many of you watching, Shannon is a die-hard Fox Body enthusiast himself and loves building things with his own two hands. What better way to form a legacy, than restoring an ASC McLaren Capri for his Uncle Ted. Every last detail, part and component on the Capri was carefully crafted to perfection. At the end of the day, there is SO much to talk about with Project Mercury Rising, but we’ll save that for another day. On behalf of Shannon, Uncle Ted, Shannon’s family, and EVERYONE else who played an important role during this amazing project, we hope that you all have enjoyed this humble journey by REAL enthusiasts just like yourselves.
Hank Huisman sits down and gives us the history of how ASC McLaren grew to become a $500 million company and how it helped with our Mercury Rising Project.
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