FOLLOW: fox body , 79 93 mustang , mustang , asc mclaren , mercury rising
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 are going to keep 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 tear down as he is expecting that the car is getting a slight refresh, but little does he know what we have in store. Follow along as we break down this restoration in a weekly 8 episode video series.
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 wit... more
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... more
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 wo... more
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... more
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 wa... more
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... more
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, an... more
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... more
We sat down with Hank Huisman from ASC McLaren and discussed how ASC McLaren grew to a $500 million company. This is his story… My Name is Henry Huisman, my nickname is Hank and I’m currently supplying parts for the McLaren. I do car restorations and my dad was a mechanic and he was always buying... more
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