I've only seen their displays at car shows and the craftsmanship seems good. On the other hand, their prices seem to be crazy high. If you cannot do the work yourself, I would look for another enthusiast or a reputable local shop. These things are so simple mechanically, I don't think you need to spend the huge dollars at a restoration shop. Good luck.

 

KAR seems to do good work. You need to check out Signature Auto Classics; they are located just south of the airport in Columbus.

711 N. James Road
Columbus, Ohio
(614) 238-4000

The place does not look like much from the outside but they are a great group of guys who love Mustangs and do great work. It is worth checking them out just to see there inventory of cars; Boss 302's and 429's, Shelbys, big block Mach's.

What type of mechanical work are you talking about? Suspension, engine, tranny? If you are looking for motor work there is a place near Wooster, Ohio called Autotech. The guys there have been working on Ford motors since the early 70's.

 

Hi
welcome to the forum.
Make sure to fill out your profile, it will put you in conact with some great people, and tell us what kind of car you have.
I am from the Lorain Co. area....there is a group of us that just got together saturday (see great lakes forum)and we had a blast.
KAR is a good company, but expensive...do as much of your own work as you can, and make friends with the VMF people....we are here for ya
Robin

 

Joe,
Whereabouts in the northeast are you located?

 

nyc

 

i am two hours from NYC and there is a retired old ford mechanic that belongs to our AACA club who does great work for not a lot of money. he has done several things for me and he is fast and complete. let me know and i can put you in touch with him. most mechanical work but no body work.
jerry

 

thanks jerry that would be great...joe

 

Depending on what you are looking to have done? I know of several different people.I guess it really depends on if you're looking for a ground up resto or some odds and ends on a driver.I'm about 50 minutes north of the city.

 

I've got a laundry list of updates:
MUSTANG

The goal: weekend / daily driver
Primary concern is reliability




Petronix ignition
Rack & pinion
Disc front brakes
Replace wiring as needed
Tires + spare
Wheels
Shocks
Rear gear 356 posi
Check and service transmission and linkage
Mufflers
Heater hose
Radiator & hoses?
Starter?
Voltage regulator?
Oil pump
Remove radio
Tune and time
Replace all fluids
Shoulder belts


Repair
Wipers and windshield washer to function
All gauges
Emergency brake
Turn Signal cancel
Horn
All locks
Hood latch

 

I bought a car from KAR and it was pretty much as advertized... George and Kevin (i think was his name) were helpful and informative through the process.

HOWEVER after I bought the car for top dollar (it was exactly what I wanted... so I paid) I had several problems with items that their shop had installed. Provided with the car was a list of things they had done to the car to get it ready to sell. Half the list had issues... some pretty large.

for example, they replaced the u-joint and balanced the driveshaft. When it fell OFF at 60mph on the freeway and I had pictures and a local mechanics word to prove that the u-joint and u-bolt was not seated properly... they refused to take responsibility. They listed an oil change... I found the car was nearly 1 1/2 quarts HIGH... When I went to drain some oil I found the drain plug was stripped and secured with black silicon. On the other side of the pan I found another plug welded in about 1 1/2 quarts high on the side. Again, with picture proof they refused to take responsibility. Then there were about 4 other minor things... again these were on the list of what they had accomplished.

I am sure it could have been just one bad worker that screwed it all up and maybe he's gone... but I really couldn't believe they wouldn't take some responsibility for what was obviously their poor work.

All this happened about a year and a half ago.

 

thanks robert...do you remember who your contact person was

 

If you don't want to go as far as Ohio, there are several places in PA that can be of assistance.

Two that come to mind are Glaziers Mustang Barn.

http://www.mustangbarn.com/

The guy I have used numerous times, JD's Auto in Huntingdon Valley, PA.

JD's number is 215-938-9270, speak with Joe. He is generally pretty busy, so if you are in a rush, you may want to look elsewhere, but his work is exceptional.

 

If space and time are not a factor, do the work yourself. These cars are easy to work on. There are only a few items on your list that would not be possible for the average shadetree mechanic. If you can read a book, you can fix a Mustang. Get the good manuals though. If I had a bigger garage, or was closer to the city, I'd be glad help you out with the work.

 

thanks for all the support...tomorrow I'm going to check kar and signiture auto classics....any additional 11th hour advice is greatly sought,,,thx

 

bump,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

bump..........................

 

If you are still looking or haven't committed to KAR, having just gotten my 66 out of resto, I'd advise you to pick a place that's closer to you. Periodically, you may want to check up on the car/progress given your long list. I live in Pa and Maine, wanted my car in Maine, so I had to find a good "wrench" rather than a mustang expert. In Pa, Glaziers has a very good reputation, however, all the popular places have waiting lists. You may want to look into to other places...Mustangs Unltd, a big parts place in Ct also has a service/resto component I believe, as does CJ Pony parts in Harrisburg Pa...2 1/2 hrs. down the turnpike/rt 80. If not find a great mechanic close by , educate yourself as to the best parts/sources/info, and you buy the stuff and have the mechanic install. Up here in Maine, not a lot of choice and nothing fancy... there are guys who are not mustang experts, but they are car experts. Weird stuff happens, even at KAR(as reported) and its' important to be able to check up on it personally, sometimes. Enjoy

 

You know there are retoration shops coser to you home than KAR.

Why not look into The Mustang Barn OR CJ Pony Parts , Mid County Mustang or Mustang Stable

I have seen some of the work from Mid County Mustang and The Mustang Barn and it all looked really good.

Here is a shop in South Jersey http://www.gelsimustangworld.com/

As always check out the references and work. But do a Google search for restoration shops in your area.

Good luck and keep us posted.