Ever since the debut of the
Ronster, Mustangs Plus has been the ground effects that adorned the bottom of the Ronster
was going to be available for their Mustang. The answer was “No” then, but
“Yes” now! You see, the ground effects that are on the Ronster were made out of
metal and were very expensive to produce. George and I spent many hours shaping them out
of 22 gage stock and once we got them to looking like something like what we were going
for, Kevin, at Precision Machine was called upon to put the reverse roll in and complete
“The Look” we were after. Also, on the Ronster, the long side pieces attach to
the long frame rail that is part of the Chassis Strengthening Kit. Our customers Mustangs
would not have this frame rail unless they had already installed the Chassis Strengthening
Kit on their Mustang. So, we decided not to go there. I mean, how would you have felt if
you would have called up to order a Ground Effects Kit and our sales personnel would have
said,
“Yes, we do have them available but before you can install them, you first have to
buy this kit for $350.00. Then you have to have it welded onto your Mustang. And, of
course, the welding will cost you even more. But after you do that, then you can install
our Ground Effects Kit!”
Talk about user-unfriendly! Our sales staff would have heard a “click” in their
ears and the next time that the customer needed Mustang parts, do you think Mustangs Plus
would get the call? Me neither! Well, it took awhile but finally, the ground effects
package was moved to the front burner and I went to work on getting the kit made a ready
to sell to our customers. I found that they were looking for something simple to install
that could be removed without any outward signs that they had put anything on their car.
Also, they were more interested in having them noticeable on the car, but not
overpowering. And, of course, they didn’t want anything the hung down below the car
that would be damaged by a speed-bump. Oh. And fiberglass would be OK, but not plastic!
Too cheap looking! I had my work cut out for me, didn’t I?
The ground clearance problem was solved by attaching the right and left long center
sections of the kit to the bottom of the rocker panel, on the flat spot above the seam
where the rocker panel and the floor pan are welded together. I also designed these pieces
to go up into the door jamb area where they would look natural and not leave an edge to be
pulled away from the car, making them super strong. To attach, you must drill 5 holes in
the bottom of the rocker panel. If taken off, these holes will not be noticeable. Also,
you will have to drill a couple of holes in the door jamb area. Or, as I did on the
‘65 Black Coupe, you can use the Accessory Door Sill Plates, But you still have to
drill holes to attach the accessory plates! It’s your choice.
With the long center sections done, attention was now turned to the rear quarter panel
trim. Trying to keep the same angles as the wheel wells and the design of the center
sections, these pieces were designed to attach to the quarter panel by drilling a couple
of holes in the bottom of the quarter panel. There is already a large hole in this area
for trunk drainage, so a couple of 1/8” holes won’t hurt anything.
Four pieces down and two to go! The Ronster uses a four piece ground effects kit because
of the molded in front spoiler that attaches to the bottoms of the front fenders. But I
figured that most of the Mustang owners who would buy a Restomod Ground Effects Kit for
their Mustang would not have a molded front spoiler. So right and left front pieces had to
be made to finish off the bottoms of the front fenders. These were made to attach by
drilling to holes in the bottom of the front fenders, where, if removed, would not be
noticeable.
To those of you who buy a kit for your Mustang, I strongly suggest that you install it on
your Mustang before painting. Then take it off, paint it, and it will bolt right back on,
easily, in ten minutes or so. That way, if you drop a piece on the ground, have trouble
drilling a hole, or for any other reason goof it up, you won’t have to repaint it.
Our complete instructions that comes with the kit explains it all.
As a last note, all of our Restomod Ground Effects Kits will be made from aircraft quality
hand laid fiberglass. This will make them lightweight, yet very durable. I had all our
pre-production kits made in light grey for a couple of reasons. For photo purposes and so
I could tell them apart from the regular production pieces which will be black. Kits are
now in stock, so order yours today!
With the gray kit installed on Ol' Blue, you can see exactly
how it looks.
By the way, complete
instructions are included. Now, take
'em off and paint 'em!
|
 First step, fit a section to the car and using masking tape,
tape it on
Then mark where the 1/8" holes to be drilled will go.
Carefully drill these two 1/8" holes. They're the only
ones
visible when your done.
Once the top is secured, 6 screws on the bottom will
complete the installation.
The front pieces, once trimmed in front, are secured with
2 screws to the front fender.
If you have a small gap at the top, a piece of double sided
tape will keep it closed.
A couple of screws holds the rear trim pieces to the
bottom of the quarter panel.
When painted,
our Restomod Ground Effects Kit blends
in with the body lines.
RETURN
TO TECH ARTICLE ARCHIVES |
