Article; Antient DECH article
 

Hope the quality is good enough to read.
Attachment 25360 Attachment 25361

Always liked Dech kits! Shame they no longer make them.

DECH kits are sweet.. My last car had almost the full kit untill the motor went kaboom

Aren't they still produced in the states? I have seen them in MMFF. Not sure about the quality of the remakes.

yeah u can order them..

adam are you gett MM&FF over there?

im not sure. the guy was from ontario. he got real sick i guess. i wasnt sure if he sold the business or not.

The Owner was sick.. not sure what happen to him but I'm sure he closed his business. What you order for the states is just a make up of the DECH kit.. which is what I had.

I wish I could get them at the foreign book store, but I can't.
Actually, my father sends them over regularly. When I was living in Okinawa, I found a Car Craft magazine at a rather large book store. I thought it was the most recent issue, then I realized it was 3 months out of date.

I believe his name was Derek ??. From what my friend John R. told me some time ago, Derek had a brain aneurism and was forced to sell the business. There was a guy on the old Domestic Disturbance forum that had a neighbor who was Dereks partner.

Many of my buddies from western NY run the DECH kit and they all love it. Of course they have the reworked version that's most likely made in Mexico or somewhere to that nature.

I was told about this thread by a member of the GTAMC board. www.gtamc.com so this is my first thread...I'll try to answer what I've read...
DECH Motorsports closed it doors late 99/2000. Their last location was in Concord Ontario, just south of Maple by Canada's Wonderland. Reasons for closure were both financial and personal. The owner was Derek Errol Churchill Hanson,(DECH), and main engineer fabricator was Van Peter Hanson.
As for the DECH bodykits, you can still get authentic kits, but they're pricey. Derek still has the original moulds. How do I know this?...besides being a customer for a long time and owning one,see link in sig, I'm also still good friends with both Peter and Derek. I also have the last remaining parts from DECH that came into my possession November 03. Here's the link.. http://www.gtamc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270
As far as the bodykits produced in the States, or anywhere else..well they're not authentic pieces. At no time has anyone been given permission to produce these pieces.

DECH produced arguably the best handling Mustangs ever. I could give examples if anyone's interested as I know the ins and outs of DECH's history pretty good. What can I say? I'm a loyal customer/friend.If you want anymore info reguarding DECH Motorsports, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to answer them. Just stay away from the personal stuff as I won't respond to anything reguarding anyone's health, or financial situation. Thanks.

Dave

Thanks for your historical information pertaining to this thread.

Some excellent information.

Have they considered going back into business?

I was seriously considering re-opening DECH, with Peter and had several discussions with Derek also about the possibility. He actually gave me his blessings to do it, but warned me about dealing with the public/customers. While Derek has made some very good friends from DECH, about 95% of the people you deal with are idiots, who read a ragazine and think they're experts. I can't recall how many times people would argue with him over what works and what doesn't. Also the majority of people are cheap, and could care less about the quality of the piece. How much it costs is the only criteria involved in their choice. I never look at price first when it comes to any chassis pieces that could effectively, cost me my life! Quality is number 1..I have first hand knowledge of the cheapness of others, cuz like I said, I have the remaining inventory from DECH (since Nov 03) and still have some pieces left. People's biggest gripe is the price and I'm selling the stuff alot cheaper then it was ever offered from DECH. So after my little book here, the answer is no...DECH won't be opening it's doors anytime soon in the future. Sad, but that's the way it goes.

DECH, I found your information quite informative as well. I have sent you a PM.

I have the remaining inventory from DECH (since Nov 03) and still have some pieces left. People's biggest gripe is the price and I'm selling the stuff alot cheaper then it was ever offered from DECH. So after my little book here, the answer is no...DECH won't be opening it's doors anytime soon in the future. Sad, but that's the way it goes.[/QUOTE]

Do you know anywere that I can find a DECH ASG 4-link rear suspension and DECH rear springs? any help would be really apperciated. thanks,
Dan

I think I have one or two more articles or images that I came accross on Saturday while organizing all my Mustang stuff. I'll scan them and post them today or tomorrow.

I was wondering, for the 1994 SN95 Mustangs, was there an official DECH body kit? In the picture I didn't notice one. If there was, I'll keep my eyes out for one since, I'm doing paint in the spring, and I think it would be really Kool to have a Canadian inspired body kit, dated or not.

As a loose end, I seriously want to pick up a black fox notch 89-93 that is DECH equipped. There was one for sale on here, but he wants a little too much for the condition IMO.

Last time I saw Derek was at the Toronto Auto show in 96 or 97? I also live about I block from Fernstaff. I still think it's a great location for a Mustang Performance shop. Who knows......

There are no existing ASG's. I was fortunate to pick one up used. Actually I picked up a whole DECH suspension a year or so ago, (I wanted the ASG), and it took nearly 6 months to sell the springs with Koni's! Couldn't believe it. Anyway..To tell you how rare the ASG is now...I was offered $2000 for it. You'll be lucky if you can find DECH sprngs these days, but ya might get lucky one day.. Only used stuff now. No one uses DECH specs.

Here's a link to some DECH articles
http://www.geocities.com/dechman/DECH/articles.html

I still talk with Derek, and it was a great location. Saturday's were great as we did alot of testing on that street...aka DECH corner. I know one thing for sure....Derek will not open it up again. Like I said above. People are cheap and don't know ...they just think they do after reading a magazine. I saw it first hand then, and over the last 2 years trying to sell some stuff..I still have some DECH pieces! I learned alot from Derek and Peter, and IMO and many others, DECH made the best handling mustangs. You should see what they did to Vettes, Porsches, BMW's, and Ferrari's. I sure miss that place... :cry2:

As for the Sn95 bodykit...they had one...here's a couple of pics..
http://www.geocities.com/dechman/DECH/dechcar.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...46_74_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...46_75_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...46_39_full.jpg

DECH celebration!!
 

I'm getting inspired here:

Some old pics I have. I have more but not into scanning all night. I'm really starting to like the idea of going with a DECH theme on my '94.

http://www.bmcforums.com/photopost/d..._95_poster.jpg
http://www.bmcforums.com/photopost/d..._95_part_1.jpg
http://www.bmcforums.com/photopost/d..._95_part_2.jpg
http://www.bmcforums.com/photopost/d...ium/DECH_8.jpg
http://www.bmcforums.com/photopost/d...ium/Dech_7.jpg
http://www.bmcforums.com/photopost/d...ium/Dech_6.jpg

You're right that a lot of people are only interested in the lowest priced parts out there, but there are many people that are willing to pay a decent buck for a decent part. Steeda parts aren't cheap and they seem to be doing ok. Maximum Motorsports parts are even more and they seem to be doing ok. Granted, I haven't seen the financials on these companies, but they're still developing new parts. I wasn't around back when DECH was in it's prime, but I would imagine that it's prices would've come in slightly higher than MM's for a similar part. I would love to see DECH come back :tup

it's a shame they went under

Not as many as you would think.
They're part pushers. One look at the material they make their g-load braces from should tell you that. Also their ball joint, bumpsteer kits are a joke. Talk about spending money for nothing. Any company that'll sell you something, you really don't need is a part pusher. I recall countless times, I saw Derek talking people out of buying Parts that they thought would/should work. It actually hurt the business. DECH's motto...If it doesn't improve the car, it doesn't go on the car...end of story.
They build some quality stuff, and prolly are the best now for suspension pieces.
You missed out on some great times...especially at the track. DECH's 94 the test mule, used to do 1:35's around Mosport. That's with a full weight car, R-compound Street tires, and a not so tricked out suspension. The car had springs/koni's, a g-load brace, and an alignment(all to DECH's specs) No trick control arms, no sub frames. The car made around 320hp...This was done back in 95..read ten years ago! I believe the Multi-Matic full race Stangs were doing 1:31's or 32's this year....so that should give you an idea of how good DECH's handle.I can only imagine what it would be doing now, but I'd bet that their street car would be faster, then the MM race car.
It truly was a shame when the doors closed. I miss that place, but I'm fortunate to still be friends with them.. If I ever win the lottery, you can bet your ass DECH will re-open.

hurry up and win!!! lol....

great info throughout the thread!!

1:35's are quick :chacha: I'm stuck in the 1:43s, but I swear the car can't go any faster, the driver is perfect! :laughhard

Steeda is a parts-pusher, no doubt, but with a company that large what do you expect.

Did DECH use CC plates of some sort or did they just elongate some holes here and there?

I'll give you a quick lowdown on what DECH cars had, or should I say, didn't have....
No CC plates, No strut brace(inless a customer had to have it), no fancy control arms/torque arms/panhard bars/coil-overs. We used to modify the strut itself a little to get more negative. More caster...would be nice, but didn't care. Fancy balljoints? Bumpsteer kit? What for? Work with what came with the car and make it better...not replace everything...remember, less is more.It's like building an engine..it's the combination of all components..
Just think those 35's were done long before the track was inproved also. To me it's even more impressive seeing it was 10 years ago...aren't many street cars that could do it today, but I'm sure there are a few.

As for being a parts pusher...you need to, cuz it's the only way to survive. Doesn't mean I gotta like it, or it's right.

so what DID the DECH cars have? springs/struts/g-load brace...what else?

that's about it..of course the springs were specific rate, the alignments were to their specs...strut bushings, control arm bushings, and of course Koni's. Late in the 90's they developed the Grabbers, and the ASG. Nothing fancy till the ASG/Grabbers came along.

http://www.geocities.com/dechman/DECH/spddrve.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/dechman/DECH/grabbers.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/dechman/DECH/asg.jpg