1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 351C

Summary:

The 71-73 Mustangs are the most beautiful version of the pony!

Faults:

- Bad care and service by last owners, 10 year standing period.

- Rotten cowl vents, some floor perforation.

- Lots of electrical defects due to unskilled manipulations.

- Mildew, fungus and moisture plantation in interior.

- Three disastrous amateur paint jobs.

- FMX transmission mis-adjusted by a moron.

- Wrong tire sizes.

- Bad rear axle conversion by last owner

- Missing trunk lid springs

- Missing steering wheel (found replacement).

- A lot of plastic parts became brittle during the car's first 20 years in Texas

- Dashboard partly gone or defect when bought (now complete)

General Comments:

The Mach 1 Sportsroof car was bought as a restoration project, and will be brought back to original "as new" condition. It will be Acapulco blue with argent accents and stripes. The vehicle is currently undergoing a complete teardown and will be reassembled from new, NOS and restored parts.

The 71 Mustang was a dream of me, since I saw my first one at a gas station in the late seventies. The sound and look of that car was awesome. But it took 30 years to make it true. Good Mustangs are extremely difficult to find. Closer inspection shows a lot of flaws, even on the obviously nice (and expensive) ones. The most serious flaws on the 71-73 cannot be seen when the car is assembled. Main danger zones are:

Cowl vent (rust-through).

Frame rails (rust).

Floor pans front and rear (rust).

Wheel houses (rust).

My car also has A/C, but the system has a locked-up compressor due to bad service. System will be replaced with new one.

Cleveland engine is okay and runs fine. Gaskets will be made new.

9" rear axle was once a 3.00, but was changed to 4.00 and a Detroit Locker by the previous owner, which makes the car cot very street-drivable. Will be changed back.

The 71 was the last Mustang with high-compression engines. For the later years, the scale went down. Even with OEM dual exhaust, the engine has a nice rumble, which turns to an aggressive roar when revved.

Brakes are discs in the front and drums in the back.

The car is more spacious inside than the previous Mustangs. It has a blue Deluxe Interior with the Rim-Blow 3-spoke steering wheel and blue knitted vinyl upholstery (which was also restored completely).

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th September, 2010