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It Was an emotional day today. It has been exactly 60 days since she passed and Fathers day and its the first time I seen her project car since her passing. Body work completed and epoxy primed. Block and paint next couple weeks. I attached a couple of pics because I told her that her dream car would be completed for all to see.

Me and a couple of guys from work on Friday.

Shot I took in the garage today.

David, think again about what you've written - all of it. It's all part of a conversation, not just pot shots here and there. Based on all of that, you're basically throwing rocks at people who disagree with your opinion of what people should actually do, and/or those aren't interested in your [overpriced] car (Hey, you so much as admitted to it - tell me I'm wrong). Calling most people 'talkers and not doers.' That kind of pisses me off. I'm sorry, but I didn't exactly 'talk' my car back together. What I didn't already know, I learned here and by actually doing it myself. So many others have similar stories. Proclaiming that you don't have a wife telling you what you can or can't do, or can or can't buy, insinuates that 'most people here' do, with an air of arrogance that I actually find offensive. I, as well as most people, couldn't care less how much people can afford or are willing to spend on their cars, because this site welcomes everybody from all walks of life to share their experiences, information, and opinions regarding all things '71-'73 Mustang. Believe it or not, I actually admire those with the skills and wherewithal it takes to restore these fine automobiles. Bashing people for their choice in restoring a rust-pile rather than buying something they're not interested in simply because it makes more sense [to you] to spend more money up-front is insulting - especially when you basically admit to being one of those overzealous and greedy flippers that so many people despise. So, I must be a lawyer [or congress person] because I can write well, and feel like I need to break things down when you apparently don't understand what is being said?! Well, let's just say that my motivation comes from years of experience in dealing with similar, like-minded folk, and that I won't make any comments about your being from the backwoods in the South suffering from old fartitis, because that might be insulting to old farts from the backwoods of the South everywhere. And I'm not even going to dignify any comments about impeachments (past, present, or otherwise) with further response, other than this is the wrong part of the forum for any discussion of that topic.

I finally bit the bullet and got new wheels and tires. I did a lot of research and changed my mind 100 times in the process. I ended up going with American Racing AR105M Series Black Torq Thrust M wheels, 18x10 (6 7/16BS) and 18x8 (4.5BS) for rear/front. For tires, I decided on Michelin Pilot S4S, 285/40ZR18 and 255/45ZR18. These tires are Thread 300, so they are a compromise between street and track. These were expensive but they were highly recommended and have the best reviews for high performance summer tires. The combo did not disappoint. I love the look of it and the traction is incredible. I can't break lose the tires in first gear that easily anymore. First gear is now useable! This shows how poor the BFG Radial T/A are for traction. The front combo fits like a glove. With my approximately 1" lower suspension it fits very well. It is pretty much the same backspacing I had with the Magnums and the tire width although it is 255 vs 245, the total tire width is about the same. The BFGs have some curvature at the wall that makes them much wider than the thread contact width is. The backspacing of the rear wheels (6 7/16) is about the max you want to go with. Maybe an extra 1/4" will be ok depending on tire. I still have about 3/4" between the tire and leaf spring. The rear tires stand about 5/8" clear from the fender. The old 295s BFG were flush. That said, I could fit 315s with these wheels if I wanted to, but unfortunately the widest they have in the 27" diameter camp are 285s. I may eventually add a 1/4" spacer to push the wheels further out. That's the max I can do while keeping 1/2" of the threads for the lug nut.

The MOM held a show just for Mach 1 and Boss Mustangs. Of course most there were new Boss mustangs so did not think there was much hope. It was a popular vote show so no judging. There was lots of visitors today and had lots of interest in my car. There was also a pretty nice 1972 Mach 1 Gold Glow that he had in high school. He had not been to a show in 15 years but came out today. When the votes were all in he won Second place and I won first which was a shock. I got nice plaque and one years membership to the MOM for free. At 2:00 it was 94 deg. in Concord, N.C. and I had left home a little before 6:30 that morning about 123 miles down there. No AC of course in the old beater truck towing the 20' enclosed trailer and the Mach 1. The new gal friend went with and sat there and spent time in the MOM looking at the cars. She worked in Ford Prototype for 17 years. Was 97 deg, when in Shelby and had to stop for a milk shake. Got home and started pouring rain and was 74 deg. here in the mountains. A few pics they are very slow to download for some reason will add more later. For those that do not know. I live in North Carolina but I put the Michigan plates on the car for a good reason. They are M plates. The third digit is and M that designates a Manufacture's plate used to put on prototypes to take out and drive on the street. A Ford engineer got them when the expired and I got off of Ebay this year. Got two sets. The new gal friend noticed right off and said " An M plate cool". The old truck has 211,000 miles now and still ticking. I did invite several to join the group not in the group.

This is a bit of a ramble -- I'm just so thrilled my car is running (and running good!) it's hard to organize my thoughts around "What next?" Actually, when the car came to me by carrier, the driver drove it off the truck and I drove it from the street to my driveway. That was the first time I drove it; today was the second. Now I need to figure out what next besides the obvious, and in what order. Have replaced: timing chain, water pump, alternator, radiator, thermostat, fuel tank, sender, etc., battery and a rebuilt p/s pump. But I hit the wall trying to get it started again so I sent it to professionals (lol). Dang -- now it starts by just looking at the key (it seems). Hope that lasts. But the first real drive, just a few miles because the tires are (very) old: the acceleration is *excellent*, mufflers have an awesome, deep rumble and brakes are good (good pedal response, no squeaks or pulling and they stop the car). Steering is well assisted but overall front suspension seems a little squishy and vague. Both front and rear seem to bounce a bit more than is normal. Transmission engages without issue, shifts normally, downshifts unnoticeable. All the gauges work. Tach, too! The obvious: need a new top and tires. Tires are a conundrum because I don't plan to keep the current wheels (first choice is forged aluminum slot mags). And ultimately a paint job, but that has to wait until a visit to the body shop. Except for tires, I place all that in the appearance category, which is a lower priority than getting a safe, drivable & reliable vehicle. All that aside, I am just so dang happy. And I couldn't think of anyone that would appreciate that more than y'all.

Thought I would share a few shots of my 71 and my wife's 70 that she did the majority of the work on herself.

On my GT, not my Mustang, but figured you guys would appreciate anyway. You've seen the movie, no? ;-)

two months ago, my son donated me a professional photo shoot. I like to share these pictures with you. Cheers Frank

Just wanted to share my windshield installation. I notice a couple of other post but there wasn’t much for the front windshield. I hope this will help someone in the future. Some of the prep work I did first was to recoat the two window rest brackets. They originally had a rubber coating on them that was dried out and brittle. I consider different ways to replace it and ended up deciding to use Plasti Dip rubber coating. I dipped each rest 4 times to build up a nice layer. Next, I checked the window frame area to make sure all areas were smooth and clean. I finished up by replacing all the molding clips with new ones. Make sure these are seated all the way down. I installed the rest brackets. Next with the aid of my helper (wife) we did a dry fit of the windshield. This is to check the clearance around the edges and to see if any shims might be needed on the rest to raise the windshield up. In my case I needed to add a shim on the right side. I used a piece of rubberized plastic. After reading several articles I decided to use 3M ribbon sealer as the adhesive. The following is the list of material I used. Plasti Dip 3M Ribbon Sealer - 08612 3M Primer – 08682 Don’t forget to get a windshield channel for the bottom. I used the primer on both the car and the windshield. During the dry fit I mark the windshield at the bottom where it makes contact with the car body. You will need this to know where to put the primer on the windshield at the bottom. I took the 3m ribbon and in one continuous strip place it on the car. DO NOT remove the backing. If you remove it make sure to put back on before placing the windshield in place. Using a small piece of wood about 4 inches long I went around the frame and pressed down with a little pressure on the ribbon sealer to make sure it was adhered to the frame. With the outer edge of the window primed and the channel on the bottom we went ahead and put the windshield in place. Since the backing is still on the sealant you can adjust the windshield as need. Once you are satisfied with its placement you can remove the backing. To do this sit in the car and push the top of the windshield out a couple of inches. You helper can then remove the backing from the sealant. Once remove allow the windshield to rest back in on the sealant. Now you will want to go around the windshield and press it into the sealant to set it in place. Once done you go ahead and put your trim back on. Several things to note. The painter had painted the A pillar and below the top of the cowl on the side. These areas can be seen through the glass so you will need to black them out. I had to remove the dash to get back in these areas to touch up with paint. You do not need to apply a lot of pressure to set the glass. The ribbon is 3/8 inch and I figured I compressed it down to 1/4 inch. Windshield rest brackets cleaned and primed . I painted black before I dipped them. After 4 dips. Note that I cut the backing tape at the corners but not the sealant. The two ends meet in the middle at the bottom. You can peel it off while placing the sealant just make sure you place it back on before installing the windshield. We placed the windshield on top of the roof since we needed the hood open and there were only 2 of us. Used a movers blanket for protection. Note the red paint along the A pillar and at the bottom. These areas need to be blacked out. Even with the A pillar trim in place you will see some body color. I put tape where the clips are so I know where to press when putting the molding back on. Window in and done.

Well a while ago, I started the hunt for new seats for the Mach 1. Mine are in good shape, but Id like to keep them that way and also wanted something a little more supportive with some bolstering. I had looked at some aftermarket options, but didnt think they fit the look of the car. Thats when I managed to find a set of Recaros out of a Fox body. Which also happened to be the same seats that my first Mustang had(an 82 GT). So I picked them up since they are a nice easy swap, but decided to get them recovered to look like the originals. I ordered the fabric from SMS, and a friend of the family does upholstery so once it showed up I dropped everything off and she started working on it. And now the time has come. She said the seats should be ready tomorrow and sent me a pic. I am really happy with how they are turning out so far. Also got the seat buttons engraved with mine and my dads initials since it was originally his car. So figured I would drop a little teaser here.

Guess it's time I made an actual build thread for my car. It's since '06 when it was "completed" with a 302, 4 speed and 3.40 TracLoc 8". This is what I started with in 2001, 99% original, very straight, no accidents body. CT road salt had it's way with it over the years. Paid $700 and it ran and drove off a bottle. 302-2V, auto, 2.79 8" rear. PS, PDB, AM radio and that's about it. Car was sold new two towns west from where I live, and spent it's entire life two towns east. This is after all the sheetmetal replacement had been completed, engine compartment detailed, etc. I had a running, driving chassis with 302, 4 speed and a 3.40 TracLoc 8" rear. Interesting fact, 15 years ago today (4/11) I loaded it up and brought it to the body shop for final straightening and paint. Traded a 70 Torino GT project to have the car painted, you can see that to the right in the pic. I miss that car and am on the hunt for another one. In what could be considered a world's record, the car was finish blocked, assembled, painted and back home for final assembly in 45 days. I completed the final assembly, did the interior, glass, trim work and everything else to get it ready for my wedding day two weeks from when it came back home. Total time was 66 days from the time it hit the body shop, to the morning of my wedding day when I bolted on the Kelsey Hayes wheels. Still had some detail items to complete, but it made it through the day without issue, logging over 100 miles and getting rained on. Drove the car mostly untouched for years. Had a vibration vibration start one Saturday night coming back from a cruise in 2015, and determined that the 8" ate the pinion bearings, so I elected to swap it out for a 9" with 3.25 gears, along with new leafs to replace the now 45 year old originals. That's pretty much how it's been for the last six years, other than a wheel and tire upgrade, and this is how it sits now. Now it's time to turn the wick up and dump the ho-hum 302 for a proper 351C-4V engine and some other goodies along the way.

Just sitting here after a 100 mile drive looking at my car having a beer thinking………. Who does not find these lines sexy as hell! ?????? Anyone????

The kids and I attacked the mustang today with dish soap, wax, armor all, several rolls of paper towels and q-tips. It was a deep clean for the ages, and my little army of helpers had a blast!! We have been having so much fun since we got the mustang back up and running!!

Oh hell yes

Holy Shamolee! It's a real Bobby-Dazzler!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I see more and more various people getting the johnson and johnson vaccine. This touches close to home for my family. My oldest daughter works for Grand River Aseptic in Michigan. Her job is basically production. She travels to Germany alot to purchase machines that produce the drugs, and packages them. She met with several Generals, Dr Fauchie and logistic distribution military personnel. As most know its a one shot vaccine, More important is it can be refrigerated not froze to negative #s. Also the other 2 vaccines only have a shelf life after opening of 6 hours. J and J has a shelf life of many days up to 30. This helps when you have people streaming in to get shots and you dont have to rush them through like cattle so the vac doesnt go bad. She texted me couple weeks ago and said......DAD I DID IT !! 4 million VACCINES GO OUT NEXT WEEK.!!! Im incredibly proud of her. She will touch many humans with her work. And save many lives.

Hi Just finished my DIY cover :-)

... after more than 3 years of hard, hard restoration work (see my pictures in the GARAGE section) I enjoy with my wonderful wife the power and beauty of our orange 1971 C351-4V RAM AIR MACH 1 just anywhere on the road. This car was forgotten for a long time -burried in a dark garage for 31 (!) years long- and now this MACH 1 is on the road again. Loud and proud. I took these pictures ON THE ROAD in the last months in Switzerland where we live ... we share this with you and we hope you can feel the good vibrations of our MACH 1 world ...

Hey guys, every year again... Oh, wait, it's been two years since then... Sorry guys, I had to wait on the paint guy that long... Diseases and illness of him and many other not Mustang-related things took their time until everything fitted together like a guy and his Mustang! There were times I did not think I will be able to see a result in years! And there were times I weren't be able to hear the word "Mustang"! But: I am back! Tadaaaa! It's cold, ähem, gold outside, everywhere, just in time for christmas! My hard work on the panels has paid off! I am very satisfied as was the paint guy! Here are the results, the hood will follow soon... Now there will be more regular updates coming, reassembly is one great thing First was blocking, blocking, blocking... And more blocking! First gold color applied It seemed to have the right shade Then there were more Period correct transportation vehicle And now *paradiddle drums* I am happy and proud of The final result is fantastic! Xmas could come now More coming soon! Hope all of you and your families are well - take care in these times!

.... the mirror fell off during the trip. ....and battery was flatter than a witches tit He arrived yesterday ... so I'm BACK ! ! ! ! The only real items that are exciting my OCD is... the shifter seems looser than my green one, passenger door is tight - it needs a little more heft to shut it (all the weatherstrip is new I noticed) The ignition leads are a bit yukky -- I'm swapping those Fuel filter close to carb has a slow drip - pipe is a bit perished Nice bits It is clear that this has been super loved No oil -trans-differential leaks ... I always had a little pink drip and some diff fluid on the garage floor with my old one if I hadn't run it up in a week Oil is new clean clear - residue free even the Buzzer works when you leave key in, my green one was dead, it has long headers on ...OMFG is this loud - it has a different engine note comparing with greenie. Firewall and floors are rock sold with me going around with magnet and a hammer. They left photos of restoration in trunk and engine /trans rebuild (i'll post those up once I've scanned them) I've ordered Marti Goes on high lift soon for safety inspection _ more pics to come.

Today, I took a few more new pics of my Mach 1. Here's three, but checkout my garage for others.

I'll take a lawyer over a hypocrite any day of the week.

Installed the new Tremec T5. Once I got the bell housing installed I needed to index it. The opening needs to be aligned within .005 of the crank shaft. This is normally a two person job, with one person spinning the crankshaft and the other watching the dial indicator. Since I don't have any convenient help I had to do it solo. By taking a reading every 45 degrees I was able to verify that I am within spec. Good news since I really did not want to try and remove the 50 year old locating pins! Here's a shot after clutch and throw out bearing installation: Now ready to slide in the transmission. With everything lined up it slid in like butter! Finished with clutch cable and speedometer hooked up: The shifter came right up through the stock automatic transmission shifter hole without modification. Oh yeah! Time to install the new rear end so I can get the driveshaft measured and ordered.

Pulled out the gauges and went with the white faces. Also the KPH face. Even though I was around pre-metric the brain gets a bit foggy doing MPH/KPH calculations on the go. Also fitted all LEDs in the gauges. Much easier to read. David

All this was filmed before Weston came and as you could imagine I havent had time to do much other than hang out with him and my wife but i was able to get around to posting this video tonight. I hope to have a new one up in a couple weeks. Also exciting news my engine should be out of the machine shop here soon. That will be a great day!

Finally got my Mustang back on the road after many years of sitting in the garage! Found a local mechanic to help me figure out a final gremlin that was eluding me, and just like that I have a road worthy car again! The kids are almost as excited as I am! I have driven her more miles in the last few days than we have the last decade, man it feels GOOD to get out and about with it again!!!

From the original carb to sniper.

There is a local charity rally called Horsepower for Hope that happens every year here for the Kids with Cancer society so I just got the decals for this years event put on so figured I needed to get some pics. Especially since this years name is the Afterburner rally, which I thought worked perfect with the Mach 1. Plus I finally managed to find a great new spot for pictures. I figured this was a better and more unique spot for the side decals since most people just throw them on the doors.

@bishoppeak thx man Today was an exhausting day again. Spent like yesterday the entire day crawling under car, on the floor, and up, and down and up... Played with acid and finished to remove what was left till the member holding the trans support. Will take it from there again when I will handle the underside, so I needed create some overlap. While there, I saw brown... so I know already I will be crawling again when I'll do the floors! :( Also did entire frame from torque boxes to radiator and all the rust is now gone. Thanks to a thick layer of oil and grease from unknown origin, the car was as seen yesterday surprisingly rust free. Only a tad under the tower where the lower arms hang. Now clear of this brown misery At the end of this tiring day, sprayed some protective zinc, looked at it and thought: next step epoxy baby!! And closed the garage lights, hungry and with muscles crying for rest! Now totally tired, BUT very happy to finally have the entire bay solid and ready for some durable finish. looks now a whole lot better than few months ago! This also means that I'll be able to work on the suspension/steering parts finishes and install most of them (car needs to be able to roll). Which in return will recreate some really welcome space in my tiny crowded garage! Now excuse me I nee..zzzzzzzzZZzzZ

Man thank you all so much for the kind words and support. I dropped the car off at the painter yesterday I can’t wait to share pics with everyone! im headed back up to anchorage to be with my wife and soon enough we will have our son which I’m so ready for, appreciate everyone!

Oh yes -- big shake down after all my work and boy - now feels like a new car -- I'm going to have to change my signature from the old green one .

I have never cared what other people thought about the 71-3’s... I like them, would never own any other. Nothing wrong with the 73’s either....

I know you were dying to see pictures of the underside and engine bay, so I took some pictures for you. I had gotten the leaf springs painted the same Chassis satin black, and got them installed next. I also cleaned up painted the axle tube and got it positioned on top of the leaf springs. I was cleaning up the passenger side shock mounting plate and found that it had been repaired with some welds of unknown quality. I've got Don at OMS on the case getting a replacement. I also got the upper and lower control arms installed and also the strut rods and front sway bar. I tried to use a coil spring compressor with the moveable arms that sit inside the spring, but I had a terrible time with it. I finally broke down and bought one that bolts to the shock mount and runs through the top of the shock tower. It worked like a champ. In the meantime, the seat covers from TMI came in. I think they will look pretty nice with the dark green body. And so they go back in the box, to wait for a week or two, until it's time to start working on upholstery. In the meantime, I was cleaning parts in the media blaster and noted that the compressor was sounding lounder than it should. I removed the shroud and found a loose bolt on the fan. I tightened it, and restarted the compressor and HOLY COW! was it loud. I immediately shut it down and started looking some more and found one piston had pretty much disintegrated and destroyed the cylinder. A went online to see about ordering some parts, only to find that the parts I needed to repair my 25 year old, second hand Sears Craftsman compressor were no longer manufactured and no longer in stock anywhere. To make a long story short, I now have a new compressor and have been working on getting it plumbed up and running. While I was working on cleaning and painting parts, I also cleaned up the old center section. It was a 2.75 open diff, so I had ordered a trac-loc differential for it and new 3.50 ring and pinion gear set. I spent 2-3 days putting it together, but got it all set with perfect backlash, and a really nice wear pattern in the yellow paint. I made a simple tool with some scrap metal to dial in the carrier bearing preload and to make adjusting them easier. It's not perfect, and it's not pretty, but it litterally only took 10 min to make, and it works great. As I was looking it over one more time, I discovered that the differential was soooo close to the pinion nose bearing, that I couldn't tell if it was rubbing or not. My 0.005 inch feeler gauge wouldn't pass so I pulled the diff and ring gear out, along with the pinion and ground and rounded off the edge to give the ring gear a little more room. I reassembled it, and got it dialed in, again. I was so glad to have that done, but then the really fun part was to begin. That was getting the pig under the car, and then laying on my back, getting it on my chest so I could get it into the axle. Oh, and the gasket sealing compound was smeared all over the axle flange and around the base of the studs. It was a major pain in the backside, but I got it onto the studs. I tightened the nuts and then torqued them all down to spec. I used a 6 in extension and crows foot so I could torque the bottom nuts that you can't get to with a ratchet. Overall, I a pleased with how it came out (er, ah, went it). Now, I am on to the rear brakes. But wait, I am also working up front. I installed the front brake splash shields, put the new races in the new rotors, packed the new Timken bearings and got the rotors bolted onto the spindles. I couldn't help it, so grabbed the new front tires and put them on, just to see what it was going to look like. So there you have it. Making progress on the Rickster, slowly, but surely. It's come a long way in the last 9 months, but still has a long way to go. Hopefully, though, it will be going to the paint shop soon.

Today, I took Frank out to get his annual inspection for registration, and decided that since it was such a nice day, I’d stretch the ride home out a bit and swung by the Vietnam Memorial at the airport. Since I have a cool new phone, it was such a nice day, and I’d always wanted some pics like this, I figured why not? I've always wanted a pic like this. Perfect day for it. My favorite of the bunch - I love 3/4 views of these cars! This one makes the hood look really big, and those are indeed bug splats on the windshield. Time for a bath! One of these days, I really need to get the trunk lid aligned... along with the doors, too. Good job, body shop. All that glass in the rear, and still can't see sh!t out the back. Oh well, unless I'm backing up, I really don't care what's back there - LOL! Sorry it's been so long, but we've been a bit busy. Mom passed on 14 Jan - her medical issues finally caught up with her... at least it was peaceful and quick. The day after, my pal Dave showed up and we swapped the engine, transmission, transfer case, drive shafts, exhaust, steering column & brake pedal assembly from my Jeep to his new project (after I pulled all of the same out it), and a week later he took it home to Phoenix to start in on his own Jeep project. Now I need to finish tearing down the engine for the machine shop, rehab the transmission and transfer case, rebuild the steering column, clean up the brake pedal assembly, and put it all back together, along with paint the new YJ top and 'paddle handle' doors Dave brought me, install a new carpet kit, update the stereo, (re)install the A/C, and rebuild the TJ seat brackets for my CJ-7 to be road-worthy and ready for the future. I'm planning on retiring in another 7 years, so I'm hoping to have all my major projects out of the way by then so I can just enjoy my toys going forward. Here's the link to my Jeep blog with all the gory details of the engine swap so far: http://mister4x4.net/mister4x4/category/jeep/

Though it’s more of a video where I’m talking through a slideshow of my work I hope you still find it enjoyable. I promise to be better about filming!

Finally starting to work underneath the car again and got the fuel tank installed. Had to call the wifey to come down and help hold it up so I could position in place then attach the straps. Found my original evap hose with the part numbers still on it. Got the fuel filler neck in and the rubber gasket. Next up is the honeycomb moldings, then onto the rear suspension restoration.

Decided to tackle this little project. The car came with a center console that was in less than desirable shape but not bad enough to toss so I decided to try a few things. First there was a section missing, so I took an extra kick panel I had and cut it to shape the outline of the forward drivers side. then steel wool on all the trim and masked. Sprayed with some duplicolor flexible vinyl paint I believe it was. second, found some textured black abs plastic on eBay (12” square 1/8” thick) and fabricated a cover and made a cup holder where the ash tray was and a usb charge dock. This was nice not only for the cup holder but to cover the holes from previously installed switches. overall I’m pretty happy! And maybe when the time comes I can get a new 700$ one but for now this will do! Hope it inspires someone else with a broken center console.

Heres my attempt to video my install of the Hood Lock Kit (32 piece from Ohio Mustang Supplies) since I was not able to find any YouTube videos on this...don't hate... I'm just a learning as I go and sharing back what I am in case someone else can use it -) https://youtu.be/T0qUKwTL43g

This is my version of my 71 Sportsroof. Has 460 with C6 and 3.73:1 rear end. 3 1/2 years of work and 99.95% done. This is dedicated to my brother.

[/url] This one's not virus related, but funny, anyway

I'm now back in operation as of Feb. 23, 2020.

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