Mexican GT-351 restoration: ongoing

Hi everyone,

The story of me and my Mustang is here: http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-new-from-mexico-city

So, in these two months I've already moved the car to a safer place (my mum's driveway), downside is that the car is no longer under a roof, and it's a rainy season.

To stick to my plan of restoring the car to a level in which I can drive it on weekends without spending the money I don't have, I urgently need to:

- change the alternator, the original one does not charge anymore.

- fix minor rust problems before they get bigger with the rainy weather.

- fix water leaks to the interior (after it rains, a puddle of water appears on both front mats).

- find out why the engine's not running well (grey smoke comes out the exhaust in cold starts and it smells like unburned gas with something else, it smells pretty toxic), plus it fails to respond immediately when accelerator pedal is applied suddenly, (I remember my dad talking about this problem, and I just remember he said the distributor was the one to blame, not sure).

Anyway, is this the right place to post this? or should I go to the specific forums?

I've already quoted the entire weatherstrip kit through several suppliers and it's kinda expensive. Which are the weatherstrip items I need the most to protect the car from rust? (trunk, windows?)

I've been looking for alternators here in Mexico, no success so far. I've seen many threads recommending the Summit Racing/Tuff Stuff One-wire internal regulator 100A alternators, any thoughts you might have about these?

I've also started cleaning the interior, one door panel (see picture below) is almost done, can't get to the original colour tone.

Apart from that, I've discovered plenty of interesting things about the car; for instance, the pictures don't show it, but the original paint scheme can be seen underneath the black overpaint, and this model appears to be really rare in Mexico, we'll see once I get in touch with the local Mustang club and hear some opinions.

This is the correct forum to document your build. Looks like you have a good start on your project and the people here will help you out with any questions that you may have. Lots of folks here with a lot of experience with our cars. Your car was the first mustang that I ever drove, I believe that it was a 71 coupe, 351c 4 speed and it was a blast to drive. Believe that it was built in the Hermosillo Ford plant. Good luck on your project.

If you're getting water on both floor boards after rain ,one thing I"d check is the cowls to see if they're leaking. If you have to leave it outside , I would at least temporarily seal them up under the hood to slow further damage .

Hi David,

Its looking great! If you need any detail photos of an original GT-351 let me know. I am the second owner of one since 1982 when we got this one in Mexico City. It is unmolested and always garage. You can PM me here of you can find me on Facebook on a page I created called "Mexican Mustang"

From my research over the years they made about 200-250 of them in 1972

Good Luck!

Rich

If your cowl is leaking ( a very strong possibility) then your floorboards are most certainly rusted badly, or will be quickly. Cowl and floorboard repair should be your immediate priority. Cover the car with a tarp until you can do a correct repair.

If your cowl is leaking ( a very strong possibility) then your floorboards are most certainly rusted badly, or will be quickly. Cowl and floorboard repair should be your immediate priority. Cover the car with a tarp until you can do a correct repair.

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