Introduction from the upper midwest

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Mike Bunch

New member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
4
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0
Location
USA
My Car
1971 Prostock Nostalgia Dragster
Last spring we bought an unfinished 1971 Mustang prostock project out of a warehouse in southern California. The build was started in 1970 and appears to have been a factory sponsored car.

From what we where told it was only half done but when we got it un burried it pleased us to find that it was nearly complete. Basically a ready to go roller with no engine or transmission. It had not been touched since Sept 1970.

Some but confusing recourds with it and the owner of the warehouse knows little about it - they bought the building in 1981 and it was there.

If it is a real body in white factory car I did good. If it is just a old school racer then I paid way to much. I have got some great help from people who know about the 1970 Trans Am factory body in white cars run by Bud Moore and they say it looks to be real just they have never heard of it. Ford has no recourds of it but we have a shipping reciept from Ford for #xx-xxxx and this car has that number on a rivited tag on the cowl. I am not posting the number yet until we figure out for sure what we have.

We did find paper work for engine work from a Paul Machine in Jupiter Fl dated 1970. That is how I found this site. I tracked down the owner of the address listed and he bought it from Paul Machine in 1986. He gave me the last contact info he had and it was still good. I talked to Mr. Pauls son and asked if he knew anything about it and was shocked to find out that Mr. Paul Sr. was still alive.

I flew to Missouri and met Mr. Paul at his sons home - Not only did he have recourds of the engine work he did he still had the engine. He had recieved a deposit and the engine was never picked up or paid for. From memory he thinks it was an Ed Terry or Martin car but they switched to a Maverick and then Ford bailed out of drag racing in 1972. I was able to purchase the engine for a fair price.

We drove down and what a great guy Mr. Paul is. He took me in his shop and in between his MANY Boss 429's and SOHC 427's was a 351c with all the 1970's tricks and port plates still in place. It was a Boss Engine shiped directly from Ford to Mr. Paul in 1970. He said I should join this site and post about the car.

He included another set of modified boss heads that he said would look the same but actually work better than those "cut up mother f.....ers". I wanted him to go through the engine but he said no saying at 94 he was not able to do much anymore.

We have stayed in touch and I have got him in contact with collectors and restorers that I know and they have been able to purchase quite a bit of his stuff.

We are close to documenting the car - it will not be a high dollar collectible because it was never raced or clearly owned by someone famous but it will be a nice piece. Once we are done confirming everything I will post pictures.

It was an honor to meet Mr. Paul and his family. I hope to be half as sharp as he is if I even make it to the 90s.

Mike Bunch

 
Awesome story, dig it! Anxiously waiting for more ::thumb::

Welcome from Pittsburgh, PA.

 
Hi Mike. ::welcome:: from Luxembourg, Europe.

That sounds very interesting. Great story. Can't wait to see what you got there.

 
Welcome from Phoenix! I am very curious as to what you find out as well. Please update everyone in a separate post so I don't miss it. (I don't go back and read all of the introduction threads...)

 
Welcome to the forum.

You stated Body in White. That is a factory term for what goes to the paint line. Usually the race cars were "Sealer Delete" also so there should be no seam sealer or undercoat sprayed anywhere. That gave the racer the ability to MIG weld the seams to make them stronger and not contend with the sealer. They were also refereed to as a "Glider" since there was no drive train.

Our local Ford dealer here use to get the bodies for Banjo Matthews, Old School NASCAR builder. They would come in a crate, wish I had pictures from back then. Bud Moore was also just 50 miles away. I was thinking they had a special DSO code one of the six digit kind that tells the DSO ordered from with first two digits and the last 4 digits were what the special order was for. I am told by Ford that those records have been destroyed and not even Marti has them. Sad since I have a Special order 73 that I cannot document.

Keep us informed on your great find a NOS Body in White.

David

 
Mike -

Thanks for the kind words - you have a rare car and I hope it turns out to be what you think it might be.

You started a conversation with my son about my stuff and what they would have to deal with when the time comes. Thank you for that. We have now sold the last of the complete engines and have 2 different offers for the rest of the parts. Which ever one comes up a bit more will get it all.

We have sorted out all of the 71 - 73 parts and the 2 convertibles you saw in the upper shop will be the last cars that I will try to see finished. I am debating just sending them to a professional and having them done this spring. My son is fine with that idea.

It is odd to see so much floor in lower shop - have not seen the floor for many years.

Here are some updates:

The Boss 9 sold outright for not to much more than you got for me - that was a surprise. If he does the same on the others he probably wont even cover his shipping cost.

The 427 - 428 - 429 buyer is a hoarder and these parts will never get used or seen again.

The SOHC stuff is going to get sold as a package this summer at one of the big car auctions - I told him he will loose his ass by doing this.

Shop is pretty much empty now. The loose parts are on pallets waiting for the last buyer to step up. Should be done by March.

So what did you find inside the 351?

- Paul of MO

 
Welcome from Oklahoma. Post up some pics of your car when you can.

Very interesting story about your car! It would be cool if it turns out to be a body-in-white! But I know a guy (local) that raced Pro Stock back in the early 70's. He raced for the Polaris Drag Team based out of Milan, Michigan. The 71 was Boss 429 powered. It was purchased and stripped at a Ford dealer and made into a race car. I have a few pics.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-71-mach-drag-racing-stories-and-others?page=2

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Ray

 
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