71 Mach 1 Road Race car

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kblackav8or

Active member
Joined
May 28, 2011
Messages
42
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3
Location
Oak Harbor, WA
My Car
1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1
M Code 351C originally. Basically a road race car that is street legal.
Short introduction - My name is Kevin and I have owned a 71 M Code Mach 1 for about 10 years. I have loved these cars since probably Jr. High about 30 years ago. I bought my M code Mach 1 in 2001 when I gave up street bikes for something a bit less hazardous. My car was in somewhat rough shape. Previous owner had put a lot into the engine, done a 2v head conversion with studs and fairly high end for the time valvetrain pieces. At any rate the motor was pretty well prepared. Had a upgraded C6 in it. Originally it was medium yellow gold. When I got it, it had been made into sort of a faux Boss 351 complete with stripes and decals. Had some rust. It didn't run right, spent a couple months to find out a KN stub stack and a KN low profile air cleaner don't go together..that was what was on it when I got it. Not a KN fan by the way. I looked up my cars combo to consider whether I wanted to further modify it or restore it. Between a fairly high production number and the putrid in my opinion original color and how far it was from stock already I decided it was more worthy of some restomod work. This was before the whole super touring movement started. I basically wanted a car that handled and was open track worthy but still street legal. I wasn't interested in a drag car. So here I am - 10 years later still isn't done. Painted in my garage to Napa Blue and Whimbledon White. Some don't like the wing - It actually works and is not some cheap knock-off from China. Made by an outfit that builds sprint car and drag boat wings in Bakersfield CA. It also comes off with 4 bolts and with the number of holes I have already welded up in the car it would be no big deal to weld them up and and reshoot the lid. I might find another lid and have a "street" lid for it. I am going to link to my online photos. As a final note I am currently overseas working and may not be able to access this forum on a regular basis for a while. If you send an e-mail by the link I may be able to respond to that though.

mustang-004.jpg


http://www.supermotors.net/registry/321

 
Welcome to the site! I see you're from Oak Harbor, are you a naval aviator? Nice car BTW, although I have to admit I'm not a fan of the wing...I like your idea of having a race trunk lid and a street trunk lid. More pics?

 
Welcome to the site and thanks for a little background on the car. We welcome all colors, conditions, and styles of 71/73's here. Mustangs were made to be modified if that what makes the owner happy. It's just good to see another one saved from the junkyard.

 
When you see the wing in person it isn't as bad as the photo. The link the bottom of my first post has hundreds of photos of before,after and details. There isn't a lot of Mustang left there aside from the body and even much of that isn't stock anymore. The whole front end is fiberglass. As for the wing - It came from Matt Robison's car. I need to build a splitter for the front of the car to match.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Merc9Racer?blend=23&ob=5

I have not had it anywhere near as fast as Matt has had it. I can tell you a 60 mph you can feel it working.


Here is one my daughter and I did last summer. It is pretty mediocre.



Follow the links and directories for pictures. Lots of stuff of other cars too.

http://www.supermotors.net/registry/321

I am a retired Aviator. Commercial helicopter pilot now.

 
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Welcome to the site and thanks for a little background on the car. We welcome all colors, conditions, and styles of 71/73's here. Mustangs were made to be modified if that what makes the owner happy. It's just good to see another one saved from the junkyard.
That's a big reason why I like this site. There are all styles and flavors here. What one person likes another may not, but we're all here to help each other. While it's true that I don't particularly care for the wing, if it's what Kevin likes and it works for him, then that's great! Some people here don't prefer restomods, just full-on concours restorations. That does not mean that they won't help me out when I have a question.

I love this forum and my wife says I spend too much time here :D.



I am a retired Aviator. Commercial helicopter pilot now.
Thanks for your service! I'll check out the links to those other pics.

 
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Welcome to the site! I love to see 71-73's in all flavors! It's the interest in the cars that is truly awesome! Great background info...I gotta read through it all!

::welcome::

 
Welcome to the site.

I like the color combo, I don´t mind the rear spoiler as such but I have to admit that I think it´s a little over the top, like in too high and too wide.

But that´s just my personal taste. People don´t always like my 18 inch rims either, so what.....

That approach on modding it is fine. As you said, high production numbers, no special model, cheesy original color, no reason to keep it original!

 
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Welcome to the site, Kevin!

Nice to see a 7173 geared towards road racing. I used to autocross (SFR SCCA) and participate in open track events when I was into imports. May get back into it depending on where I am with my own Mach 1. First I need to get it whole again. :cool:

 
Welcome to the site!

Like to hear more about your rear suspension, I'm taking my project in a similar direction, love for some helpful info on parts. :)

 
Current installed engine is the original so far as I know but has 2v heads on it at the moment.

 
I guess there is one thing I would urge all 71-73 owners to do - install some sort of subframe connectors/chassis stiffeners. Especially if you are running stiffer then stock springs. I found that whatever stiff springs the previous owner had installed were just flexing the chassis - in effect just making the chassis the spring. The stock springs are way too soft in my book for even casual driving - especially being about 40 years old. If you stiffen the chassis and run some descent shocks and springs all around it makes these cars a lot more enjoyable to drive. The next thing I would do is replace the stock steering box with one from Lee Power Steering - they rebuild the stock Saginaw hybrid Ford box to whatever specs you would like. They will still work with your stock pump. What I did was get one built that has a 12:1 ratio and a bit less boost and more feel. Makes the car a lot more nimble and tight. It is also about 1/3 the cost of a rack and pinion conversion. I think I paid around $450 for box and hoses. Our boxes can be rebuilt basically to mimic the older Corvette boxes used in racing and stock car racing. I ended up running a more modern 5.0 Mustang style pump which are very common and a lot quieter then the old one was. Also a tad lighter. There are some engine pics on my Supermotors site that show my "351X" which I have been building for a number of years for this car. It does have C3/C302 style heads on it. The block is an older G351 SVO block, I also have an older Roush Dry Sump system from the 90's on it. Basically the motor is about a circa 1990 NASCAR motor more or less. My goal was 550 horsepower in a streetable and unbreakable package.

 
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