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Tucaz520

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2018
Messages
65
Reaction score
1
Location
Charlotte nc
My Car
1973 Mach1
Hello everybody

I ve had a 73 Mach1 in the family since 76. My dad owned it an drove it as a daily most of its life.  Due to life events i had to take ownership around 2007-ish. At that tine it had been siiting for 5 years.  My dad though it skipped timing and didnt have the time to mess with it.  I hauled it home from Tucson AZ to San Diego.  Seeing how i wanted this car ever since i could remember i tore right into it a found it was just a faulty fuel pump.  Put it on the road for a bit and had some fun. Then my work schedule took over and my son then 7 discovered dirt bikes. The car then entered another dark period of storage.  A cross country move didnt help things and the weekend trips to ride dirt bikes in the desert turned into racing. If you race anything you know that all other things take a back seat. She sat and started to weep, she became a shelf for all things in the garage. You name it it was piled in top of the hood, roof and even the back glass.  Once a year i would pull her out top off fluids and do donuts in the undeveloped subdivision.   Once again work pulled me away and so did dirtbike racing. That was the darkest 4 years for her.  I am back now. The son is 16 and making his own money for racing. I recently retired from the Marine Corps, now i have time, more time than money but thats ok im not building a show car here. 

I wasted no time being her back to life.  Like a neglected girl being shown some attention she perked right up and has been loving the attention.  Shes now a woman scorn and making me pay for the years of abandonment. My first attempt at regaining her trust was to rebuild the carb as she leaked fuel from the accelerator pump and refused to be quiet when i turned her key off.  Shes being a little stubborn about it though. She loves to run but gives me trouble restarting when hot. A litte twist here and tap there and lots of hands on and she is starting to come around. 

Next i turned my attention to her underside as she was leaking PS fluid,trand fluid and even her diff had a little drip. Got the pitman seal replaced and dry as a bone only to be shown shes still bitter and leaked fluid from the back side of the gear box. The diff seal will be an easy fix but he trans is proving to be a bit difficult as 2 shops have turned me away saying they dont wanna touch it. The leak is the shift shaft seal on an FMX. 

Thats about where me and her sit right now. Ill keep showing her affection and tending to her leaky areas until she stops weeping. Once she does ill be able to dress her up a bit and take her on the town to show her off. About the only thing she needs on the inside is door panels and headliner. I have the door parts just wating to be dyed. The headliner is in possession also but removing the front and rear glass doesnt sound like something i want to handle.

 
Hello from Mississippi. Great back ground story on your Mach1. You summed these cars up perfectly. Neglect and not showing the proper "Love" and they will show you who's Boss!

Lots of knowledge, experience, busted knuckles and scars to match on this forum, so don't hesitate to ask if you ever need any advice or have any questions.

Welcome aboard!

 
Howdy from Phoenix! Can we assume since it was down at the old pueblo that it is pretty much rust free? One good thing about AZ cars is no rust but the interior usually pays the price.

Sounds like a nice car and I love the history! So cool your dad owned it. You have come to a great place to learn about the car, get encouragement and make new friends.

Welcome!

 
Thanks for the warm welcome.

No pics of the lady next time i let her out of the garage ill snap a few.

Shes not that pretty right now. She originally came in blue i remember her getting the solid yellow treatment somewhere around 1979ish no stripes or anything. I guess my dad was goung for the gone in 60 seconds look. She stayed that color for a good number of years until my dad retired from the Army. His wife at the time suprised him with a midnight blue paint job complete with 71-72 stripe package in 1992ish.

As she sits now there are hints of all those paintjobs here and there.

Shes also sitting on some rock hard tires that were biyght somewhere around 1993 with whitewalls lol. Back at that tine it was all function not fashion since it was used to commute 100+miles a day.

She is rust free except for on small spot in the trunk.

 
Hello and welcome from Germany.

 
Forgot that a never posted pics of the woman scorn.....

Ive made a little progress here and there. But the biggest auprise was the amount of life left in the 25 year old paint.

Sure she has dings here and there, paint chips and even some dents....... but to be honest ive had flawless cars in the oast and they are to hard to enjoy. Instead im gonna buff her out and enjoy the ride.

With minimal effort and a dose of meguires cleaner wax she starting to shine.





 
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