71 M CODE

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

SLO-RIDE

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2017
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
Location
Central PA
My Car
04 MACH 1 with 10k miles, 100% stock
[url=https://ibb.co/gNb13v][img]https://preview.ibb.co/bTOQVa/100_1218.jpg[/img][/url]
I'm interested in this.........I've talked to the owner. He gave me his bottom line price if it didn't sell on ebay. Anyone here have any thoughts on the value or the correctness, or any other thought would be appreciated. I'm looking for a clean, 4 spd car that is priced fair.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/273555626856

 
I would call in to question the statement that it's all original sheet metal. It should have hood pins on the hood but doesn't. The catches for the pins are still on the radiator support. Also, should have a rubber front bumper but it's been changed to chrome. I would inspect for front end damage that's been repaired.

Steve

 
If personal inspection confirms clean / correct 'restored' condition as represented and the mechanical's are all good, the price range the owner is asking - Buy it now at $31K - or maybe a few thousand less ($26K - $28K) for a 'best offer' situation seems to be where the market is.

Car has all the goodies and is confirmed with Marti -- sure would be a fun ride.

So keep in mind how many folks out there bought something for $16K - $20K needing some 'minor corrective' work and are currently spending another $15K+ before it's even finished -- not to mention the time invested. This one could be a fair deal.

 
So did all 71 "M" code ram air mach 1's have hood pins ? The owner told me the hood fits close on the passenger fender, and needed adjustment. Also the weather strip where the door meets the hinge area on the drivers side is distorted in the picture. Is that weather stripping a pain to replace?

Again, I want to thank you all for the knowledge you have and the willingness to share it. That's what makes this forum so great.

 
At a quick glance, that looks like my car...…….. I wish!! Very nicely optioned.

I would definitely want to go look at it, tell the seller to shut up and make your own decision on what's right or wrong on the car.

Overall it looks really nice, but I would be prepared for a few 'surprises'

What looks right on the car is easy to see, but what looks wrong as far as I see is; the engine color looks to be too light in the picture, should be Dark Corporate Blue. The underside is in Red Primer, should be slop grey to black with some undercoating.

The chrome bumper definitely is wrong on a Mach 1 and as for the hood, I believe it should have hood locks with the ram air. With out going back to look, was the ram air factory? The brackets are not on the rad support as mentioned in another post. I think the rad holding brackets are what was mistakenly seen and they should be black, not silver color. Those are minor things, but lead to bigger suspicions. Front end damage? Needs very close inspection.

If it were me, I'd likely buy it at 25K if it all check out okay and be prepared to spend more on it to get it just right.

Geoff.

 
it is always hard to tell from photos like this.... but, i think this car needs to be seen in person to confirm it is as the seller states. For some reason, one area sticks out at me: Looking from the rear of the car, the rear 1/4 panel end caps seem a little off to me. There is quite a gap between them and the 1/4 panel, I know there is a small rubber gasket that runs the length of the end cap, but in this picture, the caps don't appear to be tight to the 1/4 panel? Looking at the rear of the car from the passenger side view, again, the end cap seems off in comparison to the trunk lid and there appears to be excessive gap between the trunk lid and the 1/4 panel. Again, this could just be the photos..., that is why I advocate looking at the car in person. I viewed many other smaller tell tail signs that make me wonder about the validity of the seller's claims... Hope it is what he claims. Good luck.

 
it is always hard to tell from photos like this.... but, i think this car needs to be seen in person to confirm it is as the seller states. For some reason, one area sticks out at me: Looking from the rear of the car, the rear 1/4 panel end caps seem a little off to me. There is quite a gap between them and the 1/4 panel, I know there is a small rubber gasket that runs the length of the end cap, but in this picture, the caps don't appear to be tight to the 1/4 panel? Looking at the rear of the car from the passenger side view, again, the end cap seems off in comparison to the trunk lid and there appears to be excessive gap between the trunk lid and the 1/4 panel. Again, this could just be the photos..., that is why I advocate looking at the car in person. I viewed many other smaller tell tail signs that make me wonder about the validity of the seller's claims... Hope it is what he claims. Good luck.
 I see what you mean about the extensions. The hood also is way too tight to the fenders, so likely the fenders need adjusting outward, then the hood adjusted.

 Something else I just noticed is the lower control arm was heavily rust pitted before being cleaned up. So what else! Definitely need to be seen and by someone who knows these cars.

 
You guys are really telling SLO-RIDE important things !!   I (we) put a lot into answering questions.  I see he is from PA (rust belt) so my guess is you think any car better than what you usually see is cool !     Looking at this - I actually think that the fact that it wasn't all apart might be better (than some of the so called restored ones for sale).

With any car the buyer will have to get past the items that others wouldn't accept.  (Hood/repro panels mentioned) but also the things like the  unrestored (just painted over) floor, rear and items owner didn't address.    When you see he didn't pony up for an Enduro bumper , you know they are repro.  You know they are repro because of the other items used.  He paid for door panels drew the line on the rear quarters with the speakers.   He left the rear speakers from the old Kenwood system - but put a PHILCO (73) radio in because of cost of a 71 (or didn't know better).

Again - you just have to get past (or fix all the things) they the owner did.  You would go broke doing all (like the later console, quarters, shifter and underside) but could tidy the engine compartment a but free to re route the heater hoses, $2500 for a 4 speed radiator.  

My guess is when you "talked" he pointed out the cost of paint, interior and "things he bought"!   Looks like he built to the marti and is proud of that.

Mark

P.S.  Looking at his profile .... only negatives were for "not as perfect as described" and MISQUE ON TITLE (what ever that meant).   Seems he is a motorcycle guy now a Mustang restorer.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The brackets are not on the rad support as mentioned in another post. I think the rad holding brackets are what was mistakenly seen and they should be black, not silver color. 
Yep, that's correct. That's what I get for doing a quick look at 5:00 am when I first wake up. 

Steve

 
So here is my take on this car.

It could have been a much better car but I think they did not paint correctly.

1: As already stated wrong color primer. The under side was not slop paint but gray primer.

2: The fender bolts look to be painted should have no paint on them.

3: If you look at the picture of the steering wheel notice that the left corner of the dash pad looks like someone covered with sheet vinyl.

4: The car would not have hood pins and should not have the black out. The hood pins and black out were on option together and were never separate. Marti does not show TuTone hood.

5: In one of the interior shots you can see the passanger door has the hole for AM/FM or AM/8Track wires that it does not have.

6: Looks like the interior panels have been rattle canned. That is ok but all different shades or shine.

7: Speaker holes in rear and no speakers. A big pain to fix for sure.

8: Radiator straps wrong color.

9: Hood hinges painted should be phosphate.

10: Some of the grill brackets and headlight brackets should be Slop Gray but do not look right.

11: Heater hose routing is all wrong. Why?

12: Never came with a trunk mat. What is he hiding.

13: Is correct bracket under the spare to hold the space saver spare fill bottle?

14: Could not tell if it was correct space saver spare. There are different ones for different years.

15: Black on hood should not be there and is to shiny to be correct.

16: I agree on the rubber bumper unless it have 6 digit DSO which it does not.

17: Also agree on the engine color not being dark enough might be the pic.

If you are still interested I would want to see pics before paint and during process.

The car needs to be looked at very closely for panel replacement and what is hidden. This one is done like most of the Used Cars on ebay, make it shiny and sell it.

Will go back and look at pics again but not worth the money. As always I took a look at bidders and it is the usual joke bidders so it is not going to see for sure.

Yes to do a to the book restore on one of these will cost way more than you can ever sell it for. If I were you I would keep looking for an original. Us original owners are dying off each day and family never wants the old cars.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
A big thanks for all of the input and free knowledge that was given.  I talked to the owner, and he is certain that this car is all original.........Anything I questioned, he said it could have been a special order when built.  :shootself: I said "what's the bottom line?" his reply was $27500. He still has it. lollerz

Thanks again to everyone

 
The brackets are not on the rad support as mentioned in another post. I think the rad holding brackets are what was mistakenly seen and they should be black, not silver color. 
Yep, that's correct. That's what I get for doing a quick look at 5:00 am when I first wake up. 

Steve
 5:00 am! When's that??

I wake up at the crack of 9 these days, but I know what you mean.

 
A big thanks for all of the input and free knowledge that was given.  I talked to the owner, and he is certain that this car is all original.........Anything I questioned, he said it could have been a special order when built.  :shootself:  I said "what's the bottom line?" his reply was $27500. He still has it. lollerz

Thanks again to everyone
 I don't blame him for wanting  a good buck. The car 'looks' good from pictures, but still too many questions and stuff not adding up imho.

 
I agree with all of the other observations. I'd say more realistically this car is probably a 2 bordering on a 3. Someone who doesn't know the little '71 to '73 details and has the money to buy a Mustang / musclecar might pay closer to what he is asking. In person and on a sunny day it would be easy to be distracted by the shiny new paint. Love the color combo by the way. Fairly easy fix, unless it was added on and the mounting brackets are in the wrong location, but do I spot the famous backwards rear spoiler? Has some desirable options and a great drivetrain. Only Boss or 429 would top it. Four speed cars are rare, so that has to be considered as far as cutting the seller some slack on the asking price. What is that option in the middle of the upper radiator hose? ;) Also I don't spot any hood bumpers on the structural section in front of the radiator. As long as the sheet metal checks out, this could make a great driver for someone. Then you could go nuts tightening up the little details on weekends, or not, and just drive the thing.

 
Back
Top