1971 429SCJ for sale

https://www.cardealfinder.com/autos/ford/1971-ford-mustang-fastback-429-red-57364.html?fbclid=IwAR0pdTDFtCjAJhry5FDEbgcSu8UyD1x9eXuqCYNqAgnx7_fqWK0ib-UT1Z4

this is the car.  I have a lot of pictures and it seems like a good buy.  But, how do I know what I am buying is the "real deal".   Also...what are the best ways to know if the car was wrecked or flooded?  The car is only about 12 hours from me, the price is right...i just don't want any HUGE surprises.  

Is there anyone here that can go see it?

Thanks,

Ryan

I'm in UK - if I could jump on a plane and go examine, I would.. you're in Texas and I love Texas.  ::thumb::

...and as you are a pilot you might like checklists

I'm not sure if there is a dedicated Check list 71/73 thread... but here goes with what I learned

My list is - and you have to admit to yourself that your're not looking at a new car - its a 48 year old but claims original miles - nice price though

• Check VIN number matches what you're looking at 
  
• "02" body or "05" body 
  
• Look at mileage 
  
• Check driver/passenger seat wear matches mileage (covers may have been changed) 
  
• Do an electrical check - lights - hazzards, key buzzer, wipers, interior lights (door buttons)
  
• Check steering wheel for ring marks - wear and tear
  
• Check firewall and sills for rot/rust
  
• Along bottom door edges any rework ?
  
• How the doors shut - do they lift up when mating with the locking pin and drop again when pulled open
  
• Check all weather stripping for cracks ...A crack = water ingest...follow down where water might collect = any rot ?
  
• The rear quarter just behind rear tyre on the inside between rear quarter and gas tank is a place they start if they begin getting metal maggots
  
• Check front and rear valances
  
• Check paintwork - weatherstrips of any over-spray from any rework
  
• Check front discs wear matches what you'd expect with claimed original miles 
  
• Get a rag and place on fender just above front tire push down with moderate force and bounce the suspension up and down listening for squeaks. ( do this for all corners)
  
• When started from cold ? - difficult to start?
  
• Any blue/black soot as first shoot out the tail pipes?
  
• Any lifter ticking noise ?
  
• Any squeaks from front engine around water pump? 
  
• When oil cold should be around 50 to 60psi pressure idle
  
• At hot running temp but at idle, can drop to 20-25psi (normal)
  

When ready for test drive 

• Check tyre tread wear
  
• When sitting in - no flex apparent in the floors
  
• Check seat slides and mirrors work and stay in position for you
  
• Check safety harnesses (if retractable they retract properly) 
  
• Go through the gates on gears 
  
• When turning engine on check for excessive sloppyness in key mechanism 
  
• Check gauges Oil should have Psi - rev counter
  
• Go 1st and check clutch bite position with parking brake ON (this also checks your parking brake bite) 
  
• When driving listen for whine from either gearbox or rear differential
  
• When putting into reverse listen and feel for a clunk from the rear when you apply power- differential could have some back lash
  
• When driving make sure Odometer is actually counting miles... if it's stuck that's why the miles displayed are low
  
• the rest is plain driving feel 
  

that's my personal check list 

The biggest red flag I see is the price of $15,000, as in US dollars? If this were a true numbers-matching 1971 Mach 1 429 SCJ with 4 speed, I'd expect the price to be triple the asking price at a classic car dealer. This is a blue chip US musclecar and from the limited pictures available on that site it appears to be in excellent condition. Did you have to request the additional pictures, and are they posted on a web site where we could look for other discrepancies? Do you have a pic of the door sticker and the dash VIN, and do they match? If we have the VIN it can be searched on the web to see past sales or other transactions for this car. Although the ad says it has been in the same family since 1975, so not very much would be found if that is true.

The only piece I see missing with a quick glance is the rev limiter on the passenger side shock tower, and quite frankly many of the 429 / 4 speed cars are missing those. The entire condition of the car would need to be checked top to bottom, paint thickness gauge used all over the body panels, underside inspected on a lift (which this facility should have), and so forth. A complete pre-purchase inspection in other words by a mechanic familiar with these cars. Also beware that it could be a scam where the car does not even exist for sale, and the pictures are used from elsewhere on the web. We have helped other 7173mustangs.com users in the past avoid such a scam. When I went to save the four images from the URL provided, they saved as blank GIF files. So I took printscreens of the four pictures, cropped them, and saved them as JPG files. I performed Google Image searches on the four images and only came back with hits for the first pic. That pic was found numerous times on the cars.trovit.com site, which pointed back to the URL that you provided. The sales price is way too low for a blue chip Ford musclecar such as this one, so proceed with caution. The listing says it is from Jan 22, 2019. I doubt very highly this car would still be available at that price for this long, if it is legit.

4 pics? $15k? I would be down there tuit sweet... to check it out. Can’t comment too much based on the info supplied. Has been repainted, still incorporates the correct and rare fan shroud and chrome oil dip stick. Worth a look at that price to confirm just what you are buying. But as others have stated, it won’t last long at that price if in half decent shape...

Too good to be true. This one should be approached with 'scam alert'.

Scam Alert!  Ask them where you can "physically" inspect this car. If its near Albuquerque I'll go look at it with a friend who currently owns a 429SCJ and would be abl;e to tell you is this is real. That price is just way too low.  I hope this helps you.  Ed Raver

It's located in Florence, Alabama and was first posted in January. If this was legit someone would have snatched it up a long time ago.

Here is an example of how the scammers work, and what they did to another forum member. Wouldn't be surprised if this is the same scammer.

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-monroe-washington-car-eval?

Last year I seen an ad for a 1970 ranchero 429cj for $5500, it was sold that day and listed on Ebay for $21000 the next week, buys are out there

Also, the ad was posted in January!

I have the same reservations...surely others have looked at the car and balked by now. He sent other pictures, but none of the VIN or Door #'s. I have requested those and if possible pictures of the stamp on the engine trans and rear end. What else is there to look for?

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Ask for current pictures, preferably with some identifying feature. A picture in September with piles of snow sends up another red flag. Talking about snow, does Alabama get enough snow to pile it up that deep? Be easy enough to check weather records for the area and this past January.

Good, more pictures to run through Google Image search to see if these pics are on other sites. Even if it were an H code 351 in that condition it would go for more than $15K. 429 SCJ is a Holy Grail car of the '71 to '73 Mustangs. Well arguably along with B351 and 429 CJ. There is a little bit of corrosion on the underside and trunk pan, but it doesn't look like anything to be concerned about. Whatever car this is, it is very clean. I would wire the money immediately and put up with the wife bitching later if this car was still available for $15K after being listed since January. LOL The only thing I could see causing it to be truly listed at that price would be salvage title, flood car, front and rear clip welded together from different donor vehicles, something crazy like that. I'll bet the guy never sends pics of the VIN.

Did a little more digging on the web. That one picture above shows a building with "www.Arrow-Swift.com" on the side. I went to their site and they are located in Greenville, Michigan. Certainly explains the piles of snow in the pics. I brought up their address on Google Maps and searched for nearby classic car shops, and lo and behold "Classic Car Garage" is near them. So here is the place where the pics of the '71 Mach 1 429 SCJ were taken:

https://www.classiccargaragegreenville.com/

You can see that the building on their home page is the one from the pictures. They only show two cars for sale on their site now and they are high-end musclecars at prices which are to be expected (not $15K). They are closed for the weekend and I may give them a call on Monday to confirm that they had this 429 SCJ for sale earlier in the year. It will also be interesting to see what it actually sold for.

I also checked the internet wayback machine site, but there were no complete snapshots from this past January.

Based on the internet detective work by member "donkost" Scam Alarms!!! should be going off. Have the guy take a picture standing in front of the car holding a dollar bill and I bet he'll balk and you won't hear from him again.