Very original Metuchen M-code '71 Mach 1

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My Car
'71 Mustang Mach 1 M-code "Soylent Green"
'69 Plymouth Valiant 100
'68 Plymouth Satellite
Hello all,

I started a thread about a month ago about this find, and was lucky enough to buy it from the original owner (who I had to track down - he had moved out of state) last week.

EDIT: VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE HERE:

[video=youtube]


Just got it back home today - haven't had a chance to do anything to it save give it a wash. If it wasn't for the quarter-panel damage and mold in the interior, it's very clean, though with a mediocre 1980's repaint (which almost looks factory - someone took this car apart quite a bit to spray it). It's been sitting on a concrete driveway slab since 1978, and the undercarriage and unibody are not to be believed for a car that has been parked outdoors since 2002.

It's an early '71 - build date 11/70 on the door tag - with a New Jersey VIN code - 1T05M. It also has a two-spoke steering wheel which I've never seen in any other '71 Mustang interior photos, and the Sports Wheel Covers (which, from the look of internet photos, don't seem to be that popular).

I haven't had time to take many photos - spent most of the day doing a video log of it - but here is what I have at the moment:

71_mustang_1.jpg


71_mustang_2.jpg


71_mustang_3.jpg


The bad part:

71_mustang_4.jpg


-Kurt

 
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Overall, it looks nice. Obviously it'll take some work but looks like a good score. How is it mechanically?
Previous owner regularly started it until 2009, but:

  • Water pump looks like a clump of rust (radiator is half full)
  • Master cylinder has 1/4 of DOT-3 in it - brakes are obviously leaking
  • Under the hood is 100% original, which means the Autolite 4300 - I'm swapping to a Holley ASAP - I'm not keen on the 4300's penchant for blowing fuel out the front
  • Air cleaner has a lot of surface rust
  • Ditto for the valve covers
  • Exhaust is quite decent until the back end
  • Transmission is the great unknown.


I'll be cleaning it up slowly - I want to get it running reliably before anything else.

The price was very fair though, so I'm not complaining.

-Kurt

 
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Welcome from Olympia WA.

Your 71 was produced 1 month prior to mine, I also couldn't help but noticing your Blue Toyota TRD Sport truck in the background, I have the same one. Looking forward to seeing future pics or your Mustang.

Jim

 
Thanks for the welcome wagon, gentlemen.

Welcome from Olympia WA.

Your 71 was produced 1 month prior to mine, I also couldn't help but noticing your Blue Toyota TRD Sport truck in the background, I have the same one. Looking forward to seeing future pics or your Mustang.

Jim
A Metuchen, NJ car, by any chance? I was rather surprised to see that mine appears to be the only 1T... example in the Registry here.

The Tundera TRD belongs to the neighbors - in fact, the only "modern" car I have is a '98 Dodge Ram Van, and the only benefit it's ever afforded me is that it hauls a lot of stuff at once. I'm partial to my other two old Fords:

'79 Lincoln Continental - currently with the vinyl torn off for rust work:

7259778346_f9acb76013_b.jpg


'78 Lincoln Mark V - old archive picture - sad to say that it doesn't look quite like this anymore:

LNC78.jpg


Both of those two have the Cleveland-based 400's in them. I held out for a '71-73 with a 351C as I'm comfortable working on 'em.

-Kurt

 
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The front of the Mach 1 looks really great. Looks like a great find once you get the rear fixed up. Keep us posted on the progress.

 
Nice find, welcome from Chesapeake, Virginia! Good luck with the rear end!

 
Welcome from central Ohio. Nice looking Mach 1. One of my favorite color combinations. Post some pics of the interior if you get a chance.

 
Welcome from coastal Alabama! I like Mach 1s a whole lot and yours is really cool. Survivor cars rock! Too bad about the rear quarter but very fixable. As much as I like the Machs I'm VERY much drooling over your Lincolns! Those are sweet!

Where in S Fla are you.? Looks like somewhere on the gold coast in the pics.

My friend Tim from St Pete (ponypastor on here) daily drives a thunderbird that looks very similar to your Mark V. Cars from the 70s are just plain cool. :cool:

 
Welcome from coastal Alabama! I like Mach 1s a whole lot and yours is really cool. Survivor cars rock! Too bad about the rear quarter but very fixable. As much as I like the Machs I'm VERY much drooling over your Lincolns! Those are sweet!

Where in S Fla are you.? Looks like somewhere on the gold coast in the pics.

My friend Tim from St Pete (ponypastor on here) daily drives a thunderbird that looks very similar to your Mark V. Cars from the 70s are just plain cool. :cool:
Survivors are the best, IMO. Whatever they lack in perfect, they ooze in originality. Then again, I like crappy single-stage paint jobs!

The Lincs are nice, but I wish they came with crank windows. The electric vent windows on the '79 are nearly impossible to access for repair. Needless to say, they malfunction more than anything else on the car.

I'm in Miami. The Mach is original to Miami as well. In addition to a custom "MACH1 71" plate in the trunk from 2002, a 1975 Florida plate was in there as well. Too bad it wasn't the original '71 plate - would have been perfect to have an original Y.O.M. plate.

What year T-Bird? The '72-76 rode on the same platform as the Mark IV's and V's, and even the downsized '77-79 versions have the same platform with a reduced wheelbase.

-Kurt

 
Great car and welcome to the site from Mustang Oklahoma. Please keep every piece you take off of the car. Find a body shop good enough to save what is there even if it is cheaper to replace the parts with reproduction parts. Please take pictures of even the most mundane items. These car are under documented and every piece of information helps everyone. 71 was the last year Mustangs were produced in NJ. It will be a great car, congrats. Chuck

 
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