Does this car have 89K or 189K miles ?

I just bought a 1972 Mach1 in good condition. The engine bay is almost completely unmodified in 53 years. The dash board, radio, and AC control look mint.

The steering wheel and dash pad are sun damaged pretty bad. The brake pedal rubber is gone. The parking brake pedal and accelerator pedal look very good. The car was parked and the owner had left a blanket on the trunk, so the trunk lid and gas tank were rusted and removed before I bought the car.

Let me know how I can confirm the odometer is correct (89K), and hasn't rolled.

Here are some pics

Really hard to say, but does it really matter? Looks like it has potential but will need a fair amount of work regardless of actual miles. Congrats on your find!

Sheriff41 said:

Really hard to say, but does it really matter? Looks like it has potential but will need a fair amount of work regardless of actual miles. Congrats on your find!

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Thanks. Agree it doesn't matter, other than knowing it had <100k original miles

My guess is 189k. The reason I say that is the paint wear patterns seem to indicate a wind blasting pattern that wears away old oxidized paint as air passes over/around/the the car. Especially out in the dry west with more sandy grit.
But I could be totally wrong. My Safari van paint is worn like that.
Having said that, I wouldn't expect the original motor to have lasted that long with a rebuild/overhaul. Look for signs of that. If none and it's original to the car, then probably 89k.
It's all a guess, really.

detritusmaximus said:

My guess is 189k. The reason I say that is the paint wear patterns seem to indicate a wind blasting pattern that wears away old oxidized paint as air passes over/around/the the car. Especially out in the dry west with more sandy grit.
But I could be totally wrong. My Safari van paint is worn like that.
Having said that, I wouldn't expect the original motor to have lasted that long with a rebuild/overhaul. Look for signs of that. If none and it's original to the car, then probably 89k.
It's all a guess, really.

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detritusmaximus said:

My guess is 189k. The reason I say that is the paint wear patterns seem to indicate a wind blasting pattern that wears away old oxidized paint as air passes over/around/the the car. Especially out in the dry west with more sandy grit.
But I could be totally wrong. My Safari van paint is worn like that.
Having said that, I wouldn't expect the original motor to have lasted that long with a rebuild/overhaul. Look for signs of that. If none and it's original to the car, then probably 89k.
It's all a guess, really.

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I do know the Motorcraft Carburetor was rebuilt. Based on the front seat wear, that looks like 89K of butt time, not 189K, but I'm leaning toward 189K. The FMX is leaking slightly at the rear yoke seal, and the rear end is seeping diff fluid.

By the time you're done, it will be like a brand new car and therefore starts at 00000. The past milage is just that, past milage.

You might consider checking the oil consumption, oil pressure at highway RPMs and compression for further clues to the actual mileage.

GERMYS_72 said:

I just bought a 1972 Mach1 in good condition. The engine bay is almost completely unmodified in 53 years. The dash board, radio, and AC control look mint.

The steering wheel and dash pad are sun damaged pretty bad. The brake pedal rubber is gone. The parking brake pedal and accelerator pedal look very good. The car was parked and the owner had left a blanket on the trunk, so the trunk lid and gas tank were rusted and removed before I bought the car.

Let me know how I can confirm the odometer is correct (89K), and hasn't rolled.

Here are some pics
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My driver’s seat didn’t look quite that bad and it had over 220K miles on it. I’m the original owner. So judging mileage by upholstery wear is iffy at best.

Couldn't say as to how many miles, but looks like a great car to restore as all the pieces are there.

Retired2014 said:

My driver’s seat didn’t look quite that bad and it had over 220K miles on it. I’m the original owner. So judging mileage by upholstery wear is iffy at best.

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Thanks for the info on your seat /mileage. I had read a few posts where the condition of the brake rubber was a good indicator, but this rubber is gone.

James Bond said:

Couldn't say as to how many miles, but looks like a great car to restore as all the pieces are there.

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Thanks, Yes, overall it's really solid. Especially the engine bay and body.

Simplest way to find out is to see if the engine has ever been out or apart. That should be fairly obvious as there will be signs such as missing clips, brackets, mismatched bolts etc. If it's never been out or apart, there is a near zero chance it's 189k.

Hemikiller said:

Simplest way to find out is to see if the engine has ever been out or apart. That should be fairly obvious as there will be signs such as missing clips, brackets, mismatched bolts etc. If it's never been out or apart, there is a near zero chance it's 189k.

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Thanks Hemikiller,

To my eye, The engine bay looks completely untouched, except for the coil not being bolted on. The condition of the engine with all the vacuum and AC lines intact is one of the reasons I bought this car.

I'll do a compression test, thanks

351c1971 said:

You might consider checking the oil consumption, oil pressure at highway RPMs and compression for further clues to the actual mileage.

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Get a cheap borescope on Amazon and check the piston tops. It it was rebuilt and bored over the oversize will be on the pistons.

I ran into a near-crisis the other year. We purchased a really nice looking 1973 Mach 1 in Summer, 2018. It came with the idiot light laden instrument panel, and I really preferred having analog gauges. Rather than look for and install the oem gauge oriented instrument panel, plus the 3 gauge setup for the center vertical bezel, I opted to get the Dakota VHX analog gauge instrument panel. Itls odometer has 7 whole number digits, and a 1/10 digit, in its odometer display. Because it is so hard for me to get around I brought the car to a local shop that has quite the following and good reputation for working on these older vehicles. The tech did an excellent job installing the Dakota unit, and his work (and the panel quality) has lasted over 4 years with no functional problems.

But... When I went to pick the Mustang up the tech saw me and told me he was not sure of the real mileage on the car, so he set it for 87,000 some odd miles, following whart the oem odometer was presenting. The person I purchased the car from told me the odometer had gone around the horn once, so the real mileage should have been 187,000 some odd miles. But, to do a re-reset of the odometer would involve removing the instrument panel and sending it to Dakota for the odometer to be prepared for a one time set, again. Not my idea of a good time, so I have decided to elave well enough alone. I do not plan to, or meed to, sell the car. But when I prepare to pass things onto our kids I will make certain whoever ends up wih the Mach 1 is very clear on the number of miles actually on the vehicle.

The tech felt badly he did not call me o verify the real odometer value. "But it looks so clean I assumed there was no way this car could have over 1000,000 miles on it." So, there is that. Itreally is a nice looking car, and in really good condition. Near perfect, in fact. So, I can see how he would have concluded the 87,000 some odd miles was accurate.

If ever I find a way to re-reset the Dakota odometer I will do it. But, for now good enough is good enough. It is a nice looking instrument panel.

One more thing, I am the 4th owner of the car. The 2nd owner told the 3rd owner that there's only 89K original miles.

Again, there's no way to prove that, but more evidence.

I vote look for the nylon timing gear. Wouldn't expect one of those to go 189k miles.

And i have the original parts that came off my motor. I'd have to double check, but i believe the pistons and water pump all have ford logos on them. Should be able to see the logo on the pistons from the bottom.

Hemikiller said:

Simplest way to find out is to see if the engine has ever been out or apart. That should be fairly obvious as there will be signs such as missing clips, brackets, mismatched bolts etc. If it's never been out or apart, there is a near zero chance it's 189k.

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Agree, but the engine bay looks way too stock for 189k. Wires would have been cobbled by 189k.

I just went out and checked my box of parts. I'm not seeing the ford logo i thought there was on the pistons. Its is there on the water pump.

On the valves, about 3/4 of my smaller walves, i can make out FOMOCO cast into the top of them.

I'd also look at the brakes and suspension. With 89k miles, it may still have some factory parts.