The Mach-A-Reina build thread

chuckludwig · Oct 24, 2024

Hello y'all!
Recently I got my dream car: a 1971 Mach 1 in white. It's a car I'd been pining after for a long while. The car (of course) has some issues and I've been slowly trying to work through them. Some are major, some are minor and some are TBD! The car itself is rather high milage. I'm guessing 105k and is a respray (it originally was red). If i know what I know now after having it a little, perhaps I would have gotten a different one and just painted it myself, but I'm sure any car that was in my budget would have a few gremlins. Overall I'm really excited about the car still. The fact that it isn't perfect I see as an attribute, not a failing. I plan to make some perhaps heretical additions to the car, and if it was a real beauty I would feel bad.

I've decided to use my thread here to help document this build and hopefully any issues I square away will help other people with their issues. If anyone has suggestions as to what I'm working on, I'm all ears!

(Also the name is a play off my last name, Reina and the 90s dance craze the Macarena)

tpj71mach · Oct 24, 2024

Good luck with your build I look forward to following the thread. Have fun and enjoy the process, after all it's the journey not the destination., haha.

Love the name, doing the Mach-a-Reina!

BTW, that is the best color combination and I am not biased at all, well maybe I am a little biased, LOL.

bkdunha · Oct 24, 2024

Welcome. I also like the build name. Very catchy. You have found a great group to be part of. A very respectful family friendly group with a wealth of knowledge if you have any questions as the project evolves. I also like the white and black combo. If I win the lottery (NOT!) i would be on the look out for a white and black Boss 1. That would be a keeper for me. Keep us posted as the build progresses and remember its your car and your timeline make sure to enjoy both.

Sheriff41 · Oct 24, 2024

Howdy and welcome from San Antonio! Looks like you scored a nice Mach 1.

Idaho Chris · Oct 25, 2024

Welcome from North Idaho. I look forward to following your progress. Love the white color!

cjstaci · Oct 25, 2024

Welcome from NM.
Everybody’s doing the Mach-a-Reina,
come on, come on, do the Mach-a-reina,
You know you’re gonna like it when you work on it now,
come on, come on, do the Mach-a-Reina

James Bond · Oct 25, 2024

Looks like a great car to start with, welcome from NW Oregon.

mach71351c · Oct 28, 2024

Welcome from San Diego.

chuckludwig · Oct 29, 2024

Continue to putter along on the car. Today I spent all morning sledge hammering out a wall so I can install a garage door in my art studio. This way I will be able to keep the car inside and get more work done on a level surface.

I've slowly been replacing all the lights with LEDs which is nice. I appreciate the added visibility, especially as I live out in a twisty and dark part of TX. I've done a few other small bits and bobs. The battery tray is totally rusted (of course!) out so I fabbed a new temporary one until I can weld in replacement sheetmetal. Replaced the hood bumpers. Fixed the T handle on the transmission and also start to try and make sense of the wiring.

Upcoming projects:
- Drain C6 and replace pan with larger pan (now with a *GASP* drain plug!)
- Drop oil pan and see what is going on down there. Probably need to replace the harmonic balancer, bearings, and swap the nuts for ARP nuts. If anyone has numbers on how many of each I need to order, I would really appreciate it.
- Start building new wiring harness. The existing harness is so jacked up and spliced together, I think I'm just going to make a new one. Electronics is something I'm not bad at so hopefully isn't too much of a nightmare.

Want to do projects:
- Engine tune up? I'm really not sure what it needs. This is an area I feel a little in the unknown about but excited to learn. There is so much wisdom from y'all out there, it is hard to make sense of it. Car certainly feels like it could be making a little more power than it is, but IDK.
- Replace differential. I would like to put a detroit trac loc in there I think.
- Hook up new stereo
- Tin Man Subframe connectors

midlife · Oct 29, 2024

Be aware that you should not replace your brake proportioning valve warning light nor the alternator indicator light with LEDs. The brake light has a peculiar ground, so that a polarity sensitive LED might not work. The alternator idiot lamp requires an incandescent bulb as it is part of the electrical circuit. If you use an LED, you run the risk of not charging your system.

chuckludwig · Oct 30, 2024

midlife said:
Be aware that you should not replace your brake proportioning valve warning light nor the alternator indicator light with LEDs. The brake light has a peculiar ground, so that a polarity sensitive LED might not work. The alternator idiot lamp requires an incandescent bulb as it is part of the electrical circuit. If you use an LED, you run the risk of not charging your system.

Thank you! I did not know that. Currently NONE of the dash lights are hooked up, which is annoying. I am planing on replacing out the dash with a Dakota at some point. Not sure how to wire in those lights at that point.

Bobby · Oct 30, 2024

Welcome and Howdee from Texas. I noticed the rear wheel is chocked. Non-functioning parking brake?

chuckludwig · Oct 30, 2024

Bobby said:
Welcome and Howdee from Texas. I noticed the rear wheel is chocked. Non-functioning parking brake?

Good eye Bobby! Yes parking break is out, which is not great here in hill country! Not 100% sure where the issue is. Waiting on some parts to replace that system. Now that I have the car inside and on a level surface, it should be easier for me to jack it up and take a peak.

Bobby · Oct 31, 2024

chuckludwig said:
Good eye Bobby! Yes parking break is out, which is not great here in hill country! Not 100% sure where the issue is. Waiting on some parts to replace that system. Now that I have the car inside and on a level surface, it should be easier for me to jack it up and take a peak.

I had the same problem with mine. The brake system as a whole was rotten. The emergency cable on both sides at the rear drums was rusted and gone. You should be able to find all the replacement parts including the sheilded brake cable. I upgraded my braking with new four wheel disc. The rear package had the emergency/parking brake. Even though it is disc brakes the emergency portion of it works very well.

tony-muscle · Oct 31, 2024

chuckludwig said:
Continue to putter along on the car. Today I spent all morning sledge hammering out a wall so I can install a garage door in my art studio. This way I will be able to keep the car inside and get more work done on a level surface.

I've slowly been replacing all the lights with LEDs which is nice. I appreciate the added visibility, especially as I live out in a twisty and dark part of TX. I've done a few other small bits and bobs. The battery tray is totally rusted (of course!) out so I fabbed a new temporary one until I can weld in replacement sheetmetal. Replaced the hood bumpers. Fixed the T handle on the transmission and also start to try and make sense of the wiring.

Upcoming projects:
- Drain C6 and replace pan with larger pan (now with a *GASP* drain plug!)
- Drop oil pan and see what is going on down there. Probably need to replace the harmonic balancer, bearings, and swap the nuts for ARP nuts. If anyone has numbers on how many of each I need to order, I would really appreciate it.
- Start building new wiring harness. The existing harness is so jacked up and spliced together, I think I'm just going to make a new one. Electronics is something I'm not bad at so hopefully isn't too much of a nightmare.

Want to do projects:
- Engine tune up? I'm really not sure what it needs. This is an area I feel a little in the unknown about but excited to learn. There is so much wisdom from y'all out there, it is hard to make sense of it. Car certainly feels like it could be making a little more power than it is, but IDK.
- Replace differential. I would like to put a detroit trac loc in there I think.
- Hook up new stereo
- Tin Man Subframe connectors

Consider a TrueTrac instead of the Detroit unless you are intro drag racing only. The TrueTrac will work much better for city, cruising and high performance driving.

chuckludwig · Nov 1, 2024

tony-muscle said:
Consider a TrueTrac instead of the Detroit unless you are intro drag racing only. The TrueTrac will work much better for city, cruising and high performance driving.

Right you are! Sorry I keep getting those confused. Do you have any experience with putting one in? That seems like it might be something I take to a professional, but I'm not sure where to go for someone in the know on how to do it right. Open to suggestions. Also, what gearing? I have a 3.0 9" in the back now according to my Marti.

tony-muscle · Nov 2, 2024

chuckludwig said:
Right you are! Sorry I keep getting those confused. Do you have any experience with putting one in? That seems like it might be something I take to a professional, but I'm not sure where to go for someone in the know on how to do it right. Open to suggestions. Also, what gearing? I have a 3.0 9" in the back now according to my Marti.

I got mine from Strange. You can get a 3rd member installed with TrueTrac and any gear you want. Get the Daytona bearing housing. You can also chose the spline count. I went with 31 which meant new axles.

chuckludwig · Nov 10, 2024

Was hoping to take this three day weekend to finally getting the brakes sorted out. They have been my main concern for not taking the car for more than a 15 minute drive anywhere. But of course, you start working on one thing, and you realize there are half a dozen other things you may as well get going while you've got it apart.

Looks like I am also going to be replacing the fuel line, vent line and rear brakes. Unfortunatly that meant order a bunch more parts, so they wont be getting in any time soon.

Also hoping to do a little more rust cleanup to everything I can reach in the wheel wells. Gonna just slap it with some surface prep and Por 15. I know people have mixed feelings about that stuff, so I'm all ears if there is an easier way to clean and protect metal. I already have an hour in the driver side wheel well. I removed a DISTURBING amount of crap / grease / chips of rust from under the control arm (See photo). Is that normal? It seems like a LOT.

View attachment IMG_6948.JPG

Also, does anyone know why the fuel line comes into the wheel well, then briefly into the body behind the shock tower, and then back into the wheel well? Seems like it would be cleaner just to run it straight through the wheel well until it comes out by the fuel pump? Is it because it might rub there?

tpj71mach · Nov 10, 2024

chuckludwig said:
Was hoping to take this three day weekend to finally getting the brakes sorted out. They have been my main concern for not taking the car for more than a 15 minute drive anywhere. But of course, you start working on one thing, and you realize there are half a dozen other things you may as well get going while you've got it apart.

Looks like I am also going to be replacing the fuel line, vent line and rear brakes. Unfortunatly that meant order a bunch more parts, so they wont be getting in any time soon.

Also hoping to do a little more rust cleanup to everything I can reach in the wheel wells. Gonna just slap it with some surface prep and Por 15. I know people have mixed feelings about that stuff, so I'm all ears if there is an easier way to clean and protect metal. I already have an hour in the driver side wheel well. I removed a DISTURBING amount of crap / grease / chips of rust from under the control arm (See photo). Is that normal? It seems like a LOT.

View attachment 95025

Also, does anyone know why the fuel line comes into the wheel well, then briefly into the body behind the shock tower, and then back into the wheel well? Seems like it would be cleaner just to run it straight through the wheel well until it comes out by the fuel pump? Is it because it might rub there?

I am not sure if it is normal but I had the same experience with my car. It came from the desert SW (Las Vegas) maybe that is where it all came from? The desert sand mixing with extra grease from the control arm. Once I got through that crud, my car had seam sealer just gobbed in there from the factory as well. I removed all of that and then media blasted the whole shell. After that, I sealed the shell with epoxy primer, I re-seam sealed before I painted it with Chassis Saver. This is a Por15 type product, I just prefer it because I have found over the years that it seems to be less brittle than Por15 once cured.

I thought the same about the fuel line routing, this was my first Mustang resto and I didn't understand the fuel line routing in and out and then back in again. I wondered if possibly another engine option maybe six cylinder cars needed the fuel line in the rear of the compartment? Otherwise, I can't imagine what the benefit of it is, other than possibly tire rub on a hard left turn.

tony-muscle · Nov 10, 2024

The routing of the fuel line is a mystery to me as well. It adds another failure point with a short hose next to the master cylinder. Too late to do it for me but if you dont care about originallity you could just run it on the outside but it will require modifying the original line and maybe adding a stainless steel protected hose or tube due to the possibility of impact from road debris.

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