71 Fastback Restoration Thread

[tony-muscle]

My car does not have a fold down rear seat, so I can't help you there. I thought about adding one, but then realized that I won't be hauling lumber in this car, so I don't need it.

For the welds near the C pillar, Yeah that is normal. yours look worse than mine though. Your car was probably built on a Monday.

While we are on the topic of poor welds...Take a look at my trunk hinge welds. These are really ugly. Are others seeing this on their cars as well? It looks like the hinge bolts to the package tray area, so I don't understand the need to weld these unless it is for panel adjustment. The weld om the drivers side is soo poor that it barely connects the two pieces.

Thank you for the pictures. I guess the factory welding was not any better than my welds either. Since my car was assembled in a Monday (rofl), I will check the trunk hinges for weld quality and will let you know.

 

[walterm]

Next project to tackle was the toe boards/floors. My toe boards were very thin in spots, so those areas were cut out and the entire area was sandblasted. The floors were also in bad shape so I made the decision to cut out the entire floor and replace with a one piece floor from a 70 mustang. The ribbing is a bit different, but that's ok. After a whole lot of patching and welding the toe boards look good. At this stage could weld in the 1 piece floor board, but decided that it is much easier to work inside the car without the floor in my way. So it will stay out until I finish all the interior sheet metal work.

The passenger side floor support was rotted, so that was replaced. I'm really starting to understand what I have been told for years about aftermarket sheet metal not fitting properly. The replacement floor support was wider and taller than the factory part, so to scab it in I had to cut slots in the new part to neck it down to the factory dimensions before welding. Once the welds are ground, you not know.

I did a trial fit of the one piece floor, but I did not get pictures of it. The fit was pretty good, but there will be work to make it fit correctly. The shifter doubler also has to be changed from the 70 panel. I will document this step at a later date.

 

[DK73]

Wow that is so awesome work [WINKING FACE] Regards Lars DK73

So I'm a proud owner of one Mach 1 73! Regards Lars DK73

 

[walterm]

I did find a picture of the floor test fit. It had to go in from the bottom of the car.

 

[tony-muscle]

My car does not have a fold down rear seat, so I can't help you there. I thought about adding one, but then realized that I won't be hauling lumber in this car, so I don't need it.

For the welds near the C pillar, Yeah that is normal. yours look worse than mine though. Your car was probably built on a Monday.

While we are on the topic of poor welds...Take a look at my trunk hinge welds. These are really ugly. Are others seeing this on their cars as well? It looks like the hinge bolts to the package tray area, so I don't understand the need to weld these unless it is for panel adjustment. The weld om the drivers side is soo poor that it barely connects the two pieces.

Thank you for the pictures. I guess the factory welding was not any better than my welds either. Since my car was assembled in a Monday (rofl), I will check the trunk hinges for weld quality and will let you know.

I finally was able to look at my trunk hinges. As Jeff indicated I don't believe your welds are factory.

 

[walterm]

Now that my inner fenders are complete, I can mount fenders and hood hinges. I have had this car for 20 years, and this will be the first time I have been able to mount hood hinges. I was unable to mount the hood due the rotted inner fenders around the hinges. So, I did a trial fit of the RF Dynacorn fender. Overall it fits pretty good, I will find out later when I put the hood on. I am happy with the profile at the door. Hinges did not come with the car so I purchased new ones along with hardware kits.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Looks like you are doing some nice work.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Keep up the work keeps you out of bars and houses of ill repute, lol. No glad to see someone taking the job at hand and doing it. The after market parts do usually suck. I thought they made 71 - 73 floors. Just the convertible has a different flange that joins the rockers????

Information is good to those who are looking at doing this.

David

 

[mach71351c]

Looks good!

 

[Mikes73]

It looks like it is coming along nicely.

 

[tony-muscle]

Looking awesome..... how did the cowl hat area looked?

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Keep up the work keeps you out of bars and houses of ill repute, lol.

David

I am officially done working on my car

 

[tony-muscle]

Keep up the work keeps you out of bars and houses of ill repute, lol.

David

I am officially done working on my car

Wow.... i dont know when i would hear those words coming out of my mouth... the more i work and get done the more i add to the list. It typically goes, scratch one item, add two.[emoji16] [emoji16]

1971 M-code Mach 1

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Yea I keep telling myself every day THIS IS NOT A SHOW CAR IT IS A DRIVER. I catch myself wanting to add more to the list. You have to set a goal and just do it or you will have the whole car torn apart and then years of no car.

David

 

[73pony]

Keep up the work keeps you out of bars and houses of ill repute, lol.

David

I am officially done working on my car

Wow.... i dont know when i would hear those words coming out of my mouth... the more i work and get done the more i add to the list. It typically goes, scratch one item, add two.[emoji16] [emoji16]

1971 M-code Mach 1

I hear you on that. My latest project went from T5 conversion to now include sound deadener, new cut pile carpets, battery relocation to trunk, correct seat frame, new LED dash lights, and a new Dash Pad. Damn, I just don't know when to stop.

 

[walterm]

Looking awesome..... how did the cowl hat area looked?

1971 M-code Mach 1

The cowl hat was bad. Unfortunately I didn't get good pictures of it. I had to source a hat from a donor car and fabricate the metal around it. It had an 8 inch hole, and the bracket that holds the air box under the dash was gone. I am soo glad that part of the project is behind me.

 

[walterm]

My next task was to tackle the quarter panels. I have been searching for NOS quarters for about 5 years and finally found them. I stole one of them for $400.00. I also found an NOS outer wheel house for the passenger side. My inners are in remarkably great shape. So, now I have two quarters and outer wheel houses, so it's time to start cutting. I started on the passenger side and removed the poorly installed skin from the PO. I was told that the PO hit a fire hydrant with the car and dorked the rear quarter. Looking closely shows that the RR leaf spring was replaced (it is different than the LR), and the rear tail light panel has also been replaced. The rear cross member below the tail light panel was also minimally dented in. A hammer and dolly was all that was needed to straighten. When I was removing the surrounding metal at the factory welds, I got confused about the area where the tail light panel and quarter meet. There seemed to some extra sheet metal there. After scratching my head for a couple hours, I determined that when the PO had the tail light panel replaced, what they did was just cut the old panel off just inside the factory welds and then welded the new panel right over the old. So now I have to replace the tail light panel as well to do the job right. This will make the trunk floor replacement much easier. I sandblasted and primed the entire inner structure and test fitted the outer wheel house. I have decided that this would be the time to replace the trunk floor, before the quarter goes back on.

 

[mach71351c]

This car is worth the effort. Nice job Mark!