71 Mach 1 Mustang Advice

[Newtostangs]

Thanks for all the advice guys!!! I really appreciate it!!! I'll keep everyone updated as to what I decided to do!

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

7500 is okay, if you can live with the paint job and the current body work. If you feel the need to have that all redone-then buy the nicest car you can find instead. If on the other hand it looks good to you and you can live with the cosmetic flaws, everything else can be fixed it just takes a few things, unlimited time, unlimited cash and unlimited patience

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Everyone says I bash them too much but a spade is a spade. You cannot restore this car and make any money if he gave you the car. It is impossible....

The cowl is rusted out or the front floor would not rust. They never rust from outside in. 

With the shock tower braces off the car can bend very easily I mean and inch even with one big bump. 

I turned down an M code 4 speed that was a vinyl roof for $2,000 I think just over 100 made. 

You are much better off finding a rust free car to go with. A car needing restoration with no rust in my opinion should be between $5,000 - $7,000 depending on options.

On Ebay they sold a 1973 Convertible that had never been washed much less in the rain. 351 4-V 4 speed with side stipes, PW, PDB, PS, AC, NASA hood pretty much every option and it only brought $30,000. The values that NADA put and Hagerdy are way off from reality. 

I would not buy this car very low options and not a desirable model for sure.

I own 7 and look at them frequently and turn down a bunch. They are a money pit and do not bring much money when you sell. 

I love them but they are not an investment for sure just a pleasure thing. 

Go looking for a rust free car way easier and less money.

 

[7173Vert]

Everyone says I bash them too much but a spade is a spade. You cannot restore this car and make any money if he gave you the car. It is impossible....

The cowl is rusted out or the front floor would not rust. They never rust from outside in. 

With the shock tower braces off the car can bend very easily I mean and inch even with one big bump. 

I turned down an M code 4 speed that was a vinyl roof for $2,000 I think just over 100 made. 

You are much better off finding a rust free car to go with. A car needing restoration with no rust in my opinion should be between $5,000 - $7,000 depending on options.

On Ebay they sold a 1973 Convertible that had never been washed much less in the rain. 351 4-V 4 speed with side stipes, PW, PDB, PS, AC, NASA hood pretty much every option and it only brought $30,000. The values that NADA put and Hagerdy are way off from reality. 

I would not buy this car very low options and not a desirable model for sure.

I own 7 and look at them frequently and turn down a bunch. They are a money pit and do not bring much money when you sell. 

I love them but they are not an investment for sure just a pleasure thing. 

Go looking for a rust free car way easier and less money.

You bash them too much LOL

 

[1sostatic]

But guys - surely one can preserve a car with the intention to drive and have fun, do time travel, be a pussy magnet like 4x4 Mister   ... not necessarily make m00lah from. Or am I off base here?

 

[73pony]

But guys - surely one can preserve a car with the intention to drive and have fun, do time travel, be a pussy magnet like 4x4 Mister   ... not necessarily make m00lah from. Or am I off base here?

Agree 100%.

 

[MustangNJ]

that's what I am doing with my 73 Mex Mach 1. it was a barn find, no rust. it needs everything, but will never get a "restoration". I drive it until I break something, fix it, and repeat process. its dusty, looks a bit worn-out, but is getting closer and closer to reliability and being a really cool driver. I replace parts with upgrades, and once it gets a few more repairs, I will be thinking about how best to add power. my goal: to be able to do full throttle launches, burnouts, doughnuts and 60mph cruising without anything breaking, vibrating or rattling excessively. thats about as far as I will take it.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I have seen too many with stars in their eyes thinking of what it can be and after several years of struggling they give up and sell a project. The average guy that has a job and family would take years to complete a car. Most get bored or stuck and give up. 

Run ads in areas that would support rust free, south west, california for a rust free project. Most of the ones on ebay are just shiny used cars, not restored just made to be eye candy and hardly any attention to detail. Skim coat with bondo and block smooth and who cares that it will only last a year.

 

[Newtostangs]

I'm definitely not trying to make money off of the car. Just want a good base to start from and make it into something thats fun to drive and grabs people attention as I pass by. I like to think about it like a starting point that will take time to get it to where i want it to be. I'm just ignorant when it comes to the prices of these cars... when i look aroumd i see shells of these cars that are roughly the same price but don't have the background in this craft to make a sound judgement call. I want to treat it almost how mustangNj is doing it.

I ran the marti report for it as well. Results below.

 

[73pony]

My personal opinion, it is a cool car but I may be biased as I love the 71-73 mustangs. Also, I look at a lot of these cars for sale and as long as the subframes, torque boxes are not rusted out and the cowl is in decent shape along with the shock towers, it is a fair price as I stated before. I see people post these "great deals" all the time and I always question, if it was that great of a deal why did you pass on it? A running, driving 71 Mach1 that has some paint and slight body issues but is a complete car and not rusted out underneath is not a bad deal at all at $7,500. If I lived in the area and saw the ad I would have certainly looked at the car and used some of the issues we have pointed out to drive the price down as much as possible (for nothing more than the sake of my own pocketbook). I do see a lot of abandoned projects up for sale and frankly I would rather start with something that is complete and not try to piece together someone else's mess. Rust is the biggest issue by far and is the most costly to fix. I have never done this "make money" I just enjoy working on them and driving them.

 

[Hemikiller]

For perspective, I sold a 71 sportsroof back in '97 for $5K, that was very close to what you're looking at.

It was originally a 302/auto/drum brake/fold down car with zero other options. It had a 10-footer Bright Red paint job, front and rear spoilers and Hurricane wheels. I rebuilt the entire suspension, upgraded to power discs, Installed factory gauges and deluxe interior and a re-ringed M-code /4speed drivetrain with a 3.70 9" Trac Loc. It was a great running and driving car, but it was going to need work down the road as the body work was starting to have issues.

$5k then is $8K now. I think you'd do okay at $7500 for this car, given that it's a true Mach and it has some decent options.

 

[donkost]

They can certainly be purchased at a lower level of completion and driven around for fun "as is" while being restored little by little. That's what I did back in 1980 and the car was my daily driver as well in all seasons. However it was a '68 GTO which is a full perimeter frame car, and it was only 12 years old with very little rust (just a little around the rear wheel openings). I think the biggest problem with a car like the Mustang is that it's a unibody car. 45+ years after it was manufactured, it's not safe to drive a unibody car with bad floor rust, cowl shot, bad torque boxes, no underhood braces. These cars twist a bit even when everything is solid. I'm also a sucker for a nice '70 / '71 Torino Cobra or GT, and those are really big cars to have a unibody setup. In '72 they went to a full perimeter frame. Subframe connectors are not a bad idea for any of these unibody Mustangs, convertible or not.

 

[mach71351c]

I think 7500 is not a bad price for a driving Mach 1 project. Pending a closer inspection.

 

[MustangNJ]

I jus saw a 69 Torino for sale. its basically a fastback/sportsroof, but it must be bigger than a Mustang? I don't see why Ford would have built 2 models of the same size with the same motor....

 

[Hemikiller]

I jus saw a 69 Torino for sale.  its basically a fastback/sportsroof, but it must be bigger than a Mustang?  I don't see why Ford would have built 2 models of the same size with the same motor....

Torino/Montego is a mid-size car, much larger than a Mustang or Cougar. Wheel base was 7 or 8 inches longer than our cars. Many chassis and suspension parts were sourced from the 68-71 Torino for the 71-73s.