Accident

[jpaz]

Hey thanks guys! I can’t wait to get back and take it for a drive. Looking forward to seeing how my new rebuilt motor runs too. Shouldn’t be much longer now, I think the headers are coming in next week.

Many thanks! And I will post some more pics and let you guys know how it runs when I get it back.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

LOL, I attempted to put a screen print into post several times but system will not let me.

Car is looking great. I took your picture from the front of your car and too a picture of my original 73 so you can print out and show the shop the difference. The position fore and aft is not off much if any but the width is narrow for sure. It is way better than most are and nobody will notice unless you point it out.

I will see if a local wrap shop here can scan mine and make a correct mask crazy that they cannot seem to get it right.

I have not been to storage to check the other to original hoods I have to see if all are the same and check date codes on the stamping.

I might head to Mich. in the fall if not in Africa walking in the bush.

I could not attach the file says too large I will have to go reduce them or maybe put the two pics in separate. I will do in a new post.

 

[jpaz]

I do see what you are saying about that, oh well that’s how I told them how to do it. I at least stopped them from putting the pattern to far back from the front of hood.

 

[jpaz]

.Hey guys, well it’s been about a month since I have had any updates on my car. Been waiting on the headers to come in and they finally did. The shop where my car is, installed them and they said they fit great. They are taking it to the exhaust shop this Thursday to get the h pipe and the exhaust all buttoned up.

Will also be getting a front end alignment there too and that should be it. All done with everything, finally!! They did a great job, cannot wait to get it back home.

I also got the final bill for the extra stuff I had them do, got a little sticker shock. Well I guess the sticker shock was to be expected, I did have them do quite a bit including a complete engine rebuild (needed a lot of machine work), new twist hood locks, new door hinges, repaint all the bottom black out, repaint the rear valence, repaint rear spoiler, repaint louvers, paint transmission, remove old gloss stripes and install new semi flat stripes, new headers and install correct brake distribution valve and bleed brakes. All the repaint stuff was gloss before my accident and I had them do it all with the semi flat black.

So it sounds like it will be done by this weekend and I may be able to get it next week. I live about 100 miles from their shop and I would like to have them trailer it back here. Not really sure I would want to drive it all that way since I would have to take some freeways to get back here. Still need to check everything thing out and if I do have something go wrong I would rather be around home. Plus the roads are pretty beat up from the winter weather. But when I do get it back here I’ll post some pictures of it.

 

[jpaz]

So I just talked to the owner of the shop where my car is and the headers and exhaust are done as well as the front end alignment. So now they are getting it all tuned up but are having a few issues. No spark after it sits overnight, just cranks and cranks... then if he jumps the solenoid it starts and runs fine. Thought the solenoid was bad, replaced it with new but the same thing, but again only after it sits overnight or more. The weird thing is after it gets started and then turned off, it will start normally without jumping the solenoid. I never had any kind of issue like that before the accident. Also, they did replace the coil I had on, it went bad from the accident cause it wouldn’t work when they tried it on the engine run stand. So they are a bit baffled by this one.

The other problem is the brakes, they can’t get a good firm pedal after bleeding them. I had them install a new proportioning valve because the PO had installed the wrong one. So the first one the shop put in was screwed up and leaked, so they had to get a replacement. They do that and now they can’t get the pedal firm. They are for certain all the air is out of the lines. So what they think happened is that the plunger in the master cylinder went bad from bleeding the brakes. Pretty sure it’s the original one, or it’s very old, so I just told him to replace it. It did have some rust on it when I got the car 5 years ago, so it probably had some inside too. It was by no means replaced or new anyway.

And another problem is that the car won’t stay park. So either the parking pawl broke or the rod going to it did. After the accident I know that the shifter was kinda jammed up. Pretty sure we got the car in neutral before the tow driver pulled it up on the flatbed. Plus, when we got home the tow driver backed right up to my garage door and then we pushed it my garage. Is it possible that the rod just popped of the pawl? And can either of those be fixed with the trans in the car?

 

[Spike Morelli]

jpaz,

About three years back, I was considering buying a new car, not getting rid of my '71 Mach1, just getting another new car. As fate would have it, I got in an accident, where the mini-van in front of me made a maneuver forcing me to brake and swerve, bending my right fender, hood, and shattering the plastic grille. I could drive home from it, but man, was I heartbroken. I never really realized just how much I loved the car, until that evening, I just stood silently staring at my once beautiful friend, now, a bent up embarrassment. That car has been with me through two marriages, two kids, a few jobs, and 26 years of everyday driving. I didn't hesitate to get it back in shape, maybe a bit nicer than it was, and now, as the old saying goes, like a girlfriend, "you don't know what you've got until you lose it", I more than ever appreciate that Mach 1. Hold onto yours.

 

[jpaz]

Oh ya Spike, I do plan on keeping it for as long as I can. I just had the shop do a complete engine rebuild and redo some other stuff. No plans of it leaving me now, as long as I can quit hitting utility poles! Lol.

Ya I was really bummed, depressed and all that, and I’ve only owed this car for about 5 years. Can’t imagine how you felt after owning your car for so long. Well I guess I can, it’s just a horrible feeling no matter how you look at it.

I can’t wait to get it back home, it’s been gone for about 5 months. I couldn’t drive it pretty much all that time because of the weather and my dirt (mud) road anyway. I need to get back on that horse that kicked me off, lol.

 

[jpaz]

Just heard from the shop about my brakes. They pulled master cylinder off and there was some rusty brake fluid coming out of the back of it. So it sure sounds like that’s the problem with the brakes not keeping a firm pedal after bleeding. The plunger is probably shot from being pushed further in the bore where the rust is.

Two more problems to get taken care of now, the goofy ignition problem and the broken parking pawl. The brakes were not related to the accident, but these two are. I think my car is pissed off from that or something, it’s just one thing after another... lol

 

[John J]

Glad to hear you car is coming along. Now all we need is some warm weather.

John J

 

[jpaz]

Glad to hear you car is coming along. Now all we need is some warm weather.

John J

Thanks John. Slowly but surely, they are figuring out a few of these issues. Still might have to pull trans though, we’ll see.

 

[jpaz]

O







Well, it’s finally done! The shop got everything fixed and it’s good to go. Paul, the shop owner, dropped it off himself yesterday, didn’t think he would have time this week, but he did to my surprise. I took it out for a short drive and wow, what a big difference! I was on a little bit of a roll and I gave it about a half throttle punch and it was smoking the tires with no problems. Don’t want to floor it yet, only 25 miles on the new motor, but I really like it so far, so much better than before. It drives good, feels great and I’m so glad to have it back home. Now we just need some nice weather so I can get the engine broken in.

So anyway thanks again to all of you guys for giving me some great advice and helping me out through this! I also want to give a big thank you to Don from OMS, c9zx, 73pony, bkdunah,  boilermaker, barnett, Carolina Mountain Mustangs, Jeff73Mach1,Hemikiller, kevken1959, mwilson7, Stanglover, and tony-muscle, just to name a few. Sorry if I forgot anyone but I am very grateful to all of you.

I also want to give a big thank you to the shop that did all the accident repairs, and extra stuff I had them do. Paul and his crew at Mustang Craftsmen really did do a great job. They were very good at listening to me and keeping in touch and letting me know what was going on. My car is better than it was before, and I couldn’t be happier. Can’t wait to take it to some car shows and just drive it. I think it looks really good, and now I have a completely rebuilt car that I can trust.

Thanks again to everyone!

 

[c9zx]

Looks great! I'm glad you got it back, enjoy. Chuck

 

[1sostatic]

I'm so pleased for you -- This car should have 2x birthdays - the one in the factory and this ... just excellent - I bet you're buzzed  :coolphotos:

 

[OMS]

Very nice, glad you are happy and it looks like they did some nice work.

You are not going to have anything to do now except wash , wax and drive it ....and probably replace the rear tires soon :whistling:

 

[JD79]

The car looks fantastic!

 

[computercarguy]

::thumb:: very nice!

 

[Vinnie]

I’m happy for you it turned out this way, glad the car got saved. Now enjoy!

 

[vintageman]

Very nice car you have there jpaz, you must be very happy with the results.

Quick question, I see that the front hood molding on the passenger side shows that it is about 1/8 or so short, my replacement is the same as well but the drivers side lines up perfectly. Is the molding flush on the drivers side or a little short as well?  Thanks.

Tom

 

[jpaz]

,

Very nice car you have there jpaz, you must be very happy with the results.

Quick question, I see that the front hood molding on the passenger side shows that it is about 1/8 or so short, my replacement is the same as well but the drivers side lines up perfectly. Is the molding flush on the drivers side or a little short as well?  Thanks.

Tom

Ya Tom, it’s because of the repo hood molding edge. It’s just unbelievable how much of the repo parts can be not right. The shop owner told me that this is a common occurrence. He said that if I find an original one of these he would paint it for nothing and put it on my car. So I guess to answer your question I guess it’s quite common. I can’t believe how many screwed up parts that they are still making for our year cars!

 

[jpaz]

Very nice, glad you are happy and it looks like they did some nice work.

You are not going to have anything to do now except wash , wax and drive it ....and probably replace the rear tires soon :whistling:

Thanks Don! I really appreciate your help with my parts. I still need to get the grill support figured out though. It seems as though the grill is not back far enough for the grill extension piece to match right. Maybe I’m missing something, but not sure.

Will definitely need new tires!