- Joined
- Apr 24, 2020
- Messages
- 1,237
- Reaction score
- 1,300
- Location
- Pittsford, NY
- My Car
- My all time favorite vehicle is our 1969 Shelby GT500
Wow! I thought we were very fortunate to have found a previously barn stored (literally) 1973 Mustang Convertible with an original odometer reading of just over 19,000 miles. Currently we have just over 21,000 original odometer miles. The prior owner acquired from the family that had is stored all that time, after the husband became seriously ill and unable to drive soon after buying it. The prior owner replaced the convertible top, the original tires (wide walls were badly cracked), and replaced the original dog dish wheels and wheel covers with a set of Magnum 500 wheels.
After we acquired it we added a full length center console, replaced the console ash tray with a fabricated Power Panel with two 12 volt outlets, dual USB outlet, and digital voltmeter. We installed a Dakota VHX analog gauge instrument panel as the original instrument panel had all idiot lights. The car was built with no A/C, and despite not really needing A/C in a convertible we installed a Classic Air A/C kit that really works well. Although we had no engine cooling issues, after converting out 1973 Mach 1 to dual electric cooling fans very successfully I decided to do the same with the vert. I also installed WebCam and a Garmin Street 72 GPS with a wireless backup camera. The tail lights have been upgraded to VintageLEDs.com LED panels which provide brighter illumination and sequential turn signal flashing. Finally, I replaced the sealed beam headlight bulbs with Halogen units, and power them via a headlight relay as they pull more amps than sealed beam bulbs and I did not want to overburden the headlight switch's internal circuit breaker. In order to power all the electrical goodies we added I had the original 43 amp alternator rebuilt with a rotor containing more winding. The alternator now puts out 65 amps, more than enough for all the electrical system to be on at the same time. Even before the upgrades and enhancements it was a nice cruising car (302 2v, C4 auto tranny, and a very steep highway 2.79:1 rear axle ratio), but with the enhancements it is a truly wonderful vehicle to take out for a drive. And like your vert, our is in terrific preserved condition.
Anyway, hearty congratulations on having such a cool car.
After we acquired it we added a full length center console, replaced the console ash tray with a fabricated Power Panel with two 12 volt outlets, dual USB outlet, and digital voltmeter. We installed a Dakota VHX analog gauge instrument panel as the original instrument panel had all idiot lights. The car was built with no A/C, and despite not really needing A/C in a convertible we installed a Classic Air A/C kit that really works well. Although we had no engine cooling issues, after converting out 1973 Mach 1 to dual electric cooling fans very successfully I decided to do the same with the vert. I also installed WebCam and a Garmin Street 72 GPS with a wireless backup camera. The tail lights have been upgraded to VintageLEDs.com LED panels which provide brighter illumination and sequential turn signal flashing. Finally, I replaced the sealed beam headlight bulbs with Halogen units, and power them via a headlight relay as they pull more amps than sealed beam bulbs and I did not want to overburden the headlight switch's internal circuit breaker. In order to power all the electrical goodies we added I had the original 43 amp alternator rebuilt with a rotor containing more winding. The alternator now puts out 65 amps, more than enough for all the electrical system to be on at the same time. Even before the upgrades and enhancements it was a nice cruising car (302 2v, C4 auto tranny, and a very steep highway 2.79:1 rear axle ratio), but with the enhancements it is a truly wonderful vehicle to take out for a drive. And like your vert, our is in terrific preserved condition.
Anyway, hearty congratulations on having such a cool car.
