Fredensborg's 1973 Mach 1 improvement/build thread "Sleipnir"

[timachone]

Great progress - that's what I have done the last months, too  :thumb:

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

If you used regular paint on the drums it will burn right off. Also Ford used a satin black on parts never gloss black. If you go back and wash the paint off the drums and use VHT, Very High Temp. paint will last longer. Or paint for a grill will also do pretty good. The gloss black will not look correct for the axle housing for sure. The center section was actually red oxide primer.
Is the car a Mach 1 Sports Roof or just a Sports Roof? I see Sports Roof trim.

 

[Fredensborg]

If you used regular paint on the drums it will burn right off. Also Ford used a satin black on parts never gloss black. If you go back and wash the paint off the drums and use VHT, Very High Temp. paint will last longer. Or paint for a grill will also do pretty good. The gloss black will not look correct for the axle housing for sure. The center section was actually red oxide primer.
Is the car a Mach 1 Sports Roof or just a Sports Roof? I see Sports Roof trim.

It’s a Mach 1. My wheels will completely cover the drums, so I’m not too worried if it burns off. I will have to get some satin black for the axle housing, I had no luck finding the black zinc coating that Aus73Mach1 mentioned. I’m just hoping I can get the axle clean enough so the paint will last. I’m planning on putting in a new center section in the future with a different gear ratio and some type of posi, so I won’t be spending a lot of time detailing that. 

 

[mach71351c]

This is what I used. I do think that the red oxide could be a little more brown.  

 

[Fredensborg]

   I know this probably isn’t the correct way to do this, but I have no interest in completely removing my 9” to properly clean and detail it to a like new condition at this time…Minnesota winters are too long, and every day the car is in pieces is another day we can’t drive it. This car is a driver, and we want to get it back on the road ASAP. In the future, I will do a in depth restoration and I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself for not taking the time to do some things now but fortune favors the bold as they say, and me and the boy have cruising to do. 
 

   I did the best I could with a wire wheel, and an acid solution to remove surface rust. Then we rinsed, thoroughly dried it, and gave it a coat of primer. Got some satin black Rust-oleum that we will be putting on tomorrow after the primer has dried. Reassembly with the new springs, shocks and sway bar hopefully later this week. I promised my son I’d let him drive it around the block for helping me out so much…gonna be a fun week!! 
 

Worst case scenario, this paint starts to flake and chip in a few months…it will still look a million times better than it did when we started! 

 

[mach71351c]

Jason I like your plan and understand the timeframe.  I would do exactly what your doing. 

The pics where just for inspiration  

 

[Fredensborg]

Got the rear end all painted up and looking decent..

will probably try and clean up that center section a little bit more, but overall I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Gonna start putting it back together tomorrow. 


I appreciate everyone’s contributions to my thread here, I’ll definitely be reviewing these posts in the future when I do a more in depth resto. You guys all have some nice rear ends!!

 

[Sheriff41]

Looks much better.  Nice job!

 

[timachone]

Cool, looks decent  :thumb:  

For a quick better look I would rattle can the third member with a dark red or reddish brown and the yoke part with some silver or dark gray- so you would reach almost concourse level  :biggrin:  

Otherwise leave it as is and keep going!

 

[Fredensborg]

Cool, looks decent  :thumb:  

For a quick better look I would rattle can the third member with a dark red or reddish brown and the yoke part with some silver or dark gray- so you would reach almost concourse level  :biggrin:  

Otherwise leave it as is and keep going!

After looking at my pictures closer, I had this same thought! 

 

[Fredensborg]

Been a busy couple weeks around the house, but my son and I got around to finishing up the center section cleanup, and we wire brushed and applied the rust encapsulation to the rear undercarriage. It isn’t perfect, but wow what a difference! Hoping to start putting the sway bar, shocks, and leaf springs in later today. 

 

[mjseakan]

You guys are making great progress.

 

[Fredensborg]

A productive day today! My son and I got everything put back together and even got out  for a test drive today. 
 

I didn’t get any pictures of the installation of the sway bar, but it went pretty smoothly. I did have to unhook one exhaust pipe so I could have the room to sneak it by, but I must say that Addco bar was the definition of bolt on, very easy to do.
 

First new leaf spring in!

next we got the other one in, and dropped the axle, a little bit of wrestling and we had it on its pegs. This is all going just too smoothly at this point. I am not used to things working this way, so self doubt is creeping in…



next, the shock holder/sway bar receiver thingys went in. I scratched up my fancy Rust-oleum paint job a bit, but I think it can be touched up later…



That previously mentioned self doubt got the best of me temporarily, and I had to pause the installation for a little bit until Kilgon answered a question on the shackles for me. (I made another post about that issue) I thought it looked a little strange with the shackles pointed forward like this, but the springs were unloaded and my self doubt was unnecessary. As I jacked up the pumpkin, the shackles moved to their expected position  



I was a little apprehensive about the front bolts as well, but all for naught! Eaton makes a hell of a leaf spring install kit  


 

Next we got the shocks in. Man the passengers side shock was a pain to tighten the top on! I had to damn near climb in the trunk to reach it  


 

So now from the end of my drive shaft to the rear bumper, it looks like 1973 again! 


The contrast between the before and after is pretty amazing…

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the new stance. It’s a touch more extreme than I thought it would be…but I definitely accomplished the goal of getting that ass end up! 

 

[mach71351c]

Congrats on a job well done!  The new spring will settle down about a half inch or so.

 

[Fredensborg]

Good to know, the difference in how it drives is significant. The rear end feels absolutely glued to the road now! Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with the front suspension…should make a good winter project. 

 

[Fredensborg]

Well, it was a long hockey season but summer is finally back in Minnesota! The boy and I finally got around to replacing our broken rear wing mounts.

My son was a big help, the new mounts were a little different from my crappy old plastic ones, so we had to give them a little kiss from the dremel to get them to fit…
The new brackets lined up perfectly thank God!And just like that we have the wing back on!
The kit from NPD is really nice, I'd highly recommend it to anyone who need to replace their wing mounts.

 

[Fredensborg]

Well, a frustrating day yesterday… took the Mustang to a local tire place to balance my front tires in the hopes that that would be the magic bullet to fix my front end vibration issues. No such luck. While it is marginally better, the guy confirmed what I suspected I’d be in for…a host of issues that will need to be addressed. First off, the tires are 20 years old, I knew that because I’ve had the car for 20 years and those tires were pretty roached when I got it. Evidently it also has really loose outer tie rod ends, and loose u-joints on both ends of the drive shaft. (All contributing to vibrations) Needs a break job too, but I think I can handle that one. There seems to be a lot of play in my steering, that could be the steering box too I suppose. Rag joint is in good shape, I put a fresh one on years ago.

Now I’m left with a decision, do I buy parts and try to do this front end stuff myself? I don’t have a lift, or a ton of free time. And the free time I do have I’d rather be driving with my kids. (So that kind answer's my question doesn’t it?) But, at the same time part of me thinks maybe it would be a good project for the boy and I to work on, but there are enough odds and ends to do on this thing that maybe our time and attention is better spent on smaller tasks?

Also, if I have to redo tie-rods wouldn’t it be smart to just redo all the front end suspension stuff? I want to make this car whole again, not constantly be replacing stuff. What’s a good kit to go with? I just did leaf springs and shocks last summer with my son, and that job went surprisingly well. The Eaton stuff was great, I’m sure they must have some front end stuff too. I don’t know, how difficult is a front end suspension job? Is this something your average dude could attempt?

Looking for some advice/guidance on this one.

 

[Sheriff41]

First off, I would strongly recommend you ditch the 20-year-old tires ASAP! The likelyhood of a tire failure with tires that old is pretty high. You need to be concerned with safety, especially with your kids in the car with you.

The time it takes to do this task vs. time driving with the kids can only be answered by you. You don't need a lift to change tie rod ends, though it does make doing the job easier. Just because the tie rod ends are needing replacement doesn't mean the whole front suspension is bad. If I were you I'd take it to a reputable shop and have them replace the parts that need replacing and perform a front end alignment. This would get you back on the road quickest.

 

[computercarguy]

I wouldn't just tell them to replace the outer tie-rods and align it. Have them check it out and find what it needs just in case there is also a ball joint or something that didn't get caught at the last place. Then they need to let you know so you can authorize the repair. You would hate to have just the tie-rods replaced and have an alignment that didn't stay aligned because of another part being bad. Yes, get those tires off the car.

 

[tpj71mach]

I agree, per DOT and tire manufacturers, the tires should be replaced at every six years regardless of tread wear. I have always followed that rule with my toys. Our everyday drivers are probably getting around 12-15,000 miles per year on them so the tread wears out around three to four years. Our collector car's are getting the miles on them so their tires age out before they wear out.
Also, wherever you choose to go for the repairs make sure they show you after their inspection what has excessive play and is worn and what is still good. I ran repair shops for 30 years and I was always happy to show customers the difference between the good parts and the excessive play on the worn parts. That way they had confidence everything that needed replacement was getting replaced and nothing that didn't need it. Any reputable shop will be willing to show you all of that, if they don't leave and go somewhere else.

 

[Fredensborg]

First off, I would strongly recommend you ditch the 20-year-old tires ASAP! The likelyhood of a tire failure with tires that old is pretty high. You need to be concerned with safety, especially with your kids in the car with you.

Yes, get those tires off the car.

I agree, per DOT and tire manufacturers, the tires should be replaced at every six years regardless of tread wear. I have always followed that rule with my toys. Our everyday drivers are probably getting around 12-15,000 miles per year on them so the tread wears out around three to four years.

Well I got some new tires on the Mustang a few days ago, and WOW...99% of my wheel vibrations are gone. Thank you all for the suggestion of ditching the old rubber! I didn't realize how much old tires could contribute to wheel vibs. It's actually a pleasure to drive again! I'm going to take it to a shop I trust in town and have them look at all my front end suspension and steering components and have them give me a recommendation on how to proceed, I want to get it safe and reliable so it can be properly enjoyed.


Also over the last few days, we managed to fix that door glass that had fallen into the door. It turned out to be an easy fix...first we took the door panel off by popping the little retainer pins out with a flat bar... I only had a few in my door panel.
After the door panel was off, I could get a better look of what is going on in there (I've never taken this apart before)...I'm thinking my door panels might not be original as the inside of them have some kind of spider stamp on it? Looks aftermarket to me.
At any rate, the insides of my doors look pretty clean.
Here is the inside of the door on the bottom hinge area...not too bad for 50 years! It took all of 10 seconds to see what the problem was, the little nut that goes on the window "guide arm" fell off.
I also found even more evidence of my cars previous life in red...there is overspray behind the door handle.
After reassembly, one of my garage helpers even cleaned the glass for me!

As I said, going to take it to my mechanics place soon for inspection/alignment. In the mean time, I ordered the matching Addco front sway bar to go with the rear one I put on last summer, and picked up a buffer and some polish to try and liven up our paint a little bit.

Also got pads and rotors so we can do the front breaks and bought front bearings thinking that maybe I should just replace them during the break job, but if this is a waste of time/money or is not a job for a layman please let me know!

And if the rear drums aren't too difficult, we might try to adjust them as well. I'll be searching the forum for that though as I have never worked on drums before.

And on top of all of this, I have been working like a dog mudding, taping, sanding, and painting the garage walls so I can have a nice clean looking display area worthy of housing my Mustang...probably going to do a epoxy coating on the floor as well. I didn't get any before pictures of my walls but there's enough pictures with my garage in the background on the site that you can see how ugly it is. I'm pretty sure we still have a garage forum on the site, I'll try to get a before and after up there when I'm done.