I finally found my home!

[1971 m code power windows]

I say this because, as many of you I love 1971 to 1973 mustangs!
I have been in love with them since I was 10 years old. I remember walking around the block with my older cousin and seeing our neighbors "car lot" ... big Ford guy, three 1971 to 1973 fastback cars. All for sale. Real small town so he would sometimes sell one and later buy it back. I saw this all black 1971 mach 1 numbers matching M code beast, with stock AC stock Power windows slotted mags 15X8 in the front and 15X10 in the back. My cousin was teasing me saying he was going to buy it.
At that moment I started on a plan, six years later the Ford guy had purchased the car back from his son and had it on the "lot" again. And I bought it!!! I have regretted many things in my fifty years.... but never have I regretted Purchasing the love of my life. It hasn't always been pretty, like when at 20 with little to no skill I attempted to restore her, disassembly went quick, that will happen when you don't mark ANYTHING!! lost some parts ruined others during the process. Stored for 9 years with out hardly even looking at her.(had I spent as much money fixing her as storing her she would be winning already)
Got married boughtba house and brought her home and it is more difficult to ignore her when you see her every day.
Got to work put every thing back together got her running real good. Then took it down to what I thought was a reputable paint and body shop, I (bad idea) told the manager I was in no bih hurry, I just wanted a good job. This started a FOUR YEAR odyssey of lies, excuses, lost parts, and of course $$$ but finally.... they are almost done. You can see in the pic that the previous owner put a 1969 mach 1 scoop centered and behind the two other small scoops. I have always loved the look of it so I opted to keep it.
Also in the pics you can see the front hood trim is missing, one of three parts lost by the shop.
I am not a religious man, but please pray for my car to actually come out of the shop!!
I apologize for the long post, but 34 years of ownership gets me that I hope.
Thanks for listening
Doug

 

[Idaho Chris]

Welcome from North Idaho!

 

[tpj71mach]

Welcome from Chicago! I hope you car comes out of body shop jail soon!

 

[jpaz]

Hello and Welcome from Michigan. Hope the did a good job any you are happy. They screwed up the hood blackout of course. So many shops mess that up. Hope the rest is good!

 

[Lazarus]

Welcome from NC! I like the color.

 

[Sheriff41]

Howdy and welcome from Texas!

 

[Stanglover]

Hello and welcome from SW Ontario, Canada.
Welcome also from another M code owner and yes, my hood black-out got screwed up too. Don't worry, most people have no idea it's incorrect.
Nice story too, we could talk for hours on how I too, fell in love with these big beauties. Cars may take your bank account, but they don't divorce you!

 

[rvrtrash]

Welcome from N Idaho again.

 

[will e]

Howdy from Phoenix!

 

[RC92234]

Welcome

 

[Mr.Moscow]

Welcome from Moscow! Your story is full novel. I wish you happy end!

 

[1971 m code power windows]

Hello and Welcome from Michigan. Hope the did a good job any you are happy. They screwed up the hood blackout of course. So many shops mess that up. Hope the rest is good!

Pardon my ignorance, please help me to understand what is wrong with the stripe? I gave the shop what I was told was a correct stencil? Since I've owned the car it was always only black so I know very little about stripes.
Thanks

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Welcome from Texas.

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Pardon my ignorance, please help me to understand what is wrong with the stripe? I gave the shop what I was told was a correct stencil? Since I've owned the car it was always only black so I know very little about stripes.
Thanks

It looks fine and unless you are a 71-73 Mach 1 purist you will never notice it, but it starts too far back. The front of the hood black out should start about 2 inches from the front of the trim piece you are missing, the blackout is just starting a little bit further behind than that. To be honest I did not notice it, till the previous poster pointed it out.

 

[1971 m code power windows]

Hello and Welcome from Michigan. Hope the did a good job any you are happy. They screwed up the hood blackout of course. So many shops mess that up. Hope the rest is good!

 

[1971 m code power windows]

It looks fine and unless you are a 71-73 Mach 1 purist you will never notice it, but it starts too far back. The front of the hood black out should start about 2 inches from the front of the trim piece you are missing, the blackout is just starting a little bit further behind than that. To be honest I did not notice it, till the previous poster pointed it out.

Thank you for clarification I don't think too many will notice.
Do you think I should clear coat over the side stripes, or leave them on the surface so they can be replaced easier?

 

[71ProjectJunk]

Being that they are painted gloss black, and not flat like the factory used to do, I see no reason why not to clear coat them. Either way if this car is going to be garaged, and like most of them only used on rare weekends, I doubt the clear coat will make too much of a difference in the protection of the stripes. At the end of the day just do what you like on your car, don't worry too much about what others will think. I feel for you waiting 4 years for that car to be done. I have been there before. The guys that do regular collision jobs are usually not the best to do classic cars, as they usually will only work on your car when there is nothing else to do. The guys that crashed their daily drivers, and are paying with insurance, need their cars fast, so those cars they will do fast. Your car for them is just a toy, if it takes them 1 month or 10 years to do it, you will not be needing it to go to work in it... That is how they look at it. At least the car looks good and straight

 

[mrgmhale]

I say this because, as many of you I love 1971 to 1973 mustangs!
I have been in love with them since I was 10 years old. I remember walking around the block with my older cousin and seeing our neighbors "car lot" ... big Ford guy, three 1971 to 1973 fastback cars. All for sale. Real small town so he would sometimes sell one and later buy it back. I saw this all black 1971 mach 1 numbers matching M code beast, with stock AC stock Power windows slotted mags 15X8 in the front and 15X10 in the back. My cousin was teasing me saying he was going to buy it.
At that moment I started on a plan, six years later the Ford guy had purchased the car back from his son and had it on the "lot" again. And I bought it!!! I have regretted many things in my fifty years.... but never have I regretted Purchasing the love of my life. It hasn't always been pretty, like when at 20 with little to no skill I attempted to restore her, disassembly went quick, that will happen when you don't mark ANYTHING!! lost some parts ruined others during the process. Stored for 9 years with out hardly even looking at her.(had I spent as much money fixing her as storing her she would be winning already)
Got married boughtba house and brought her home and it is more difficult to ignore her when you see her every day.
Got to work put every thing back together got her running real good. Then took it down to what I thought was a reputable paint and body shop, I (bad idea) told the manager I was in no bih hurry, I just wanted a good job. This started a FOUR YEAR odyssey of lies, excuses, lost parts, and of course $$$ but finally.... they are almost done. You can see in the pic that the previous owner put a 1969 mach 1 scoop centered and behind the two other small scoops. I have always loved the look of it so I opted to keep it.
Also in the pics you can see the front hood trim is missing, one of three parts lost by the shop.
I am not a religious man, but please pray for my car to actually come out of the shop!!
I apologize for the long post, but 34 years of ownership gets me that I hope.
Thanks for listening
Doug

Nice back story. Re the center hood scoop, unlike the look. I will not be doing it to our 73 Mach 1 simply because I am concerned about marching the paint. But had I seen that during our restoration I may have opted to go that way. The side scoops for under hood. Lokee Reno’s. The center scoop for the air filter housing inlet with a 360 degree open filter like we have. It may not add enough to show a measurable bump in performance, Ram air really has negligible impact on performance at best. But it looks wicked awesome. Like Carroll Shelby said, when you begin to have too much of something it is just about the right amount. Heh heh. Words to that effect.

 

[RacerX]

Welcome from Texas!

 

[Stevieray]

Welcome from SW Louisiana.