Eric,
I don't think you are being a douche. You are a dedicated Mustang enthusiast and I am glad you are here with us!
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While attending a Shelby meet in about 1980 a bunch of my friends and I noticed how common it was for Mustangs and Shelbys to have stuff added that while cool looking - wasn't really correct for the cars. Back then no one really worried much about that stuff for our 71-3 cars. Shelby owners were starting to care.
But now as we try to better understand how the cars rolled off the assembly line, we use the best tools we have. Good examples are: current owners and their discoveries with their cars and info they have received from other owners, factory dealer and salesman books, related order forms, enthusiast magazines/books, original owner recollections as well as recounts from those that have experienced the cars in one way or another (friend or family member had one, etc.).
Back in the mid 70's these cars were much easier to find. I know DUH... Yes - I was there. And salvage yards WERE always a great place to find cool parts. (Sometimes the swap meets were great too but remember this was WAY before anything like ebay or craigslist...) All the neat stuff could be found - ram air hoods and related under hood pieces, rev limiters, tilt wheel columns, rim blow steering wheels, front disk brake setups, 4 speeds and pedal setups, good sway bars, staggered shock plates, 9 inch trac-lock rear ends, 31 spline axles, power window setups, consoles, deluxe interior door panels, good un-cracked dash pads, tach and gauge setups, honeycomb back tailight panels, pop open gas caps, rear exhaust valence with cutouts, & chrome exhaust tips just to name a few... LOL And dealerships still could get parts – I remember buying a complete ram air under-hood setup at Fred Jones Ford in OKC. I bet lots of guys on here can trump me on that one! My point here is that parts were added and swapped around a lot! And Hillbillys went to salvage yards too – heck some even owned two or three! LOL
Having a cool Mustang or any muscle car commonly meant you mounted big N-50-15's in the back and added air shocks to keep them from rubbing the wheel lips. Unfortunately, back then, my 67 Camaro and 69 Chevelle got that or very similar treatment. Oh yeah - can't forget traction bars!
It was rare back then to find a pony car of any make that didn't have dual exhaust added if not originally equipped. Heck the dealers would refer you to a local muffler shop who they used. The only ones that (usually) didn't have this mod were 6 cylinder equipped cars. Now if you are one who has an all-original car's exhaust that has not been altered or kept stock, I am happy for you if that is what you want. Unmodified cars are rare finds these days. Anyway-- You could usually spot the Mustangs that had 'duals' added because they exited straight out the back below a standard valence OR they ran through the cutouts without the factory chrome tips. Cherry Bombs were the brand of glass-packed mufflers we liked to run back then - soon after that the Turbo type were popular as they offered more horsepower/less backpressure and seemed to last a little longer. Yes, there were cool mufflers before Flowmasters! I remember all my friends ran dual exhaust if they had a V-8 anything including pickups!
Because so much time has passed and these cars have sometimes been through many different dealers/owners, it is not unreasonable to conclude modifications have been made. I’m sure there are many other examples of modifications that are common with our cars like 2-4bbl conversions...
Build what you want and how you want it. There are many great modded cars out there. And there are some really great original cars as well. I seem to find something I like in all of them.
Ray
I'm referring to 1973 351C 4V cars w/dual exhaust, not '72s with singles.
Since you mentioned it though, one of the spotted details from Diamonds are Forever is that one of the cars used in the parking lot scene appears to be a 1971 Mach 1 with a 302, single exhaust and no cutout.
-Kurt
All original 72 CJ equipped cars I've seen have the dual exhausts turning down just below the rear (non cutout) valence similar to the Boss 302/351's.
Ray
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