Mach 1 grille on '71 Coupe?

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Mustangfeverrr

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Location
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My Car
'71 351C coupe
I hope this isn't too obvious a question, but is it safe to assume that a '71 Mach 1 style grille will bolt right on to a '71 Grande? I really like that style, with the lights, but am not interested in doing any fabbing to make it fit.

Thanks!

 
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The center support with the hood latch on a standard grill has a single piece of metal that extends down to the belly pan under the bumper. The center of the grill mounts to this piece.

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On a deluxe grill the center support has two support pieces that run parallel about 8" apart that the grill mount to. If you feel comfortable fabricating, you can modify what you have to make it work or buy one.

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From this thread: http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-grill-support-bracket

 
Ah! That's the kind of thing I needed to know.

Thank you very much for the info!

edit: odd, I just went out and looked at my car, and my standard grille has the two supports! I guess I'm a leg up on the swap?!

 
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The new grilles have six mounting holes so they are designed to be interchangeable with both the single centre support and the double centre support cars.

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The early 71's had the dual support brackets from the hood latch to the bottom of the radiator support. From 6/14/71 the single support bracket was used until 1973 production ended. As Brett very well illustrated, the replacement grills had the mounting holes so they could be used with either version hood latch support you had.

 
I did that exact swap on my 72 vert and it bolted right in. I used the same headlight finds as they are interchangeable too.

The single center support thingy from the standard grille fit the Mach1 grille too.

 
Since the center part of the Mach1 grill is not as recessed as the standard grill, you will need a bracket that attaches to the front of the hood latch support and to the rear of the grill. To my knowledge this part is not reproduced and can be a challenge to find at times. I would check with Don (OMS) or Mike (Motorcity Mustang) and see if they have any "Gently" used ones. If you look at post #3 from computercarguy, the first picture he posted shows a great view of what you need. Good luck with your project.

 
Apparently it doesn't need to be supported. lol. I may want to look for some.
It's not really necessary. My center support was missing for years.

It was never a problem with the standard grille.

As soon as I put the Mach1 grille in the problem was that when the car was idling at a stop the whole grille would start shaking like crazy and it was visible. Also sometimes it would rattle.

After the third person told me there must be something wrong with my grille because it was shaking I decided to do something about it.

The effect was indeed stronger with the Mach1 grille than with the standard one. The standard grille is sturdier due to its design where the center is much more recessed.

 
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