MuscleTang mod project thread (1971 M-Mach 1)

[srrodder]

You are staying busy for sure.

When you do the inner fender under the battery you will need to get a new reinforcement that goes under the battery for the battery box bolts. I got one off eBay last year that was a perfect copy and great repo. I do not know if they are still on there or not. The repo inner does not have the reinforcement or did not in past. I am sure you know to wash that area with baking soda to kill any acid still there before prep for paint.

Thanks David. I need to see in what condition mine is. Would you have a link or picture of the reinforcement?

More power to everyone doing extensive restorations. I did the same on a 1969 GT. I recently bought a 1971 M-code Mach 1 that is 99% rust free and with original paint and interior. I have taken the interior out to check for rust and found none, and I have used a bore scope to check the inside of "frame" members and also found no rust. I don't know how it survived 47 years in the Maryland/Virginia area in this condition. I plan to keep the body mostly unrestored but fix any mechanical and electrical problems that crop up.

 

[tony-muscle]

Last night I made some progress after a few days of being under the weather.

Drained the radiator, removed radiator hoses, disconnected trans cooling lines but will leave laying in there until I remove the engine, removed drive shaft, disconnected all the wires, hoses and links connected to the transmission. Now that I have all disconnected from the transmission I am leaning towards removing the transmission first. Looks like a very easy process to do from under the car. That will save me from removing the headers. I would like to keep the headers in the car when I remove/install the engine. That should also reduce the risk of banging the transmisión against the tunnel.

A question, do I have to support the rear of the engine in any way after the transmission is removed?

 

[73pony]

OK. So here is my take. When I did my FMX to T5 swap I left the engine in the car and pulled the trans from under the car. It was not an easy task as I did not have a lift or trans jack. It wasn't horrible but when I did my engine rebuild I pulled the engine and trans as one unit and put it back in the car the same way. I disconnected the headers at the collectors and at the heads and fished them out first. It wasn't too bad and the engine and trans come out as one unit pretty easy and did not bang on the tunnel.

When I pulled just the trans the motor did sit ok on its own but I did block it for safety sake anyhow.

 

[tony-muscle]

Continued today disassembling the front of the engine, fan, and radiator. There is a lot of room between the engine and the rad support!

I was able to better look at my front crossmember. I know it had some kind of bend because I had some issues with the strut rods. From the top I can clearly see how is bend. This car at some point was involved in an accident. The radiator support looks also fixed. The front frame rail in the passenger side also shows an indentation on the inner half right where the crossmember is welded. Now I am wondering, if I should remove the front crossmember and weld a new one. The Dynacorn crossmember goes for $300+. I wonder if it would be worth it, and I wonder how good is the repro. The story repeats, one thing always leads to the other......

 

[turtle5353]

Continued today disassembling the front of the engine, fan, and radiator. There is a lot of room between the engine and the rad support!

I was able to better look at my front crossmember. I know it had some kind of bend because I had some issues with the strut rods. From the top I can clearly see how is bend. This car at some point was involved in an accident. The radiator support looks also fixed. The front frame rail in the passenger side also shows an indentation on the inner half right where the crossmember is welded. Now I am wondering, if I should remove the front crossmember and weld a new one. The Dynacorn crossmember goes for $300+. I wonder if it would be worth it, and I wonder how good is the repro. The story repeats, one thing always leads to the other......

Mine is the same way only a lot worse. Mine is pushed up and back and is cracked. I welded up the crack and added some bracing. Not a permanent fix but good enough for now.

My plan for mine is to replace it with the dynacorn repop when im ready to restore my car again. probably a couple years from now.  But before you replace it, I would take it to a frame shop and have everything checked and tweaked back into shape. Yours may not need replaced if its not that bad, mine will definitely need replaced. You will need to have the frame all nice and straight before you cut anything out. I would also weld in a temp. brace to keep the frame rails from moving when you cut out the old one. Cutting it out and welding in a new one looks pretty straight forward with the engine out of the way.

I will also be replacing my motor crossmember....... whoever owned my car before me had to be related to Bo and Luke Duke!!

 

[tony-muscle]

Continued today disassembling the front of the engine, fan, and radiator. There is a lot of room between the engine and the rad support!

I was able to better look at my front crossmember. I know it had some kind of bend because I had some issues with the strut rods. From the top I can clearly see how is bend. This car at some point was involved in an accident. The radiator support looks also fixed. The front frame rail in the passenger side also shows an indentation on the inner half right where the crossmember is welded. Now I am wondering, if I should remove the front crossmember and weld a new one. The Dynacorn crossmember goes for $300+. I wonder if it would be worth it, and I wonder how good is the repro. The story repeats, one thing always leads to the other......

Mine is the same way only a lot worse. Mine is pushed up and back and is cracked. I welded up the crack and added some bracing. Not a permanent fix but good enough for now.

My plan for mine is to replace it with the dynacorn repop when im ready to restore my car again. probably a couple years from now.  But before you replace it, I would take it to a frame shop and have everything checked and tweaked back into shape. Yours may not need replaced if its not that bad, mine will definitely need replaced. You will need to have the frame all nice and straight before you cut anything out. I would also weld in a temp. brace to keep the frame rails from moving when you cut out the old one. Cutting it out and welding in a new one looks pretty straight forward with the engine out of the way.

I will also be replacing my motor crossmember....... whoever owned my car before me had to be related to Bo and Luke Duke!!

I think the best for me is to replace the front crossmember while the engine is out. It looks fairly easy. I ordered the Dynacorn one so I hope the reproduction is decent. Since I am only replacing the front crossmember I wonder if I still need to brace it. I had already measured the squareness of the frame when I did my floors and all looked good at that time.

 

[turtle5353]

I would still brace it. You don't want to cut it out and have anything spring. Cheap easy insurance to weld in a brace or two out of some scrap or just buy some angle iron or square tubing.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I have to agree with Kevin. If the car was hit hard enough to do that damage you need to take to frame shop and get it right before you start on it.

There will be stress in the under body from the accident and when you do cut the member out things will move for sure so do the bracing.

I was working on a Chevy Nova 1974 model. Putting a clutch in and when I unbolted the crossmember the two frame rails went crazy and move over an inch. I had to use a huge bar clamp to pull them back in place to put the cross member back in. She had ran into ditch and minor bend to car but the frame was twisted.

 

[tony-muscle]

I have to agree with Kevin. If the car was hit hard enough to do that damage you need to take to frame shop and get it right before you start on it.

There will be stress in the under body from the accident and when you do cut the member out things will move for sure so do the bracing.

I was working on a Chevy Nova 1974 model. Putting a clutch in and when I unbolted the crossmember the two frame rails went crazy and move over an inch. I had to use a huge bar clamp to pull them back in place to put the cross member back in. She had ran into ditch and minor bend to car but the frame was twisted.

Will any of you guys have the dimension from the front of the engine crossmember to the rear of the front crossmember? Also, the diagonal dimensions between the two crossmembers? I have the document with chassis dimensions, but I don't see how it can help me locate the front crossmember.

 

[tony-muscle]

Last night I removed the headers bolts and the steering pump.

All I have left is the A/C compressor. I didn't think much about it before, but how do I safely remove the A/C refrigerant?

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

You don't. Hang the compressor and lines on the shock tower and work around it.

 

[tony-muscle]

You don't.  Hang the compressor and lines on the shock tower and work around it.

Thanks. Sounds simple.  :chin:

I need to check that the line from the compressor to the firewall is not too much in the way. I guess I can try rerouting it to go around the rear of the engine, but it seems too short. I will work on it tonight to see how can I reroute them out of the way.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

I usually hire a child of mine to hold and move the compressor while pulling an engine-they work cheap, if not well.

BTW your work looks very nice. Well done!

 

[tony-muscle]

I usually hire a child of mine to hold and move the compressor while pulling an engine-they work cheap, if not well.

BTW your work looks very nice.  Well done!

That would be a good resource. Mine is not yet that strong. That compressor is heavy!

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

My sons are 6'1" and 185 and 6'2" and 210. I'll send you one if you promise to feed and educate him and not send him back for 4 years.

 

[tony-muscle]

My sons are 6'1" and 185 and 6'2" and 210.  I'll send you one if you promise to feed and educate him and not send him back for 4 years.

rofl

Can I have them mow, paint, grind rust, clean oily parts, mop, build a tree house, and buy groceries?

lollerz

Right now I am feeding and educating a 3'6". Not quite ready for two of that size!

:chin:

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

They are both really good at keeping chairs from levitating and cleaning out the fridge

 

[tony-muscle]

Today I was able to remove the transmission. Very easy job! What it took me the longest was to move the scissors lift from under the car and moved it back in place. I couldn't remove the trans with the lift underneath so i pulled the lift out with a trailer winch - thing is 1,000 lbs. I first raised the car and dropped it over 13" of ramp and wood. Then I removed the lift and then the transmission. Lifting the car 13" was the sweet amount. I moved the trans forward under the car. The 13" were barely enough. I took the time to attach an 8x2 to the floor jack. That made the job very easy.

https://ibb.co/kHc3Vb

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[turtle5353]

Nice!! Good job! That little lift gotta be handy.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I will see if I can get you some measurements on the frame today.

If you do have to remove the compressor you should have the system emptied by someone with a pump to do so. If it was not charged and there is little in it and you have one of the fill connections for the cans you can bleed it off with it. Wear gloves and goggles when working on air cond. You can freeze something very quick. It is not good for you or the environment to let it in the air and some of the refrigerants are flammable.