My 71 Build

[Kilgon]

The following is my journey so far with my 71.   I will be updating over the next few weeks since I already have a lot done. 

In 2012 my older brother purchased a 71 Mach1 and had a 460 with a c6 put in it.  Something he always wanted.  Interior was striped out except for the front seats. All the other parts were there.  The car overall wasn't in to bad of shape and was drivable.  He intended to have it restored.    He was also a pilot and had his own plane.  Over the following years he ended up putting his money in the plane instead of the car and it sat in his garage. 

Jump ahead to late 2016.  My brother is diagnosed with lung cancer and given 8 months to live.  Before he passed away in February 2017 he gave me the car.  I was honored to get it.  I was sad but excited to have it to work on.  I grew up working on cars. Been active in the industry building engines for strip and dirt tracks over the years.  

 I went and picked the car up mid March of 2017.  Had it towed to the house since it hadn't ran for 4 years.  After bringing it home I started working on it.  First thing was to clean the mold off the seats and headliner. Next was to evict all the creatures that had decided to make the dash their home.

I Proceeded to change the oil, pull the plugs and valve covers and do a good visual inspection.  I then pull the distributor and used a oil pump priming tool to get oil into the bearings and up to the rockers.  I sprayed some fogging oil in the cylinder and turn it over with the plugs out. 

Satisfied that all seemed well it was time to start.  Ah, the sweet sound of a roar. Attached is the first fire up after sitting for 4 years.  Video is from March 2017. Sorry about my ugly mug.  lol

More to follow in next few days.

 

[Don C]

Sorry to hear about your brother. It's fantastic that you got it running. Sounds like your brother knew what he was doing when he left it to you.

 

[72Mach168Cam]

That may not have been Gabriel blowing his horn. But that was the exhaust note of yesteryear, one that your brother is sure to be smiling down upon, as you heard it fire up. I look forward to this build!

 

[73pony]

Sorry for the loss of your brother. Car sounds great.

 

[cwalker509]

Sorry for the loss of your brother. You honor him by continuing what he started. Good luck with the car. I also have a 460 I plan to install. Not much room to work on things with the BB installed

 

[NOT A T5]

I am sorry for the loss of your brother! One of my brothers hanged himself in a tree. So sad...

 

[protouringstang73]

Sorry to hear that sad story! But what an awesome sounding car! Do I remember correctly, did you post that story on facebook too in a group? I think we wrote together in there

 

[1sostatic]

Awesome looking car and I like the engine note... much more "poppy" than mine. Very nice your Brother leaving you that nice Mustang, carries a very special message from him to you in his passing, the car keeps his memory going. 

all the best to you 

Al

 

[Kilgon]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and thoughts.  So sorry about your brother Not A.  I'm for sure that we all here have experience grief from the lost of a family member or friend. With all of its highs and lows, its part of this wonderful journey we call life.

A note that needs to be added is that I am building this to what my brother "thought he had purchased".  See below.

And I have not posted about this on facebook. 

Getting  started:

Over the next few weeks in March of 17 I drove the car around getting the feel of it (loving the power) and just enjoying it. I've become popular. It's amazing how many people took notice and wanted to talk to me about the car. They don't do this when I'm driving my truck. lol

During this time I notice that the engine was running rich and spent the next few days working on the issue and tuning the engine.  Had to change the power valve to a lower one. Only pulling 7 inches of hg.  I know the engine has a big cam, roller tappets and rockers.  Unfortunately my brother could not remember much more about the engine he had put in it. The info I had at this time on the car was that it has a 460ci - holley 850 double pumper - C6 with shift kit - 2800 stall converter and a 3.70 traclok rear end.

I ordered a complete set of manuals and started doing some online research on the vin.  As Gomer Pyle would say - Surprise Surprise!  Its NOT a mach1.  Just a 02 base that's been dressed up.  What can I say.   My brother was misled about the car.  Unless one would know the difference it looks like and is decaled as a Mach1.  The good part is that the dash, door and fender vin match. 

So, over the past few years and as this builld progresses I will be turning it into a wannabe Mach1 for my brother.  As Don C would say, it's your car you can do whatever you want.  Thanks Don for being the voice of reason.  A few pics from the start of the project in 17 plus the vin.

More to come.









anonymous photo upload

 

[protouringstang73]

Okay sorry about that.. I just wrote with a guy on facebook who had a story allmost like yours, sorry for that, my mistake.. cant wait to see that car come along nicely

 

[mach71351c]

All the reason to keep moving on this one. Sorry for your loss.

 

[timachone]

I am sorry for the loss of your brother! 

It is great to see you carry on the legacy and you are working on his car, that is now yours. 

It sounds very strong! Keep the things going and enjoy it as much as you can  ::thumb::

 

[Kilgon]

Thanks everyone again for your condolences, - Moving on.

April of 17

During this time I was taking notes on the things that needed to get done.  On the cosmetic and body side of the list was all new interior, repair battery apron, repair or replace cowl,  patch trunk floor, fix rusted area around hood latch bar, new rear bumper, repair or replace heater box, and standard body work and paint.  On the mechanical side was brakes, rear trans seal, rear end yoke seal, fix or replace smashed headers, replace heater core, and pull the radiator and have it cleaned.

I figured I would start with the battery tray and apron.  The battery tray  was missing all together and had a piece of 1 x 6 board as the tray with a bungy cord hold down.  The apron was ate out below it.  I ordered a new tray with support and hold down.  I cut out the bad area and made a temporary patch for the time being.  I will replace the apron at a later date.  Sorry but I don't have a picture of the patch.  I lost about 4 months worth of pictures somehow.  Was having a issue with my computer and it decided to erase several folders for some reason.



Ate out apron



Battery tray and hold down from company X.   :angel:

Took the car out for a spin and the power steering started getting hard.  Checked the fluid and the belt and both were okay.    Over the next few days it would come and go so I figured the pump was going.  The pump had a tag on it and appeared to be a replacement unit.  

I ordered a rebuild pump only from NAPA and got it the next day.  I pulled the old pump and found out that the pulley has been welded at the center of the hub and there was no flange for the puller to grip onto.  Had to cut the pulley off.  I checked around and found a used one on ebay for $45.  A little rusty but I would clean up and paint.

Got the new used pulley about a week later and put the pump back on the car.  Hmmm - got a whine in it.  WT#$@*!  Tried everything I could think of to make sure I had all the air out of the  system.  No luck.  Pull the pump back off and disassembled it and took back to NAPA and got another replacement.  This one took a couples of days to get.  Got it put in and all went well this time.  

Time to relax and take a drive.



Pump before rebuild.



Used pulley I got from ebay.



Picture of pump from NAPA.

More to come.

 

[Kilgon]

Going to jump ahead in my journal of rebuilding my 71 but just got these over the weekend from the shop that's painting the car.  Got to say I'm excited.

 

[timachone]

Wow, that are some beautiful pictures  :coolphotos:

::congrats::

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

It is tough for sure when you loose a family member. You will always have his memory for sure.  

The car not being a Mach 1 is not a big thing. People think the Mach 1 package was a big performance thing, NOT. It was a appearance package or smoke and mirrors Ford thing.

The only think the Mach 1 package got you that you could not get on another model was the name Mach 1, The plastic runner in the front carpet, the rear honey comb tail light panel and the Mach 1 sports interior option if it was ordered with it. 

The base Mach 1 was nothing in the way of performance. You had to add options to go faster that could be added to any model. You even got the Mach 1 grill if you got the Decor Group. 

99.9% of the people that see the car will not know the difference for sure. It is your car do it like you want for sure.

 

[OzCoupe72]

Looks great!

Is it 2B Bright Red and did you clear coat it or just single stage top coat?

 

[Kilgon]

Looks great!

Is it 2B Bright Red and did you clear coat it or just single stage top coat?

Color code is 3 which is bright red for the 71's.  It is 2 stage base coat and clear over it.  

 

Base coat

 

[mach71351c]

That's a big jump ahead! Looks awesome!