jjr329
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2011
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- North Aurora, IL
- My Car
- 1973 Mach 1
2008 VW GTI
Hi guys,
Been lurking for a few weeks and thought I'd finally sign up and post an intro. My name is Jordan, I'm 29 and have a 1973 Mach 1. It was originally supposed to be a father-son project started back in 2001 after my mom passed away. Back in the late 70's she used to drive my dad to work in a red 1972 Mach 1. She had a bit of a lead foot in those days and thoroughly enjoyed that car. So we figured this would be a fitting tribute to her.
Little did we know just how much work it would take to do the car right. We bought it thinking it just needed a mild interior refresh (headliner, door panels, carpet) and some minor body work. It quickly turned into a full restoration after problem after problem surfaced. Unfortunately we had a lot of issues with the people who worked on the car. The paint guy had the car for 2 years, did a bad job, and I ended up pulling the car from him unfinished (most paint done, but completely un-assembled).
We had a guy who did a lot of the engine work, basically building up the top end with some of the best parts of the day. Unfortunately he was terrible and liked to cut corners. He basically gave us the car back not running and wanted more money to fix it. Ended up just having the car towed home since he wasn't going to get another dime from me. I found out later that he drilled out the bottom of my MSD billet distributor because he couldn't get it over the oil pump drive shaft.
The car sat for a couple more years with us tinkering with it but not able to get it running. Found an american car specialist, but despite really knowing what he was doing he just wasn't really interested in finishing the car. He had it about a year and only put about 30 hours work into it. He's a one man shop and prefers to work on newer cars so he can charge more per hour. He was able to get the car running and fix a few things, but it was still far from completion.
I officially took it off my dad's hands after getting it back unfinished from the last guy, which was in 2009. I began to do what I could with it, replacing all the nuts and bolts, sway bars, bushings, and other odds and ends while trying to figure out how to get it completely finished. There was just some stuff I could not do.
I finally found the right man for the job. His name is Bob and runs a place called American Auto Restoration about 15 miles away from me. Had him look at the car and he immediately saw issues and things that other people couldn't tell. By this point all of the electrical was messed up, nothing worked. It needed a little bit of everything, mechanical, body, wheels and tires, etc... I had a huge list of things that didn't work and a car full of parts. He picked up the car in July 2011 and I just got it back a little over a week ago.
Bob knew I was itching to get the car back so he did his best to get everything done. With winter fast approaching he gave me the car back about 99.9% completed. Just needing a few parts I was missing or on backorder and am capable of replacing. Luckily we've had several really nice days and I was able to drive the car. It runs great and looks incredible! Finally after 10 long years it's back on the road!
Some specifics on the car:
Color is Ford Dark Shadow Gray. Inspired by me seeing a 2003 Mach 1 in this color.
351C 2V Closed Chamber Aussie heads
Weiand X-CELerator
Holley 750 DP
MSD Billet Dizzy
MSD 6AL
Harland Sharp Roller Rockers
Stock crank
Can't remember cam off the top of my head, hotter than stock.
C6
3:89 locker
Older traction bars color matched to body
17x8 American Racing Original color matched to body
Flowmaster 40 series
Dyno'd 277/297 at the wheels. A little less than I hoped for but not bad considering the pistons are only 7.25:1. I'm sure the power bug will bite me sooner or later.
Link to set with photos of various stages: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjr329/sets/72157625995533149/
Link at the shop that worked on it: http://www.americanautorestoration.com/currentprojects/1973mustangmachlfb.html
Walk-around of car: http://www.youtube.com/user/jjr329#p/a/u/0/ILLPej7qDc0
IMG_2931 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2940 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2934 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2925 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2949 by JJR329, on Flickr
Been lurking for a few weeks and thought I'd finally sign up and post an intro. My name is Jordan, I'm 29 and have a 1973 Mach 1. It was originally supposed to be a father-son project started back in 2001 after my mom passed away. Back in the late 70's she used to drive my dad to work in a red 1972 Mach 1. She had a bit of a lead foot in those days and thoroughly enjoyed that car. So we figured this would be a fitting tribute to her.
Little did we know just how much work it would take to do the car right. We bought it thinking it just needed a mild interior refresh (headliner, door panels, carpet) and some minor body work. It quickly turned into a full restoration after problem after problem surfaced. Unfortunately we had a lot of issues with the people who worked on the car. The paint guy had the car for 2 years, did a bad job, and I ended up pulling the car from him unfinished (most paint done, but completely un-assembled).
We had a guy who did a lot of the engine work, basically building up the top end with some of the best parts of the day. Unfortunately he was terrible and liked to cut corners. He basically gave us the car back not running and wanted more money to fix it. Ended up just having the car towed home since he wasn't going to get another dime from me. I found out later that he drilled out the bottom of my MSD billet distributor because he couldn't get it over the oil pump drive shaft.
The car sat for a couple more years with us tinkering with it but not able to get it running. Found an american car specialist, but despite really knowing what he was doing he just wasn't really interested in finishing the car. He had it about a year and only put about 30 hours work into it. He's a one man shop and prefers to work on newer cars so he can charge more per hour. He was able to get the car running and fix a few things, but it was still far from completion.
I officially took it off my dad's hands after getting it back unfinished from the last guy, which was in 2009. I began to do what I could with it, replacing all the nuts and bolts, sway bars, bushings, and other odds and ends while trying to figure out how to get it completely finished. There was just some stuff I could not do.
I finally found the right man for the job. His name is Bob and runs a place called American Auto Restoration about 15 miles away from me. Had him look at the car and he immediately saw issues and things that other people couldn't tell. By this point all of the electrical was messed up, nothing worked. It needed a little bit of everything, mechanical, body, wheels and tires, etc... I had a huge list of things that didn't work and a car full of parts. He picked up the car in July 2011 and I just got it back a little over a week ago.
Bob knew I was itching to get the car back so he did his best to get everything done. With winter fast approaching he gave me the car back about 99.9% completed. Just needing a few parts I was missing or on backorder and am capable of replacing. Luckily we've had several really nice days and I was able to drive the car. It runs great and looks incredible! Finally after 10 long years it's back on the road!
Some specifics on the car:
Color is Ford Dark Shadow Gray. Inspired by me seeing a 2003 Mach 1 in this color.
351C 2V Closed Chamber Aussie heads
Weiand X-CELerator
Holley 750 DP
MSD Billet Dizzy
MSD 6AL
Harland Sharp Roller Rockers
Stock crank
Can't remember cam off the top of my head, hotter than stock.
C6
3:89 locker
Older traction bars color matched to body
17x8 American Racing Original color matched to body
Flowmaster 40 series
Dyno'd 277/297 at the wheels. A little less than I hoped for but not bad considering the pistons are only 7.25:1. I'm sure the power bug will bite me sooner or later.
Link to set with photos of various stages: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjr329/sets/72157625995533149/
Link at the shop that worked on it: http://www.americanautorestoration.com/currentprojects/1973mustangmachlfb.html
Walk-around of car: http://www.youtube.com/user/jjr329#p/a/u/0/ILLPej7qDc0
IMG_2931 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2940 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2934 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2925 by JJR329, on Flickr
IMG_2949 by JJR329, on Flickr
