The Mach-A-Reina build thread

[chuckludwig]

Hello y'all!
Recently I got my dream car: a 1971 Mach 1 in white. It's a car I'd been pining after for a long while. The car (of course) has some issues and I've been slowly trying to work through them. Some are major, some are minor and some are TBD! The car itself is rather high milage. I'm guessing 105k and is a respray (it originally was red). If i know what I know now after having it a little, perhaps I would have gotten a different one and just painted it myself, but I'm sure any car that was in my budget would have a few gremlins. Overall I'm really excited about the car still. The fact that it isn't perfect I see as an attribute, not a failing. I plan to make some perhaps heretical additions to the car, and if it was a real beauty I would feel bad.

I've decided to use my thread here to help document this build and hopefully any issues I square away will help other people with their issues. If anyone has suggestions as to what I'm working on, I'm all ears!


(Also the name is a play off my last name, Reina and the 90s dance craze the Macarena)

 

[tpj71mach]

Good luck with your build I look forward to following the thread. Have fun and enjoy the process, after all it's the journey not the destination., haha.

Love the name, doing the Mach-a-Reina!

BTW, that is the best color combination and I am not biased at all, well maybe I am a little biased, LOL.

 

[bkdunha]

Welcome. I also like the build name. Very catchy. You have found a great group to be part of. A very respectful family friendly group with a wealth of knowledge if you have any questions as the project evolves. I also like the white and black combo. If I win the lottery (NOT!) i would be on the look out for a white and black Boss 1. That would be a keeper for me. Keep us posted as the build progresses and remember its your car and your timeline make sure to enjoy both.

 

[Sheriff41]

Howdy and welcome from San Antonio! Looks like you scored a nice Mach 1.

 

[Idaho Chris]

Welcome from North Idaho. I look forward to following your progress. Love the white color!

 

[cjstaci]

Welcome from NM.
Everybody’s doing the Mach-a-Reina,
come on, come on, do the Mach-a-reina,
You know you’re gonna like it when you work on it now,
come on, come on, do the Mach-a-Reina

 

[James Bond]

Looks like a great car to start with, welcome from NW Oregon.

 

[mach71351c]

Welcome from San Diego.

 

[chuckludwig]

Continue to putter along on the car. Today I spent all morning sledge hammering out a wall so I can install a garage door in my art studio. This way I will be able to keep the car inside and get more work done on a level surface.

I've slowly been replacing all the lights with LEDs which is nice. I appreciate the added visibility, especially as I live out in a twisty and dark part of TX. I've done a few other small bits and bobs. The battery tray is totally rusted (of course!) out so I fabbed a new temporary one until I can weld in replacement sheetmetal. Replaced the hood bumpers. Fixed the T handle on the transmission and also start to try and make sense of the wiring.

Upcoming projects:
- Drain C6 and replace pan with larger pan (now with a *GASP* drain plug!)
- Drop oil pan and see what is going on down there. Probably need to replace the harmonic balancer, bearings, and swap the nuts for ARP nuts. If anyone has numbers on how many of each I need to order, I would really appreciate it.
- Start building new wiring harness. The existing harness is so jacked up and spliced together, I think I'm just going to make a new one. Electronics is something I'm not bad at so hopefully isn't too much of a nightmare.

Want to do projects:
- Engine tune up? I'm really not sure what it needs. This is an area I feel a little in the unknown about but excited to learn. There is so much wisdom from y'all out there, it is hard to make sense of it. Car certainly feels like it could be making a little more power than it is, but IDK.
- Replace differential. I would like to put a detroit trac loc in there I think.
- Hook up new stereo
- Tin Man Subframe connectors

 

[midlife]

Be aware that you should not replace your brake proportioning valve warning light nor the alternator indicator light with LEDs. The brake light has a peculiar ground, so that a polarity sensitive LED might not work. The alternator idiot lamp requires an incandescent bulb as it is part of the electrical circuit. If you use an LED, you run the risk of not charging your system.

 

[chuckludwig]

Be aware that you should not replace your brake proportioning valve warning light nor the alternator indicator light with LEDs. The brake light has a peculiar ground, so that a polarity sensitive LED might not work. The alternator idiot lamp requires an incandescent bulb as it is part of the electrical circuit. If you use an LED, you run the risk of not charging your system.

Thank you! I did not know that. Currently NONE of the dash lights are hooked up, which is annoying. I am planing on replacing out the dash with a Dakota at some point. Not sure how to wire in those lights at that point.

 

[Bobby]

Welcome and Howdee from Texas. I noticed the rear wheel is chocked. Non-functioning parking brake?

 

[chuckludwig]

Welcome and Howdee from Texas. I noticed the rear wheel is chocked. Non-functioning parking brake?

Good eye Bobby! Yes parking break is out, which is not great here in hill country! Not 100% sure where the issue is. Waiting on some parts to replace that system. Now that I have the car inside and on a level surface, it should be easier for me to jack it up and take a peak.

 

[Bobby]

Good eye Bobby! Yes parking break is out, which is not great here in hill country! Not 100% sure where the issue is. Waiting on some parts to replace that system. Now that I have the car inside and on a level surface, it should be easier for me to jack it up and take a peak.

I had the same problem with mine. The brake system as a whole was rotten. The emergency cable on both sides at the rear drums was rusted and gone. You should be able to find all the replacement parts including the sheilded brake cable. I upgraded my braking with new four wheel disc. The rear package had the emergency/parking brake. Even though it is disc brakes the emergency portion of it works very well.

 

[tony-muscle]

Continue to putter along on the car. Today I spent all morning sledge hammering out a wall so I can install a garage door in my art studio. This way I will be able to keep the car inside and get more work done on a level surface.

I've slowly been replacing all the lights with LEDs which is nice. I appreciate the added visibility, especially as I live out in a twisty and dark part of TX. I've done a few other small bits and bobs. The battery tray is totally rusted (of course!) out so I fabbed a new temporary one until I can weld in replacement sheetmetal. Replaced the hood bumpers. Fixed the T handle on the transmission and also start to try and make sense of the wiring.

Upcoming projects:
- Drain C6 and replace pan with larger pan (now with a *GASP* drain plug!)
- Drop oil pan and see what is going on down there. Probably need to replace the harmonic balancer, bearings, and swap the nuts for ARP nuts. If anyone has numbers on how many of each I need to order, I would really appreciate it.
- Start building new wiring harness. The existing harness is so jacked up and spliced together, I think I'm just going to make a new one. Electronics is something I'm not bad at so hopefully isn't too much of a nightmare.

Want to do projects:
- Engine tune up? I'm really not sure what it needs. This is an area I feel a little in the unknown about but excited to learn. There is so much wisdom from y'all out there, it is hard to make sense of it. Car certainly feels like it could be making a little more power than it is, but IDK.
- Replace differential. I would like to put a detroit trac loc in there I think.
- Hook up new stereo
- Tin Man Subframe connectors

Consider a TrueTrac instead of the Detroit unless you are intro drag racing only. The TrueTrac will work much better for city, cruising and high performance driving.

 

[chuckludwig]

Consider a TrueTrac instead of the Detroit unless you are intro drag racing only. The TrueTrac will work much better for city, cruising and high performance driving.

Right you are! Sorry I keep getting those confused. Do you have any experience with putting one in? That seems like it might be something I take to a professional, but I'm not sure where to go for someone in the know on how to do it right. Open to suggestions. Also, what gearing? I have a 3.0 9" in the back now according to my Marti.