Tim's 1973 Mach 1 rebuild thread - it's done in 2023 on it's 50th birthday!

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Great to see you going such great work especially getting the hood layout right.

 

[timachone]

Great to see you going such great work especially getting the hood layout right.

David, thank you very much. These words especially from you concerning the hood layout are very appreciated  :thankyouyellow:

 

[tony-muscle]

End-result  :thumb:  

I am quite satisfied  :banana:

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Wow. Looks so nice. Nothing like freshly painted body panels!

 

[baz70]

that hood is a work of art.

 

[timachone]

that hood is a work of art.

:thankyouyellow: very much  :heart:  

Wow. Looks so nice. Nothing like freshly painted body panels!

Thank you verys much, Tony  :beer:  Yeah, it is sooo exciting every time you get a panel back from the painter - it's like a small Christmas every time! 

 

[timachone]

Last evening I began with my 6-year-old the disassembling of the rear axle... It began and ended up really good  :thumb:



Saw some interesting solutions, asked some questions about it there: 









28-spline - original to the axle and fits to the axle tag  :wrench:

Confirmed: '73 Mach 1 with 351C 4V, 4-speed, competition suspension and 3.50 (non locking) gears came original with 28-spline axles  :thumb:



Black, coated with carbon, but not dead  :thumb:



Original Ford-seal, was still sealing  :thumb:

 

[73MustangCoupe]

End-result  :thumb:  

I am quite satisfied  :banana:

View attachment 48624

The hood looks great!!  You're doing great work, and watching your work inspires me to keep going on my project, too. 

 

[timachone]

The hood looks great!!  You're doing great work, and watching your work inspires me to keep going on my project, too. 

Thank you very much! That makes me happy inspiring you  :wrench:  That's how the other resto threads inspiring me, too  :thumb:  

Keep up your good work, too! I am looking forward to your progress  :wrench:

 

[timachone]

Yesterday I layed down with 5 layers of clothes and removed the rear leaf spings and the rear axle. To my surprise the front bolt of the front eye bushing of the rear leafs were going out almost like butter. A little wiggeling with the leafs, a small punch here and there out they where! Thank god sometime in the very past the previous owner changed the springs, put some big shackles in the rear, air shocks and painted all red - it's not that I am that thankful of all these things but at least he put in new valuable bolts everywhere so I had no problems taking them out! Puh...  :biggrin: :thumb:  

 

[timachone]

Some new parts arrived  :thumb:





And I wrestled the third member from the axle housing - over an hour of smart hammering and swiveling, out she was  :biggrin:

And, surpise, I have an N-case  :wrench:











This old black gunk is a mess... I don't know how to get rid of this tar-like gunk  :classic_blink:

 

[Kilgon]

Some new parts arrived  :thumb:

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And I wrestled the third member from the axle housing - over an hour of smart hammering and swiveling, out she was  :biggrin:

And, surpise, I have an N-case  :wrench:

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This old black gunk is a mess... I don't know how to get rid of this tar-like gunk  :classic_blink:

Nice looking new lines.  That is some nasty looking stuff.  Make sure you check the gears for excessive wear.  Too heavy of a weight oil can be just as damaging as too light weight.  I would try some brake cleaner and see if that works.  If not then I would let it soak in parts cleaner solvent.  I use Oil Eater and also B'laster.  They both work well as many others out there do also.

 

[timachone]

Last weekend I did the 3rd member with my friend Oli and his great experience concerning rear ends was a big help. It was a 12h job including new axle shaft bearings. But all went flush as good as it could be! So we could dial in the gears perfectly with a very good contact pattern. The gears looked still very nice and we were able to get good toothing with a big wide area pattern, preload and backlash perfect though. By doing this we changed the open carrier to a limited slip one, a original Ford one, the M-4204-F28A, I bought five years ago. We used Timken and Koyo USA bearings for all, so good to go for the next 50 years. Surprisingly the 3rd member was with an original Daytona pinion support! Now I had not the correct bearing with me. For gods sake Oli reminded that he once had one for another project years ago. And he DID find it, so the work could go on  :wrench: Now I can say, in April 1973 Ford built my T5 with a 9" rear end with open carrier, small bearings, 28 spline axles but N-case and Daytona support. Really interesting - with a 351C 4V, 3.50 gears and 4-speed. Not what to expect but so it was the last weeks before a great model change by Ford in the past - to my luck, I am happy with that combination. I was even more happy when I saw the original red oxide paint under the overpaint and crud and some yellow and greenish paint markings I will replicate, yeah  :classic_smile:

Enough said, here are the pictures: 



Contact pattern before overhaul - quite good  :thumb:





































Now to the axles - this was not even an hour job - really cool  :wrench:











Yesterday, there was some de-rusting  :classic_tongue:







More to come soon...  :wrench:

 

[droptop73]

That is an odd combination of parts. Ford must have been cleaning out the parts bin. 

 

[timachone]

That is an odd combination of parts. Ford must have been cleaning out the parts bin. 

Yepp - that's what I wanted to say  :biggrin:

 

[timachone]

Small update: hood installed  :thumb:

Onto the restored original hinges with fresh AMK bolts - yummy  :wrench:









x

 

[droptop73]

That looks better than new! 

 

[timachone]

That looks better than new! 

Thanks Jeff  :biggrin:

 

[timachone]

Yesterday I released the original fuel tank and I was suprised how good that sheet metal above it looks. I was in fear about some rot but it looks like brand new! There were some fabrication marks on the tank too, the vapor unit looks usable and all the vapor stuff looked originally attached and untouched at the same time. The tank bands had their original color on the backside - it is a semi flat black! All in all a very reusable tank but I will take it on the attic as a spare and use a new made in Canada unit from Spectra Premium  :thumb:

 

[Stanglover]

Tim, nice isn't it to find a pristine trunk floor! 

A tip I can offer is to go to the hardware store and buy 3/8-16 x 3.5" (or 4") galvanized carriage bolts, nuts and washers for the tank straps. Also good choice on the Spectra Premium F32A tank. I bought from RockAuto, much cheaper. The better sender is the Dorman 692232, but may need to be calibrated. I did mine with 5 US gallons,19 liters, in the new tank and needed to adjust the arm upward (I think) as it was reading high. In the vapor return, the "filter" likely is shot. I honestly don't remember what I used, but it may have been a piece of Scotch Brite. Some SS steel wool might work as well. I think it's more of a baffle than anything, to stop fuel splashing down the vent tube...or not. I also added some 1/16" solid rubber pads to the tank.

On mine, I replaced the fuel lines with SS and fuel injector ethanol resistant rubber line. PLEASE use correct fuel line clamps, not gear clamps. Here are a couple of pic.

Didn't we discuss this before?  Don't forget to replace the tank seal to filler tube and the trunk floor rubber.

 

[timachone]

Tim, nice isn't it to find a pristine truck floor! 

A tip I can offer is to go to the hardware store and buy 3/8-16 x 3.5" (or 4") galvanized carriage bolts, nuts and washers for the tank straps. Also good choice on the Spectra Premium F32A tank. I bought from RockAuto, much cheaper. The better sender is the Dorman 692232, but may need to be calibrated. I did mine with 5 US gallons,19 liters, in the new tank and needed to adjust the arm upward (I think) as it was reading high. In the vapor return, the "filter" likely is shot. I honestly don't remember what I used, but it may have been a piece of Scotch Brite. Some SS steel wool might work as well. I think it's more of a baffle than anything, to stop fuel splashing down the vent tube...or not. I also added some 1/16" solid rubber pads to the tank.

On mine, I replaced the fuel lines with SS and fuel injector ethanol resistant rubber line. PLEASE use correct fuel line clamps, not gear clamps. Here are a couple of pic.

Didn't we discuss this before?  Don't forget to replace the tank seal to filler tube and the trunk floor rubber.

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Geoff, 

thank you for your input  :thumb:

Yes, I was happy to find the floor that way. Not every can you open shows some new problems, that was nice! 

For the bolts I will use the original ones, threads are fine, got them loose quite good. Some cleaning and oil and they are ready to go again. 

For the sender I believe you are right - the Spectra looks very cheaply. Although I have a spare copper swimmer it doesn't fit in the Spectra sender arm. So I will have a go for the Dorman one. I think to have calibrating them is quite normal... 

For the scotch brite: do you mean something like this: 

If so I could rob one off my wife...  :biggrin:  

No big deal on the fuel clamps: I still have some new of the original style ones I will use, I bought a bunch some years ago, I like them. Some new rubber and cleaning the fuel hard lines inside and outside will do the rest, I will remove them anyway, like the brake lines we talked about before. I have all the other stuff, too, like filler seal, filler boot etc.  :thumb:  Will wait until temperature will go over 60 °F so I can protect the floor before reinstalling the new tank...