VMOA

[goodnigh]

Finally capitulated and joined a local Mustang club.

http://vintagemustang.org/

I was a member of this club before as they are local

and I thought I could get some help and sage advice

about my 1971, I basically got the cold shoulder and

not much advice. They seemed to shy away from our

cars. The reason I joined again is I need a local body

shop and Maybe they know someone willing to work

on my car. Owning a 71-73 and trying to find qualified

help can be difficult. My car has a quench Cleveland (D0AE)

and they only made those for 18 months (?). I understand

the issues of tuning one of these so I do that myself.

The rest is just body work and steel is steel regardless of

the year. Just need a qualified body shop.

mike

 

[Boss1Ray]

Mike,

If you are referencing the M code production you are probably correct.

I am not sure. As for other sites, I have pretty much given up with them other than an occasional check in to see if I've missed much. (I haven't!)

I am sure there are many members in S. Calif. and can refer a good body shop. But still do your own homework.

Best of luck!

Ray

 

[Don C]

One of the ongoing issues that a lot of our members have faced is auto body shops that do mostly insurance work, and push everything else to the back burner. Hopefully the club has someone that is a member or that they can recommend. If not, I would look for someone that specializes in classic car restorations.

 

[goodnigh]

Mike,

If you are referencing the M code production you are probably correct.

I am not sure. As for other sites, I have pretty much given up with them other than an occasional check in to see if I've missed much. (I haven't!)

I am sure there are many members in S. Calif. and can refer a good body shop. But still do your own homework.

Best of luck!

Ray

That's the long block I got from Don. We discussed it is not

"numbers matching" but it is period correct and the heads and

block match but not the VIN.

mike

 

[cazsper]

Mike,

(My name is Mike also).. I also live in the area (Sunnyvale). I seem to have a shop for everything except a bodyshop. For classic mustangs specifically, I would tell you to contact Mitch at Mustang Fever (on Reed right off of Lafayette in Santa Clara). Rear End Specialties (rear ends, gears, axles, etc), manual transmission (All Standard in Campbell), automatic trans (Ron Gates Transmission on El Camino in Sunnyvale), suspension (custom alignment on Wyandot), wngine building (Gromm Racing in San Jose). I have heard good things of Espanas in San Jose (bodyshop). I just haven't needed to use them yet.. I have used everyone here (minus bodywork) on either my '68 coupe or my '73 Mach-1 if not both. I did have some work done by Willy at Debonaire Auto Body. I think they were in Campbell. It's a lot of info but I hope it helps..

Mike

 

[goodnigh]

Mike,

(My name is Mike also).. I also live in the area (Sunnyvale). I seem to have a shop for everything except a bodyshop. For classic mustangs specifically, I would tell you to contact Mitch at Mustang Fever (on Reed right off of Lafayette in Santa Clara). Rear End Specialties (rear ends, gears, axles, etc), manual transmission (All Standard in Campbell), automatic trans (Ron Gates Transmission on El Camino in Sunnyvale), suspension (custom alignment on Wyandot), wngine building (Gromm Racing in San Jose). I have heard good things of Espanas in San Jose (bodyshop). I just haven't needed to use them yet.. I have used everyone here (minus bodywork) on either my '68 coupe or my '73 Mach-1 if not both. I did have some work done by Willy at Debonaire Auto Body. I think they were in Campbell. It's a lot of info but I hope it helps..

Mike

Hi Mike,

There are two main problems, one being I know a lot about this car.

The other, I have no place to work on it. It would be nice to have a

place you could rent for a day to work on your car yourself. Have

already purchased dozens of parts so a body shop won't make any

money by selling me parts. I had a conversation a while back with

Mustang Fever. They wanted $750 to install my clutch I already

purchased. I was told they did not like installing CenterForce clutches.

Oh well, it is a three hour driveway job if you have a driveway.

All you need to do mechanical work is a wrench and a prayer while

body work is a little more complicated.

Another issue is the car is rare, only 100 where made. That's a 1971

M-code Grande with toploader and competition suspension package.

So I need to be careful how this is done. Thanks for your advice.

mike