Worth restoring?

[rustang71]

Trying to determine if this would be worth trying to restore these days or not. This Mach 1 has a huge hole where a sunroof used to be, and what appears to be evidence of a green 3/4 vinyl roof that wasn't on the factory ordered options (not sure if dealers installed them or not, but the dealer list their records in a fire in 1974). It has a fair amount of rust and several of the harder to find components missing (such as the ram air, the power window controls, interior). Let me know what you think. I obviously think it could be a great car, but I've not ever attempted to restore one, so I'm not sure what kind of time and money it tends to take. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Pictures would help.

 

[rustang71]

I would, but its under a truck tarp with 2 other mustangs and buttoned up for a long Idaho winter.

 

[will e]

It probably depends on your plans. 'Restore' can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Taking it back to factory original like condition will increase the costs double or more depending on how much of a stickler you are for original parts. If the idea is to sell it you won't get the money out of it.

Fixing it up to drive around won't be cheap but will cost less. You can make it how you like and enjoy it. But you'll probably still lose money when it comes time to sell.

 

[72MustangSprint]

Does it have its original drivetrain? M code and sportdeck are two pluses for me

 

[Marks1]

It probably depends on your plans. 'Restore' can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Taking it back to factory original like condition will increase the costs double or more depending on how much of a stickler you are for original parts. If the idea is to sell it you won't get the money out of it.

Fixing it up to drive around won't be cheap but will cost less. You can make it how you like and enjoy it. But you'll probably still lose money when it comes time to sell.

I agree with Mike, but just last night I read an article in my latest Hagerty Owners Club magazine that drove home the point that this is supposed to be for fun, and if after all your expenses you sell for close to what you have in it, or up or down a few thousand, it will be a win, because you hopefully enjoyed the experience, made friends, and have family memories to share.
I'm not sure if the half vinyl top was an option in 71, but it was in 73 and my 73 Sportsroof had it. That would be a super easy way to cover that sunroof hole, the bodywork wouldn't have to be so perfect, and they actually looked pretty nice. Here's a pic of my 73 Sportsroof with it.

 

[cjstaci]

Being an M- code, C-6, traction lock and the various options it’s a desirable car. The colors are good too. It would be a big plus if it has the original drivetrain.
The problem with restoring cars is the expense. Even if you can do all of the work yourself, you could probably buy a restored one for less. It would have to be a labor of love.
You might want to calculate the costs to see if it’s feasible for you.

 

[Marks1]

Being an M- code, C-6, traction lock and the various options it’s a desirable car. The colors are good too. It would be a big plus if it has the original drivetrain.
The problem with restoring cars is the expense. Even if you can do all of the work yourself, you could probably buy a restored one for less. It would have to be a labor of love.
You might want to calculate the costs to see if it’s feasible for you.

Naw, just jump in the deep end and save another Mach !!

 

[will e]

I agree with Mike, but just last night I read an article in my latest Hagerty Owners Club magazine that drove home the point that this is supposed to be for fun, and if after all your expenses you sell for close to what you have in it, or up or down a few thousand, it will be a win, because you hopefully enjoyed the experience, made friends, and have family memories to share.
I'm not sure if the half vinyl top was an option in 71, but it was in 73 and my 73 Sportsroof had it. That would be a super easy way to cover that sunroof hole, the bodywork wouldn't have to be so perfect, and they actually looked pretty nice. Here's a pic of my 73 Sportsroof with it.

Is it me or does that half vinyl top look like a toupee?

 

[rvrtrash]

It would depend on what they want for the car, and how much rust it has. I have a friend that had a Boss 302 with a sunroof, and the body shop fixed it so you couldn't even tell, but it wasn't cheap. It would be cool to save it, but if you haven't done one before, and have to have others do a lot of the work, you'll find yourself paying double what you can buy one for. The last mustang I restored took 2 years and $25K, and that was almost 10 years ago, and I did the majority of the work myself.

 

[Hemikiller]

That car is probably most people's dream of a 71 Mach1. Some may not be able to get past the green, but IMO it's a fantastic color. Can't beat the option load out.

Your profile shows you have a 71 sportsroof parts car, so I assume it has a good roof?

The 3/4 vinyl roof was available early 71 and then discontinued until some time in '72. Marti's book shows 150 sportsroofs equipped in '71. Your car post-dates the 1/71 notice of it being removed as an option, so it's a dealer or aftermarket item added after the fact.

 

[rustang71]

Does it have its original drivetrain? M code and sportdeck are two pluses for me

It came with two motors but I'm not 100% sure if either are the original (its been at least 10 years since we could see the car and 15 years since I've pulled out some of the parts that came with it)

 

[rustang71]

I agree with Mike, but just last night I read an article in my latest Hagerty Owners Club magazine that drove home the point that this is supposed to be for fun, and if after all your expenses you sell for close to what you have in it, or up or down a few thousand, it will be a win, because you hopefully enjoyed the experience, made friends, and have family memories to share.
I'm not sure if the half vinyl top was an option in 71, but it was in 73 and my 73 Sportsroof had it. That would be a super easy way to cover that sunroof hole, the bodywork wouldn't have to be so perfect, and they actually looked pretty nice. Here's a pic of my 73 Sportsroof with it.

The roof is a different shade where the vinyl would have covered it, plus the vinyl is still on the A- pillar. What throws me off, is the A- pillar vinyl is green instead of the expected black that was usually on the Mach 1s.

 

[rustang71]

It probably depends on your plans. 'Restore' can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Taking it back to factory original like condition will increase the costs double or more depending on how much of a stickler you are for original parts. If the idea is to sell it you won't get the money out of it.

Fixing it up to drive around won't be cheap but will cost less. You can make it how you like and enjoy it. But you'll probably still lose money when it comes time to sell.

I'm not very concerned with trying to sell it (I still have my first car - a 71 fastback that I bought in 81), but also don't want to throw huge amounts of money and time at a car that would not be worth anything close to what would be put into it.

 

[rustang71]

It would depend on what they want for the car, and how much rust it has. I have a friend that had a Boss 302 with a sunroof, and the body shop fixed it so you couldn't even tell, but it wasn't cheap. It would be cool to save it, but if you haven't done one before, and have to have others do a lot of the work, you'll find yourself paying double what you can buy one for. The last mustang I restored took 2 years and $25K, and that was almost 10 years ago, and I did the majority of the work myself.

I'm fairly handy with the mechanical side of cars, but I've not done anything with body work, so I'd need to learn how. I would plan on trying to do as much myself as I'd be comfortable with - similar to what you did with your 73 (which turned out great from the pic). I just need to figure out how to learn without making it worse - lol.

 

[rustang71]

Being an M- code, C-6, traction lock and the various options it’s a desirable car. The colors are good too. It would be a big plus if it has the original drivetrain.
The problem with restoring cars is the expense. Even if you can do all of the work yourself, you could probably buy a restored one for less. It would have to be a labor of love.
You might want to calculate the costs to see if it’s feasible for you.

How would you go about coming up with a realistic cost? I live in a very rural area without any shops anywhere near me. I think I can do most of the drivetrain work, but I've not done any body work.

 

[rustang71]

That car is probably most people's dream of a 71 Mach1. Some may not be able to get past the green, but IMO it's a fantastic color. Can't beat the option load out.

Your profile shows you have a 71 sportsroof parts car, so I assume it has a good roof?

The 3/4 vinyl roof was available early 71 and then discontinued until some time in '72. Marti's book shows 150 sportsroofs equipped in '71. Your car post-dates the 1/71 notice of it being removed as an option, so it's a dealer or aftermarket item added after the fact.


View attachment 84748

The parts car is in fair shape and I've debated in using its roof to repair the Mach 1s sunroof disaster. I like the colors that this came with from the factory. We found a 72 R-code Mach 1 about 10 years after we picked this one up that was nearly identical to this one in options (except for the engine obviously) and was very nice. I wish that we could have afforded the 14k price back then, bc it was in perfect condition.

 

[Marks1]

That car is probably most people's dream of a 71 Mach1. Some may not be able to get past the green, but IMO it's a fantastic color. Can't beat the option load out.

Your profile shows you have a 71 sportsroof parts car, so I assume it has a good roof?

The 3/4 vinyl roof was available early 71 and then discontinued until some time in '72. Marti's book shows 150 sportsroofs equipped in '71. Your car post-dates the 1/71 notice of it being removed as an option, so it's a dealer or aftermarket item added after the fact.


View attachment 84748

I bought my 73 Sportsroof from Monaco Ford in Glastonbury CT with 6,000 miles on it, (a guy had traded in for a Pinto during the OPEC BS) factory equipped with the vinyl top option, in the winter of 73-74 and I, or later on, my Dad owned the car for over 15 years. It was painted once during that time, doors back because I got rear-ended, right before it was going into Frank Maratta's car show in the Hartford Civic Center. The night the Civic Center roof caved in, I was at Freddy Lucks house, snowed in because Freddy was putting the pinstripes back on the back half of the car. I personally took the car apart to be painted, and I can attest to the fact that the half top moldings were factory installed with the welded in nails that hold the white plastic clips that hold the moldings on. In other words, Monaco Ford did not add the top after the factory built it with some after market moldings, they were factory.
How many 73 Sportroofs were equipped with that option Dennis?

 

[Marks1]

Is it me or does that half vinyl top look like a toupee?

If you are referring to my car Mike, I couldn't disagree more. The ones that had the back half done aftermarket certainly did look screwy, but the front half being done looked great IMHO. I think it broke up the long roof in the perfect spot, right at where the quarter window ended. Mine looked really sharp, being brown vinyl,, over Gold Glow, with the Ginger interior, and I was glad it had it. Good enough looking to be in several car shows and win trophy's I'll add. Always got compliments on that car, it was a looker. I'd take that car back in a heartbeat, and did actually, about 5 years after my Dad sold it to friends of ours, who bugged us for years to sell it to them, but unfortunately, their kids crashed it, pulled the motor out for no reason, and otherwise ruined it. I ended up selling it to a guy to use the basic structure (rust free, never driven in winter), for a restoration on a rusty Mach 1

 

[Marks1]

The roof is a different shade where the vinyl would have covered it, plus the vinyl is still on the A- pillar. What throws me off, is the A- pillar vinyl is green instead of the expected black that was usually on the Mach 1s.

If the paint was just dusted on, because the factory knew it was getting a vinyl roof that would make sense. In the 70's, a lot of cars were ordered with green vinyl tops over green paint.