JeffTepper

Per the Factory Service Manual for 1969, 9H15S6... translates to a Mercury Cyclone with a 390 S code engine. Not sure what it is doing on a Mach 1 Mustang.

The slot in the quarter panel trim needed to be wide enough for the belt hardware to pass through. I forget the exact dimension but careful measuring and cutting with a dremel was the key. The rectangular escutcheon fills in the excess "air" and covers up the slot nicely while still being wide enough for the belt to extend without binding.

Docwok: Unfortunately, I did not take pics during the installation and disassembly now is not an option. The bracket I fabricated is a different shape and configuration than the one by MTF. Mine spans the entire length from the back side of the door pillar gusset to the the wheel house flange fastened along the sides and bottom of the bracket. My thinking is that the force of the retractor locking in a frontal impact will pull the retractor mount straight up as the forward motion of the occupant will transfer the load from the roof mount pivot bracket to the retractor reel below. Looking at the floor mount for aftermarket retractors, I see a suggested method that uses one or two thicknesses of sheet metal and one large round fender washer. If the force of the frontal impact is enough to overcome my reel bracket, I would expect that the car would be so deformed that survival would be unlikely. I am not an engineer so do your own due diligence and risk assessment before attempting a modification such as this one.

To add to the mix, I chose the Scott Drake belts due to the similarity with the factory deluxe belt buckles. However, I really did not like the idea of having the exposed retractor reel on the floor behind the seat. I ended up fabricating a bracket for the rear bulkhead inside the fiberglass rear quarter trim panels. From there I had to cut a slot in the rear armrest area for the belt to pass into the interior. I finished off the slot with a trim piece off of a Corvette. Looks like a factory stock installation to the casual observer and no retractor on the floor.

Be aware that the drop bracket changes the angle of the steering ram cylinder. It was explained to me that the design put additional stress on the frame rail and may eventually result in the bolts with the captured nuts still attached being pulled through the frame rail. Having been there, I welded the drop bracket to the underside of the frame rail and drove for many miles without further problem. Note that scraping speed bumps and driveway aprons was a continuing issue due to the Super Comps minimum ground clearance. If that is a problem for you, the FPA Tri-Y design headers tuck nicely between the subframe rails and provide greater ground clearance. Good luck with your install.

Around here most of the shows I attend are peoples' choice, not a show to a judging standard (such as MCA). Some have argued that peoples' choice amounts to a popularity contest among the members of the club putting on the show. In my experience, that is not the case as I have shown cars that were recognized by the attendees even though i am not a member of the sponsoring club. Occasionally there is an MCA show and the key to showing well is to properly classify the car for what it is (Driven, Trailered, Thoroughbred, etc) as well as what aspects are judged. For example Modified classes allow far more latitude in non-stock features with condition, cleanliness, and workmanship being the primary judging criteria. That and "no undercarriage" means I don't have to clean 40+ years of road slime off the bottom of the car !! For me it is more about the many conversations I have with the spectators and the friends I have made over the years as a result of those conversations. Another factor that can play into how a car is recognized is the unique history of the car itself. For example a very good friend of mine has a '69 Mach 1 that has was a barn find, in her own barn!!! Mom drove it daily in the 1970's. Really a nice original car with evidence of daily use prior to being parked in the barn in the late 1980's. The car came out of the barn 4 years ago due to a wild fire that was closing in on the family ranch. She put together a photo collage including a video of the CalFire tankers dropping fire retardant near the barn and the car being awakened from hibernation all helped to paint a story about a cherished family heirloom brought back to be enjoyed. This Mach 1 is truly loved and enjoyed and it shows in the smile of the owner. Though there were trophy wining shinier cars in the show field that day, her Mach 1 was voted "Best of Show" for what it represented.

I found that the Hayden 2711 fan clutch at about 2.91" (IIRC) mounted to an Edelbrock water pump cleared a 4 core copper radiator (Modine 379-4) on my '67 with a 390. It did fit and functioned fine for many miles.

Sometimes you have to deal with people without a clue. Many years ago my wife was involved in a multi car pile up on highway 17 at the summit during the morning commute. Traffic ahead suddenly braked to a stop. My wife stopped. The gal behind didn't stop hitting and pushing our car into the car ahead. Fairly minor damage to both bumpers. Three more cars joined in the fun and crashed into the gal behind, each time inflicting more damage on our bumpers. CHP report was made. I reported the crash to my carrier without actually filing a claim. I contacted the insurance company for the gal who initially hit our car. They accepted liability and paid my body shop for the repairs to our car. Fast forward, nearly a year (statute of limitations on a personal injury claim) and the doorbell rings. Its a process server with a lawsuit from the gal who ran into us!!!!!!! Apparently she had a whiplash type of injury and a stack of chiropractic bills that she was looking to get paid. Her lawyer named every car in the pile up including us as a party defendant. I contacted her idiot lawyer and advised him that he should do a better job of factual investigation. I further advised him that his client's insurance carrier had already accepted liability and paid to fix our car. When he hesitated, I told him that he needs to dismiss the suit as against my wife or he would be looking at a counter claim for frivolous litigation. It took another phone call from my insurance company's defense firm before the suit was dismissed. What a douche.

General comments: The "X" engine code was also used in 1966 and prior for the 352 V8 in full size Fords. The Smart/Haskell "Mustang Production Guide" does not include this particular sequential VIN but does list a couple of others that are numerically close and contain scheduled build dates of 12U. Data plates have been known to be mis-stamped from time to time. To illustrate that point, I had a project a few years ago that was a '67 deluxe interior coupe (6A per Marti Report) but the data tag listed it as a standard interior (2A). The car was represented as a one owner car and purchased used in 1969 off of a Ford lot in Monrovia, CA and is to this day still owned by the same owner. The interior had never been out of the car during those 43 years but was in need of freshening as part of my project scope. The data tag confusion resulted in most, but not all of the deluxe interior components being installed either on the assembly line or in the QA area at at the end of the line. Of note were the door mounted courtesy lights which were not installed under the ribbed aluminum lower door grills. The door light wiring harnesses were installed in the doors on the assembly line but never connected as there were no lights to connect to. As part of my project, I disassembled the interior. After removing the lower door grill on the driver's door, I found the rectangular cut out for the courtesy light was marked with an awl along with the free hand "cut out" instruction which was not followed. The door shells were not stamped for the square white plastic mounting inserts for the door grill. Someone, presumably in QA drilled for the mounting screws and attached the grills without cutting the light opening or installing the lights under the grills. .Also, I found a complete set of the hardware (plastic mounting inserts and screws) for attaching the aluminum lower door grills was sitting loose under the original carpet. The other oversight was the lack of stainless trim around the rubber pedal pads. My subsequent inventory confirmed that all other deluxe interior pieces were intact as well as the other factory options on the Marti report (A/C, Styled steel wheels, Deluxe Steering wheel, P/S, AM Radio, 289, C4, Tinted Glass, California Emissions). As the car sits now, all pieces of the deluxe interior are present.

I've had this issue twice and found that there are a couple of possible causes: First, over time, part consolidation by manufacturers result in a "similar" part becoming the only choice at the parts counter even if it is not an exact fit physically: Second, the Midland and Bendix boosters I have seen are different depths so what might fit a Midland will likely interfere with the shock tower on a Bendix; Several years ago, I learned that due to parts consolidation as described above, there was no other choice available for this application in the standard distribution channels. I ended up taking the old non rebuild-able Master Cylinder with part number clearly visible to Power Brake Exchange and they found the correct length rebuild-able core with the same part number in their discard pile. An hour later I had a rebuilt ,master that actually fit the Bendix booster without issue (this was a '68 big block convertible); A month ago, I purchased a brand new Raybestos Master Cylinder for a '69 Mach1 (part # 36251 ) to replace a leaking master. This time the old leaking master could not be removed from the Bendix booster due to interference with the shock tower. I ended up crawling up under the dash to loosen up the booster enough to slide it over to allow the old master to come off the mounting studs. The new master was then installed on the Bendix booster and everything was buttoned back up. I suppose that when the Bendix booster fails, I could try and source a Midland booster for the added room it allows. In any event, another PITA solution in the name of "efficiency".