'70 Grabber Orange Mach 1 Resto

[indianfiremach 170]

Hello all, I wanted to re-introduce myself now that I'm back with a new project. Last month I picked up a 1970 Mach 1 that was a little rough, but looked like it had an interesting history. It's a Grabber Orange 'DSO 89' car, loaded with options including shaker hood, tach, tilt, am/fm, deluxe seat belts, fold-down, AC, PS, PDB, intermittent wipers, convenience group, bumper guards, and a few others. The car was ordered new by a Ford executive, and delivered to Ford Headquarters. The car itself has been sitting untouched for 20 years waiting for a new owner to rescue it. The car's pretty straight, but still needs a lot of work and parts. I'm going for an 'as-delivered' look, but will stop short of concourse, and I may even put a T5 in there since I'm partial to manual shift cars. Thanks for reading my long post, I'll try and keep the thread updated as I go.

 

Here's some photos of the car:

Edited November 19, 2013 by indianfiremach

[indianfiremach 170]

After some consideration, I decided the best way to go was to take the car apart. Many parts of the car are very solid - doors, hood, decklid, cowl, but a lot of the parts show some scars from either rust (not bad for a Michigan car) or more common, abuse. I quickly learned that at some point, this car was owned by an idiot, who apparently hated the car and wanted to foil future attempts at a proper restoration. Don't know what a rare part does? Throw it away. Wires in the way? Cut 'em! The PO's poor decisions unfortunately continued onto the open road, as the car shows some accident damage which will have to be addressed. Thanks to the combined efforts of eBay, Craigslist, NPD, and my ever-dwindling bank account, I'm determined to get the car back to its former glory. It may just take a me a while..

 

One of the first steps was to take the car apart inside, and all the soft parts will have to go. There's a musty smell, typical for a car that has rusty traction bars, cigarette butts in the console, and a previous owner with a lapsed MCA membership. So out goes the backseat..

Why someone cuts seatbelts instead of stuffing them under the seat, I don't know. And underneath the 1/4 trims (which had been drilled and cut in a crude attempt at a stereo installation), I discovered this:

Words can't describe the smell and funk associated with "redneck lizard skin" and home insulation that says "flammable" on it. Plus 3.5 dead mice. I can already tell, this is going to be fun!

Edited November 19, 2013 by indianfiremach

[69RavenConv 286]

Wow, you've got a project on your hands. But that list of options makes it an encyclopedia of 1970 Mustang trivia. It should be an interesting resto, it could be a real challenge to repair/replace/locate some of the more exotic items. Any clue who the executive was? Do you have the Marti and Emminger reports? It will be a nice Mustang with a great history when you're done.

 

[edit] Sorry, I see you posted the Emminger - $1000 in options added to a $2600 car....

Edited November 19, 2013 by 69RavenConv

[indianfiremach 170]

Wow, you've got a project on your hands. But that list of options makes it an encyclopedia of 1970 Mustang trivia. It should be an interesting resto, it could be a real challenge to repair/replace/locate some of the more exotic items. Any clue who the executive was? Do you have the Marti and Emminger reports? It will be a nice Mustang with a great history when you're done.

 

[edit] Sorry, I see you posted the Emminger - $1000 in options added to a $2600 car....

 

The ford executive was Arthur Saltzman, who ran management training and some HR/labor relations functions for Ford. According to his daughter who I spoke with, he had a thing for Mach 1's. He owned three of them, and used them to commute in to work at Ford. Hence the luxury options, and lack of more performance options.

 

Finding the options was my first order, and I now have the complete right 351c shaker, black deluxe belts (which were hard to find), tilt 70 column, am/fm radio, intermittent wiper setup, a near NOS set of deluxe wheel covers, and some 14x7 steel wheels. Thankfully the convenience group is intact (seat pistons, relays, trunk light, dash park light), and the tach and fold down are complete and functional. I can't say that about much else!

Edited November 19, 2013 by indianfiremach

[millanika 10]

Sweet ride. Just needs a lot of work on the outside.

[1969vert 55]

Keep us posted

 

Tach msrp $54 and ac for $380 ....WOW...

And I was four years old when it was sold...yikes..

Edited November 24, 2013 by 1969vert

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

I discovered this:

 

I can't stop smiling about that pic! Thanks for posting!

[Burn 14]

Welcome! It sure looks like a fun build. Nice sound deadening. LOL!

 

I noticed the rim blow is wrapped up. Where did they locate the horn button to?

[mustangstofear 608]

Not a bad looking car to start with. I bought one several years ago that had the foam in it LOL.

[indianfiremach 170]

Welcome! It sure looks like a fun build. Nice sound deadening. LOL!

 

I noticed the rim blow is wrapped up. Where did they locate the horn button to?

 

They drilled a hole in the gauge cluster to mount a big red button...:stupid:

 

Sometimes it's a good thing not to know the full ownership history!

Edited November 25, 2013 by indianfiremach

[indianfiremach 170]

I can't stop smiling about that pic! Thanks for posting!

 

I know, I couldn't believe it when I saw it, I think I said "Really?" out loud and just stared. I chiseled it out, and thankfully it was solid underneath. I then removed the DS quarter trim, only to see the vintage R-13, and of course foam underneath it! The DS was like a little "Pompei" too, with the mouse nest overrun buy the yellow spray foam.

 

This car has had a hard life, but things are looking up for it. I feel like it was a cool car in it's day, and there's still enough of it there to bring it back.

Edited November 25, 2013 by indianfiremach

[indianfiremach 170]

It's been a while - time for an update. I've taken the car all apart, which is a good idea and terrible idea at the same time. I found the top of the floors were surface rusted, which scared me because that almost always means a leaky cowl. I pulled the dash all out and nervously stuck my flashlight up there - only to find:

 

 

Nice and solid - although it clearly has that 'lived-in' look. As in, lived in by mice.

 

I also found more of the original color/paint. Why someone repainted it red I'll never know.

Edited February 11, 2014 by indianfiremach

[indianfiremach 170]

Next was the engine. I'm replacing a lot of the panels in the engine bay (accident damage/overall beat up appearance) so I did a 'redneck engine pull' and cut the core support.

Starting the pull

:

 

Going:

Going:

Gone!

 

The motor and trans that were in there actually ran and shifted well, and I doubt had many miles on them. Off to craigslist they went and they will find a new life in '70 convertible. Since the car had a cleveland originally, I wanted to go back closer to stock. I agonized and searched and tried to decide what year/style cleveland I wanted. I had all but decided on going back with a 2v motor and starting with a core, when I came across this (click on image to see the video):

 

 

Rebuilt 351c 4v, 4 bolt block. A little warmer (Comp hydraulic cam & lifters, sounds mean) than I had envisioned, but it's hard to beat a ready-to-go motor that was in my price range. I'll be going back with an edelbrock performer intake, stock 4v exhaust manifolds, and the new edelbrock 600 I had put on the Windsor just to start it. I'm a little worried I'll need more carb than that, and may step up to a 750. The carb on the motor in the video was 1000 CFM so I'm sure it can handle more.

Edited February 24, 2014 by indianfiremach

[indianfiremach 170]

I picked up a few T5's for the car, both out of '90 GTs. I bought the first one for a good price and then found the second for an even better one. When spring thaw comes I'll sell one and use the other. I'm a little worried I'm putting out too much power for them. I won't race the car but am seriously considering going with a TKO instead. I'm open to feedback or comments. I have a stock 10.5" clutch and BF Goodrich Radial T/A's for the car, so I may be able to get away with the T5.

 

[69droptopgt 10]

If the t5 has a tag on it you can find out which one you have. The cobra and z-rated ones are pretty tough. Were you sure you did not sell your matching number motor? I love mustangs with A/C, one of these days I will own one lol. My boss was pretty optioned out for a boss (bosses had no a/c). And it was grabber orange also. Now it is dragstrip silver. Guess they did not want to race grabber orange (it was a drag race for years). My mom saw the original color on inside of door and sez it yellow lol. What engine was that you pulled? If I remember right, the all 351 engine that is a 4 barrel were Cleveland but 2 barrels could be either Clevlelands or Windsor. I'll try to find that out. If that was a Windsor or cleveland, I hope you checked out the vin number on it. I cannot tell from picture what it was. Are you in Michigan also? Look forward to seeing your thread.

[Burn 14]

The motor sounds good.

 

Something I just noticed...the Passenger side door doesn't have the 5 lower holes punched out which allows easy access to the rocker panel mounting screws. Only real Mach 1's came with those holes, I think.

 

I wonder if your doors may be '69s or maybe early '70s. I'll attach a picture of what I'm talking about if you don't already know.

[indianfiremach 170]

If the t5 has a tag on it you can find out which one you have. The cobra and z-rated ones are pretty tough. Were you sure you did not sell your matching number motor? I love mustangs with A/C, one of these days I will own one lol. My boss was pretty optioned out for a boss (bosses had no a/c). And it was grabber orange also. Now it is dragstrip silver. Guess they did not want to race grabber orange (it was a drag race for years). My mom saw the original color on inside of door and sez it yellow lol. What engine was that you pulled? If I remember right, the all 351 engine that is a 4 barrel were Cleveland but 2 barrels could be either Clevlelands or Windsor. I'll try to find that out. If that was a Windsor or cleveland, I hope you checked out the vin number on it. I cannot tell from picture what it was. Are you in Michigan also? Look forward to seeing your thread.

 

The T5 tags are gone, but the case #'s and partial vin tell them to be from 1987-1990 GTs. The motor was not the original, as the car came from the factory with a 351c per the marti report. Kevin Marti has the ability to tell and the first line item in my report was "351 Cleveland Engine" The car itself was delivered new to Michigan but is now with me in Charlotte, NC.

Edited February 11, 2014 by indianfiremach

[indianfiremach 170]

The motor sounds good.

 

Something I just noticed...the Passenger side door doesn't have the 5 lower holes punched out which allows easy access to the rocker panel mounting screws. Only real Mach 1's came with those holes, I think.

 

I wonder if your doors may be '69s or maybe early '70s. I'll attach a picture of what I'm talking about if you don't already know.

 

 

Thanks for the photo - I had never seen those holes before. It would not surprise me that the doors had been changed. Over the course of time the car appeared to have been in a few light accidents and seeing how solid the doors are, I imagine they came off another car.

[69droptopgt 10]

Thanks for the photo - I had never seen those holes before. It would not surprise me that the doors had been changed. Over the course of time the car appeared to have been in a few light accidents and seeing how solid the doors are, I imagine they came off another car.

Possible they were replaced or they may have been early build as suggested. Cannot tell if they factory painted in picture and 1970 was first year for grabber orange, What was they build day of your car?

 

I need to find my marti by numbers book. I think this was one thing he may have put Cleveland but was not a garenteed thing. Biggest thing was to check the vin on the block. I'll try to find the book on wed (work tomorrow).

You really kinda want a t5 1990 and later. They are a lot stronger then pre 90s t5. I know there is a date somewhere on that transmission cannot remember where.

[indianfiremach 170]

Car was built 12/15/69, I'm not sure what would qualify as an early build. They do have the correct AM/FM stereo cut outs and proper color, which makes it a little bit more of a mystery. I'm not sure if there is a door tag as the whole area has been painted over. I'm not as worried about original panels to the car as long as they are solid, so these work for me. As far as the engine goes, the vin # on the back of the block did not match the Vin # from the car.

[indianfiremach 170]

Update - Car is gone!! Ok, well in a good way. The body shop picked the car up today to replace a bunch of sheet metal and repair the accident/rust damage.

 

Car leaving for the shop: (thought too late to snap a better shot!)

 

In the 2-3 months while the car is away, I'll have plenty to work on, and already started on some pieces. I got the dash panels together over the weekend, and the only repo parts here is the Di-Noc for the passenger woodgrain (perfect match) and the clock lens.

 

 

Got the wheels mounted, a controversial choice. Original 14x7 steel wheels and mint "new take off" Deep Dish Wheel Covers as original. I almost went with Magnums, still probably would if I hadn't bought the tires. But when was the last time you saw a set of these on a car? Let alone a mint set like these.

 

 

Shaker mania! I never met a Shaker I didn't like (or apparently, buy..) Trying to figure out which is the best/correct one. Left is for a 428 CJ, center is from a '69 351 windsor shaker, and right is the correct one.

 

Edited February 23, 2014 by indianfiremach

[Burn 14]

I love those wheel covers and almost went with a set on my car. A good set of covers are hard to find these days, so are the 14x7 wheels. Did you go with 245 BFG's? They look wide. :thumbup:

[indianfiremach 170]

I love those wheel covers and almost went with a set on my car. A good set of covers are hard to find these days, so are the 14x7 wheels. Did you go with 245 BFG's? They look wide. :thumbup:

 

They're 225 70 series tires. I had the wheels sandblasted and then epoxy painted them. I think they'll look good, my dad think's I'm crazy.

[Big Secz 26]

351 Windsor shakers are a rare beast and can bring a pretty penny. Why not sell it buy the correct one for a 351C and pocket the rest of the money or put it into another area of the project.

[indianfiremach 170]

351 Windsor shakers are a rare beast and can bring a pretty penny. Why not sell it buy the correct one for a 351C and pocket the rest of the money or put it into another area of the project.

 

I'll be doing just that to offset the cost of the 351c shaker I already picked up. I ended up with some extras from snagging a few good deals along the way.

 

351w shaker (with a 428cj snorkel, and sitting on my 351 cleveland, it's all confused!)

 

351 Cleveland shaker (sitting on the 351w I took out.. One of these days I'll get it right!)

Edited February 24, 2014 by indianfiremach