'70 Mach 1 re-resurrection

[DarkBuddha 107]

This is kinda a reintroduction for me. I was a regular years ago, but between distractions and delays, my Mach 1 fell to the side. Now I'm back at it again.

 

Some background:

 

I bought this car in 1988, when I was 15, for $1200. Shortly after, one of the shocktowers failed thanks to the usual holes cut to grease the upper arms. We had the towers replaced by a frame shop with used towers, and being on a budget, we installed a placeholder 302 until I had more money to rebuild the original 351w. Unfortunately, as with most kids, I only every really had money to keep it going as I daily drove (and occassionally raced) the car through 1995, when the brakes got pretty sketchy. At that point, it was parked and sat until 2001-2002 when I decided it was time to resurrect it. Over the next few years while I was living in Seattle for grad school and starting a family, I'd fly back to Florida to work on the car in spurts and the car made decent progress, with most of the work being performed by my father in my absence. But with his illness and other distractions and demands, work stalled and the car sat until I returned in 2009. Even then, it was the occasional weekend with very little progress made.

 

Then late last year, I decided it was time to start working on it in earnest only to find A LOT of the work we'd done either needed some renewed attention, or needed to be redone altogether. So when we found the last placeholder 302 had a wiped cam and tons of blow-by, I knew it was time to get serious. Which brings us to now. I've just ordered some parts to start the re-resurrection and I'm more than excited about getting it done... or at least done enough to drive again!

 

Anyway, some pics to give an idea of where we started and where we've gone already...

 

 

Circa 2001-2002, after it'd sat outside in Florida for nearly 6 years (yes, that's me in the pic):

 

 

 

 

In 2003 it got fresh quarters, inner and outer wheel housings, floors and torque boxes, hood, and some other body work.

 

 

 

 

And it was coated in POR15 inside and out.

 

 

 

 

Later in 2003 it was delivered to Maaco for paint. Car was essentially completely stripped and prepped. They painted the valences and fender extensions off the car.

 

 

 

 

Back from paint in the original Bright Gold Metalic in base/clear.

 

 

 

 

Front suspension was rebuilt with poly bushings, new upper arms, upper arm dropped 1.75", Pro-motorsports negative wedge & eccentric eliminator, larger front sway bar, and factory disc brakes.

 

 

 

 

Rear includes original 3.00 geared 9" diff, 5 leaf mid-eye springs, underrider traction bars, and stock rear drum brakes.

 

 

 

 

Had a custom 2.5" dual exhaust built with x-pipe and "turbo" mufflers.

 

 

 

 

By 2006, it was looking pretty complete, but the project stalled out with no interior, a poorly running engine, many nagging issues:

 

 

 

 

As of last weekend, I've started tear-down for the new engine install.

 

[DarkBuddha 107]

We've already added a bunch of comfort/convenience/safety upgrades to the car. Junkyard engineering is sorta pops specialty, so it's got some cool stuff like an electric antenna, electric trunk release, remote hood release, remote passenger mirror, electric locks, tilt column, intermittent wipers with a faster wiper motor, underhood light, late model highback reclining seats, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. We also added a/c, 3 point seatbelts, AOD transmission (with our own bracket), alarm system with start kill, electric fan, halogen headlights with relays, and other stuff.

[DarkBuddha 107]

Right now the biggest priority is getting it running again, so we're focused on putting a new motor in it. It'll be 351w based to return it to something closer to original, which it hasn't seen in over 25 years! Some of the shiny new parts have already arrived:

[69droptopgt 10]

Looks like a nice project your finishing! I would say get it ready for summer but down in florida you don't have to!

[indianfiremach 170]

Welcome back - I remember your 'junkyard engineering' from before. Cool project, best of luck getting back into it. I recently came back to the forums as well, this time with a 1970 Mach 1.

[SM69Mach 68]

Looking good! Looks like things are coming along nicely....again.

[Trinitys 134]

WELCOME back........were in the same boat homie...lol. You keep me honest and i'll keep you honest. lol

 

Good to you're at it again too

[Pakrat 1,043]

Buddha buddy, nice to see ya back!!!!! I've been wondering about you for a while. Been in the same boat but still hanging around here to keep me motivated.

 

Trin, great to see you to man!!!

[69RavenConv 286]

2014 is shaping up to be the "return of the legends" (well, "old-timers" at least) :blink: Good to see a lot of old familiar names posting again.

[DarkBuddha 107]

Thanks for the welcome back. I've missed this stuff more than I'd like to admit, but as an "old-timer", nostalgia has more pull than ever. Something about watching time fly by faster than ever will do that I suppose.

 

And Trinity, I'll do my best to keep it honest and progressing... certainly this thread is intended to help keep me accountable and engaged with the great group here. The Mustang is my primary hobby focus for the moment. Other projects will just have to wait!

 

Now I'm off to order more parts... 350hp/450tq probably warrants 13.2" front discs, right? ;)

[Grabber70Mach 107]

Welcome back glad to see you around again.

[RPM 1,190]

Welcome back! But I gotta call bs. "I bought this car in 1988, when I was 15". I'm no math major, but that doesn't make you an old-timer :) I bought mine in 1989 when I was 33. That my friend, does make ME an old timer. Good luck on your Stang.

Oh btw, if you don't know, Roush Performance on eBay has killer deals on take off calipers and rotors.

 

Bob

Edited March 13, 2014 by RPM

[indianfiremach 170]

Like the color by the way - it's a pretty rare one for '70 Mach 1's. We had one the same color (ginger interior) when I was 15 but it was too rusty to save. I was devastated!

[Pakrat 1,043]

So just for reference where's the old timer line drawn anyway? I was 20 in '88 and would like to know. Though I prefer "legends" regardless of the answer.

[RPM 1,190]

I suppose being an old timer is relative. I used to think they were guys older than me. I didn't think I was one until I welded in a roll bar this past week, and felt like I had been thrown out of a pickup, on the freeway, doing 80. And I do know how that feels :(

 

Bob

[DarkBuddha 107]

lol... I like "legend" better too Pak... after all, it's not the years or the mileage, but how hard the ride has been. That said, I ain't ever growin' up, so call me "kid" if you wanna. "Kid Legend"... I like that. lol

[DarkBuddha 107]

Uncrated the motor. 408w, 9.4 compression, reman'd iron heads, fairly conservative flat tappet cam, dyno'd at almost 350hp & 445 lb-ft. Should be plenty of fun in the Mach until I save up for aluminum heads and healthy roller cam.

[RPM 1,190]

350hp and 445tq is nothing to be ashamed of. M codes with 4v carb made 290 stock. Mine hauled ass before teardown.

 

Bob

[DarkBuddha 107]

Oh, I'm over the moon to have this motor going in! But I also love that there is a lot more potential in it with some rather simple (if pricey) upgrades. I figure with good aluminum heads with 60cc chambers, I'll see significant improvements from both flow and close to a full point compression bump (going from the 64cc OE heads). Add a roller valve train with a choice cam selection to take advantage of the heads' flow, and I expect there's actually quite a bit to be gained. If I could have afforded to drop another $2k right now, I'd be there already, but the piggy bank is getting pretty empty pretty quick already.

[Protowrxs 111]

Welcome back Buddha! Good to here the Stang is back on the front burner man.

 

Will be watching the thread and hope to reinvigorate mine as well this year.

 

Good luck!

Stephen

[DarkBuddha 107]

Thanks! Maybe we'll see more cars than ever finished this year. Then we can get back to work on the 2.3s again, right?

[Protowrxs 111]

Thanks! Maybe we'll see more cars than ever finished this year. Then we can get back to work on the 2.3s again, right?

 

Heh, yeah, that's what sidetracked me off the 69 was the TC and SVO.

 

My level of finished and project expectations have been brought back into reality for my 69 so it can actually happen.

 

TC's not nice but I drive it often, SVO needs a battery and charging issue fixed.

Plus I have these two extra 2.3T motors that keep staring at me.

BUT back to the 69 as the primary focus.... Focus, focus... Difficult for me.

 

Good luck and again looking forward to the result!

 

Stephen

[DarkBuddha 107]

Don't get me started with these damn 2.3T cars. My XR just needs a few things... and then it'll need just a few more... and then a few more. Right now, I just need to order a battery and shim the rear hubs and it'd be back on the road and fun as always. But then I wanna do the diff swap, trans swap & clutch upgrade, speed density conversion & tune, roll bar, strip the interior, upgrade the seats, dual purpose coilovers for rallycross and autocross, etc. etc. etc.

 

And speaking of focust, I bought a new Focus ST last year and started an ST club, and have done a couple upgrades. Now it needs tires. I'm really trying to resist turning it into another project and trying to enjoy it as an awesome daily driver, but I'm tempted by the Ford Racing procal tuner and some new wheels and...

 

Must stay focused on the Mach!

[DarkBuddha 107]

Speaking of staying focused, got the old place-holder 302 out today and painted the 408w. We could see the 302 was in much worse shape than we expected when we pulled it... the oil filter had essentially welded itself on, two freeze plugs were leaking and gross with rust and scale, the entire cooling system was gunked and scaly. We're going to rehab it to throw in a truck we have, but it'll need some serious hot tank time and probably some machining.

 

As for painting the 408w, it was black when delivered, but I hate black blocks since you can't see the sources of leaks and problem. So I painted it a custom shade of cast grey between cast iron and cast aluminum using Duplicolor engine paint. Then I cleared it. I'm trying to decide if I should paint the intake timing cover and intake as well, or just clear them. I have decided that all the accessories will be left natural or painted satin black, while the brackets and pulleys will be gloss black. The new headers will be getting Cerakote Chromex, and I'll probably paint the valve covers and air cleaner satin or wrinkle black (depending on which valve covers I use). Can you tell I've spent way too much time thinking about all of this?

 

Anyway pics from today:

[DarkBuddha 107]

Wish I had more to report, but distraction and rain conspired to minimize my progress over the weekend. The only thing I did was strip the bodywork off the front of the car and pull anything that was easy to pull out of the engine compartment.

 

Next step is to pressure wash and sand the engine bay. Then I'll do a bit of welding and add some reinforcements to the shocktowers (per Boss 302 chassis manual). Then prime, sand, and paint the engine bay. Then it's back on to reassembly.

 

Have a hopeful deadline of the first weekend in April to have the motor in and running, but it's looking a bit iffy right now. Better to do it right once and miss a deadline or two than to f*** it up and have to redo it.