1970 Mach 1 Un-restored

[Hamidar05 2]

I bought this car last year and I need help to understand if there is value to it remaining un-restored and original or if I would be better off to just begin a slow restoration and do some updates to it.  I'm looking at it from an investment standpoint as opposed to my forever car.  I honestly feel bad about driving it because I don't want to put any more miles on it (~93K mi) and minimize further wear and tear.

The seller was the original owner and he said it was rear-ended in 1971 and repaired by the dealership (subcontracted to a local body shop).  They used rivets where spot welds would have been used.  Other than the rivets, the sheet metal work for the repair seemed pretty good but a light coat of bondo on the rear quarter shoulders has cracked over time.  There are rust spots on the fender aprons and one in the passenger rear wheel well, but other than that, it is pretty solid.  I sprayed those areas with Skyco Ospho to hopefully stop further deterioration since I took the pictures below.  Any recommendations other than just sort of tapping the rust out of those areas and cutting metal for repair?  I wondered if a small amount of aluminized filler would smooth it out nicely if it is not rusted through? 

Any comments, good, bad, or ugly are welcome.  I am open to "I would do this" responses :)  Thanks!

[69RavenConv 286]

Pretty car and welcome to the site.

There is no one right answer to your question - only you can decide. Some will tell you "it's your car, do whatever you want". Modernize the steering, brakes, gauges, A/C, etc, and make it enjoyable to drive. Add fuel injection, a cam, a 5-speed, etc, and a bunch of horsepower.

Others will point out "things are only original once". Once you go down the restomod route, or even a concours restoration for that matter, another connection to 1970 is gone forever. Your car is a window through time that goes back 50 years to the way things were engineered and built back then, and what constituted state-of-the-art and accepted practices. There's a certain charm to that, especially to those of us who were alive then and remember when these cars were new.

I tend to lean toward the second opinion, although I'm probably a small minority. Yours is a tough call because it was wrecked once, and rust and fatigue is also setting in. I'd probably fix what needs fixing and leave the rest alone. But that's just me. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Alan_Mac 48]

Very similar to my car.  It has some serious rust on the underside.  I would start repairing that and decide what direction to go after the bottom is restored.   Just my 2 cents.   Alan   

[JET 445 43]

It's hardly a gem, it's rusty, it's filthy, it's beaten up, I say give it a proper restoration and make it really nice again.

[Hux 45]

I’m with Alan.  You probably need to pull the guards and strip the deadened underneath and see what its really like.  Under those Mach 1 mouldings can also hide some problems.  

Plus I am not sure if I could live with rivets holding panels in the rear end.  

I’m not sure its the right car to hold as a survivor given the rust and some average past repairs but......

[Kris 90]

I’m of the opinion to restore it. Weather you go back original or restomod is up to you. It’s pretty rusty and I’m sure it’s even worse on places you can’t see or that have been covered up. The top of the fender aprons are even rusted out and one looks cracked. That alone would tell me there is more rust hiding in other areas. I like to do bolt on mods to my car and I try to stick with stuff that is easy to get replacement parts for. I don’t want to do stuff where it can’t be returned back to stock without major modifications. I also don’t want to have a hard time finding replacement parts when the time comes. Going down to the local Oreillys or autozone is way better to me than having to buy a whole new part because that company doesn’t sell replacement parts or they went out of business. I do have a question. What’s with the toggle switch on the export brace next to the drivers side front shock? 

[Rich Ackermann 174]

Its a nice car... mostly original, but its not a low miles car. As mentioned before it has some visible rust issues. At the very least, it is in need of a major cleanup. I suspect as you dig in to it, you will likely find issues needing somewhat more work than a cleanup, or repair, may even need replacement. That will lead you down the money pit and work effort rat hole, and finally the fork in the road ....do I clean it up and leave (un-restored) as is, or do a quality factory restoration or upgrade with some mods as I restore it. The car is a desirable 428 big block, but not all that rare. Just my two cents...