1971 Mustang Mach 1 Restoration

[Zach]

Not a bird but oh well, someone can trade me for a 69 T/A then I will change this thread  . Copy/Pasting from another forum cause I am lazy, mostly the same I would have posted anyways, figured you guys would still be interested.

Howdy, I recently acquired a 1971 Mustang Mach 1, it was originally a M-Code 4 speed car but the original engine blew up and has been replaced with a correct period 351c 2v. This car was originally owned for about 20 years by my aunt's father in law but due to old age, family, life, etc. it has now become a shattered dream for him. It was once a running and driving mustang but the FIN was an autobody expert by trade and wanted to restore what would be his dream car unfortunately he wasn't able to get around to that in time. As it sits now it is completely disassembled with 95% of the parts still intact and useable, including enough sheet metal to create a new car, which would normally not be needed but it suffers from pretty rough Minnesota Rust. My goal is to restore this car into something drivable and in the best condition I physically and mentally can achieve, looking for local car show quality but not good enough to be scared to drive it. Although I should preface this with my knowledge and know how in this field is minimal, I am 19 and nearly all of my automotive knowledge came from my dad and working on my own 1977 trans am. My weakness within this project is going to be my lack of experience, but with enough time and research I can accomplish a lot. The final vision for this car is faithful to how it came from the factory with some minor changes, grabber blue exterior, black interior, cragar s/s wheels (might trade for mags), mild engine hop ups, and maybe some other quality of life changes, I am starting with bare metal so I have plenty of time to plan and change things.

As for my current project, I will be in the rust repair department for the next couple of months before I can start piecing it together. Since it is apart I figured I should do it right and remove all the rust and make it a solid car. Future projects include, block sand, block sand, block sand, paint, minimal interior redye, small engine rebuild, the whole shebang. Everything will be my own labor done at home with some help from my dad and what ever knowledge the previous owner can lend to me.

That is about it for the initial post, looking for any input, information, and comments you guys have to offer through out this restoration. Thanks.

some pics...

[roadking77]

Good luck with the project, I have always liked these body style mach 1's. For the longest time they didnt get a lot of love from the Mustang guys but I think their time has come and they are appreciated now.
When I was young I would travel by a guys place that had one of these in silver sitting in his backyard. Seems kind of odd now as the car would have only been 10yrs old!!! (my daily drivers are older than that). Anyway I stopped by a couple of times asking if it were for sale, of course I got the 'Im gonna fix it one day, and for everyone that stops by looking at it, it must be valuable'. Truth was at that time they were worth next to nothing. I watched that car over the next 15 years slowly sink into the ground until one day it was gone.
Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[FormTA]

Looks like a really solid project. My buddy had one, it was black and really looked good.

Can't wait to see progress on this!

[scarebird]

Perfect time to go the last yard and strip her down completely.  Media blast then shoot with weld thru primer.

Working on a "clean" car is so much nicer and if body work is needed a hell of a lot less labor.

[ryeguy2006a]

Looks like a great start to a project! I agree with Scarebird, those dustless blasting guys are actually quite reasonable.

[Zach]

Looks like a great start to a project! I agree with Scarebird, those dustless blasting guys are actually quite reasonable.

Perfect time to go the last yard and strip her down completely.  Media blast then shoot with weld thru primer.

Working on a "clean" car is so much nicer and if body work is needed a hell of a lot less labor.

Although I would love to sandblast it and fully epoxy it, it doesn’t seem reasonable for the goal or the budget. Stripping it and transporting it seems like a pain as well as quite pricey. I am thoroughly getting rid of all the rust I can see, and this won’t be driving in harsh conditions. This is still a budget build, just with lots of time and self labor.

[scarebird]

I understand budget, but this to me is an excellent time to do it right and really clean it up.

This is one of those things you only get one pass at.

[ryeguy2006a]

Those Dustless Blaster guys come to you, and when my buddy had it done a few years ago to a 1967 Camaro shell it was something like $200 bucks to blast the whole thing. And the chemicals that they use in the water prevent the metal from flash rusting. Really slick setup. Most charge by the hour and only charge you while the machine is running.

[FormTA]

I spent over $600 for just media to blast a frame and a few other items. I have my own pressure pot blaster but I can't find media very cheap. Tractor supply I can only get small bags for like $15 or something like that. Checking into a dustless blaster may be worth a call.

[Zach]

Maybe I will look into it then. My house isn't ideal to do this myself since my garage is up a small incline and I can't easily roll it out.

[roadking77]

I seriously considered getting a dustless blasting franchise a few years ago. I was one trip to Houston short of starting up. It seems like a really good product, and everything seemed legit. I live right on the top of the Ches bay so am within short distance of a hundred marinas, figured that would be a great place for business. In the end I chickened out. At times I wonder how well it would have worked out?
I would def. see if there is a local franchise around you and give them a call. It may surprise you. Like Scarebird said, this is the absolute best time to do so. When restoring a car you can cut corners on the interior, maybe build a lesser motor, cheaper wheels and tires, but stripping to bare metal and getting everything right as far as paint is concerned would be a hard thing to change down the road in a few years.

[5th T/A]

Zach, you have a huge advantage in that you can drive your TA, at the same time take your time on the Mustang and do it right. Almost anyone here will tell you it takes more time and money than anticipated. Take your time and enjoy the experience. Three years ago I started with a very clean rust free car, but the underneath was heavily covered in undercoating. I spent a good six weeks under the car with a heat gun and wooden scrapers, then mineral spirits cleaning up the floor pan. It was nasty work, for me it was the right decision because I didn’t want to tear the car apart again. I think you are getting some great advice here from guys who have done this before.

If you do get the car blasted I would at least put a coat of primer on afterwards.

[Zach]

Zach, you have a huge advantage in that you can drive your TA, at the same time take your time on the Mustang and do it right. Almost anyone here will tell you it takes more time and money than anticipated. Take your time and enjoy the experience. Three years ago I started with a very clean rust free car, but the underneath was heavily covered in undercoating. I spent a good six weeks under the car with a heat gun and wooden scrapers, then mineral spirits cleaning up the floor pan. It was nasty work, for me it was the right decision because I didn’t want to tear the car apart again. I think you are getting some great advice here from guys who have done this before.

If you do get the car blasted I would at least put a coat of primer on afterwards.

Yeah it’s nice having a classic I can still take out and drive. This project keeps me from ripping apart the T/A, which is a great thing.  My undercoat is pretty thick on the bottom I will have to put some time down there as well.

Don’t think I will be doing a sandblasting, there is only one mobile guy that’s within a 45 minute drive from me and it seems to be a new guy with 0 reviews. The amount of new metal I already have to put in means half the primered car is gonna be replaced anyways. This is probably one of the only short cuts I will be taking, just because it’s a hassle for my current situation. I have lots of expendable time, if it means I have to do extra cleaning pre repair, so be it. Appreciate the suggestion though, it would be nice to have a clean car.

[roadking77]

A cheap electric orbital sander (I prefer the ryobis) will sand the car down to bare metal with a little elbow grease. May not be as quick as a blast but will get the job done just the same. May not be able to hit the hard to reach spots but you should be fine.

[Zach]

A cheap electric orbital sander (I prefer the ryobis) will sand the car down to bare metal with a little elbow grease. May not be as quick as a blast but will get the job done just the same. May not be able to hit the hard to reach spots but you should be fine.

Will have to try them soon, borrowed my dads skilsaw hand sander which should work pretty good. Currently using my angle grinder with sanding discs and flap wheels, works well for cleaning areas for weld. Trunk pan is the only thing I have touched that takes up a lot of real estate. Doing the exterior last so I have more experience by then.

Finished the trunk pan now I gotta finish off the engine bay aprons. Nothing too difficult yet, just a lot of learning.

[MNBob]

That body style is also my favorite for Mustangs; so clean looking.  It looks good from the front, the back, and has a neat fastback design.

Look forward to seeing your progress!

[roadking77]

My woodworking shop is essential to my business. Although we are in the field working more, shop time is also important. We do high end cabinets, millwork etc. I only use electric stuff and we were going through 5 or 6 small orbital sanders a year. Knowing the life of one was only a month or so I decided to stop buying the more expensive Dewalt, makita, etc and went with the cheapest HD had which was the ryobi. They last longer than all the others combined. I used it to sand down my car. I use diablo paper from HD which is much better than the crap that lowes has. I start with very coarse, about 60gr on the paint, I think I finished with a 320 on the bare metal before the epoxy. May take a bit longer but will def get you down to bare metal.

[rkellerjr]

If I were to own a mustang that would probably be it, I like the body style. Will be watching your build.

[5th T/A]

Last night after dinner we went out for ice cream with my oldest daughter and son in-law. Sitting in the parking lot was a beautiful Mustang convertible. My son in-law asked me what year it was. I said it’s a 71. First he said it’s really good looking, followed by cars we’re really bigger back then. He was right, parked side by side with late model cars, it was pretty long. The other thing brought to mind is how distinctly different a Mustang, Firebird or Barracuda were from each other.

[Zach]

Last night after dinner we went out for ice cream with my oldest daughter and son in-law. Sitting in the parking lot was a beautiful Mustang convertible. My son in-law asked me what year it was. I said it’s a 71. First he said it’s really good looking, followed by cars we’re really bigger back then. He was right, parked side by side with late model cars, it was pretty long. The other thing brought to mind is how distinctly different a Mustang, Firebird or Barracuda were from each other.

I still have yet to see one on the road up here, I see lots of 65-70s, but no big body 71-73. They are definitely big, not to mention the fastback quarter panel surface area, but 2nd gen trans ams give them a run for their money. Went to back to the 50s and it’s insane how similar some cars are back then, it gets old after a while since nothing is really unique, another reason the late 60s and early 70s are my favorite year. After this mustang our fleet is gonna be pretty diverse, 59 f100, 68 firebird, 71 mustang, 77 trans am, a 36 Chevy, and then my aunts 85 Camaro that I drive more than her.

[Zach]

Looked into it some more and it looks like we will get it sand blasted and sprayed with primer. I didn't think it was worth the hassle at first but my mom brought it up and said she is ok getting it done and paying for it. The car is an absolute rust bucket so it is gonna reveal a bunch of patches that need to be done but at least we won't have rust showing up down the road, especially after all the time I am going to put into bodywork and restoring it. Might as well do it the right way.

Haven't priced it out or anything yet, might have a friend get us a good deal. Anyone have suggestions on what media, primer, etc. etc. Never done this before so I am unsure of details. If they charge too much for spray, or don't offer it I will primer it myself at home. How much should the car be stripped? At the moment its a shell with a steering column, minimal suspension, rear quarter windows, some chrome trim, drip rails, etc.

Thanks.

[roadking77]

Be careful of any 'deals' you may get. Media blasting can do as much harm if not done properly. Make sure whomever you take it to has experience doing cars and not some guy with a big blast rig that specializes in bridges. You can get a cheap hvlp spray gun from lowes or hd. They were about $40 but Im sure the price is up a little bit now. Eastwood sells an epoxy primer, may be as reasonable as anyone else. SPI makes a good product but I dont know their prices. If you have a decent enough sized air compressor you can spray the epoxy yourself. Its going to be sanded back down so if you have a learning curve no problem.

[Zach]

Be careful of any 'deals' you may get. Media blasting can do as much harm if not done properly. Make sure whomever you take it to has experience doing cars and not some guy with a big blast rig that specializes in bridges. You can get a cheap hvlp spray gun from lowes or hd. They were about $40 but Im sure the price is up a little bit now. Eastwood sells an epoxy primer, may be as reasonable as anyone else. SPI makes a good product but I dont know their prices. If you have a decent enough sized air compressor you can spray the epoxy yourself. Its going to be sanded back down so if you have a learning curve no problem.

Should’ve added that it’s a friend that is giving me the deal. He does concourse type paint jobs and bodywork and is really generous, it’s just a two hour drive. It will suck if he can’t do it, I’ll have to find a reputable place around here and hope they don’t charge an arm and a leg. We painted my dads truck so we have the experience of that too, not worried about spraying at all, I’ll be the one to paint it once rust repair is done  and 56 months of sanding. I need to do a lot more research on this before I send it anywhere, hopefully the friend is able to and I won’t need to worry about it.