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New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Printable Version

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New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - PacoDeth - 08-08-2013

Partly to say hello and introduce myself, and partly to make that first post within 72 hours, I'll try to make a long story short Biggrin ok maybe not. Images at the end and a TLDR at the very end.


Short Car History:

When I was younger I fell in love with old cruisers, which is why my very first car was a 1960 Chevy BelAir, black with a white hard top, was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately it had no power steering, and was a 3 on the tree manual... terrible car for a scrawny 16yr old.

Then I wanted something with a lil pep, so I got a nice Silver 1984 Datsun/Nissan 300zx. Eventually moved on to a Pearl White 1993 300zx, and for a few years had a Champagne Gold 1987 300zx when the 93 blew it's transmission. Adulthood was catching up to me, so I needed something a little more sensible, something with good bad weather handling and a bit of hauling capability that wasn't a pickup truck (hey I live in KY, there's enough giant ass pickup trucks on the road). So I got a Silver 2003 Subaru Baja to fit the job. Got the 1993 300zx tranny fixed, kept it for another 5 years, and finally got bored with it and tired of replacing fuel injectors after owning it for 14-ish years so I decided to sell it and put that money towards funding an old muscle car purchase for my fun car slot.

So I searched high and low, deep into the bowels of craigslist, ebaymotors, cars.com, and autotrader.com to find a nice cheap muscle car for me to play around with while I fix it up, and also learn how to work on cars (I was never going to be able to learn on that crazy 93 300zx engine). I looked at some Dusters, Chargers, Challengers, and slowly started to really like some of the older Mustangs: ie the 60's fastbacks and 71-73 Mach 1's. And to be honest, I always hated mustangs, never liked their 80's and up incarnations at all. That was prolly the inner 300zx fan in me, I also hate Camaro's Sleepy

Anyways, I eventually spotted a nice 1973 Mustang Mach 1, with one of the few color schemes I was really hoping to get (Yellow and Black), although I was more than willing to have to repaint a car if I got it cheap enough. This one was in my price range, and most importantly, I could actually drive it home!

To speed things up, I went and got it. Has a 351 Cleveland 2-barrel in it (unfortunately with some sort of non-original carb on it). The paint looks really good from afar, but was fairly amateur done which shows in the gel coat peeling very badly in many spots and a bit of overspray here and there.

I had an absolutely wonderful time driving home... saracasm abound. It was a 3-1/2 hour drive back home. About halfway home, the steering coupler ripped in half. The steering wheel had a lil play in it from the get go, so at the time, I didn't know what exactly what had happened. I just know that I now had a dead zone in my steering wheel from about 8 o'clock to 3 o'clock, and also when making turns I could only make it so far, then the steering wheel would go dead for a turn or two. Having that much play in the steering wheel, you don't realize how many small corrections you make in the interstate just trying to stay straight in your lane! But I made it home... dangerously.

At the moment it is in the shop, getting a copper AC line used for one of the fuel lines Rolleyes with a real fuel line. And having the carb adjusted and distributor cap fixed. Over time, I will need to replace one of the frame rails and both floor pans as they are pretty rusted. And then have it repsrayed and clearcoat redone.

Hoping to get it out later this week or early next week and actually get it out and drive it!

Looks like I will have wait until my third post to post pics.
TLDR: Been through a handful of cars, first a 1960 Bel Air, then 3 300zx's, and finally a muscle car. Coulda died driving it home. Looking forward to being able to drive it and learn how to work on it myself.

So here's the pics:
[Image: 1973%20Mustang%20Mach%201%2001.jpg]
[Image: 1973%20Mustang%20Mach%201%2002.jpg]
[Image: 1973%20Mustang%20Mach%201%2003.jpg]
[Image: 1973%20Mustang%20Mach%201%2004.jpg]


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Rare Pony - 08-08-2013

Welcome to the site! Great introduction and nice looking Mach 1. Is that a Virginia plate? If so. I'm located in Warrenton, VA and maybe we can meet up sometime.


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Steven Harris - 08-08-2013

Welcome,

Thanks for introducing yourself and your car.

Yes, that sounds like a very memorable drive home - thankfully you made it.

If your hope is learning to work on muscle cars it sounds as though you have pick the right one. Biggrin

Start with the small things and put them right so you can enjoy the ride and remember it through the repair down time. That will help motivate you to get it back on the road ASAP.



RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - JTS71 Mach1 - 08-08-2013

Glad to hear you made it. Biggrin Any trip you and the car survive is a good one, a little scary but thats half the fun. I hate to think of the cars I've driven with one brake pinched off, loose steering, door welded shut cause the rocker panel was rusted in two, hood popping open due to a broken motor mount, tie rod fell off while turning around in a parking lot. each experience taught you something about cars and yourself. If you were lucky enough to survive! Pray Well I'm 55 now and have had a blast doing it. Welcome and we look forward to more hair raising stories as you progress with your education. JTS 71 Mach1


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - PacoDeth - 08-08-2013

(08-08-2013, 10:46 AM)Rare Pony Wrote: Welcome to the site! Great introduction and nice looking Mach 1. Is that a Virginia plate? If so. I'm located in Warrenton, VA and maybe we can meet up sometime.

Actually I live in Kentucky. The guy I bought it from was stationed in Virginia while he was in the military. When he got out about 10 months ago he bought that mustang and brought it to his hometown, also in KY. He was having trouble finding work, and wanted to join this forest ranger school/training up north-east somewhere (can't remember where). So he was selling the Mustang to be able to afford to do that.


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - ohiomustang - 08-08-2013

Congtats and welcome from Ohio


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Sandman5000 - 12-08-2014

Very nice!


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Steven Harris - 12-08-2014

(12-08-2014, 12:52 PM)Sandman5000 Wrote: Very nice!

Welcome Sandman5000,

Jump on in, share your story with us and enjoy the site.



RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Mach1FatherFigure - 12-08-2014

Great starting point PacoDeth! Hope it goes well for you. Welcome!
Hi Sandman5000. Sandman? You in Aus driving a 308 Holden Panel Van as well as your Mustang? Start your own thread and tell us about yourself..


RE: New 1973 Mach 1 Owner, Hello! - Mustangmike - 12-09-2014

Welcome to site. Great introduction! I certainly can relate to memorable rides home. Thanks for sharing your story.