10-31-2017, 10:13 AM
Everything you need to know about 1971-1973 Mustang undercarriage detailing.
Jerry Heasley
Unless you’ve just rolled the car on the interstate, the underside of a classic Mustang is hidden from the world. But the chassis and suspension are a huge part of every restoration and can make or break a car being judged. Here, we find the unibody, springs and shocks, tie rods, rear axle, brakes, frame rails, and other functioning parts that allow a car to stop and go and bounce up and down with the undulations of the road. Some of these parts are bare metal and others are plated, while springs, shocks, and even drive shafts are striped with various colors. When restoring an undercarriage, all these details can be put back to factory original. That’s why raising this Mustang on a lift is a siren call for restorers, especially with an untouched, 200-mile original 1973 convertible, such as the one owned by Jose Luis Abraham of the Dominican Republic, seen here.
Way back in 1987, we began showing details in this magazine of undercarriages of original and restored Mustangs at Bob Perkins’ shop in Juneau, Wisconsin. Although those articles were very well received, they have led to unexpected and somewhat bizarre consequences. Restorers began copying color codes instead of researching their specific cars. Copying a reference Mustang is like using someone else’s toothbrush; you might be okay, but you won’t know until later.
READ MORE
Jerry Heasley
Unless you’ve just rolled the car on the interstate, the underside of a classic Mustang is hidden from the world. But the chassis and suspension are a huge part of every restoration and can make or break a car being judged. Here, we find the unibody, springs and shocks, tie rods, rear axle, brakes, frame rails, and other functioning parts that allow a car to stop and go and bounce up and down with the undulations of the road. Some of these parts are bare metal and others are plated, while springs, shocks, and even drive shafts are striped with various colors. When restoring an undercarriage, all these details can be put back to factory original. That’s why raising this Mustang on a lift is a siren call for restorers, especially with an untouched, 200-mile original 1973 convertible, such as the one owned by Jose Luis Abraham of the Dominican Republic, seen here.
Way back in 1987, we began showing details in this magazine of undercarriages of original and restored Mustangs at Bob Perkins’ shop in Juneau, Wisconsin. Although those articles were very well received, they have led to unexpected and somewhat bizarre consequences. Restorers began copying color codes instead of researching their specific cars. Copying a reference Mustang is like using someone else’s toothbrush; you might be okay, but you won’t know until later.
READ MORE
![[-]](https://mach1club.com/images/collapse.png "[-]")
