1973 Mach I shipped to me- pic heavy

[Mustangmike]

Yup...you're all set.  I assume that is not a U-Haul trailer.  Is there a local drop-off for the trailer in your home State?

[Mister 4x4]

Nice car!  Good luck with the trip and hope everything goes well!

Something to be aware of, you might want to get that tire dressing off as quickly as possible.  I have a set of Cooper Cobras on mine and the front tires' white letters are turning brown after having been slicked up for a couple of car shows.  The tire dressing soaks in and pulls the dirt with it.

[MachnVegas]

OK, made it!
5024 miles in 5 days.

Left Saturday afternoon. Had a new trailer lined up (24' enclosed + 4' for V-nose) in Georgia.

Have never been much East of the Rockies and never been to the south. This was going to be an adventure!
Left Las Vegas Saturday afternoon. Went south into Arizona, then east. 
Crossed over the new Hoover Dam bridge. Can't see jack-squat. They built the walls too high. A thousand feet down and can't see it? A real drag!
Got caught in a speed trap near Flagstaff. 76 in a 55.
They switched the speed limit around a corner with no warning and the cop was sitting right near the 55 limit sign. BAM!
Lucky for me, the cop liked Mustangs after I showed him a picture of what I was traveling for. He let me go with a written warning. Thanks, Dude!

Then on to New Mexico.
Got pretty tired about half way thru. Found a wide gravel spot, crawled into the back seat (I have trucker black-out curtains with hooks for the windows) and I was OUT!

Woke up to this:



No mountains anywhere. Quiet. 
Time to get moving!

Next, Texas.
Weather, nice.
Roads, smooth.
So I sped through Texas like everyone else! Diesel fuel was plentiful and cheap. 
Thanks, Texas!

Endless windmills in Texas...




Thru Amarillo to into Oklahoma.
Oklahoma was uneventful until I reached OK City.
In the middle of the city, was ejected from the freeway (bad crash?) and sent on the side roads. Bummer. Found my way back to the freeway but not before discovering, OK city is a DIVE! Sorry if I offend anyone, but I won't be visiting OK City anytime soon. It's really run-down.

Next, to Arkansas. 
Figured it would be kind of dirty but it wasn't. It was pretty nice actually.

Headed into a storm?



No, It blew over!

Next, Tennessee.
Tennessee was nice till I hit Memphis.
Memphis was...
Well, the road was trashed, the road signs were rusted, worn and the lights were burnt out!
Got the heck out of there!

Mississippi.
Expected the worst.
Decided to leave the US Interstate rat-race and switch to local routes instead so get some local flavor. I wanna know what these places are all about.

Found a place to sleep. Woke up to this:




OK so far. Hit the road.




Wow. 
I love Mississippi! 
Nice well marked roads. Nice people, good food, very few cops.
Mississippi is a wonderful state!

Next on the agenda?
Georgia. Pearson Georgia to be exact. To a place called "Plain Old Trailers"
It's a trailer factory where I had a $250 deposit on the V-nosed trailer that would haul my Mustang back.
Now things are getting serious. Was the trailer really there? Was this legit?
We'll find out, won't we??

So, Georgia is much like Mississippi. Not quite and nice, but not bad either.
Buildings looked really old. sometimes in a good way sometimes, not.
Very nice people though, and some of the old plantation looking mansions were so cool!
The roads were generally pretty good but narrow with no shoulders. 

It felt like the F350 was wider than the road!




Found the trailer company an hour after close. Sh#t!
Killed the night at a Loves truck stop.

Went back in the morning.
It was rainy and drizzly. 
But IT WAS LEGIT!
Picked up a 8.5' by 24' V-nosed car hauler for 3900 bucks out the door!
Things are coming together.



The car is about 4 hours away in Tampa
I'm otta here!

A downpour ain't gonna stop me!



I see the Mach and it's breathtaking!
Toss it in the trailer...





The Mustang is now protected with plenty of room.





Now, to go home.
Hit the "home" button on the GPS.
Takes it a while to calculate...
Then says 2418 miles, 1 day and 18 hours to go.
Half a pack of chewing gum.
Wearing sunglasses in a storm
Hit it!

Taking a different route home. 
Followed the Gulf for a while.




And a while longer...




Stop in Texas rest area.

Watch where you step, gentleman!




My new $3900 "plain old trailer" towed like a dream, protected the Stang and didn't leak a drop even in heavy rain...




Headed west.
Keep going west!

A prescribed burn in New Mexico gets out of control.
Near Grants New Mexico...



Getting closer




I think it's out of control, still.
This was Thursday...




I MADE IT!
No problems. No breakdowns, no flat tires.
I LOVE my F350.
She's powerful, comfortable and dependable.
She took good care of me and the Mustang...






The Mustang is home.





Thanks for letting me share my adventure with you guys.

So no Uhaul to deal with and YES...

The tire shine crap has been washed off!

[1969_Mach1]

Quite an adventure.  I'm sure your happy to have the car finally home.  When in Oklahoma City did you try to find Midwest Auto, owned by two of the guy's from Street Outlaws?  Maybe get a look at their cars that go well over 150 mph in the 1/8 mile.

[JTS71 Mach1]

Wow Dude that was some trip! I went 2 weekends ago, to Lafayette Louisiana, and picked up a car to redo one of mine. I love a great road trip! You got one heck of a deal on the "plain" old trailer. My son lives near Chicago, and gave a whole lot more for a 20 ft enclosed. So nice score! I Love it when a plan comes together, and then works out. Mine was fairly uneventful except for one blown tire. 15 minute fix, and no problems from there. My trip was a little shorter then yours, about 1000 miles total, but still a good time. Congrats on the Mach1 she looks great. 

JTS

PS, I have to agree Oklahoma Sucks! Sorry Oklahoma.

[Mustangmike]

Thanks for sharing the documentary of your road trip to Tampa. It's always nice to see pictures other places. The Mach 1 looks awesome home safe in your driveway.  Please keep us updated on the car.

[MachnVegas]

Thanks everyone.
Didn't want to offend anyone. Most of Oklahoma was nice. And Ok City probably has nice areas, I just didn't get to see them.

A friend stopped by and we went for a slushy. He has a 69' Roadrunner.
Man, that thing is huge!
But nice!

After a while, several people were gathered around... The Mach 1
They asked what year and everyone had a Mustang story.
The Roadrunner was kind of ignored. Shouldn't have been, Mike did a great job and it's purdy.

I've used the Mach a few times and every time it attracts attention.
So I know not to drive it if I feel like being anonymous.




Well, I guess I'm not the "new guy" anymore so I'll explore another thread to post!

[Mustangmike]

Back to your original post...are you still interested in doing the upgrades or are you happy with the performance of the car the way it is?

[MachnVegas]

Back to your original post...are you still interested in doing the upgrades or are you happy with the performance of the car the way it is?

I'm pretty happy for now.
The car was sold by Streetside Classics in Tampa.
I was by consignment. The story behind it was, the guy and his wife moved to Florida (retirement) and he died.
She didn't want it. 
I was under the impression that it was stock.
It's not.
The original FMX is gone and a C-6 is in it's place. Built with a shift kit.
The rear axle was supposed to be a 2:75 (or something near there)
My guess at this point is 4:11 by the speedo error and high RPM at about 50 mph.
It leaves rubber down, two black strips, 50 yards long, then another set of black marks into second and a pretty good bark into third!
So I'm confident some kind of limited slip has been added.
My Kids said it might beat his crotch rocket.

So it's not stock.

I'm not sure yet what has been done. I'll post pics of different things I find, need help identifying...

So for now, I'm pretty happy with the performance.
At this point, I will build on to the 351.

[Mustangmike]

I think that's a good idea.  If the car performs the way you describe I would leave it alone and enjoy the car and the attention.  When you start making major changes the car ends up in the garage up on jack stands and all apart.

My car has 3:89 gears and on the highway everyone is passing me out!  If I remember at correctly at 55 mph I am at 3200 rpm's.