Purchased new from East Ford, Jackson, MS in Fall 1973. Sold 1980 in Jackson, MS. Originally medium copper metallic with ginger interior, non-ram air, 351C 2V, FMX Automatic, no tri-gauge pack, non-deluxe interior. When sold, was painted red with NASA hood, had 4-speed, 351C 4V. Was my High School car, owned 7.5 years approximately. Will appreciate any input. Thanks.
Welcome to the site! You must have been pretty popular back in high school driving that car to school!! It sounds like you did some decent upgrades before you sold it. Do you remember if you installed a 4 speed top loader transmission and if so I am curious what you paid for it back then?
Honestly, I am not a big fan of the side exhaust pipes but I have to admit they look period correct in the picture. I actually like the look of them. Out of curiosity, did you modify the rear suspension to raise the car or is it just the tire size? The stance seems a little high for stock.
Thank you for sharing the pictures. It is nice to see the Mustangs when they were practically new! If you have more pictures of the car please go ahead and post them.
Oh by the way, what does it say on the trunk above the lock? Is that a radio station's call letters?
Nice Car I can see why you want it back. Try going to the DMV, and see if they can look up the current owner, or maybe a friend/police officer, if you have any of those. Welcome to the site, and enjoy lots of good info, and people.
(05-09-2018, 11:03 AM)Mustangmike Wrote: Honestly, I am not a big fan of the side exhaust pipes but I have to admit they look period correct in the picture. I actually like the look of them. Out of curiosity, did you modify the rear suspension to raise the car or is it just the tire size? The stance seems a little high for stock.
It is nice to see pictures of cars of this era when they were relatively new, and what add-on mods were done back then. That look was about 10 years before my high school days. I'm not much of a side pipe fan either. Well, I like them on the A/C Cobra's and some of the early Corvettes. I don't see long shackles on the rear leaf springs, so my guess would be air shocks were installed to raise the back.
If you are looking for it, I wish you the best. I often wonder where the Dodge Challenger is that I had in high school. About a year ago a good friend of mine got his Chevy Nova back he had in high school. It had so much rust damage from sitting in a field for years he just salvaged some of the drive train from it and scrapped the body.
Thanks for the comments and welcoming me to the site! I used air shocks to raise the rear for the larger tires / wheels. The side pipes were eventually taken off, as you can imagine, they created much horsepower robbing back pressure. I installed a 4-speed toploader 2.78 ratio first, 28 spline at rear. I believe they were referred to as close ratio, the wide ratios had a 2.32 1st gear as I remember. In the mid 70's you could buy toploader 4 speeds from salvage yards for $150. The big block 4 speeds with the larger input shafts were about $250, they were hard to find.
I loved this car and made a lot of memories in it. If I could do it again, I would have probably left it stock and somehow bought another car for street racing. In those days, was hardly a weekend that you didn't street race for a few bucks. I built another 351 Cleveland engine with 12.7 to 1 forged pistons and a 5.08 lift cam, with the 4 V quench chamber heads. It hooked up fairly nice, I put away several 396 Chevy's and Trans Ams, 302 Capri, Firebirds, etc. My only loss was to a 67 Mustang that also had the Cleveland engine, he had a weight advantage. The canted valves in the Cleveland were from NASCAR Ford Racing Development and the same as the Boss 302. It would scream, a little slow from the line, but once it hooked, the car would seem to lift and you could feel the g-force. Ran it on the track often also, a 13 second car which was decent in those days. Very few were 12 second street cars in my area anyway.
Currently, I have a '70 Mach 1, also a 351 C 4V, Factory Shaker Hood, Factory Hood Tach, Factory 4 Speed. It's fast, probably a mid 13 second car on street tires. I've had this car about 25 years. I tried to post a pic of it, file size is too large.
Anyway, I hope I answered all questions. Thanks again for welcoming me to the site, it's great to be here.
I'm interested to see a picture of your 1970 Mach 1. The 1969 and 1970 Mach 1's and Boss 302's are about my favorite when it comes to the Mustang line up. The close ratio toploader has the 2.32:1 first gear ratio. The wide ratio has the 2.78:1 first gear ratio. The close ratio is more suited for performance and a little more fun to drive. I use a close ratio in my 1969 Mach 1. The wide ratio is better suited for general driving and better mileage since a lower rear axle gear can easily be used with the wide ratio trans.
Thank you for providing the background information on the car. It sounds like you were a gear head back in the day like the rest of us. I would also be interested in seeing pictures of your 1970 Mach 1. I am not sure what type of computer your are using but if you select the picture(s) you want to resize and click the edit button on your toolbar you should see a resize option in the drop down menu. From there just select one of the smaller sizes and it will resave your picture. You should be able to upload the pictures with no issues.
Thanks for the comments. Somehow, I thought I had it backwards on the close and wide ratios.
I had a 69 Mach 351 W shaker car for years, regretted selling it, so I bought this '70 in '92 or so. I completed a restoration in '99. Built the 351 C engine myself to Cobra Jet Specs, meaning CJ cam, 10.5:1 pistons, has ceramic coated long tube hooker headers, stainless steel borla exhaust. I decided to go with 2V heads for low to mid-range torque, with an Edelbrock 4V manifold. It's a blast to drive. 3:55 gears, 11" street performance clutch, 9" rear with 31 spline axles, traction lok, factory Hurst Competition Plus Shifter.
When I first built the engine, it seemed to run hot, and continued doing so even after a 500 mile break-in; so I took it to a track and tached it out in each gear until the valves essentially floated. I was either going to blow it, or loosen it up, apparently all tolerances were tight. After about 4 track passes, it ran normal temps and has been an awesome motor. On the track, I was on street tires, and squirreled in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, gears - so my elapsed times were low, I believe I ran high 13's. low 14's, but I did not have any traction. This car spanked a professionally built stroked Boss 302 in a street race.
It's rarely driven, probably no more than 1,500 miles since the '99 restoration. It's garage kept and under a cover always. The pics hopefully downloaded properly. Thanks
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