72 Q-code Mach 1, 351 Cleveland, 4 speed, 3.50 gears
Page 1, Overview, Current Status
Page 2, Yet Another Way to Repair Cowl Rust
Page 3, Shock Tower Repair
Page 4, Suspension Install
Page 5, Front End Suspension & Steering Detail
I purchased this car in 1995. Currently I am in the midst of a full fedged firewall-forward restoration. This web page will follow the "While I am here, I may as well..." scenario, that turns projects into long term committments for us hobbyists. This flowchart courtesy of Mustang Monthly is pretty accurate.
This project started in September of 2002 with a broken clutch release rod. I decided to pull the engine and paint the engine compartment that winter, while I searched for a replacement. It took just over three years to "just paint the engine compartment" thanks to a crash damaged rad support, substantial rust in the passenger side shock tower, and also in the cowl on the drivers side.
Along the way I added a wall mount natural gas heater and insulation to the garage, 220 VAC service, a compressor, and a mig welder to get the project where it is today. Those things all ate up budget money which slowed the project. Deepening depression with each discovery of more rust further slowed the project! There are times I thought I should have sold the car and taken a trip out west to bring back a rust free car to work with.
Half of the parts that I welded in were fabricated from scratch, some were replacement panels, and some were taken from donor cars.
Here is how it looked when I jumped into this project. It needed done, but I had no idea how bad it was...
Above:Nasty engine in on the left, and Nasty engine out on the right.
March, 2003 Bad news. What I thought (hoped) was "pinhole" in the passenger side shock tower was a bit more than that. The project stalled here for a while.
Below Left: My shock tower viewed from inside the engine compartment looking forward at the bottom of the tower.
Below Right: A car in KAR's boneyard that was nice enough to lend me the area I needed to replace. More detail on this repair in page 3.
Below Left: What remained once I removed all the paint and panels that I planned on replacing.
Below Right:The ever growing "junkyard" of replaced sheetmetal and suspension parts.
1/02/2006:
Finally all the sheetmetal is back in place, and the engine compartment is painted, happy new year! The entire front end was primed with DP-90 epoxy primer, and topcoated with semi-gloss enamel.
The rad suport, and both front inner fender aprons are new. There are 7 other patch panels in place as well that were fabricated from the donor car, sheet steel, and a 1/2 HP electric motor!
1/14/2006:
Suspension being installed. Details on page 4...
1/24/2006:
Back on its feet again! Suspension, steering and front brake components are all installed. Details on Page 5...
Soon it will be time to turn attention to the engine. Although it looks bad, the previous owner had it rebuilt by Race Car Services in Pittsburgh. With only about 10,000 miles on that rebuild I am hoping to replace only valve stem seals and the gaskets after a thorough cleaning, inspection, and repaint.
The "other" car...Below
This is my other 72 mach 1. It has a 302 in it with an automatic, 2:75 gears, and factory A/C that still blows cold. This car is the polar opposite of the yellow Q-code in performance. It sure is a fun cruiser though for longer trips and warm summers. It has come in very handy already as a comparison car. I picked this car up in 1992 with 26,000 original miles on it.
