This is my 1978 Mustang II Mach1 which has a mostly stock 1986 Mustang EFI H.O under the hood and linked to a T5 tranny. I did the engine swap and computer harness wiring a week before I moved from Tennessee to California. Got the car running the day before I left for California in October of 2003. I drove the car over to my Mom's house where it sat and didn't get started again until April 2004, when I flew back to Nashville (had 2 days to finish the car), so I could show it at the 40th Anniversary Mustang Show in Nashville. After the show, my son and I drove the 2300 miles, including a blown radiator in the California desert, to its new home in the San Francisco Bay Area. In April of 2005, I finally finished the work it needed for the smog/modification inspections (new exhaust system). It passed smog and is currently street-legal in California. In March 2006, I re-registered it as a Historic Vehicle so I can modify it without having to worry about being smog legal :)
February 2007 started the disassembly of the car for bodywork and paint. Found a couple of surprises I hadn't planned on but what do you expect, it's a 29 year old car. Also have the parts needed to finish up the front suspension. Probably install the subframe connectors while it's on jack stands. Time (and money) permitting, before the Wild West Mustang Nationals, I still might try having the seats reupholstered so they all match... Would be nice for the show.
March 2007 the bodywork/disassembly has started! Woohoo, let the games begin.....
Late March/April 2007 saw the actual body repair starting. The car had been fixed twice before on the left rear quarter panel. I found this out as I was sanding and rebuilding the correct fender contour. Yes, it was rebuilt using fiberglass and body filler. A future repair will include new sheetmetal but I figure that will be a couple of years away.... I also had to rework the right rear quarter panel on the passenger side where it meets the tail light panel. It wasn't too far off but I just didn't like the body line where the two met.
May/June 2007 finally got the car sanded and prepped for paint. Started with a high build urethane 2-part primer and then my compressor crapped out. Bought a new compressor and it was then game on. After more sanding I started shooting the base and clear coat towards the end of May and got the last of the base and clear shot the first week of June. Now I'm color sanding and buffing out the clear and I've been shooting the trim color. I will make the show!!
March 2008 and last summer's shows are over, winter is fast leaving so it's time to knock the dust off and install my tilt steering column (Thanks Butch!!) and a few other "wanna
dos".....
April 2008 saw the tilt column go in as well as powder coating and installing a new set of valve covers. Also installed a set of air shocks to raise and level the rear ride height. Stay tuned as there will be more to come...
This is a side view of the car when it was still running a $300.00 junkyard 302 (Summer 2003)
Front shot of the II.
Rear shot of the car before I installed a CobraII spoiler. Note the original taillights at this time. Changed them to all red lenses summer of 2003. The '86 next to it wound up being the donor car for the EFI motor.
Another side view.
Headlight covers installed.
History 999 Report from Ford which documents my car's build date, standard and optional equipment, and the fact that it's an original Mach1.
