Topic: What do I do with this 73 Mach 1 Q code project car?

[CadVetteStang]

It looks like my bartering deal is going through after a full year of trying to get this car. I wanted a 71 or 72 with disc brakes or a 73 wit a 71or72 front cap. This is a 73 with disc and a combo 71, 72 front cap….. Just what the doctor ordered, right? I’m no sure now…. I mean it is just what I wanted, a car that does not need floor boards…. A non-original car made from a few wrecked cars… Something that I could turn into a Cadillac 500 powered pro-touring/autocross and daily driver (eventually with C 4 corvette suspension) without feeling guilty about modifying a hard to find to classic….. But, I’ve been thinking…. According to the title, it’s a Q code Mach 1…..  Now, inspecting it, it looks to me like maybe the Q code Mach was one of the donors and the unibody may have originally been a 72 or 73 plane Jane fastback – but I’m not sure. So, am I getting a car that is worth something or not?

I had planned to let a vo tech school de-rust and prep – possibly even paint the body while I gathered the parts for the Caddy 500 build up and saved for the TH200-4R tranny. I had planned to the Cad-Stang phase as a bolt in with brackets so that if someone wanted to buy the restored car, I could sell it undamaged without the engine and tranny. However, I sub frame connectors and a cage is a must or the engine would twist the body hard enough to break the front and back glass – so it would have to have weld in mods…..  Also, for this thing to handle the way I want it to in the budget I can afford, I would eventually turn it into another Cad-Vette-Stang project. The C4 Vette front suspension swap would require cutting and welding to get the Corvette front K frame/crossmember under the car. From there it would be at the point of no return as far as a Ford enthusiast would be concerned because the unibody would be permanently altered in a non-Ford compatible way.

So if – as I suspect- the Q code car was just a donor, do I have a low value toy on my hands that I can build into a dirt cheap super car, or do I have a junk yard gem that will bring good money if I leave this 460 powered Ford alone and sell it. What value am I talking here – as is, and/or  with good paint?

















Would you race it or restore it? If it is worth enough, I can trade it for a C4 Vette project car and get 3 times the cornering ability, but the Mach 1 is soooooo much better looking…… What to do….. What to do……

Your opinion?

Cody 

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

If it is a 73 Q code Mach 1, go ahead and do whatever you want with it-it will only make mine rarer

Given that car's condition, I would not feel guilty about doing anything that kept it from ending up in a junkyard.  It would cost more to restore that car to concours quality than it would be worth after the restoration, so just do what you want and enjoy.

That looks to me to be a 351 Cleveland engine in the car.  It looks like way too much room for it to be a 429/460 that is to say it looks the same as my 351 powered 73 Mach 1

I'd like to hear about your suspension mods, though just building a Cleveland up to its potential might be a lot more fun.

[Soaring]

There's no telling what has been taken off that car and put back on with something else.  It appears to have been in a junk yard at one time, and parts were robbed.  Get the casting numbers off that engine, and let's decide if you really have a big block or not. 

[CadVetteStang]

There's no telling what has been taken off that car and put back on with something else.  It appears to have been in a junk yard at one time, and parts were robbed.  Get the casting numbers off that engine, and let's decide if you really have a big block or not.

I’ll see about getting the casting numbers; I’d prefer that it was not a 460, but the valve cover says it is, so does the guy I am getting it from and so did the guy who sold the car to him. Other than the 429 and 460, what engines would those valve covers fit on? The engine’s paint is much newer than the surrounding engine compartment; it was put in as this car was being constructed from who knows how many salvage cars. My guess is that the reason there is so much missing from the interior (again, just a guess) is that the driver’s door, a fender and the dash came from the Q code car. I suspect the rest is just a mix and match. (I am aware that Q code means 351C-4V)... If so, then is this a Q code car with no Q code value? If so, then I have no problem replacing the 460 with a Caddy 500 that weighs 120 pounds less, makes 150 pounds more torque and would make an 11 MPG improvement.  However, if it does have Q code value then there may be a Ford guy out there who has access to a more complete 86-91 Vette project car who wants to trade. It would be cheaper for me to use a cheap Caddy engine to create a super Vette for the autocross than it would to try to make this car handle like one.             

[Jeff73Mach1]

429/460 valve covers have 7 bolts, 351C and 351M/400M engines have 8 bolt valve covers.  They use the same distributors.  I am not aware of any other engine the 429/460 valve covers fit.

Given the cars overall condition, a 73 Q code vehicle in excellent shape might be worth as much as 25K.  Was this car a 4 speed or an automatic originally?

By a rough estimate, it would cost you a minimum of $5000.00 to obtain a 351 C of the appropriate date code and rebuild it with appropriate parts.  Plan on a complete interior costing another $2500.00 to do a good job and then you get all of the sheet metal work and proper grill, wheels etc.

I do not believe that car's body could be brought up to the level it would need to be at to make the car collectible again for less than $8-10,000.00

I bought my Q code 4 speed car with a mint interior, a very nice body with good, but an older repaint and a decent running engine for under 15,000.00 (a lot under!)

Build that car into what you want.