Conference napalm::musclecars

    
    
    NO No no. you'll be sorry...
    
    
    My friend and I are just finishing up a 71 Mustang convert. This car
    was one of my bigger mistakes. My friend and I decided we would clean
    the car up and and sell it, making a few bucks. He's a professional
    restorer so we had the expertise along with all the equipment. To
    make a long story short, the car had rot underneath. One thing led to
    another, and... I suspect we easily have 200 hours between us in the
    bottom of the car. Not including parts, @30 bucks an hour, that works
    out to about 6K. It is a solid as a rock now, but we wasted our time
    on a car that might be worth 6 grand. If someone offered you 2500 bucks
    I'd grab it. The only thing I would check would be the vin to make sure
    its not a Q. That would be 351 Clevland, which would probably make it
    worth more than 2500, like say 3500-4000. As for someone telling you
    the car is worth 15K done up, tell them "ya, right, I'll let you have
    it for 5K the way it sits and you can make a bundle."
    
    
    		good luck  A.J.

    it is a 351 clevland motor, fwiw
    
    

    what's so great about a 351 clevland vs a 351 windsor anyway,
    what makes it worth 1500 more?
    
    

    
    
      Win = short block
    
      Clev  = long block
    
        

    re.4
    Nope!
    
    TMW

    
    
    To elaborate on what I said before. I'm fairly sure Q was the code
    for the 351 cleveland engine in 1973. Somebody help me out here if
    my memory is failing. This was the most powerful engine available
    from ford that year. This makes it the most desirable engine. It is
    a nice combo for a convertible. Now since all clevelands came with
    a four barrel somebody must have changed the intake. Check the vin
    to make sure that it is a Q in the engine spot. Having a 351 in a
    car that was supposed to have 302-2brl makes it worth didilly.
    
    If the dealership was offering you 2500 bucks, there is a good bet
    the car is worth at least a grand more. Like I said, advertise it.
    
    			- A.J.

    Although I am no expert, I have done some research into this car.
    from what I recall, the 2bbl WAS available on the 351clev, 
    and the 4bbl was for the RAMAIR option.  I have the ramair hood, 
    but it is decorative, not functional.  From what I understand, in that
    configuration, it can only be a 2 bbl, ram air has 4bbl,
    but it is a clevland
    
    

    
    
    Hmmmmm,
    
    	The thing that would make the car worth more would be if it
    	has the top of the line engine (from the factory). 
    	What you really need to do
    	is check the engine letter in the Vin on the drivers side
    	dash and see what the code is. I had a 73 mach 1, 351-cl-4brl 
    	with ram-air hood but no ram-air. If I remember I will look it
        up tonight. 
    
    
    				- A.J.

    
    AJ,
    
    Clevelands did come in 2v (250 HP SAE Gross) and 4v (300 HP SAE Gross)
    Clearly, come 1972 these numbers were downgraded to reflect SAE Net
    power.  Also, I seem to remember a 2v 351c ram-air option as well.
    Check it out -- let us know.
    
    Mr R Code
    

    ok guys, here's the vin number,  get those bat rings out and
    lets decode it.
    
    3F03H145192
    
    I remember decoding this once before, and dont remember
    any glaring inconsistancies, like the wrong motor, etc.
    If memory serves, it was born in Dearborn, MI in Nov 1972,
    or something like that.  I had the hhole decoding book out, 
    I'd like to think I'd notice that the engine was wrong.
    
    Dan
    

    1973 351 2V
    
                      JL

    
    
    Hi Tom, hows it going?  I was wrong, There were three v8s in 73.
    The H in the vin is for a 351 cleveland 2 barrel. Tch,tch,tch.
    
    Anyway, since its not the 351HO (Q) its probably not going to 
    make you a millionare, but if a dealership is offering 2500, you
    can bet the car is probably worth a little more.
    
    Best deal I ever got in my life was a few years ago when I bought
    a 73 Mach 1 351HO 4spd, that a kid had spent 6 grand on painting
    a few years before and let it sit. He had to have it moved within
    5 days so I gladly gave him the 1500 bucks he wanted. It was a
    really nice original car. And the best part was all I had to do
    was wax it, tune it, and put air in the tires.
    
    			- A.J.

I think I'm hosed...

I got the new clutch in the Camaro, with broken bolt problems I detailed 
here in this file.

When working the clutch, with all but the lightest pussyfooted clutch pedaling,
the car will still buck badly.  Thinking about it, it is similar to the problems
a friend had with an El Camino when the body mounts rusted away.  I found a 
fair amount of run on the floors of this car when putting the cross member 
back in.  A 4" by 6" area under the passengers feet is gone, and about an 18"
line is rusted out due to pressure from the emergency brake cable.

I know I need to check on this more, like perhaps the motor mounts are in bad
shape, or the sub-frame mount bushings.  I'm considering doing some welding ro
doing some selling, depending how checking further goes.

ugh,
Matt

PS:  Mad Mike, how about sending up a "Want Ad" for cars from Georgia?

Maybe there is hope.  A chain from the top of the drivers side head, at the
top front, to the frame seems to have resolved this.

I think that the mounts are getting loose those, as is the body.
I'm considering putting in those subframe connectors, the bolt in ones, and
welding them up.
Matt