So im looking for some awesome inspiring 71-73 stang builds. There arent enough threads with info on the big body stangs. If you would be so kind post some pics of your build up. Im just looking for some inspiration. I have a 73 coupe with a 71-72 front end, yea I know odd but may have been in an accident at somepoint. I want to build something that stands out and could use some projects to look up to.
1971-1973 mustang builds
- Thread starter 1973stang
- Start date
Platonic Solid
Founding Member
ModMach1's ride is an impressive accomplishment: ModMach1's 73/71 Mustang with Air Ride and big billet wheels
72 fastback
Member
I have a 1972 fastback that is coming alomg pretty good with a 351w and a 4spd. It has Edebrock heads crane cam and kieth black pistons. It is the car in my avatar.
I also would love infor on upgrades others have done or had luck with on their Big Cars. I am working on getting a factory style exhaust for my two 71's, asl well as wanting better sway bars. Hard to find stuff that is specific to these years.
My 71 Fastback is pretty tame, started with a very sad, tired, hammered car. Saw lotsa off-road use. Original base 302/3spd/AC/gage and console equipped car with no PS or PB. Pain to drive and stripped interior. Car was cheap and (mostly) running, going to the $700 car-crusher program 13 years ago. Got it for $300.
Friend gave me a 4spd Toploader and 9" from a 68-69 Cougar, this diff is a little narrower than a 71 so helped eliminate some tire rubbing. Another friend hooked me up with his neighbor, whose kid had just stuffed the family Hot Rod into a ditch, a 71 Coupe that was pretty nice before it got bent. Netted me a nice 351W, PS and PDB, really nice doors (mine were hosed) as well as most of my interior. Later found a 72 Cougar with a ruined front crossmember/ suspension that yielded working power window system and a tilt column, as well as a drivetrain which was sold for more that the car cost.
Where I'm going with all of this is look for the donor cars that may have bits you can use to trick out or improve your car. Buy'em cheap, get what you need and ship the rest. I was thinking of EFI next (86 T-Birds with V8's can be had for cheap), but bought a 71 Vert that needs exhaust, so that comes first.
Also, don't overlook pickups, sometimes lotsa good bolt-on motor parts in those.
Good luck, keep your eyes open, and glad there are more than a few of us with the Big Mustangs
The car:
Best regards,
Tom
My 71 Fastback is pretty tame, started with a very sad, tired, hammered car. Saw lotsa off-road use. Original base 302/3spd/AC/gage and console equipped car with no PS or PB. Pain to drive and stripped interior. Car was cheap and (mostly) running, going to the $700 car-crusher program 13 years ago. Got it for $300.
Friend gave me a 4spd Toploader and 9" from a 68-69 Cougar, this diff is a little narrower than a 71 so helped eliminate some tire rubbing. Another friend hooked me up with his neighbor, whose kid had just stuffed the family Hot Rod into a ditch, a 71 Coupe that was pretty nice before it got bent. Netted me a nice 351W, PS and PDB, really nice doors (mine were hosed) as well as most of my interior. Later found a 72 Cougar with a ruined front crossmember/ suspension that yielded working power window system and a tilt column, as well as a drivetrain which was sold for more that the car cost.
Where I'm going with all of this is look for the donor cars that may have bits you can use to trick out or improve your car. Buy'em cheap, get what you need and ship the rest. I was thinking of EFI next (86 T-Birds with V8's can be had for cheap), but bought a 71 Vert that needs exhaust, so that comes first.
Also, don't overlook pickups, sometimes lotsa good bolt-on motor parts in those.
Good luck, keep your eyes open, and glad there are more than a few of us with the Big Mustangs
The car:
Best regards,
Tom
On that note I have a 73 oem rear swaybar if you're interested v8roadwarrior.
I'm in the process of fixing some bugs on my 73. Rebuilt the engine with a big solid cam and swapped in a c4 along with a different rear subframe
so I've been busy 
Hopefully a couple more weeks and she'll be good.
I'm in the process of fixing some bugs on my 73. Rebuilt the engine with a big solid cam and swapped in a c4 along with a different rear subframe
so I've been busy Hopefully a couple more weeks and she'll be good.Stripe them with the Boss 351 stripes. Ram air hood with the Mach One blackout. Blackout the lower body. 15" (at least) wheels - I favor Magnum 500s.
These cars look like whales if they are all one color. They need the stripes and blackout to break them up. A chin spoiler helps also although IMO the rear spoiler looks tack on a coupe/vert.
Here's a picture of my 73 vert.
http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/3999584/aview/1086199087992_73Conv1.JPG
These cars look like whales if they are all one color. They need the stripes and blackout to break them up. A chin spoiler helps also although IMO the rear spoiler looks tack on a coupe/vert.
Here's a picture of my 73 vert.
http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/3999584/aview/1086199087992_73Conv1.JPG
downwardspiral
New Member
I would post pics of mine, but I dont want to make anyone sick. Its not pretty right now, needs a lot of body work in the rear, it was apparently rear-ended before I bought it and had a half-inch of bondo on one of the quarters. I always wanted a 71 429 stang, so that was my ultimate goal. It came with a 351C M-code, but someone also swapped out the 4V heads for the 2V at some point. Currently it has a carb'd 302 with an aod behind it. I am using this as a temporary setup, to keep it mobile. The 351 was slap worn out. I still cant decide it I want to go with a 4.6 DOHC or continue on the 429 route. I like the drivability of the fuel injected mod motors, not too mention they would get much better mileage and have the potential for nearly the same h.p. but the brute torque of the big block is appealing as well. I might stick with the 429 and get a powerjection set up for it. If I had no budget, low-compresson twin turbo mod motor. However at this point I would just settle for being able to drive the darn thing on the street again, I bought this car when I was 17, have had it for almost 20 years, and it has spent 98% of that time parked. I must go cry now.
Stang_1973
Founding Member
Well i got my '73 when i was 18 back in '03. It was my mom and dads DD when i was a kid back in the 80's early 90's. Car was parked in 97 and left for dead due to a bunch of problems. I started working on it and have made it my projexct these past couple years. it has seen 3 motors since ive had it, and been in one accident. been painted twice, niether of the jobs was i happy with.
getting it driveable was priortiy #1. did a rebuild on the holley 2v and that got her started. when she started to finally crap out i did a rebuild that included rv cam and holley 600, aluminum intake, and E7 heads. engine threw a rod and had it redone.
Had the pastor of my church who does upholstery do the interior but did shotty work mainly cause he doesnt do auto uphosltery so it was very basic but looks ok. only paid 80 bucks.
Did the floor pans earlier this year and new carpet. looks alot nicer.
last year i put on some aftermarket wheels made to fit, no spacer used on my car. also did the pwer disk brake conversion up front.
Currently i just did the FAST EZ EFi conversion and am in the process of doing a built AOD swap with lentech valvebody all red eagle clutches, 2500 rpm stall.
Im still locating a 9" rear that i want to do with powertraxx unit and 3.73 gears to make full use of having the AOD.
AFR 185 heads are in the plans just incase i decide to go 347 stroker. MSD iginition is also one of my plans. also suspension mods! gonna lower her down in front and back, 5 leafs should work well along with performance shocks. I wish i could do coil overs.
and of course i gotta have A/C, i live in TEXAS!
heres a vid i shot last year. here i still dont have the efi, i had just don the wheels and tires. When it comes to buy tires again im definetly going with more meat in the back.
getting it driveable was priortiy #1. did a rebuild on the holley 2v and that got her started. when she started to finally crap out i did a rebuild that included rv cam and holley 600, aluminum intake, and E7 heads. engine threw a rod and had it redone.
Had the pastor of my church who does upholstery do the interior but did shotty work mainly cause he doesnt do auto uphosltery so it was very basic but looks ok. only paid 80 bucks.
Did the floor pans earlier this year and new carpet. looks alot nicer.
last year i put on some aftermarket wheels made to fit, no spacer used on my car. also did the pwer disk brake conversion up front.
Currently i just did the FAST EZ EFi conversion and am in the process of doing a built AOD swap with lentech valvebody all red eagle clutches, 2500 rpm stall.
Im still locating a 9" rear that i want to do with powertraxx unit and 3.73 gears to make full use of having the AOD.
AFR 185 heads are in the plans just incase i decide to go 347 stroker. MSD iginition is also one of my plans. also suspension mods! gonna lower her down in front and back, 5 leafs should work well along with performance shocks. I wish i could do coil overs.
and of course i gotta have A/C, i live in TEXAS!
heres a vid i shot last year. here i still dont have the efi, i had just don the wheels and tires. When it comes to buy tires again im definetly going with more meat in the back.
Stang_1973
Founding Member
theres a company that makes 73 bumpers out of fiberglass, youll lose a little over 50lbs.
Here's a link to a slideshow I put up on youtube for our build so far: YouTube - Eleanors Story
and a blog post about her story from when we found her to now: Gear 4 Gearheads: Eleanor, our 1973 Mustang Mach 1
We're building an Eleanor tribute (the original version). She was a real mess when we bought her and she's not done yet. Interior is a dash, two seats and seat belts because we're still waiting on a roll cage install. Body is still painted in rattlecan yellow (we did different primer colors to test the final result and decide which one we liked best). Front wheels need to be swapped with the originals with the hubcaps (rears already are, we just need new tires). Lots of fit and finish type stuff needs to be done. Oh, and that hole in the cowl needs to be dealt with. But she's almost a different car that what we bought (somewhat literally, there's well over 50 other Mustangs that donated parts and pieces!!).
We were at a car show last year with her, and a woman and younger man came up and asked if the car's name was Eleanor. I post somewhat frequently about her on a local forum, so I thought they were from there. Nope-the previous owner's mom and brother! They couldn't get over how much different the car looked, it was really nice to hear from someone that had seen her in the "before" stage.
Eleanor now:
Eleanor in 02 when we bought her:
and a blog post about her story from when we found her to now: Gear 4 Gearheads: Eleanor, our 1973 Mustang Mach 1
We're building an Eleanor tribute (the original version). She was a real mess when we bought her and she's not done yet. Interior is a dash, two seats and seat belts because we're still waiting on a roll cage install. Body is still painted in rattlecan yellow (we did different primer colors to test the final result and decide which one we liked best). Front wheels need to be swapped with the originals with the hubcaps (rears already are, we just need new tires). Lots of fit and finish type stuff needs to be done. Oh, and that hole in the cowl needs to be dealt with. But she's almost a different car that what we bought (somewhat literally, there's well over 50 other Mustangs that donated parts and pieces!!).
We were at a car show last year with her, and a woman and younger man came up and asked if the car's name was Eleanor. I post somewhat frequently about her on a local forum, so I thought they were from there. Nope-the previous owner's mom and brother! They couldn't get over how much different the car looked, it was really nice to hear from someone that had seen her in the "before" stage.
Eleanor now:
Eleanor in 02 when we bought her:
jikelly
20+ Year Stangneter 
Why would you ever want to get rid of the 90lb bumper??
It is HEAVY right up on the nose of the car. Worst place for that weight to go. But man is that a big chunk of metal you're putting right out in front daring someone to take you on.
I've got a 73 mustang and haven't really been spending to much time in here. I just popped in and thought I'd look around today.
Always nice to hear about other big body owners' builds.
I've got a few pics on my website and so resources you might find interesting. J.K's Mustang Page
I have a ton more pictures from various projects I completed on my stang. I need to get all that stuff together and update my site.
It's always cool when someone emails me and asks how I did something.
Anyway good luck with your build!!
Why would you ever want to get rid of the 90lb bumper??
It is HEAVY right up on the nose of the car. Worst place for that weight to go. But man is that a big chunk of metal you're putting right out in front daring someone to take you on.
Ugh, not to mention trying to hold it, balance it and align the thing. I couldn't believe it when I tried to pick it up the first time. OMG.
Stang_1973
Founding Member
Crites Restoration - Parts List By Model
nice little list of parts here im sure most of us classic stangers would enjoy.
Stang_1973
Founding Member
Now does anyone know of a company who makes fiberglass mach 1 hoods other than the one that charges over 700 for them? i beleive its dark horse racing that makes those.
downwardspiral
New Member
That's not including shipping, is it? If not, it's going to be a decent amount more in oversize fees
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