mach1Jerry

Hello all,
Have a couple questions for yall. I am taking my 71 mach back to original. I already know I have to convert it back to a 4 speed and replace the hood and ram air. Now on the engine I know the internals are not as important as long as the block, heads, and other numbers match. Now it currently has an aftermarket HEI distributor and coil, an aluminum intake, and a couple other performance enhancers. How important is it to replace all of that with original equipment to maintain original value? Also rims and tires are not stalk.

andrewmp6

It depends on if your building a nice restored cruiser or you going for a 100 point back the day it rolled out the ford plant resto?

LynnBob Mustang

Unless your trying to compete in concurs shows or you think you may get a trillion dollars for your MACH if you sell it because you have all correct bits, it may not be worth the headache. Clean it up, make it look nice is can be, and drive it as is.
Lynn

musnicki

I agree, do you want a garaged / trailer queen show car or do you want a semi-reliable weekend driver (that you can show off at The Waffle House and let people like me drool all over)? I don't know how far you're wanting to go or what your endstate is, I put 15k miles on my 67 last year and looking at 9k this year (Hawaii has less roads duh) but that was after many many upgrades which took the car far from original. I'm thinking you want an all original 71 429cj, if that is the case then I would go for 100% and change everything back.

James

200ci66

If you're wanting to retain original value then you want to restore every bit back to original. The more the better, if possible. You'll be taking off a lot of performance and a lot of reliability by doing so, but that's what you'll get if you want original value.

If it runs well and drives well now then I wouldn't mess with it unless you really want to trailer it around and compete in concours shows. I've never been a big fan of "mustn't touch" paint jobs with exact matching engine decals restored to original down to the nut and bolts that sit on Bias-Ply tires and never see the road. I'd rather see cars be enjoyed.

mach1Jerry

Thanks all, that is kinda what I was thinking. For now I am just going to concentrate on repaint to original and fixing the little imperfections in the interior to give it the stock look but letting the motor as is, maybe just stepping down to a 3:55 rear versus the 4:11 for better driveabilty. Down the road when I switch back to the 4 speed I can worry about the engine compartment then if I decide to resale for value. Thanks guys. For those who wanted to see pics I put them in my garage since I can't figure how to add them in the posts yet

andrewmp6

Most of us do the bolt on rule so later it can be changed back if we change our minds.If your looking for top dollar when you sell it later on buy the parts now that should be on and keep them when the time comes throw them on or offer them with the car.

LynnBob Mustang

It is always nice to spend money you don't have, to impress people you don't know, and for people that don't care.


In the end it is your car, I'd just make it look and run great without getting the correct bits if they aren't truly needed. You can paint or hide the mod parts so they look stock and sleeper style.
Lynn

kalli

is a car 100% original if it has the correct engine with dates? buyer will probably never know, but I don't know if it's worth to try and get everything back to original way on a car that is already molested. Rather keep that as is and try to find an original car that you can restore instead of buying parts from 'similar' cars?

mach1Jerry

Well with the exception of the tranny, it is pretty much stock minus the aluminum intake, carb, tranny cooler, distributor and coil. The intake would be the hardest original thing to find and my last worry. I already know I am going to go back to the original Grabber Green Metallic since it is a rare color and the interior is all stock except for a few aftermarket guages (why I don't know when all the guages you need are there) and the sterring wheel. I am going to leave the Welds on it for a while so I am not worried about that either. I am probably going to leave the At in it for a while and step down to 3:55 rear for driveability. And, since the underside of the hood was already cut (found a spare) I was tempted to cut a hole and mount a hi-rise with dual 4's and a set of aluminum Super Cobra Jet heads from Ford Racing, for a little while anyhow