[Machspeed]

This is my 69 Mustang Mach 1 for which I’ve owned since 1977. I call her Queenie. She was my first car, bought from the original owner for $1,100 with 51k miles on it in San Antonio Texas.

I first saw this car around 1974, where it was parked at the local Mall that I would frequent with my parents. I would drool over it in the passing. I was fourteen in 1974, not old enough to drive but with an eye for muscle cars, especially Mustangs. Eventually the day came when its respective owner moved on and subsequently the car went with him. Fast forward a couple years, I'm seventeen stocking shelves in an Albertsons and needing a ride. I've got some money in the bank and am routinely searching the Sunday classifieds for my first car. Eventually, I come across an ad listing a 69 Mustang Mach 1 for $1,100. I showed dad the ad, called the owner and hopped in the old Country Squire Station wagoner for a cruise across town to take a look. As we rounded the corner to the owner's home I could see the car in the driveway and noted that it was the same color as the car that I remembered at the mall a few years back. As we pulled up into the driveway, I realized, "that is the car that was at the mall!". I was freaking out and my dad was telling me to maintain some composure as he had plans to haggle with the guy. After the generous nine-hundred dollar offer was declined, I blew it by screaming, "It's my money, just give him the $1100". Again, that was 1977 and I've had the car ever since.

I drove her all through high school and several years thereafter. I parked her around 1984 and a few years later put her in a storage unit just prior to joining the Air Force. Time has a way of getting away from us all. Raising two children, acquiring an education, and building a business took much time from me. In April of 2015 I pulled her from storage and brought her home to begin a very slow restoration. Please join me, as I share with you a passion for an automobile that is very special to me.

 

[Machspeed]

The car was originally a 351 W 2V auto. Sadly, that drive train is long gone, as I pulled it for a mildly built 351C and worked over C-4 Trans. The original motor and trans were put in a 67 GTA Fastback that I wished I still owned. Anyway, I plan to tastefully resto mod the car and over the years I've acquired just about everything I need to fully assemble her. I have a 408 Stroker motor built, along with a TKO 600 trans, a shaker assembly, etc. The whole upstairs of my shop is nothing but parts, some of which I've accidently duplicated over the years....lol

 

[myfirstcar66]

This is cool! We should have a First Cars Group haha !

 

[Machspeed]

Since April of 2015, when I pulled her from storage, I've managed to fully disassemble the car, build a rotisserie and body cart, replace the radiator support bracket, both front inner fender aprons, reinforce the shock towers, add subframe connectors, blast her, and get her primed in epoxy.

 

[Machspeed]

Most recently, I've been addressing some metal work and fixing crap that I screwed up when I was a dumb kid....i.e. drilling holes in the shock towers to grease the upper control arms, cutting up the speaker shelf with a jig saw for a set of 6x9 speakers, and worse hacking up the inner cowl panels for speakers.

 

[Israel]

I’ll be following.

 

[indygta]

WOW. It looks like a solid car with a great story, and a pile of parts to match! I can’t wait to see it all come together – looks like you’re doing a great job. Oh BTW, thank you for your service to this country

 

[Machspeed]

WOW. It looks like a solid car with a great story, and a pile of parts to match! I can’t wait to see it all come together – looks like you’re doing a great job. Oh BTW, thank you for your service to this country

Thank you!

 

[mqu02]

What a great story, and I'm looking forward to see it all come together. Gulfstream Aqua is such a pretty color, and it looks so great on a '69 Mach 1. Best of luck on your build, and feel free to ask if you need help on anything. There are some great resources here.

Also, this isn't mine, but if you didn't know these models had been made, they are kind of cool, and come up on eBay every so often. With as pretty of a color as you have, I thought I would mention it. 1/18 Gulfstream Aqua Mach 1.

 

[gsxrken]

Very cool that you managed to hang on to it all those years. The storage alone must have been $$$... but then who cares. I’ll be following your build.
I had to store mine for years too but I can still say “Yep!” when someone asks if I still have my old Mustang. If it wasn’t for my Dad’s detached garage (and his tolerance between 1987-1998) I wouldn’t be able to say that.

 

[Lightning]

Looks like you're doing it right, I'm looking forward to a great build thread. Gulfstream Aqua is a beautiful color on the 69 & 70 cars

 

[7T02S]

I've managed to fully disassemble the car, build a rotisserie and body cart, replace the radiator support bracket, both front inner fender aprons, reinforce the shock towers, add subframe connectors, blast her, and get her primed in epoxy.

Congrats on the progress on your restoration! Great looking welds. Did you learn to weld in the service? MIG?

Did you fabricate all the shock tower reinforcements?

 

[Grabber70Mach]

Great looking build this far, looking forward as you progress on it.

 

[CSX4766]

I am following. Just started a rolling restoration of a 69 Mach1 S code 4 speed. One owner car.

 

[Machspeed]

What a great story, and I'm looking forward to see it all come together. Gulfstream Aqua is such a pretty color, and it looks so great on a '69 Mach 1. Best of luck on your build, and feel free to ask if you need help on anything. There are some great resources here.

Also, this isn't mine, but if you didn't know these models had been made, they are kind of cool, and come up on eBay every so often. With as pretty of a color as you have, I thought I would mention it. 1/18 Gulfstream Aqua Mach 1.

Thank you! Regarding the Ertl 1/18th scale diecast, I'm very familiar with it. In fact, I used to have an on line business replicating peoples cars using 1/24th and 1/18th scale diecast cars. I actually started a project of my own car using a 1/24th scale Danbury Mint base car, but have yet to get around to putting it together. Paid for a ton of the parts for my Mustang build replicating cars for people.

Congrats on the progress on your restoration! Great looking welds. Did you learn to weld in the service? MIG?

Did you fabricate all the shock tower reinforcements?

Yes, learned to weld and machine in the Air Force. Did not learn MIG, though. Was taught TIG and learned stick on the job. When I was preparing for my project, I wanted a TIG machine but could not justify the expense and frankly, a MIG is really all one needs for Auto work. Bought a Hobart Handler 140 and it has performed flawlessly. Anyway, not having MIG welded before I was a little nervous. Jumping into that pool we talked about, I quickly realized that MIG welding is the easiest of the three.

 

[Machspeed]

Had to do some minor work on the floor pan, passenger side. Unfortunately, no one makes a partial pan that resembles the 69/70 pan. Anyway, cut out a piece from what is available and grafted it in. The contour of the cut out piece is not exact to my OEM pan, so it required some massaging. But, and this is important to me, no one will ever know that it had been repaired. Sure would have been a lot easier if I'd had the correct piece, though.