14x03 - 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1

[bunniefuu]

The 1973 Ford Mustang
Mach 1 was a big and

brawny display of American muscle and
a worthy successor to the pony car legacy.

Today, the Mach 1 is
the perfect entry point

for muscle car fanatics
to get into the growing

market of second generation
Mustangs without breaking the bank.

But after nearly 45 years, a few of this
pony car's horses have gone out to pasture.

She's lost around 40 brake horsepower,
trick is now can I get that back?

And its interior and its
paint are showing their age.

Black paint shows every little flaw.

If Antoni can figure out a cost-effective
way to get this Mustang running right,

there is an obvious problem.

I reckon we'll be able
to lasso in a buyer

who'll love this car for its
muscle and vintage good looks.

I'm on my way to go
and see a friend of mine.

He's called Keith.

Now, Keith has made a mistake.

He's been chasing
the car for the last year.

Now he's bought it.

He's realized it's not
the right car for him.

Now, the car in question is a 1973 Ford
Mustang Mach 1 Fastback, but this isn't any.

Ford Mustang Fastback.

Oh, no, this is a Cleveland engine.

Fantastic looking vehicle.

It's going to have the ram
air scoops in the bonnet.

It's triple black.

It's a pretty cool car.

They don't handle particularly well.

They're a big car.

They've got huge overhangs on
both front and rear suspension.

I need to make sure
that the brakes are good

on this car because
that's another weak point.

There's plenty for me
to do to try and drive

the price down if I
can find fault with it.

Now, Keith has got the car advertised
at $19,000, but because I know Keith,

maybe I can blag a
bit of a mate's discount.

The great news is good examples of
these cars can fetch $24,000, $25,000.

Hopefully, I could end up buying a
lovely car to take back for me and Anne.

Keith, how are you, buddy?

Love the barn.

Fantastic, eh?

Good to see you.

And yeah, really good to see you.

Is she in there?

She's in there.

Can we see it?

Yeah.

I've come a long way.

I'm excited.

Keith, I see what you've done here.

Very good.

Barn, horses, Mustang.

You've staged this, haven't you?

You put it under a cloth
in the barn to tease me.

Okay, well, let's get the cloth off.

I can't wait to see it.

Let's check it out.

Oh, it's so nice already.

Oh, Keith, what are you doing, man?

Why on earth do you want to sell this?

It's gorgeous.

I just need to have something else.

I need something practical like a truck.

Right, should we start under the bonnet?

Look at the size of that.

That's fantastic.

No signs of oil leaks?

No oil leaks.

It is a good motor.

Got the original slam panel at the front.

Firewall looks all nice and tidy.

Completely rust free.

No signs of any accident damage, because
if it has suffered any accident damage,

it shows up on these chassis rails

because it's almost impossible
to get them straight again.

I can see the car's had
some paint work in its life.

It's got a lot of orange peel in the paint,

and there's a bit of
overspray on the inner

wings, by which they
didn't mask up correctly.

But that's okay.

I think the car of this
generation is entitled

to have had a bit of paint
once or twice in its life.

Yeah, I like it.

I like it.

It's a great car.

So the interior.

Nice, Keith.

Everything seems present and correct.

The seat looks like it's been beaten up,

been ripped, and somebody's
repaired that with some black tape.

I'm in the headliner at the back there.

I can see that's dropped down as well.

This car, I'm sure,
has got a bit more of a

story to tell when it's
out there on the road.

Have you put petrol in it?

It's good to go.

Can I take it for a test drive?

Yep, go for it.

Thanks, Keith.

I'm in Mark 1, 1973, 351 Mustang.

And when you put your
foot on the loud pedal,

it does this.

The engine sounds great,

but I've driven one of these before.

And they sound better.

So there's improvement to be made there.

The steering wheel started to shake.

That could be wheel balance.

The suspension at the
front is bobbing up and down.

It feels a little bit woolly.

And when you've got that
much power under your right foot,

you need to have positive steering.

You need to have good, sharp suspension.

You need to be able to get
this car into a bend and out of it

and know that you're going
to make it through it safely.

And at the moment, this
car is still back in 1973.

I'm just going to do a brake test.

Brakes are fundamentally hopeless.

They can't seem to make up
their mind what they're doing.

Now, Ford made just over


They were retailing back then at $3,000.

That ain't going to buy you much today.

It's only going to buy you some
parts for your Mach 1 Mustang

because the prices of these have been
climbing faster and higher than a NASA launch.

Most people who wanted to
get into the collective car market

went and bought themselves
a 1960s Mustang because

there was an abundance of
them available in the States.

Most of them have now been snapped up.

And because they've been snapped up, people
are looking for the next car in line.

And the next car in line happens to be
the car that I'm driving, a 1970s Mustang.

Well, how'd you get along?

Loved it, Keith.

Yeah, absolutely loved it.

It's a great car.

It does need some attention.

It does need some work.

But there's no denying I love
this car, and it is the one for me.

It just comes down to the price.

Well, since we're friends,
I like to do it for $18.

Well, listen, I'm not even
going to argue with you.

That is a very, very
fair price for this car.

So Keith, hold out your hand.

Fantastic.

I just bought myself a Mach 1 Mustang.

Thanks, Keith.

Well done.

You're welcome.

Nice one.

Come to daddy.

Come to daddy.

Do you know what?

If you'd have dragged me all the way
to America and not got me a Mustang.

Hey, you like it?

Well, it's a Mach 1 1972
Ford Mustang fastback.

What's not to like?

How cool is that?

What year did you say it was?



Is it?

Well, it's the fastback shape.

It's got the hockey stick vinyl.

All right, this is wrong.

Someone's put the wrong grilling.

That's actually a grille from a 73

because the lights are
the wrong way around.

See?

So it's a 72 car, wrong grille.

The grille is the only
right thing on the car.

This is actually a 1973 car that somebody's
tried to make it look like a 1972 car.

Well, in fairness,

the rear bumper on the 72
car is a much nicer rear bumper.

The 73 had those rather ugly over-riders.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, we should
definitely finish what they

started and make the
whole thing look like a 72.

Look, I'll even find the parts myself.

What's it drive like?

What's it drive like?

You heard it when I rolled up.

Go and sit inside.

Hey?

Um, hang on a minute.

You got a manual?

Yeah, it's a her shifter.

That's an extra.

Yeah, I just want to start her out.

Go for it.

Oh my God, that is awesome.

Awesome.

In fact, that engine noise can
make me overlook this awful interior.

Yeah, it's pretty tatty.

I was hoping that we
could do something to

liven it up because
it's really dull as well.

Yeah, the interior needs a total overhaul.

We'll have to send it out.

Yeah.

What's it like under the bonnet?

Come and have a look.

Before I show you the engine,
do you know what these are?

Right, it's the ram intakes to
get loads of air into the carbs.

Yeah, well, they don't work now.

I think there's some
actuators and things missing.

We're keeping them.

We're keeping them.

We are 100% keeping those nostrils.

Look at that.

Yeah, it looks great.

All right, we'll get the ram air working,
but forget about that for a moment.

This looks clean.

No oil leaks, engine's really good.

How does it feel?

The front end cramps all over the place.

The suspension actually jumps up and down.

The brakes are squirmy.

So I never had the confidence to really
give the accelerator a full pounding.

All right, so job number one, we're
going to sort the suspension out.

But once that's done, I want
to know about the power.

Well, that engine,
somewhere over the years,

I reckon a few of the Mustangs
have sort of left the field.

You might have to go and
get on your horse and a lasso,

go and gather them up
and bring them back in again.

Do you know what?

I feel a dyno coming on.

Definitely got to do
something about the paint.

Yeah, absolutely.

Paint as it shows every little floor.

There's a run there.

Leave that up to me.

I'll try and find a way
to rescue this paintwork.

You better because a whole new
paint job is going to be expensive.

How much was it?

Well, believe it or not, I bought
all of this car for just $18,000,

which is about 14,000
of earthly English pounds.

That's cheap.

That's a lot of car for 14 grand, isn't it?

So you get the door open.

Let's get it in the workshop.

I'll do this.

All right, you drive it.

I'll get the door open.

All right.

Mustang, Sally!

I said it before, and I'll say it again.

If Mike had dragged me to
America and not got me a Mustang,

well, frankly, I would
have questioned his sanity.

But he hasn't just gone
and got any Mustang.

He's gone and got me a Mach 1 fastback.

These things are hot property right now.

Plus, he's got it in black
with a manual gearbox.

I mean, talk about ticking boxes.

Problem is, is that Mike tells
me it handles like a bit of a dog.

So I've got to get underneath
and diagnose the problem.

My first impressions of this car
is actually it's really quite good.

But there is an obvious problem.

We've jumped into the sizzling hot
second generation Mustang market.

With a 1973 Mach 1.

Oh, this car is fast, but a little loose.

An ant already hit a snag.

This anti-roll bar here,

the bushes that join the roll
bar to the chassis have perished.

Plus, it's really loose.

No wonder it handled like a dog.

On top of that, there's a bit
of play in this wheel bearing.

So what I want to do now
is I want to strip the whole

suspension off, replace all
the joints and all the bushes.

Then it'll handle like new.

The wheels need to come off
so I can get at the suspension.

Replacing the anti-roll bar will help keep
this heavy old lady firmly on the road.

And on top of that, I'm changing
the strut rods and tired track rod ends.

Now, we know that this version of the
Mustang had an inherent weight problem.

It was too heavy.

So much so that Ford themselves changed the
weight of the vehicle the very next year.

I'm not going to change the weight,
but I am going to change the ride height.

After all, my experience in
building race cars tells me

that the lower you put the weight of
the car, the better it's going to handle.

Plus, as an added
bonus, it's going to change

the appearance of our
car from the outside,

giving it a lower, more aggressive stance.

I can't wait to see Mike's reaction.

This car is getting new upper and
lower control arms and spindles.

The Springs go in next,
along with a fresh set of shocks.

This will vastly improve
handling and response.

Mike's request was simple,
make the car handle better.

At the same time as
upgrading all of this suspension,

I'm going to change the brakes as well.

There's no point having all
this power, but no way to stop.

New discs and new pads.

It's going to make this
power car stop on a sixpence.

Now that the new Springs
and brakes are in place,

I can fit the last piece
of the new suspension.

The anti-roll bar was
the primary issue for

the handling problems
that Mike encountered.

So what I've done is I've
uprated it for a stronger,

thicker anti-roll bar and
polyurethane bushes.

Now the anti-roll bar
might look like a basic

bit of equipment, and
that's because it is.

It's effectively a really strong piece
of metal that joins the lower wishbone

on one side of the car to the lower
wishbone on the other side of the car.

So when the car takes
a tight right hander and

all the weight wants
to shift onto this side,

it transfers all the loads
into the other side of the car,

pulling the body upright
and stabilising the vehicle.

If you take the anti-roll bar out,
and especially in a car this heavy,

it's going to wallow and
ride all over the place.

Yeah, this is done.

Problem is, it's only half a job.

I've now got to do the back.

I've had my Mustang bonnet
sent down to my friend Mel.

He's the go-to guy if you need
any kind of paint correction.

If Mel can't rescue the paint on a Mustang,

it means that we're going
to be visiting a paint shop.

and blowing any chance of
potential profit out of that Mustang.

So it's fingers crossed he can save me.

Mel!

Hey, how are you doing?

Mike, good to see you.

Good to see you, my friend.

This looks fantastic.

Isn't that amazing?

Paintwork looks stunning.

You can dive into that paint.

I've definitely sent my bonnet
over to the right person now.

I hope so.

I can see you got it laid out.

Got it here.

So what do you think of it?

Took a look at it.

Nice.

Very nice.

But the issue we face here
is you've got orange peel.

Texture.

We want to remove the defects in the paint

so that we can get that depth
and gloss you're looking for.

You want it to look like that.

So we can dive into it.

That's what we're looking for.

So what's the first process
and how do we start it?

Well, right off the bat, we're going to
clean it and then we're going to Clay it.

Cool.

So Mel, microfibre cloth.

Great invention.

Love the stuff.

But you say there is a method
to get more out of this cloth.

Yeah, there's a lot to be said
about microfibre towels, Mike.

And one of the coolest
things is that, you know,

what you want to do is you
want to have towel management,

especially a shop like mine, where I go
through hundreds of towels during a week.

I want to try to get as much
out of each towel as I can.

So, you know, it's a lot of
people take a towel like this.

They'll open it up and they'll start
going over the surface of the car.

One towel.

Yeah, one towel.

So you'll notice that
most of the towel, if you're

doing this, most of the
towel doesn't get used.

So I'm going to do a little test on here.

How many towels do I have in my hand?

One.

Isn't that funny?

But if I fold it into fours like
so, I now have eight towels.

One, two, three, four,
five, six, and seven, eight.

Now the cool part of this is
when I start using the towel,

there's two things that happen.

Number one, I've got a really nice cushion.

between the palm of my
hand and the painted surface.

So I'm not being aggressive.

And number two is I'm
actually getting more use out of

the complete towel than if
I was just to leave it open.

How cool is that?

Little tip.

Whoever knew that you can get
eight towels out of... One towel.

One towel.

Well done, Mel.

Great tip.

I love it.

Mel uses a Clay-based
lubricant and pad on the bonnet.

The Clay pours the contaminants out
of the paint and leave it smooth as glass.

What's good about this is this is
something you can try yourself at home.

You can go and get yourself
a Clay pad or a Clay cloth.

Get out on your driveway one
afternoon and just give it a go

because I promise you
the rewards will be fantastic.

You'll feel the difference immediately.

Right, what's next then, Mel?

We're about ready to take
some pretty intense steps.

So we want to protect this vinyl stripe.

We should accidentally
hit that with the sandpaper.

We're going to damage it.

So that's the importance of using tape.

This tape is really flexible.

It's going to go around
the curves nice and easy.

I'm actually going to
have you do this, Mike.

I'm quite good at this.

You know, I used to be a car pinstriper.

Oh, wow.

I didn't know that.

That's what I did first of all.

That was one of the skills you learn very
quickly when you're trying to sell cars.

As I say, you've got a fork full of cars.

They won't go.

You go out there one week
when it's nice and quiet.

You just put a load of pinstripes on
the side and change the look of the car.

And then hopefully you're going
to attract the right customer for it.

Wow, I'm impressed.

Yeah, I'm a man of many talents.

Very good.

So now we're all taped up.

Here comes the scary bit.

The sanding.

I got to get my machines and
we're going to rock and roll.

Go for it.

I always want to start with the
most least aggressive I need.

We're going to start out with 1000 grit.

So before we go any
further, I want to see the

result we're getting,
what we're looking at.

This is the bit mail where I
go, oh, what have I done?

So there's our shine.

There's our sanded surface.

Now there's something I want to look for.

I want to see in this finish.

Am I getting the surface flat?

I would say yes, I am.

Yes, I think you are.

Yeah, the paint is much
flatter than it was before.

Now we're really starting
to get that finished.

Look, although it's a dull finish,

we're going to bring this thing
back to shine and gloss in no time.

You want to constantly wipe the surface.

Look at what you got.

Yeah.

Now we're going to switch
to a new grit of sandpaper.



Fine grit sandpaper erases the
scratches made with a coarser stuff.

The idea is to make the
scratches too small to see or feel.

Well, I can see we've got
now a really scratched hood.

Thanks, Mel.

Well, it's actually dull.

I know how you feel.

I know what you're looking at.

Right now, the paint on
this bonnet looks horribly dull.

So now we have to give it a good Polish.

I'm hoping Mel can work some kind of
magic because if this hood turns out great,

Mel will be able to give the
entire car a fantastic finish.

Oh, Mel.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, wow.

I just can't believe this.

Look at that.

That's like wet look to the Max.

I mean, that's what
we're always after, Mike.

This is called paint finishing at its best.

It turned out great.

Oh, I got excited once before.

Imagine when we get the whole car done.

No, it's just incredible.

You know, I said I want
to dive into the paint work.

I mean, literally, I'm
going to put my shorts

on and I'm going to
go for a swim in that.

That, Mel, is phenomenal.

You're a wizard when it
comes to paint correction.

What you've done is shown a
Wheeler dealer how to save money.

We no longer need to worry about
taking the car to the paint shop.

We can save the paint we got with a car.

I can't wait to get this back
to our shop, show it to man.

And of course, you've
got the rest of the car to do.

Can't wait.

It's going to be exciting.

We put the Mustang's


Come on, Mustang.

How much of its muscle has it lost?

We've joined the vintage muscle car
game with a 1973 Mustang Mach 1.

I've driven one of these
before and they sound better.

So there's improvement to be made there.

But this pony has lost a
few horses over the years.

And I need to know just how many.

The mic tells me this car's down on power.

Really, there's only one way to find out.

And that's on a dyno.

The dynamometer, or dyno,
measures the power output of an engine.

The Mustang's rear tires
rest on the dyno's rollers,

which provide load for the
car's engine to work against.

The dyno will then measure
how much torque the

car is producing at a
given rotational speed.

Multiply torque by RPM,

and boom, we'll know exactly how many
horsepower this pony car is putting down.

All we need to do now is secure the Mustang
in place on the dyno and get started.

Ford's claim back in 1973 was that
this car had 266 brake horsepower,

and that's quite a bold claim.

But what that really means is
that's the power of the engine.

By the time you take that power, put
it through the gearbox, the prop shaft,

through the rear axle into the wheels,

the actual power that's put down
on the ground loses around 15%.

So that takes us from 266 to 225.

What I want to know is,
over the last four decades,

how much of that 225 has
been lost and where are we at?

And this is a pretty
scientific way of finding out.

Mikey, shall we?

I'm ready, Ian. Are you ready?

Yeah!

All right.

So what we're going to do is we're
going to go ahead and fire the car up.

Yep.

First gear, second gear, third gear.

We're going to bring the
car up to about 2,000 RPM.

I'm going to give you the thumbs up.

I want you to floor it.

g*n it.

We're going to see what this bad boy makes.

Come on, let's find out.

Let's do it.

Right, moment of truth.

Come on, Mustang.

Oh man, 186 brake horsepower.

Considering it's four decades
old, there's actually not that bad.

She's lost around 40 brake horsepower.

About one a year.

Trick is, now can I get that back?

Now then, Ant, step yourself over here.

Come and have a look at
this, what I've been up to.

God, that looks fantastic.

How good is that?

So I want to see the genius that is Mel.

He discovered we did have enough meat
in the paint that he could cut it back.

So he's been polishing it
back to bring out this shine

and got rid of all that orange peel.

It means... We
don't have to paint it.

Correct, we don't have to paint the car.

We've saved ourselves thousands.

And after we send it
out for a new interior,

the inside will be as
tip-top as the outside.

Right, so how are we
getting on with the engine?

Well, I hate to admit
it, but you were right.

I'm always right.

You're not always right,
but you were right about this.

It's down on power.

Is it?

Yeah.

Well, originally it should have


What are we looking at?

We've lost 39.



God.

That's a lot.

No, it's not that bad.

No, it's really bad.

This is a Mustang.

People want to buy this car
because they want 225 horsepower.

They want it to be loud, brash and fast.

People that come to buy this
car want all the horsepower.

You're saying that the
gate has been opened,


galloped off into the fields.

They are nowhere.

You've got to somehow
lasso them individually,

pull them back in.

How are you going to do that?

We don't, I think, have to do
anything major to the engine.

It's going to be a few little
small bits and pieces here.

And I will.

Okay, well, I admire your confidence.

One of the ways that you can get
some horsepower back immediately

is with these ram air
scoops that don't work.

Let's get this snorting
and snarling as it should do.

Yeah, that'll be a part way.

It won't be all 39, but
it'll get us an edge closer.

Good. Okay.

And then I need it finished
because I need to get the rest

of the car to melt to get
the rest of it colour-sanded.

No, I've got to do the power bits first.

And then I need it for the
polisher because I've got to sell it.

Power before Polish.

I agree.

You never agree.

I just did.

This is a big moment for me.

Our 73 Mustang stops and steers
properly and its paint positively pops.

Oh, look at that.

This is called paint finishing at its best.

But this horse isn't
as fast as it used to be.

It's time for me to try and herd a
few more ponies under the bonnet.

This car's missing 39 brake horsepower

and I could spend loads of money
and get all that power back and more.

In fact, I could just drag the
engine out blow 20 grand, job done.

But this build isn't about
spending loads of money.

It's about working with
the car that we've got.

And I reckon there's a few small tweaks
that will find all of those missing horses.

So I've targeted intake,
ignition and exhaust.

Or in layman's terms, suck, bang, blow.

And number one, ceramic coating.

This stuff was pioneered
by NASA in the 70s.

It's used on spaceships.

This silver ceramic coating retains
the heat within the exhaust tubes.

Hot gases expand and flow more quickly.

This means less back pressure
on the engine and more horsepower.

Now for stage two, the bang.

Our car is already fitted
with an uprated distributor.

The problem is, if you look inside, it
has the old fashioned point style ignition.

That constant use creates wear and tear.

It creates an inconsistent
spark within the engine.

I'm going to replace the old
fashioned point system with this.

An electronic distributor.

Now this doesn't have any points in it.

It has less moving parts, which
means it's way more reliable.

Because what you don't
want is an unreliable spark.

Lose spark and you lose power.

And all that means nothing unless
I can get that spark to the engine.

So I'm going to fit new HT
leads and new spark plugs.

We're upgrading to plugs
that will produce a bigger spark.

Bigger spark means more power.

For the last part of the process,

I need to get the spark from the
distributor down to the spark plug.

And to do that, I've also
upgraded the HT leads.

These are much thicker.

The thicker the wire, the
more current it can carry.

I'm installing a new ram air kit
that will bring back horsepower.

As well as make the car
function as it did when it was new.

The ram air bonnet looks absolutely
awesome, but it also serves a purpose.

These two actuators here operate
using the vacuum within the inlet manifold.

Now I'm going to simulate that
vacuum using this hand pump.

The engine's running, the vacuum builds
up, closes the flap within the ram air.

Press the accelerator pedal.

Boom!

It opens, lets all that cold air in,

rams it down here into the air box and
straight down the throat of the carburetor.

And when you mix air with fuel,
that's where the magic happens.

I can tell that this car is running
rich just by the way it smells.

It's something that you get a
sense of when you work with old cars.

Plus I notice when I took the spark plugs
out that the ends are all black and sooty.

This is another telltale sign.

To correct this problem,
I'll replace the carburetor

jets to rebalance
the fuel to air mixture.

And jets are basically like tiny
funnels with a hole in the middle.

The bigger the hole,
the more fuel comes in.

All I'm going to do is put smaller
ones in and reduce the flow of fuel.

I love that smell.

Right, moment of truth.

I can tell just from sitting
here, that sounds pretty rough.

The last thing I need to
tackle now is the timing.

So I'm going to use this, a timing g*n.

When I connect my timing
g*n to the ignition circuit,

the g*n's strobe effect shows
me the timing of the spark.

I rotate the distributor by hand until
the timing Mark is in the correct position.

I'm trying to find the sweet
spot and I'll know it when I hear it.

That's it.

Just with the way
it sounds, the way it

feels, the way it
rumbles, the way it smells.

There's no doubt in my mind we
put the power back in this engine.

Awesome.

Between all of these little
tweaks and enhancements,

our car should hopefully now be very
close to the factory 225 horsepower.

But I'm not going to guess, I'm
going to get it dyno tested again.

How much wow factor will our
suspension and engine upgrades add?

Oh wow!

We found a 73 Mustang, restored it
mechanically and saved its original paint.

Oh wow, it's just incredible.

The car is back from the
interior shop and it looks amazing.

We've gone with red trimmed racing seats,

Alcantara dash and door cards and
a red contrast stitching throughout.

Getting top dollar for this
car will be in the details.

On the 72 model, these
lights were horizontal.

That's got to go.

Mike and I have
agreed that this car will

look best if we go with
the more aggressive.



Another subtle difference of the 72
grille is these, the round headlamp trims.

We've also splashed out on a
period correct set of 17 inch wheels,

along with 225 tyres up front
and wider 255s at the back.

I've loved working on
this Mustang, giving

it back its power, its
handling and its looks

and finishing the story that
the original owner started.

She now looks like a 1972 car and
I love that wild aggressive stance.

But having seen her finished,
there's one little detail I want to change.

and I'm going to surprise Mike.

This second generation
Ford Mustang was a tyre

shredding car when it
first hit the streets in 1973.

The monster V8 and
manual gearbox that made

this Mach 1 perfect for
tearing up the tarmac

back then are a huge part of why a vintage
Mustang enthusiast would love it today.

We've got this Mustang for a mate's rate.

Since we're friends,
I like to do it for 18.

Fantastic, come to daddy.

But it was down in power
and rubbish at stopping.

The brakes are hopeless.

And rebuilt the suspension
and upgraded the brakes,

I helped by rescuing the
Mustang's distressed paintwork.

Oh wow, I just can't believe that.

Dino testing revealed that the Mustang
had lost 39 of its original horsepower.

A targeted intake, ignition and exhaust,
or in layman's terms, suck, bang, blow.

And Ant was able to corral
most of the missing ponies

back under the bonnet
without busting the budget.

There's no doubt in my mind we
put the power back in this engine.

I love the red pinstripe Ant
added as a last minute surprise.

It sets off the newly reupholstered
seats, dash and headliner perfectly.

So what's this Mustang cost us?

We spent 18 grand on the car.

Suspension and brakes set us back $1,650.

Fixing the paint cost $1,150.

Engine upgrades were $1,400.

The interior cost $1,100.

We paid $1,200 for a new set of wheels and
tires, plus $700 for 1972 parts and trim.

We're into this car for a total of $25,200
or approximately £19,500 and 45 man hours.

I'm hoping to find a buyer who is ready to
live the dream of classic Mustang ownership

and is prepared to pay for
this powerful polished example.

But before we sell it on,
we need to take this baby

out on the road and see
how well she really gallops.

Wow, look at the car.

It's incredible, Ant.

Look at that black paint coming seriously.

Every angle you stare at this
car, it just sort of shouts muscle.

I love the little red pinstripe
you put down the side.

Very nice.

That last little bit of
detail just makes it pop.

It does.

Yeah, and it sets off the lovely interior,

what with the red stitching and the
red inserts on those wonderful seats.

I love these wheels.

They're a modern interpretation
of a rally sport wheel.

Look at the frame.

It's incredible, isn't it?

Looks so good.

Right, so that leads me on to horsepower.

Now, when I give you
this car, you put it on a

dyno test and it came
back 39 horsepower down

and you were going to go into a
field and find those horses for me.

Yeah.

How do we do?

Did you find them?

Well, you know how
much I love a bit of science?

You do, don't you?

And I do love a chart and I
have the dyno print out for you.

Blue is where we were.

Red is where we are.

No way, seriously?

You found all that horsepower?

We've gone at the rear wheels
from 186 horsepower to 224.

Yep.

That's incredible.

Hold on a minute, though, that's 38.

That's not 39.

There's one horsepower missing then.

Yeah.

So there's one horse missing.

But I did that all on a budget.

We didn't spend loads of money.

So if you think about bang for
buck, we're in a really good place.

Yeah, but it's still one
horsepower missing,

which is rather appropriate because
we're at Willow Springs today.

And this part of the circuit,
this is actually called horse thief,

believe it or not, which is
exactly what you've done.

You've stolen a horse away from me.

I'm going to find it under my
right foot because I'm driving.

It's only one horse.

Have you ever driven a horse at full speed?

You can't drive horses.

Quit your moaning.

Start driving.

Right, come on then.

Here we go.

Go, go, go.

Did you only find 38 horsepower?

It feels like you found 500.

This car is terrifying.

I know.

I told you that one wouldn't count.

It doesn't count.

What did you do?

Right, well, I did,
upgraded the distributor,

got new leads, new
plugs, ceramic coated

the headers, fixed the ram air,
and that's made a huge difference.

Sawed out the timing, tuned
the carburetor, and now listen to it.

When I put my right foot
down, you can hear that

ram air just open up
and take a big gulp of air.

Throw it into the carburetors
and this thing just shouts.

Listen to it, shouts.

This is everything an American
should be, loud, thrash, and shouting.

Turn in.

Turn in.

Oh my gosh, that grip's like a ******* car.

Those brakes are brilliant.

She's got new brakes.

I can't give a girl all that
power in those shoes.

Now she has got amazing anchors.

The handling as well.

I can really push this
car into these bends.

Well, it's gone from handling
like a boat to handling

like a race car because
I've replaced everything.

Look at that.

Yeah, I mean, this car doesn't roll.

Go on, go on, go on, oh my
God, this thing is absolutely flying.

Now the Mach 1 name, that first
appeared, funny enough, not on a car.

Ford had it on like a hovercraft.

Ford built a hovercraft?

Yeah, in 1959.

They built all kinds of vehicles,
didn't they, for the military?

And they built a hovercraft and they
used the Mach 1 on the hovercraft.

I'd quite like it for them.

It would be quite cool, wouldn't it?

But then they bought the name back in


and the world just fell in
love with the name, Mach 1.

Mach 1 sounds aggressive.

And it suits it, brilliant.

This car looks great on the outside, but
you've nailed it on the interior as well,

because when it comes to sound
time, it's all about those details,

the things that people can touch and feel.

It just looks so much better.

Remember that old, ripped, vinyl headliner?

Feel that.

There's beauty.

It's like suede and Alcantara.

It feels more expensive now.

Yeah.

Just gives it an edge.

Oh, please don't sell this straight away.

Let's just keep the car for another day.

Or a week, or a month.

Let's just keep it.

I love this job.

I love my job.

I love it.

One of the lessons I
learned about this car is

the way that it was
sold to me inside a barn.

And I thought that was really good staging.

Where else do you sell a
Mustang but outside a barn?

So I've copied that, and
hopefully it'll do the trick.

Now this guy behind me,
when I spoke to him on the

phone, I recognized the
accent as a fellow Brit.

He's called Heath, and he's
come down to see the car.

He's already taken it for a
drive, and I think he likes it.

I'm asking $27,000 for it.

Let's see what he thinks.

Right then, Heath, you've
been all over this car like a rash.

What do you think of it?

Mike, I think it's amazing.

I think you guys have
done a fantastic job on it.

The detailing is phenomenal.

I just, yeah, I love it.

I love it.

So why a Mustang?

Well, I've always loved Mustangs.

And it's that perfect poster car.

I had one on my wall
when I was a young lad.

I think it's incredible.

You don't get many of these in the UK.

But not only that, Mike.

I've got two young twin boys,
and I see this as a family heirloom.

What a thrill that would be to hand
this down to the boys in the future.

In terms of investment,
trust me, this car is

increasing in value
as we're standing here.

So I'm asking, I think, a very
reasonable price for this car.

Twenty seven thousand dollars.

That's just under twenty
one thousand pounds.

What do you say?

I hate to be cheeky, but do you
think we could do something on price?

I do have to get this car
back to the UK, though.

So I've got to deal with
all the shipping costs.

Really?

It's going to go all the way
back to the United Kingdom.

Do you know what?

I always hate giving money off a car,
especially when I know the car is price right.

And we put such a big effort into
getting this car looking so good.

But in this instance, yeah,
I'm going to help you out.

It's going to cost you a couple
of grand to ship this back.

I'll split that with you and
give you a thousand off the car.

Let you have it for twenty six.

That's under twenty thousand pounds.

This car is a bit of a bargain.

What do you say?

I think you got a deal, Mike.

Perfect.

You just bought yourself
a cracking Mach one.

Well done.

Brilliant.

Thanks, Mike.

I'm so chuffed.

There's been a lot of work
to turn this car around and

make it look and drive
like it did back in the 70s.

But me and Anne are immensely
proud of the work that we've achieved.

And this car is now going to
go and live on in another country.

And as for that one horse that Anne couldn't
find, well, I've got this little black

Mustang here, so I might ride that back to
the workshop where we can count our profit.

If you want to see more iconic cars like
this being turned around by me and Anne,

then join us again soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Salut.