Car of the Month October 2009
Myron and Karen Moreno's 1969 SCJ Mach I

In 2004, Karen and I were looking for a 1969 Mustang Mach I to restore. After looking at some locally, we found one on EBay in Texas for sale. It was listed as below:

ORIGINAL 428 Super Cobra Jet 4-Speed 1969 Mustang Mach I Fastback. This Indian Red with White interior CJ is just as rare as a Shelby or Boss 302. This car has been sitting in the west Texas area for the past 8 years without being moved. It is in need of TOTAL restoration, it needs everything. I don’t think the engine is original so DON’T assume anything. The car does have some rust but not too bad.

So with a fixed budget to bid on the car, I sat at my computer watching the auction action on Ebay. As the auction clock counted down, the price kept going up. I made a couple of bids and watched in dismay as I was outbid every time and the price approached my limit. With 15 seconds left, the auction got the best of me and sucked me in. I went $300 dollars over my limit and clicked on confirm! As I waited for my screen to refresh to see the outcome, I got a lump in my throat and thought “what did I just do?” When the screen refreshed I saw the message “You Won”. I thought again “what did I just do???”

After making the payment and arranging for the car to be shipped to us in San Jose, I left for Korea for a two week trip. Up to this point, all I have seen of the car were some small 640 x 320 pictures on E-bay. While I was in Korea the car arrived and Karen enlisted the help of Rick to unload it from the trailer and ....put it into the garage. So it was on that day in Korea I received the below picture of our new car:

When I returned from my trip, the first thing I did (after kissing Karen, of course) was to rush to my garage to see our new treasure. As I looked at the car I thought for the third time “what did I do?” The seller on EBay was a little conservative with his description of the car. Little rust must have meant “little not rusted” and “do not assume anything” was the ultimate disclaimer. The car was a beaut. Besides the latex paint job and the red diamond tuck and roll interior, other indicators of the fun ahead were the “tourista” stickers on the front window, the drywall screws holding the carpet down to the floor, the missing bolts from the intake manifold and the Maverick rims.

With nothing to lose, we promptly started tearing the car apart into two piles, the good parts and the bad parts. Unfortunately after we finished stripping the car completely down to the uni-body, the bad parts pile was a lot larger than the good parts pile.

At this point we found several “modifications” made by prior owners to assist in the maintenance of the car. One of these mods included using an oxy-acetylene torch to make access holes in the shock towers to change the sparkplugs. We also determined the floor pans, three of the engine compartment panels, both rear quarter panels and one trunk panel had to be repaired or replaced due to rust.

With Rick’s help, we got out the plasma cutter, spot weld cutters and MIG welder (it pays to have the right tools!) and proceeded to replace every rusted sheet metal section on the car. About this time Rick and I agreed it would have been easier to repair the yellow Mach I than this car (but that is another story).

After many months of labor, the body panels were bolted back onto the car and trailered to Sergio’s Auto Body in Monterey.

While Sergio worked his magic on the body, I started to work on the drive train. As I noted earlier, the seller’s disclaimer “Do not assume anything” was holding true as the motor sold with the car was a 390 motor and the transmission was a small-input toploader. These were promptly sold to help fund building a Super Cobra Jet engine. As luck would have it, I found a complete SCJ motor with a big-input toploader for sale on web-page for a drag strip in Maine. I contacted the seller and negotiated the price to include shipping out to California. When the engine arrived I did a cursory inspection and it looked like a freshly built motor, so I buttoned it back up and waited for the car to come home from the Sergio’s. After a year wait, Sergio called and said the car was done. When we arrived both Karen and I were amazed at the transformation. It was painted with multiple coats of Ford Vermillion Red and then covered with more coats of clear. It was beautiful! We loaded on the trailer and brought it home. The car was finally going back together! After painting the entire interior and undercarriage in my garage, we started to put the pieces back together. It was amazing to see the car going together as we bolted each part on. After many months of late night hours after work and long weekend days, the car was ready to accept the new engine. With the help of many friends, the SCJ motor slide easily into the engine compartment. After completing the engine installation, the motor was fired up and the cam broken in. During the break-in the engine developed an oil leak which necessitated removing the engine. We found the engine builder had used the wrong plugs in the block and they were leaking. The engine continues to give me problems and after pulling the engine three times to fix oil leaks, we decided to give it a chance to run for more than 5 minutes...... With 20 miles on the engine, Karen and I jumped in the car and drove it to Pacific Grove for the Auto Rally for its inaugural showing. From there I drove it for about 200 miles, but was not happy with the engine. It had a bad vibration and the oil pressure was dropping, so at this point the engine was removed again. After disassembly of the “newly rebuilt” engine, I found the crank was cracked and this had caused the vibrations and the worn bearings. I promptly tore the engine down to rebuild it myself. This took another year as the engine had to be sleeved due to the bore was already .060" over standard.

With new engine components, expert advice from the FE forum and help from Rick, the engine was rebuilt better than new and the car was revived in time VMOA’s June car show. Since then Karen and I have attended Hot San Jose Nights, Hot August Nights, Cherries Jubilee and several other club events. Our Mustang is now about 95% done and we are excited to show it off at more events this fall.

When looking at the Marti Report, it appears this car was purchased with one thing in mind, the quarter mile. This Mustang Mach I came from the factory with the 428 Super Cobra Jet motor, close ratio big input/big output 4 speed transmission, shaker hood scoop, drag-pak option (which includes remote oil cooler, staggered rear shocks and 4:30 locker rear-end), in-dash tachometer, center console, and folding rear. The original owner evidently wanted the car to go fast, but was not very interested in handling or stopping as it was bought with the largest standard motor available but manual steering and drum brakes to save weight. We have since added a PI intake manifold, rear-window louvers, front and rear spoilers, stereo, power steering and power brakes.

I owe special thanks to Rick for all his help in restoring the car and his guidance in how to make it look as good as it does. Most of all I have to give credit to Karen for her unwavering support, as we would not have the car we have today. She has made sure I made the right decisions and have always encouraged me to do what I thought was right for our car. If not for her, I might still have the red diamond tuck-n-roll interior the car came with from Texas

Myron and Karen Moreno