street legal ?
 

greetings all...

i am new to the world of classic cars but very interested. i am looking into purchasing a 1970 mustang mach 1 and slowly restore it. I am hoping to make this into a car that i use often, however i don't know if it is legal to drive or not (i was told it wasn't by friend of mine whos a mechanic). i know the previous owner has done alot to it, and i was wondering if there is any way to find out for sure if its street legal or not. I'm living in Virginia.

thanks
-newbie

I would check with the state department of motor vehicles and see what they have to say. Does Virginia have a vehicle inspection? You might go have it inspected and see what they say. What is it about this car that makes you think it might not be legal?

the car is built to be a race car, it has a roll cage. my mechanic friend told me about it, his boss is selling it, however my friend says its not legal to drive. i still haven't gone to look at it in person yet, and find out for sure whats under the hood, but i'm not real worried about someone buying it.

as i said, i am new to the world of classic cars. would it be a mistake to buy this car and turn it into a daily driver? the price seems low - 6k for a 10second car. only thing it needs is a new fuel line.

thanks for the help

a car must pass inspection and an emissions inspection. taking it to be inspected is a good idea - i just have to find time to go talk with the owner.

a 10 second car for 6k better check to see if it even comes with a motor and tranny! By the sounds of things, and I know from experience, if the car is a true dedicated racecar then it will have atl least that kind of money in the car alone. A role cage is street legal, as are most other things found in a racecar. :D The point of modifiying a car to be raced is only to improve safety and the likelyhood of survival in the case of a crash. The car must have lights (headlights, taillights, signals etc...) tires that don't protrude from the body, ie tacky tipical firebird jacked up and tires that stick out 4-5 inches, seet belts are a must. If it's legal to go 10's in the 1/4 then it's probably legal for the road. Fiberglass parts are ok too, I think.

More details would be great, but it sure sounds like a blast. If you're good for the 6k make sure the motor isn't screwed and that everything works like you do for most cars. Just a helpful hint, most racers don't put a lot of time into the body soo be on the lookout for bondo! Major rust probably wonn't be a problem but check anyways. Be very patien and thourough. If it checks out always offer less that they waht!!

Good luck.

Trailered race cars
 

Trailered race cars usually don't have head lights, horns, turn signals, street mufflers, liscense plates, state inspection stickers and probably a lot of things not mentioned.

Rev

yeah not many do, your right, but mine does and so do 2 out of the 3 other race cars I've ever driven, however none of these run 10 seconds though and all where/are street cars at one time or another.

Slicks?
 

How many 10 second cars run anything other than slicks? Those aren't DOT legal either. Just another "track only" thing on most race dedicated drag cars.

Rev

you're right but the slicks that are on there now are probably shot. Hasn't the car has been sitting for a while? He'll need new ties anyway. If the slicks wer good they probably would have been sold as "dedicated racecar slicks" like MT's are about $600 a pair and the prices only go up from there. Even if the slicks were in OK shape if the car isn't on jack stands the weight of the car would have squared the slicks, rendering them useless as the soft side wall probably won't ever restore itself to perfect roundness no matter how many burn outs you do. If the car doesn't come with rims, back rims are the most important, then that could be costly to find replacements as the car is probably tubbed and may have a narrowed rear end. These factors accomodate large tire/rims and putting stock rims/tires will look silly. Hope the car comes with the rims and hope they aren't toooo big, anything in the 8-10 is ok for finding decent street tires. Street legal race cars are awsome!!

Agree with trevor
 

I think you and I pretty much agree on all this. I was just trying to think of what might not be street legal on a 10 second drag car.

Rev

I was just thinking about the aluminum that is used to tub the back half of most racecars and I don't know about how safe that realy is. The alluminum could fold up like a road map if in a rear-ender! Plus you'd never get that staightened out the way it used to be. Depending on the car and how far the owner has gone it might best be left a racecar only car.

yeah, i don't think this is the car for me. i found out it has slicks, and that it would not be good to run it fast for a long period of time (no highway driving). i'm going to look at a few camaro's in the area with the 350ci motor. i haven't been able to find any reasonably priced mustangs yet, but i'm not giving up yet. i'm in the northern va area if anyone is selling a mustang from the 60's or early 70's, give me an email at kakaka@ziplip.com

thanks

Side note
 

As a side note, I once lined up against a guy who had a trailered '70 Mustang, slicks, cage, etc., and all in primer. Before we lined up, I talked to this guy as he was pouring race gas into the car. He had just bought it with a 454 rat motor and power glide. He claimed it was originally a true Boss 302. He was a Ford guy and said he would redo it with a 460, C-6, etc.

We ended up lining up at test & tune night at HRP. He must have been asleep at the wheel as I actually got him for 60' or so. Then he came by me and of course proceeded to wax my arse. Was fun anyway. Just hope he did actually do the conversion back to all Ford.

Rev

I'm a police officer here in Virginia and I will help you with any questions you have and give as much info as you need.

email - zfrederick@cox.net
AOL IM - racintang