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LS7 Swapped 1970 Mustang Mach 1 Makes Old and New Designs Work as One

You don't mess with perfection unless you can somehow improve on it. As much of an oxymoron as that might sound, it is, in fact, possible to accomplish this. The only catch? Mess it up, and the internet will have your head.
LS7 Mustang 13 photos
Photo: Roadster Shop
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But somehow, we get the impression that the internet won't have a hard time approving Roadster Shop's LS7-swapped 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 built. The native 351 or 428-cubic inch V8 may be long gone, but there's something just as awesome under the hood nowadays to satisfy all but the most fervent purists.

For those not in the now, Roadster Shop is a custom restomod fabrication shop based out of Mundelein, Illinois, known for performance chassis setups a cut above even very high-quality competition. They use the highest quality materials, assembly techniques, and top-notch fabricators to make each customer's creation come to life in their own image before their own eyes.

With novel techniques like in-house laser cutting, 3D printing, and AutoCAD software, there's not a single piece of hardware in this shop that isn't the absolute technological apex. This 1970 Mach 1 is no exception. As with many of the most memorable restomods, it all starts with a custom chassis. In this case, it's one of Roadster Shop's designs. It features goodies like a double A-arm front suspension and parallel quad-link suspension with a Panhard bar in the back.

This is a setup a few cuts above what a Mach 1 would have left the factory floor sporting back in 1970. From there, A 4L60E four-speed automatic gearbox feeds to a Ford 9-inch rear end because even the best in the business know not to mess around with any other rear axle. The chassis rides on adjustable coilover suspension with Baer four-piston disc brakes with drilled/slotted rotors at all corners.

Roadster Shop LS7 Mustang
Photo: Roadster Shop
It's all kept on the road with a set of Vintage Wheels Superlite forged alloy wheels running on Diamond Back Classics 265/50-15 tires in front and 295/50-15 tires in back. In what must have felt like the world's most stress-inducing game of lego on Earth, the stock Mach 1 Mustang was stripped down to its most basic components. Gone was the old chassis, drivetrain, and most of the interior.

The new chassis with all the fixings was simply bolted to the car's body to make for a solid foundation for what was planned to fit under its hood. The engine in question is a seven-liter GM LS7 V8 engine specially modified to look as close to the original Ford engine as possible.

We're talking about trinkets like valve covers specifically styled to look like the old Ford Cobrajets and a stainless steel exhaust attached Hooker headers. Add it all up, and you have a far more aggressive package that's infinitely more track capable than the vehicle which entered this Illinois garage bay at the beginning of its restomod journey. That's all without considering the amazing work done in the interior.

Though the inside looks uncannily similar to how it looked back in the 70s, there are subtle clues as to what lies underneath. The astute among you will no doubt instantly clue into the fact this gauge cluster is pretty far from stock. They're a fully LED-backlit unit courtesy of Dakota Digital.

Roadster Shop LS7 Mustang
Photo: Roadster Shop
Add on the extensive and time-consuming interior detail to freshen up the rest of the interior, and you have one of the finest classic Mustang restomods to see the light of day. If you didn't tell anybody that a GM engine powered it, chances are good people would be none the wiser.


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