How it Should Look!

The trunk shown above is from Mustang Monthly's 72 "Lazarus" Mach 1. Note that the deflated spare was stored up side down in the trunk, with it's valve stem pointed down, and also pointed to the rear of the car. Below is a nicely detailed trunk from Chris Weidner's 71 Boss 351. 

Additional Photos

The photos below are from a July 1971 built Mach 1 with 43,000 miles. We believe the trunk details have not been changed from the factory.

Trunk Light

The photos above show the trunk light harness and routing (left), an installed view of the bulb/bracket (center) and a view inside the trunk sheet metal showing the view inside (right). The Bulb and Bracket assembly are shown below.

Space Saver Spare

This is the space saver spare tire used on 71 Mustangs equipped the 60 series size tire  (it's size was F78-14). It was also used if the Mustang came equipped with a fold down rear seat with the trap door that opened into the trunk. Note the correct '71 space saver spare will have one standard 1" rubber valve stem. In the mid 70's, Ford switched to a metal stem that had a built in pressure relief valve. If you have a metal one, the tire bead can be broken down on just the stem side and the valve stem swapped for a 1" rubber one.  The space saver spare is a  F78-14 B.F. Goodrich. Also, note the paint markings used for factory ID. Samples original to 429 Mustangs have Lavender and  Tan paint ID marks as shown in the photos above right.

Trunk Torsion Rod - original car (with Spoiler weight) Installation Photos

Special Valve Cap

This is the rare plastic valve cap used on all Space Saver spares. The cap incorporated a small screw driver like tool in it's tip that was used to un-screw the valves inner core so that the spare could be deflated and stored faster after using it. The Space Saver spare also used a short valve stem as shown above right.

Inflation Canister

This photo shows the  inflation canister used to inflate the Space Saver Spare tire. The can featured a black plastic nozzle cap and a cardboard sleeve over the lower half to insulate the canister from the customer's hand since it got very cold during inflation. The can used a D1ZA-19F514-A silver label, and the label was placed over a cardboard liner that was fitted on the lower half of the can. At right center is the hold down spring (#C8ZZ) which secures the canister to the trunk mount. At far right is a closeup of the spacesaver bracket that is welded to the trunk floor. The canister was mounted beneath the space saver spare on 71 Mustangs up through April 1971 when, according to literature, the canister was mounted on top of the space saver based on the trunk decal below. We haven't confirmed yet that this April 71 change actually occurred.

   Spare Tire Components

Contents of 71 Mustang Trunk. Note the inflation canister shown is a dealer replacement. Detailed photo of correct jack shown at right.

Mustang Jack Usage and Stowage Decals

The red arrow in the photo above left shows the location of the "Jack Usage and Stowage" Decal on the right, inner side of the deck lid. The chart at center shows 5 different versions of this decal available for the 71 Mustang. At right is an original one from a 71 429 SCJ Mach 1 with the space saver spare and competition suspension.

Cougar Jack Usage and Stowage Decals

The photo above left shows a correctly detailed 71 Cougar Hard Top trunk and location of the spare tire. The photo at center shows the correct mounting location of the 71-73 spare in a Cougar Convertible. Note the tire mounts further back and to the right to allow room for the top compared to the Hard Top. Placement of the Jacking decal (top right) could have been either the right, inner side of the deck lid as shown above left or the center, forward area of the trunk lid. Additional research is needed to confirm, but it is believed that all 71 - 73 Cougars used a similar Jacking decal because the space saver tire was not a Cougar option (like the Mustang).