Topic: Buck Tag Mounting

[1970 Snake]

Where would be the correct location to mount the metal buck tag on my 1970 Dearborn Mach1, for some reason I can't find any pictures of the tag on my car but I have the tag and screw to attach it.

[J_Speegle]

Lots of questions today  Will take car of the easiest first

Here is an example for the location (buck tag has been bent upwards to see) from 0F04F1022xx




One bent down as it would have been though it looks like it got bent at some point




They were attached to the radiator support before the black paint was applied to the area

[1970 Snake]

Perfect Jeff, thanks, I looked at my rad saddle and found the tag screw hole, now that I knew where to look and have mounted the tag. I also found a picture in my files with the tag mounted, very hard to see it but that's exactly where it is mount tight against the hood support lug.

I have also found some explanations of the markings on the tag, and the author of that info indicated that the number on the top right hand side was the assembly line rotation number.

In your case picture its 210, on my tag its 057, but my rotation number is 519 according to my build sheet.
So what is this 057 number??

[J_Speegle]

In your case picture its 210, on my tag its 057, but my rotation number is 519 according to my build sheet.
So what is this 057 number??

Cars were typically assigned two rotation number.

First - the one used to identify the unibody as it was assembled during the first "half" of the build. This is the number you see on your buck tag - #57

Second - Once the body was in a holding zone they were assigned a new and normally different number for the last "half" of the cars assembly. Your second rotation number was #519 found on the upper left corner of the buildsheet and at some plants written by hand on the lower section much larger.

Hope this explains clearly the difference and purpose of each

[1970 Snake]

Awesome, great info thanks Jeff
I also found the 519 number hand written on the board that's used to protect the gas tank from the spare and its also hand written in large script in black marker across the build sheet.

Another question, was the rotation number marked in say white paint or marker on the front of the rad saddle somewhere or on the frame below the rad saddle??

[J_Speegle]

Another question, was the rotation number marked in say white paint or marker on the front of the rad saddle somewhere or on the frame below the rad saddle??

The second rotation number on a 70 Dearborn Mustang is often found on the front face of the front cross member at the lower hood latch support attaching whole. And example from early in the year  in white

[1970 Snake]

Thanks again Jeff, I have that marking but it doesn't seem to match either of my rotation numbers, its hard to see but looks like  9 A X see attached pic

[J_Speegle]

Thanks again Jeff, I have that marking but it doesn't seem to match either of my rotation numbers, its hard to see but looks like  9 A X see attached pic

The 9 may be the last letter of what is left of your rotation number. The "X" is often a poorly applied "F" that disignated that the body was for a Mustang (seen it before at San Jose and Dearborn during a couple of years of production)  since the Cougars were built on the same line and from the front during a large part of the assembly its had to tell the two apart quickly and from a distance

"A" on you car is something new and likely connected to something that needed calling out to one or more stations down the line

[1970 Snake]

Thanks again, I wish I had been more careful and taken better pictures during disassembly, which I did 10 years ago and at that time wasn't looking at doing a concours type restoration. I find this hold thing very interesting, hence all the questions, so what you are saying is that probably the 51 was in front of the 9 but has probably got rubbed off or dissolved/degraded over the years??

[J_Speegle]

Thanks again, I wish I had been more careful and taken better pictures during disassembly, which I did 10 years ago and at that time wasn't looking at doing a concours type restoration. I find this hold thing very interesting, hence all the questions, ...

No problem - that is what we and the site is here for

.....so what you are saying is that probably the 51 was in front of the 9 but has probably got rubbed off or dissolved/degraded over the years??

Given that we have found the second rotation number applied in that general area on other cars that same plant and year and that the last digit is still visible on your car I don' think its a stretch to assume that the rest of the numbers were there at one time. If I saw that and the other markings on your car or others I would much more likely ask if the A was original to your car and if you had taken any pictures of it before the restoration.   

[1970 Snake]

The picture which I posted above calypso coral and green was taken during my disassembly of the car in 2007. I have owned the car since 1989 and it for the most part has sat in my heated garage since then except for the odd drive. When the car was repainted in the late 70's to the green color (by first Owner) they did do some blackout painting in the rad saddle area to mask any CC color as the car was now green, and because of the location of the 51 not being covered with some bolt on parts they could very well have been painted over, unlike the 9AX which had some other part protection. So to answer your question YES the 9AX are original markings as I was the first and only one to remove the front end parts to reveal the 9AX. When the paint the entire car green they did a lousy job and just taped it off without removing a lot of bolt on parts, this is obvious from the picture where you can see they didn't even remove the head lite bezels. I have also attached the 519 rotation code I found on the gas tank board, which I had mentioned previously, it was also glued to the tank with I am guessing yellow weather strip glue as you can see from the pic.

[J_Speegle]

Have seen the numbered trunk boards before but limited to certain plants and years. Your board appears to be pretty large compared to some others, maybe its the application.

Thanks for the picture