1 year ago I purchased an unrestored 1966 GT convertible, Dearborn built car with a very late build date (09V). This car has been off the road since approx 1992 and mostly was always garaged - even by the original owner. The car is still all original with the exception of the paint on the hood and front valance that were repainted in 1988 due to a garage accident by the original owner. The remainder of the paint as well as the rest of the car’s exterior and the entire interior, trunk, engine bay and undercarriage is in original condition with all correct, date coded parts, a lot of paint daubs and is in really nice shape (it still has the original white convt top which still looks new). The car has all the original, undisturbed GT components and has 60,770 miles. It was driven pretty much only by the original owner - the 2nd owner drove the car about 100 miles total from 1992-1995 and I’ve put 15 miles on it.
My question is about quarter panel ornaments located directly in front of the rear wheels. I understand that on 65/66 GT cars this quarter panel ornament trim, as well as the rocker moldings, were factory delete items on GT cars. This car has the quarter panel ornaments installed on it and so one of the guys from my mustang club mentioned that either the original owner added them or the car is a fake GT - it's a verified, original factory GT car. I didn't pay any attention to the ornamentation until I removed the front grill when I was cleaning the car a few months ago. I noticed that on the radiator support are all of the original factory applied markings that reflect the trim level, several options, paint code, rotation numbers, etc. Looking through Kevin Marti's Tag Book and doing a search on this forum I was able account for all of the markings except for one that is located on the far upper left, passenger side area. The marking in this area is QT - which at first glance I thought perhaps was a poorly written mark for GT but GT is already marked on the driver’s side area of this car's radiator support and the QT is clearly identifiable. I have not been able to find anywhere documentation or mention of a QT radiator support marking. Initially, I couldn't resolve what QT might possibly stand for until I looked at the Kcode.net website. Under the section titled "Identifying the True Factory GT for 1965 and 1966 Mustangs" in the first section, paragraph number 7, I read where the editor noted that the "scoop ornamentation" (i.e. the ornaments on the quarter panel) on a factory GT could have been special ordered but that they were most likely a dealer install. Well, that got me further thinking that since this is a very well preserved, unrestored GT car perhaps the QT marking on the radiator support might possibly be a factory designation for "Quarter Trim" to be added to a GT car - if the buyer perhaps optioned for it? I’ve spoken to the 2nd owner of the car and was told that the quarter panel ornaments were installed on the car when he bought it.
I set about trying to locate the build sheet and looked in all of the usual spots - i.e in the wiring loom behind the instrument panel, removed the seats and looked under them as well as the carpet and underlay but I could not find a build sheet. Interestingly, in the wheel well area located inside the trunk under the driver’s side fiber board extension there was a piece of paperwork from the factory that was (crumpled up) titled “Left Side Final Line and Test Roll Repair Traveler.” On this form the only area that was marked was “Metal.” It was circled on the form under the section titled Ext. Enamel. Not sure what this means but also written on the form in the section for Serial Number was 725069 which is not the last 6 digits of my car’s VIN – weird. So anyway, I decided to look at the quarter panel ornament attachment screws from inside the car behind the rear quarter windows to see what they look like and if perhaps that might help somewhat in determining when they were installed. The watershields and the "stickum" that holds them in place sure look undisturbed and factory applied in appearance so I didn’t want to touch them. I instead lowered the top and removed the arm rest panel piece and what was needed from the well liner cover so I could take photo's of the attachment screws from the inside of the quarter panel – I’m here to tell you that taking photo's of the area behind the quarter windows was really tough and I was only able to partially reach into that tight area and photograph the top screw aiming my cell phone camera as best I could into that area. I was unable to photograph the lower screws because they were too far down and in a very hard to reach, dark area but after using a flashlight to look at them I can tell you that they look identical in appearance to the top screws. I do not know what a factory install of these screws should/might look like but there’s no way to get behind the quarter window to attach the screws without removing/disturbing the watershields and they do not look disturbed. Please let me know if you think they look factory applied.
Please take a look at the photo’s I’ve included and let me know what you guys think about the QT marking on the radiator support, the originality appearance of the watershields and stickum, and the quarter panel ornamentation attachment screws and let me know if you've ever come across a QT marking being used on the Dearborn line (or at any other factory) on a 1965/66 radiator support. Maybe this will lend some support to what was written on the Kcode.net website about the quarter panel ornamentation potentially being a special order option on GT's.
Thank you,
Dana Malec
Herndon, VA
