Topic: NOS sheet metal stampings

[Hipo giddyup]

Hi all, curious if older red primer and black primer NOS sheet metal would have stampings for production dates? I found some 65-66 NOS sheet metal for sale locally that I would like to purchase and the owner claims there are no stampings in the black sheet metal primer parts, just the red. He also stated the black primer parts just have the  Ford label stickers on them? Looking at quarters, radiator support, valance, etc.. Thanks for any reply!

[CharlesTurner]

The older red-oxide stuff will sometimes have the correct date format, but it is very common to find stampings like 'A 65', which are incorrect.  NOS sheet metal is not guaranteed to fit, usually is better than repro, but assembly line sheet metal is always best to use.

[Hipo giddyup]

Thanks Caspian,, my concern is that now a days folks could easily reprint a copy of the Ford labels which could be deceiving. I "feel" of Ford sheetmetal is one way I guess I could tell, definitely a heavier metal than repro's..

[Hipo giddyup]

Ok, so I haven't had such a great day for a while when it comes to finding much less buying, (what I feel is a deal), on NOS Mustang parts. I ended up buying the sheet metal that I had asked the stampings about and to my surprise the pair of quarters are stamped 7/17 and 7/20! The car I will be restoring next had a build date of 7/21/66!!! I feel that these would be correct for a date match?? I also picked up a NOS front left apron, NOS rear valance(although without back up light holes), an NOS right inner wheel house, an NOS radiator support, and one pair of repro outer wheel houses and another front left repro inner fender all for $1,180! The gentleman I delt with said they were from a project he ended up selling and now that he is moving he wanted rid of these. I feel very blessed to have been so lucky.

[CharlesTurner]

Note that the 'W' on the date stamping is usually the plant that did replacement parts, check your car to see what the date stamps were.  It's not uncommon to cut original dates out and weld them on new pieces.  Seems radical, but can be done with nice results.

Also, how do you intend to re-stamp the VIN number if putting in the LH front inner fender?  I would patch that piece at all cost to avoid losing the original VIN stamp.

[J_Speegle]

Ok, so I haven't had such a great day for a while when it comes to finding much less buying, (what I feel is a deal), on NOS Mustang parts. I ended up buying the sheet metal that I had asked the stampings about and to my surprise the pair of quarters are stamped 7/17 and 7/20! The car I will be restoring next had a build date of 7/21/66!!! I feel that these would be correct for a date match??......

As one might expect (on this forum the next question would be where was your car built?

At first glance the dates are very tight and your car "build date" is likely the one from your door tag so its only a guess. Real date could have been 6/21 or 7/10 (if Dearborn is the factory)

The other thing to consider is if the Woodhaven stamping plant supplied panels to your cars assembly plant

In any case - congratulations on a great find

Expanding on Charles note about the VIN I would (if in any case possible) not cut it out by leave a physical attachment to the shock tower with that section taking allot of pictures to document how you did it and the efforts you took to maintain that solid link between the uni-body and VIN

[Hipo giddyup]

As always i appreciate both of your input. I merely was excited to just see the 7/... on these panels as getting an exact match would be nearly impossible. I mean, what are the chances of getting a 10/16 or 2/07 date etc...but a date close to what i need astounds me! That's all. The quarters on the car now were Ford replacements from back in 1979 when they were replaced for the first time. I do not know what the original plant marking was. So no one could argue that or could they? The car's info is under  my posts. Its a Sahara beige Dearborn coupe with a build of 7/21/1966. A later production 66'. And i do intend on replacing the firewall around the VIN . Hopefully with enough patience in the blending/mending process it will be hard to spot as Charles mentioned. This reply to my post is by no means "bragging" but just how something finally went right for once!

[J_Speegle]

Sorry missed the signature info.

Looking at my spreadsheet I can find examples from Dearborn in late 66 production with very short spreads - likely due the fact that at least Dearborn stamped parts only had to travel (if you can call it that) a very very short distance

Problem is that the parts you were not stamped there - only found one example of a panel on a 66 Dearborn Mustang that I have records of from Woodhaven.

[6R07mi]

Sorry missed the signature info.

Looking at my spreadsheet I can find examples from Dearborn in late 66 production with very short spreads - likely due the fact that at least Dearborn stamped parts only had to travel (if you can call it that) a very very short distance

Problem is that the parts you were not stamped there - only found one example of a panel on a 66 Dearborn Mustang that I have records of from Woodhaven.

Jeff,
I'm wondering if a Woodhaven hood on a San Jose schedule build 11/1965 car is unusual. All known information and evidence supports it is the production hood.
The engine compartment sheet metal all have Dearborn Stamping codes from Aug 1965.

Regards,
Jim P

[J_Speegle]

Jeff,
I'm wondering if a Woodhaven hood on a San Jose schedule build 11/1965 car is unusual. All known information and evidence supports it is the production hood.

From what I've collected no it would not be unusual for a hood