Topic: Think I made a big mistake.

[sparky65]

I forgot to check the fit of the rear bumper guards before painting the car.  Well today i found the guards which still need to be painted.  Well first i forgot to drill teh hole in the tailight panel.  Also forgot to drill holes in the trunk cross member for the bumper guard support bracket.  Not the worst thing in the world i can still drill holes.  The bigger problem is how the bumper guards fit.  I just held them up and you can see something is haywire.  Any idea what is tweaked or a way I can fix it?

[CharlesTurner]

I can tell you from that picture that the lower tab on that bumper guard is bent.  You should be able to bend it straight and then tuck it under to get a better fit.  Definitely fit the guards to the car before you drill any holes.

[TLea]

Yep, that guy is bent for sure

[sparky65]

I can tell you from that picture that the lower tab on that bumper guard is bent.  You should be able to bend it straight and then tuck it under to get a better fit.  Definitely fit the guards to the car before you drill any holes.

The question is how much?  Right now there are two bends on the lower tab.  One right were the tab starts and another just before the hole. The one in the picture does have a slight third bend across the whole.  Is this the bend you are talking about or do all three need to be bent straight?  To tell you the trough I don't really see how this is going to help since it seems like it will pull the top further away since the bottom will then be closer to the valence.  Do I need to bend the top tab in toward the car as well?

[CharlesTurner]

There's a bunch of originals on fleabay for sale.  Should be able to get a good idea of the proper bends from comparing multiple pics.

It doesn't look like the bottom is too far off, mostly looks bent upward.

[sparky65]

There's a bunch of originals on fleabay for sale.  Should be able to get a good idea of the proper bends from comparing multiple pics.

Good idea, I always forget what a resource the ebay pictures are.

So after studying a few pictures I think I see how the lower tab is bent wrong but I also think the upper tab  may be bent as well.  Almost as if the guards got pushed into the car.  Which reminds me that when I got the car there were dents in that I pounded out like this may have happened.  I am basing most of this off this item:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_rdc=1&item=120417445092&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp3907.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D120417445092%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&viewitem=

[CharlesTurner]

As cheap as original used pairs are, you might try buying a good set to replace yours.

[sparky65]

Another question on the instalation of the bracket that goes behind the valance that the bumper guard screws into on the bottom.  When I took this apart there were two horseshoe shaped spacers on each side between the bracket and the trunk floor where the bolt is that goes through the gas tank lip.  Would this be original or was something screwed up?  Also the other bolt that is on the side of the trunk cross member seems to have been installed before the trunk was painted is this correct?  What should the finish on this bracket be?

[gtamustang]

Those horseshoe shaped spacers are very common to properly align the brackets with the rear valance. The holes in the valance for the bumper guards were pre-punched in the valance when it was formed, not after it was installed on the Mustang. The spacers (or shims) are necessary since the chassis/body welding did not always produce perfect alignment.

Regards,
Pete Morgan

[TLea]

Brackets were in car when painted which is why the head has paint on it

[CharlesTurner]

Brackets were in car when painted which is why the head has paint on it

Not to get off-topic, but this was an assembly line practice from the beginning of production in '64.

[sparky65]

Brackets were in car when painted which is why the head has paint on it

While the bolt that goes in through the side was obviously painted the other two (the one through the gas tank and the one through the valance) have no evidence of paint.  Were all the screws installed in teh bracket before the car was painted?

Since the bracket was in the car before it was painted how much over spray would you expect to see on the back side from when the trunk was painted?

[CharlesTurner]

We're talking about the mounting brackets behind the valence, not the bumper guards.

[sparky65]

We're talking about the mounting brackets behind the valence, not the bumper guards.

Yea i think we are talking about the same thing.  The lower screw goes through the bumper guard, through the valance, and into the bracket.  Since the bracket was in place when it was painted did they leave out that screw or did they install it without the bumper guard.
The other question was in regard to the two bolts from the trunk that hold the bracket up.  On mine I can only detect paint on the top bolts .  The bolts that also go through the gas tank don't seem to have paint.  It would seem that since the tank would need to go in first that those may not have been installed either until after paint. 
Since the bracket comes very close to the trunk opening wouldn't they receive over spray from the back side?

[CharlesTurner]

The lower screw was not painted.

The other bolts would be like you found.  Gas tank was not in the car when painted.

Back of the rear valence usually doesn't get much over spray.  Maybe a little along the edges and openings.