Topic: 67 Shelby Trunk Paint Discussion

[Bossbill]

Excellent!
My phrasing on the 2 or 3 holes in could have been better, but I understood there to be two.

I hadn't thought about how the body would be done in primer sealer first and THEN the valance would be hung -- D'oh on me.

Although a bit off topic to valance, this does involve trunk.
I assume the trunk lid on a knockdown headed for SA would not have a trunk lid or exterior body end caps installed at all when it got painted.
I'll also assume that a previous line worker would have installed the trunk hinges, as if this were a normal Mustang.
So the hinges would have paint on both sides of where they bolt to a trunk lid and the body sections where end caps normally would already be installed (loosely, with a gap) would be fully painted?

[J_Speegle]

Split these posts since we had not only gotten off thread (moving from valance to trunk painting) but also moving from Mustang and Shelby shared details to Shelby only   It will be moved to the Shelby section is a day or so also to keep things organized

Although a bit off topic to valance, this does involve trunk.
I assume the trunk lid on a knockdown headed for SA would not have a trunk lid or exterior body end caps installed at all when it got painted.
I'll also assume that a previous line worker would have installed the trunk hinges, as if this were a normal Mustang.
So the hinges would have paint on both sides of where they bolt to a trunk lid and the body sections where end caps normally would already be installed (loosely, with a gap) would be fully painted?

The term "knock down" was not a term Ford used for Shelbys but something IMHO penned in a magazine in the early 90's then repeated over and over in some articles related to the cars since then. A uneducated decoding of some markings found on a car in the original artilce I believe lead to this urban myth .... juts a pet peeve of mine 

As far as an exposed hinge on a Mustang that had been marked for delivery to Shelby often didn't get a good coat of paint on the ends of each hinge. We see this practice again on 69 s that became Shelby's

Example  Some were sprayed a little light while others had a decent paint job from at least the side that would be visible

Same car - Drivers side got a light or cut short application of body color while the passenger side got a decent full coat





Here is another example (might be same painter) where he did take the time to paint the tip of the hinge. Shows a light coating of red oxide primer on the surface

Also note the extra rubber trunk lid spring insulator that was typically placed at the end of the spring to keep it from falling/jumping out that was in place when the car was painted




Last example shows a passenger side hinge that got a full coat of paint front and back

[Bossbill]

And, since the cars went to SA without a trunk lid SA would use new bolts when installing their trunks.
Great pics.

Interesting thing about the KD since my car had that mark on the front apron. That film roll got double exposed so I can barely make out where it was.

Did Ford paint the back of the car without the fender caps?
You will see the results of this after I get my painter engaged.

Always appreciate the help.

[J_Speegle]

Interesting thing about the KD since my car had that mark on the front apron. That film roll got double exposed so I can barely make out where it was.

Yes some of the Shelbys would have a K and a D while others a Q and a D  or even multiple D's on the radiator support and battery box area (wheel side)  That would indicate the engine size and the check (resulting in the D).  Just someone looking at both of the letters as a single mark or indicator and trying to figure out what they might mean.  If you look at enough of these and other 67 San Jose Mustangs you start seeing the patterns

Case in point. A 67 K code Mustangs would have normally been marked with a K and a D also so it doesn't relate to the Shelby process or selection markings

Did Ford paint the back of the car without the fender caps?

[/quote]

On Mustangs , they were loosely (spaced out a little) like the other years though I have a couple examples where there is allot of paint behind these. Might just be they were spaced further out.



For 67 Shelbys no end caps so no shadow

[Bob Gaines]

Yes some of the Shelbys would have a K and a D while others a Q and a D or even multiple D's on the radiator support and battery box area (wheel side)  That would indicate the engine size and the check (resulting in the D).  Just someone looking at both of the letters as a single mark or indicator and trying to figure out what they might mean.  If you look at enough of these and other 67 San Jose Mustangs you start seeing the patterns

Case in point. A 67 K code Mustangs would have normally been marked with a K and a D also so it doesn't relate to the Shelby process or selection markings

+1 on KD and QD . Also some Q code Shelby's were metal stamped with a K in the vin and vice versa.

[Bossbill]

The red Mustang pic shows the light primer/sealer really well on the rear side of the quarters and where the valance attaches. Neat.

And the SA parking lot picture is really telling.
First, it shows a white cover over the black car in the middle. Another cover is visible at 10:00. Did it rain that day at the factory delivery center (I think, half in jest)?

Also the state of the rear hinges. Not a single car has its hinges in the "up" position. The torsion bar is visible, but is not engaged to hold up the hinge. This may perhaps explain the lack of paint on the underside of the hinge. It would be difficult for a painter at the factory to reach that far under. A car with a trunk lid attached during paint would be the opposite -- paint on the underside but none on the mating surface.

Lastly, the paint behind where an end cap normally would shield paint. Another excellent detail I will replicate.

In case you wonder I do have pics of the disassembly, but the rear pics had horrible flash bounce in the cap area, were pics of the area after paint strip  and the rest of the pics were double exposed. I've tried to photoshop them back, but that's very difficult.

When I started this restoration I thought I'd just "restore the car". Now I'm deep into restoring the car in the original layers (as much as possible).

Thanks for he KD explantion and kudos on the SA lot pic!

[J_Speegle]

Believe the trunk hinges were held in the up position given the spray patterns, then after painting the spring disengaged and both laid down for transportation purposes. If not the paint on the springs, hinges and insulators/tootsie rolls would have been much different