Topic: 64 1/2 Dearborn - Factory Sound Deadener or Dealer Undercoat ?

[JohnZee]

Hi Fellow Mustangers,

I just reviewed the forum on this topic and am now scratching my head *:-) 

My 64 1/2 Dearborn (July 64) Coupe has a quite thick black tar material in the inner fenders of both front and rear wheel wells.  The rough texture trails down to the frame rail, yet the floor, gas tank and other areas are free.  Is this factory sound deadener or dealer undercoat?

Having been a southern California car, the material is still quite intact and has preserved the original metal of the car.  I recently filled two small cracks with aftermarket undercoat.

My paint guy is saying that it's factory and should be cleaned up and stay on the car.   Alternately, should I take the expense to remove the material and then prime and finish the wheel well areas ?  How about upper inner fender and headlight area ?

Thanks for any insights you could give me - have a Merry Mustang Christmas !

[J_Speegle]

With out seeing a picture or the car is would be difficult to be sure but if the application is limited as you describe then is likely IMHO that it is original

If this is a typical Calif car then I would not disturb it but just over coat it when time comes. It may make some things difficult (such as making the front wheel well application look as if it was applied last  and the rear applied between the floor color and the exterior color steps but IMHO its very difficult to get just right and you will have the satisfaction of reporting to those that see the car that that part of the car is still original

Not sure what your referring to as the "headlight area" unless this is the wheelwell side (back side) of the front fender behind where the headlight bucket would set into

[JohnZee]

Hi Jeff,

Yes, the "headlight area" refers to the wheelwell side (back side) of the front fender behind where the headlight bucket as shown in the first 3 photos.  The last 2 photos are of the inner rear fender with the spray material.  These were taken in 2003 when the car was first restored.  The current 2010 restoration is more to improve the engine bay and undercarriage, yet I was wondering if I should also remove this material.

As I mentioned, I don't want to invest time and effort and ultimately destroy / damage a factory item or end up degrading the overall appearance.

Thanks for your reply and assistance ! 
 

[CharlesTurner]

The rear wheel well pics show what appears to be mostly original sound deadener.  The fronts appear to have had an additional undercoat applied at some point in time.  We normally don't see so much applied to the side of the fenders.