Topic: Tie down plates

[68 S Code]

I looked for a recent post about this subject but didn't find one so starting a new thread. My original tie downs were very rusty and pitted so I stumbled upon a very nice set off a Texas BB. Look indentical to my Dearborn 390 plates so picked them up. They seemed to have light surface rust so I dipped them in evaporust to clean them up. It was kind of used up but figured I'd let them soak for a few days. Checked up on them a few hours ago and found something unussual. I thought I read on this site that they were typically bare metal. Well I've stripped original black dipped parts and have found that Ford must have been pretty cheap with the paint they used as evaporust typically doesn't do anything to aftermarket paint but eats away at the ford dipped stuff. These plated look to have been dipped. All surfaces, edges, cutouts have light black on them. As I rinsed one off the black started to wash away in areas. I also see traces of red-oxide sort of etched into the black where the bracket bolted up to the frame rail. Its orange over black. So it looks like these were dipped black when they left the plant. With it being a texas DSO car (just like mine) I'm guessing its an earlier build Dearborn car. Would it be wrong if I dip them black? 

[J_Speegle]

Guess by your post that you don't know where the car was built that the plates came from.

Based on your findings - black paint - I would guess it was a San Jose car.

Would you be wrong to repaint them black and put them on your Dearborn car?  If your going for the original look - then no the current understanding is that Dearborn cars were not painted. And yes San Jose cars were Sent to the Texas districts at times.

[68 S Code]

Well that explains it . Thanks for saving me from a potential mistake.

[Bob Gaines]

Guess by your post that you don't know where the car was built that the plates came from.

Based on your findings - black paint - I would guess it was a San Jose car.

Would you be wrong to repaint them black and put them on your Dearborn car?  If your going for the original look - then no the current understanding is that Dearborn cars were not painted. And yes San Jose cars were Sent to the Texas districts at times.

Just to add to Jeff's answer the bare metal Dearborn plates were different in appearance compared to the dipped SJ plates which is probably because of different vendor suppying a different plant . The SJ plates are normally seen dipped as Jeff reported and with squared corners and the Dearborn ones bare metal and with rounded corners on duel exhaust plates. Bob

[68 S Code]

Well these have all corners rounded w/ exception of where the 45 degree angle meets the side mounting plate for frame. So is it a painted Dearborn plate?

[Bob Gaines]

Well these have all corners rounded w/ exception of where the 45 degree angle meets the side mounting plate for frame. So is it a painted Dearborn plate?

reply #3 "Dearborn ones bare metal and with rounded corners on duel exhaust plates. " The NJ cars that I have seen were the same. Not painted on the Dearborn/NJ examples i have seen. FYI the duel exhaust tie down plates are the long ones and the single exhaust were the short ones. Bob

[68 S Code]

Bob I understand now that rounded corners are Dearborn. This set I have was dsipped black. Did SJ ever use the rounded corners? Jeff was sent pics.

[Bob Gaines]

Bob I understand now that rounded corners are Dearborn. This set I have was dsipped black. Did SJ ever use the rounded corners? Jeff was sent pics.

I haven't seen any but maybe others have a different observation. Bob

[68 S Code]

Bob I will download camera and post some pics.

[68 S Code]

Well here are a few pics of the tie down hooks after a day in evaporust. If you look closely you will see the black paint flaking off. That what it does to original dipped pieces. I've had this happen to a original smog and waterpump pulley recently. If you look close the openings in the stamping were all black. Difficult to do painting with a gun and not get runs on the flat faces. Lets start with identifying these as either Dearborn or San Jose. Then we can look and discuss the finish.

[Bob Gaines]

Well here are a few pics of the tie down hooks after a day in evaporust. If you look closely you will see the black paint flaking off. That what it does to original dipped pieces. I've had this happen to a original smog and waterpump pulley recently. If you look close the openings in the stamping were all black. Difficult to do painting with a gun and not get runs on the flat faces. Lets start with identifying these as either Dearborn or San Jose. Then we can look and discuss the finish.

I thought you already did that in reply #7?

[J_Speegle]

............... If you look close the openings in the stamping were all black. Difficult to do painting with a gun and not get runs on the flat faces. Lets start with identifying these as either Dearborn or San Jose. Then we can look and discuss the finish.

There was electro paint that may have been used on some of the parts on these cars. A process (as I understand it) where a positive and negative current are applied, one to the part the other to the gun.  Sort of like the more modern powered coating

The corners on your example look rounded.

If there were painted black originally I think you have an interesting find but would not paint then black (at this point) and put them on a Deaborn car IMHO. Since we don't know when the donor car was built you could be reproducing a detail that does not apply to your car and before I think we have anything to take action with I would want to see at least two more examples form the same plant and year

Just me

[68 S Code]

Jeff I know of the painting process you wrote of. I may be able to get build date and plant of the donor car.

[Dudley]

Just to add some more confusion, my '68 from SJ is unrestored, and the tie downs are bare metal and I believe the ends are rounded. June build. I don't have any digital pix of that area that I can post. Dudley

[J_Speegle]

Just to add some more confusion, my '68 from SJ is unrestored, and the tie downs are bare metal and I believe the ends are rounded. June build. I don't have any digital pix of that area that I can post. Dudley

When was your car assembled? So we can see if the examples form a pattern of any kind and so we can look at others from the same time period