Topic: Trunk Mat cutting?

[J_Speegle]

Does the trunk sound deadener mat have square corners or radiuses corners in a 68 application.

The unusual thing I found with the car I attached a pic of is a shot showing the gas tank sprayed with a yellow adhesive as well as the same glue on the fleece side of the mat. I wouldn't have thought that the sound deadener if installed would have been glued down.

If your seeing "fleece" then that might be a clue that things have been played with since only the reproduction mats have a felt or fleece backing (they do not stay in place well so they are often glued in place - if not they ball up in the corner)

That being said we have seen some evidence of some being glued in spots and IMHO can't be certain that all the standard non deluxe cars got the underlayment since evidence is very spotty after all these years. But would not deduct for one if there. Believe its the safe bet at this point

[Laurie S.]

My 68 coupe did not have a masonite board under the spare tire area.

[68 S Code]

Jeff are you saying that fleece is repop and rubber is original equipment? This 68 coupe I have pics of definitely didn't look restored. Repainted the original gold in spots but no resto.

[J_Speegle]

Jeff are you saying that fleece is repop and rubber is original equipment? This 68 coupe I have pics of definitely didn't look restored. Repainted the original gold in spots but no resto.

Nope not what I'm suggesting

Let me try this way

Originally (not sure about Dearborn specifically 68 looks to have used a bunch (4-5) of  different trunk mats during the year.

Most were rubber coating over jute but there were an all felt type and a felt with reinforcement style also that has turned up in a couple of cars. The reproductions (read cheap ones that have been around since at least the early 80's) had a fleece backing and none of the originals used with on the back side of the mat. Fleece (until it gets dirty) is pretty much white - jute is a brown with single threads that are multi-colored thrown in.

The trunk can be unrestored but a past own can with ease add a repro mat if the original is missing or has disintegrated over the years. Better than nothing for some owners - but not really

[68 S Code]

So the pics of the mat I've attached look to be of a reproduction? Would have never guessed it. This car had not been restored from what i could tell. Odd that someone would have cut it below the spare tire like factory install. So the glue on the gas tank was done to keep the cheap repop in place most likely? The filler board looked definately original. Thanks as I almost traded the guy for this mat.

[J_Speegle]

So the pics of the mat I've attached look to be of a reproduction?

 

First thanks for posting pictures since words do not always get all the info across. First the mat in you pictures appears to have a rubber top - not a vinyl one. If so then its not the cheap repo that has been around for a long time (looks that ways considering how it doesn't bunch and wrinkle in your pictures)

No the backing you have referred to as "felt" could it be jute. I notice the intermixing of a number of red and maybe green fibers on the back side in your last picture with the jack. If so this suggest to me that its an original though the cheap felt ones (which it does not look like) can pick up and hold all kinds of stuff picked up from the trunk floor

Here are a few examples of jute backings. a couple of them are from newer good reproductions while a couple are originals

.......... So the glue on the gas tank was done to keep the cheap repop in place most likely? The filler board looked definately original. Thanks as I almost traded the guy for this mat.

We've seen stuff done to keep the repo mats in place and stuff that appears to have been done at the plant on some cars. Guess determining which is which would come down to looking at the pattern and product used. But this is not something we see on all 68's so far.

For example - this one looks like it had some originally and an owner added to it at some point. I see a courser product and a lighter one that might be from a rattle can of spray adhesive





To contrast look at the heavier application here - IMHO likely an original application. Now could this be two different workers or two different tools for application? Maybe but we may never know - just trying to help make the best choice based on what we have to work with. Plenty more pictures (as usual) of adhesive patterns but they tend to fall into these two camps




Hope this better explains this time

[Scott Fuller]

68 S Code,

Everything I see in your photos is 100% consistent with original/unrestored 1968 Mustangs.

The mat is original.  The jack is original.  The J-bolt is original.  And the glue is typical of what I see on untouched cars.

Scott

[J_Speegle]

Everything I see in your photos is 100% consistent with original/unrestored 1968 Mustangs.

Guess that is the short way to put it    Thanks Scott for cutting though all the other stuff

[Scott Fuller]

I'm a man of few (typed) words.

Scott

[68 S Code]

I believe I have a good pic of the glue application on gas tank but 400 miles away from it because fishing this weekend w son. Cold in northern WI and not one bite today.

The glue on the tank would probably mean no sound deadener mat. This is just a plain coupe. Did have black underlayment mat forward of tank towards rear seat bulkhead. I'll post pics Monday after I thaw out.

[68 S Code]

Here is a close up of the glue application at the trunk mat. Heavier than some of the pics jeff posted. This application was on a June built Dearborn car. Since it was a base model 6 cyl coupe it had no evidence of a sound deadener mat over the gas tank. Notice the sound deadener forward of the tank to the rear seat bulkhead. Vin num 2039xx, sched build date 07F off the door tag.

[Bob Gaines]

As I read this post I don't know if you are referring to the repro trunkmat when you use the term "fleece' or the original which is typically referred to in some other way. By now you know the difference between white fleece materials on the repros and the  thick pad like material on the 68/69 originals that appears to be made out of a multitude of different color fibers. Jeff showed some good examples. They almost like like the remnants of some kind of fabric making process pressed together to form this mat . It is similar looking to a old style carpet padding or for lack of a better example dryer lint . Shortly after Katrina the red cross was handing out "Hurricane blankets" to victims that looked like the exact same material. Bob

[68 S Code]

Bob, I refered to the one which turned out to be jute backed as fleece originally because I didn't know better. Still not sure if I could tell the difference since I havent really seen a repop fleece backed mat in person. The one I have is rubber from what I can tell. Anyways both scott and jeff seem to think concure that the speckled mat i posted pics of is an original with jute back. At this point I am sharing some pics of the adhesive application to the top of the gas tank to keep the mat secured. It appears that near the end of production or at least on this example there was no sound deadener mat. It was as stated earlier a base 6 cyl coupe. I am torn whether to provide the sound mat or whether to spray the gas tank with adhesive. It was mentioned that there are high quality mats out on the market with the jute backing similar to originals. Where do I find this product and what do i ask for? There seems to have been up to 6 different mats used throughout 68 so i wonder what i should be looking for. Plaid, speckled, jute back, rubber backed? Currently i have a plaid rubber but this car I photographed was built 5 weeks prior to mine at Dearborn. Should I use it as a guide? Speckled with jute.

[Bob Gaines]

Bob, I refered to the one which turned out to be jute backed as fleece originally because I didn't know better. Still not sure if I could tell the difference since I havent really seen a repop fleece backed mat in person. The one I have is rubber from what I can tell. Anyways both scott and jeff seem to think concure that the speckled mat i posted pics of is an original with jute back. At this point I am sharing some pics of the adhesive application to the top of the gas tank to keep the mat secured. It appears that near the end of production or at least on this example there was no sound deadener mat. It was as stated earlier a base 6 cyl coupe. I am torn whether to provide the sound mat or whether to spray the gas tank with adhesive. It was mentioned that there are high quality mats out on the market with the jute backing similar to originals. Where do I find this product and what do i ask for? There seems to have been up to 6 different mats used throughout 68 so i wonder what i should be looking for. Plaid, speckled, jute back, rubber backed? Currently i have a plaid rubber but this car I photographed was built 5 weeks prior to mine at Dearborn. Should I use it as a guide? Speckled with jute.

I think maybe Virginia Mustang or NPD has one they refer to as a concours mat it is 60-100.00 compared to the 19-29.00 thin white fleece backed cheesy repros . It has a thicker jute type pad backing. I have seen very early 68's use a plaid jute backed mat with corners sewed like used in 67 but most typically see the specked mat. There was also a solid gray that was sometimes seen.  The speckled pattern (68/69 recommendation) is not perfectly the same shade but much better then the alternative. I hope this helps. Bob

[68 S Code]

Bob currently I have a plaid rubber mat from I believe Harris mustang. It lays nice and flat and doesn't bunch up. It has no jute backing. I presume this would be incorrect since speckled with jute seems to be the way to go?