Topic: Tie down bracket- Mine is bigger with a tab- correct?

[app01]

May 15, 70 Dearborn B2

Okay, I was looking through the archives on the bolts used for the rear frame tie down brackets and raised another question. After looking at the many pictures here, my brackets are larger, and have a tab in the center, versus a flat piece of steel shown on the pictures here. So my new question is, are my brackets correct? see the attached picture.

Now for the original question I was researching assuming my bracket is correct. My bracket was only installed with the 2 horizontal bolts as shown in the picture, and no bolt through that tab into the frame. Should there be a bolt there? And if so, what does the bolt look like?

Thanks again
Tony

[jwc66k]

That appears to be a 64-66 type. I removed a pair of tie down brackets from a 69 (assy plant unknown) and they were the two bolt type with a "depression" or "deformed edge" on the plate between the two mounting holes to prevent them from being mounted on the wrong side. If yours "came" with the 64-66 style, it is possible that the assembly line used what they had. There is no formal documentation (except 71 or 73) about the plates. I would assume that a MCA judge would look for a lack of rust on the plates and hardware. On that, I'll yield to Jeff.
Jim

[J_Speegle]

Bolt appears on most of my samples

You can see that the owner removed this one for some reason





This one is a little worst for wear but shows some details that should help (early car)

[app01]

Jeff,

You had mentioned early car. Not sure if you meant early in the 1960's.  Is my bracket  style correct for a 70 Dearborn B2?

If mine is correct, then it appears that  there were 2 versions of the bracket used in 1970.

Thanks again,

Tony

[jwc66k]

Hot off the photo stand (kitchen table) are three samples with hardware. My photos are labeled with what I found for year application. I do not know the Ford part number for the brackets but they are referred to in the 71 and 73 Mustang Body Manuals (pg 61 and 63). The irony is the pictures show a 64-66 type bracket, with 67 and 70 part numbers.
What I found on my 65 and 66, plus a 67 I was working on (all San Jose cars), was the following:
The tie down hardware was apparently grabbed from buckets of other hardware used on the line. The finishes I selected were determined from what was left and what the most common other items used on the assembly line. By the second time they were used any finish was lost. I assume the 68 would be the same as 67, and 70 would be the same as 69.
64-66 - brackets as shown. They had traces of black paint on the mounting surfaces hence black.
20430-S2 7/16-14X1 1/4hex gr 2. This is a common bolt used for transmission to bell housings mounting. They may be natural.
30546-S2 7/16-14X2 1/2hex gr 2. This is a common bolt used for bell housing to engine mounting. They may be natural.
374358-S8 7/16-14 nut, 0.385T, flange. This was the nut used on 64-66 bumpers.
The washers are a mystery. I used what was on the brackets, but found something similar from AMK, 2010 catalog, pg 183, B-11754.
67-68 - brackets as shown. They had no trace of paint so I gave them a light phosphate finish.
30546-S2 7/16-14X2 1/2hex gr 2. This is a common bolt used for bell housing to engine mounting.
55826-S8 7/16-14 nut, 0.425T, locking pin.
Mystery washers again.
69-70 - same hardware as 67-68 from a pair I removed from a 69 hardtop.
Jim 
OOPS.
The 64-66 and 69-70 are crossed up. "Damn these eyes!" Marty Feldman as Igor,
Attachments fixed.

[app01]

Jim,

This is great. Thank you for putting this together.

OOPS.
The 64-66 and 69-70 are crossed up. "Damn these eyes!" Marty Feldman as Igor,

Do you mean that the  pictures titled 64-66 and 69-70 pictures are swapped?

Tony

[priceless]

yes, cause my original 69 mach1 tie downs are like the top pic

[J_Speegle]

Jeff,

You had mentioned early car. Not sure if you meant early in the 1960's.  Is my bracket  style correct for a 70 Dearborn B2?

Sorry the "early" reference was that these were early 70 Dearborn Boss 302's the pictures were from

If mine is correct, then it appears that  there were 2 versions of the bracket used in 1970.

We've long know that there were San Jose and Dearborn/NJ versions as well as single and dual exhaust versions So four total (so far) for 69-70

So you need to focus on just the dual exhaust Dearborn versions rather than others IMHO

[app01]

Thanks again.. So then, looking at your  70 Dearborn B2 pictures, my tie down with the tab is correct.

[J_Speegle]

Thanks again.. So then, looking at your  70 Dearborn B2 pictures, my tie down with the tab is correct.

Yours appear to match the current reproductions and the ones I posted - Bare metal, rounded corners and the bent mounting tab as far as I can see

[krelboyne]

I have a friend whose Father was a Ford dealer mechanic in the 1960's and 1970's. He said that those transportation tie-downs were supposed to be removed by the dealers and shipped back to Ford for reuse. From what I remember, Archie said that the bounty was $0.25 cents per pair, and that they had to be shipped back in a specified container (55 gallon drum???).
Archie said that his dealer did not participate in this program. Stating that the pairs had to be wire tied together, bolts included, and detailed inventories kept of the various tie downs.

[priceless]

.......... Archie said that the bounty was $0.25 cents per pair, and that they had to be shipped back in a specified container (55 gallon drum???).
Archie said that his dealer did not participate in this program. Stating that the pairs had to be wire tied together, bolts included, and detailed inventories kept of the various tie downs......................

No wonder most tie downs stayed on the Mustangs. For $0.25 with all that work involved, I'd say the dealers would've been losing money with the labor and cost involved.

[70qcode]

I purchased within the last few days  a pair of tie down brackets from a very well-known midwest Mustang parts vendor, and they advertised these as being correct for a 70-73, dual exhaust car with 14" wheels from Dearborn or Metuchen, which would match my Dearborn-built 428CJ Mach 1. Anyway, these parts are the no-tab type illustrated in the photo marked 69-70...so are there variations on wheel size too? Or is the part just wrong? Thanks for the help!

[J_Speegle]

I purchased within the last few days  a pair of tie down brackets from a very well-known midwest Mustang parts vendor, and they advertised these as being correct for a 70-73, dual exhaust car with 14" wheels from Dearborn or Metuchen, which would match my Dearborn-built 428CJ Mach 1. Anyway, these parts are the no-tab type illustrated in the photo marked 69-70...so are there variations on wheel size too? Or is the part just wrong? Thanks for the help!

IMHO no - Ford documents state that the reason for the difference between the two styles is the exhaust only - single or dual exhaust

But as always don't always trust the pictures, part number or description on sale web site - double check (as your doing