Topic: 1970 Mach 1 rocker moulding/Side cladding Main Thread

[palacekeeper]

I had some minor paint work done at shop on my 1970 Mach1. Part of the project was to repaint the black areas (stripes, spoiler, louvers, and lower sides/rocker panel areas). At the time, i did not know about the Argent Black color (mentioned in other threads on this site) so I don't know whether they used the exact correct color, but it appears to be very close, at least. Anyway, when I got the car back, some black paint was bubbled and flaking on the rocker panel covers, so I sent it back for them to redo. It seems as though there may be been chrome or aluminum edges of the ridges exposed originally? Not sure on that.

I'm wondering if anyone has information on 1) what exactly the rocker area looked like originally (plenty of search results online, but I want to be sure of accurate pictures) and 2) the proper way to paint them.

thanks for any help on this!

[J_Speegle]

First welcome to the site. Hope you find the help and information here useful in your concours related endeavors

Just to be clear your looking for details and pictures showing the finish on the Mach I side cladding (panels) not the rocker panel and other body related details

[palacekeeper]

Thanks! I appreciate it. Yes, to be honest I was not exactly sure what to call them. From what I can tell, the rocker panel is an actual functional support piece - not a cosmetic part. So yes, that is what I'm referring to.

I'm wondering - should that part be painted over entirely with black, or should there be some chrome/aluminum sections exposed, as it looks almost like there is chrome or aluminum underneath (where the black paint flaked off). I was hoping that some accurate pictures might help.

As an aside, I was referred to this site as a suggestion from a question I posted on the forums.vintage-mustang site, which was - are there any resources out there that have thorough and accurate pictures of what these cars looked like from the factory, in detail? I'm sure Ford has a good stash of pictures, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll pop up in Bing or Google searches. It would be great to be able to go review accurate pictures of any part of the car, inside and out, as needed when upgrading/repairing/restoring. I don't think my car will win any prizes, but I'd like to try to keep it close to stock if I make repairs, you know?

thanks!

[J_Speegle]

Thanks! I appreciate it. Yes, to be honest I was not exactly sure what to call them. From what I can tell, the rocker panel is an actual functional support piece - not a cosmetic part. So yes, that is what I'm referring to.

I'm wondering - should that part be painted over entirely with black, or should there be some chrome/aluminum sections exposed, as it looks almost like there is chrome or aluminum underneath (where the black paint flaked off). I was hoping that some accurate pictures might help.

The rocker and funcutional support panels would be body color. The cladding or molding would be decoration at best and mostly painted dark argent. This is the reason I asked.

If you looking for the sections welded to the unibody or the lower section of the door and front fender then where and when the car was built is needed. There are a number of threads already that go into how these areas were blacked out to hide the body color from peeking out around and behind the cladding/molding.

Example
http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=caqf1ev6su2cq63466c9khi732&topic=656.msg3306#msg3306


Cladding/molding is much more standard in finish since it was supplied to the assembly plants prefinished and ready to install. There are at least two versions of the molding so it would be helpful to know which you have.

Looks like the search turned up around 8 threads discussing the molding finishes, styles and differences

Just one

http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=caqf1ev6su2cq63466c9khi732&topic=909.msg4677#msg4677

are there any resources out there that have thorough and accurate pictures of what these cars looked like from the factory, in detail? I'm sure Ford has a good stash of pictures, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll pop up in Bing or Google searches.

That is what we hope to accomplish and provide here on this site


And no Ford doesn't have a stash of pictures showing all the details we're interesting in today. They were more interested in production unless there was a special need and focused mostly on one plant that built Mustangs during the classic years.

[palacekeeper]

Thanks for all the good information, Jeff. The car is in the shop at the moment so I can't check it right now, but from reviewing some of the threads it appears there are some that had a removable Mach 1 section, and some where it was all one piece. I think mine is removable. I'll check it when I get it back, but it looks like its all black in either case, so that helps quite a bit.

My car was built at Metuchen in December 1969, according to the Marti report.

[Kdclem]

1970 Mach 1 Rocker Molding.  The aluminum is easy to restore in black with Grey on the lettering, but does anyone know how to restore the anodized aluminum?  Polish?  Is the aftermarket replacements any good?  Thanks.

[J_Speegle]

1970 Mach 1 Rocker Molding.  The aluminum is easy to restore in black with Grey on the lettering, but does anyone know how to restore the anodized aluminum?  Polish?  Is the aftermarket replacements any good?  Thanks.

It needs to be stripped, polished then replated a fairly expensive endeavour

Cladding was originally done in a dark argent not black

Going to merge this thread with an earlier one to keep things together and to make it easier for others to find information using the search feature

[1970 Snake]

I have spent a lot of time working out the details on the rocker trim restoration and black out paint. To begin with I considered the repop aluminum trim and actually had the local mustang shop bring it in and its not very good, two issues the ends of the pieces are not formed correctly and there are NO cutouts in the bottom of them so you can insert the special spring clips that are used to pop rivet them trim to the rocker moldings. I completely disassembled mine, cad plated the special clips, had the trim polished and then use SS pop rivets to install after painting.

Yes the rocker moldings are dark argent and match the parts Jeff has mentioned, BTW the rock shield cover under the grill is also painted that color. Also I had the PPG Med Gray Poly mixed up in their OMNI paint and it matched all my grill, sport lamp covers, head light surrounds and rock shield cover almost exactly, which are all NOS parts I purchased many years ago.

I did not paint my NOS honey comb tail panel and left it the plastic color as its pretty much matches the argent color. BTW Jeff the black behind that tail panel I am pretty sure is the same blackout paint I used on the rocker panels and other blackout areas and not the argent paint as you indicated. I have also attached a picture of that work as I completed it to match exactly to my original blackout on the car.

[JohnB]

Some info here also: http://1970mach1.homestead.com/Blackoutarea.html

[HDAshmore]

Don't forget, there is a right angle plastic protector strip that goes across the rocker panel trim.  Lots of times missing when they are taken off and discarded.  I can't think of the name of the vendor but they are reproduced and fairly cheap. 

Dan

[sah62]

Don't forget, there is a right angle plastic protector strip that goes across the rocker panel trim.  Lots of times missing when they are taken off and discarded.  I can't think of the name of the vendor but they are reproduced and fairly cheap. 

Dan

Those are mine: https://www.musclecarresearch.com/63101B62-1

[Kdclem]

Ordered the protectors.  And, after looking at the links provided (thank you very much) I think I've got it figured out.  The highlighting of the letters and the "number1" in what looks like silver in my photos would not be correct and someone's variation years ago.  Also noted, the black out color used in the openings between and around gladding at jambs and wheel well lips is not the same as Dark Argent.  The Ditzler paint noted, perhaps something like engine compartment paint with 10 to 20% gloss is what I can use here instead of buying another $50 quart of paint.  (budget)   I've decided to remove aluminum trim, sand a polish with 1000 grit paper, 0000 steel wool and then aluminum polish and a fabric wheel on the buffer.  The dings will come out with some work, the scratches and pits a lot harder to get out.  It wont be perfect, but it will be original.  Also checking out the black color for louvers, spoiler and shaker in another thread.  Thanks everyone for responding.

[J_Speegle]

I have spent a lot of time working out the details on the rocker trim restoration and black out paint. To begin with I considered the repop aluminum trim and actually had the local mustang shop bring it in and its not very good, two issues the ends of the pieces are not formed correctly and there are NO cutouts in the bottom of them so you can insert the special spring clips that are used to pop rivet them trim to the rocker moldings. I completely disassembled mine, cad plated the special clips, had the trim polished and then use SS pop rivets to install after painting.....................

Are all of the cars you posted pictures Dearborn cars or is there a mix. We're starting to mix questions and responses from different plants in the same thread - a concern now and going forward.  May need to split the thread or merge different post with established threads

As for the side trim black out on the body remember to reflect on how San Jose applied it rather than the other plants unless there is no choice and your original details were not available to duplicate

[J_Speegle]

.......................I've decided to remove aluminum trim, sand a polish with 1000 grit paper, 0000 steel wool and then aluminum polish and a fabric wheel on the buffer.  The dings will come out with some work, the scratches and pits a lot harder to get out.  It wont be perfect, but it will be original.................

Be aware that these will oxidize if not coated so they will require some additional upkeep. Have done the same thing   

[HDAshmore]

Thanks Scott, sorry for forgetting the name, you responded before I could get to my parts to look it up. 

For the record I ordered several pieces from musclecarresearch and I was impressed with price, quality and shipping/packaging.

Dan