Topic: 1967 Mustang Fender question

[travnemi]

I have a 1967 Mustang Fastback GTA 390 assembled Dec. 1966. I've seen at some concourse Mustangs have a gasket between the fender and fender apron. is that correct, if so where do you get it at.

Thanks for your help,
Travis

[Bob Gaines]

I have a 1967 Mustang Fastback GTA 390 assembled Dec. 1966. I've seen at some concourse Mustangs have a gasket between the fender and fender apron. is that correct, if so where do you get it at.

Thanks for your help,
Travis

You may be thinking of the ribbon caulk used to seal the fender to the apron. If so many use the 3M strip caulk to lay on the fender before bolting down. If you forgot you can still get the look by adding a little strip caulk to the edge and make it appear to be squeezing out. That is if that is what you are referring to.

[travnemi]

yup, that would be it. Did they use it on the 1967 mustangs?

Travis

[Bob Gaines]

yup, that would be it. Did they use it on the 1967 mustangs?

Travis

Yes ,plus many other year Mustangs.

[J_Speegle]

Been mentioned here a number of times. 3M strip black caulking does the job. Take a few strips, work them together, press them into the edge of the fender and attach the fender to the inner fender panels. Do a test (short section) first to figure out how far away from the edge it needs to be and how many strands to get the final look. You don't want allot or any squeezed through along the complete edge IMHO. Many factory applications didn't have much showing (see mention below)  at the edge and it makes keeping the area clean and dust free later a pain.

Just enough showing in areas (especially around the VIN cut out on the drivers side depending on the worker, date and plant) to show that its there and you weren't to careful   If I was redoing a car without any documentation on this detail I would aim for 10-20% max visibility on the sealant on the engine compartment side/edge.

Just me

[travnemi]

Thanks, this was really helpful
Travis

[Fastback2013]

Very interesting.
Does anybody have some pictures from those areas?
It looks that my fenders have been removed once, because there is no strip to see 
Looking forward,
Kind regards,
Jeroen

[J_Speegle]

Very interesting.
Does anybody have some pictures from those areas?
It looks that my fenders have been removed once, because there is no strip to see 

Of course there are picture But what plant?

Maybe will get luck and have a few from cars that were there when your car was

[Fastback2013]

Thanks for the reply.
Car was built on the  12th jan 67 - San Jose
thanks for your effort!
kind regards,
Jeroen

[Dudley]

SJ but a year later in June '68, from under the fender in the wheel well. The second picture shows the caulk was along the outer edge of the inner fender skirt and visible through the hole for the fender bolt to inner fender skirt. Perhaps about an inch wide? I don't remember if there is another line of caulk that is hidden between the fender and skirt, my pictures from the engine bay doesn't reveal any, but black on black doesn't stand out. I do know that no caulk was squeezed out from under the fender/inner fender because when I wipe down the engine bay there is none visible nor does any get on the rag during wiping. i wipe down with Macguires's ultra sheen.

[J_Speegle]

Hope that the original poster has a San Jose car also - if no please provide your plant and we'll try and post some of those also

Car was built on the  12th jan 67 - San Jose

So somewhere in the 7R161xxx-172xxx range

The idea was not to have it be seen but as mentioned sometimes the stuff got loose and ended up not exactly in the place the worker had planned. Since it was not visible from the outside or in the interior inspectors normally didn't mind. IF you end up with a restored car with little showing the detail can be missed by judges and you'll loose points unless you point it out to them BEFORE judging starts. In these cases you should have made it visible in the wheelwells where the fender bolt nuts (J nuts) and the openings are or just leave a very small amount visible so they don't miss it. JMHO

As a note - at 50 years the caulk on many cars has turned to dust, gotten hard as a rock, cracked and fallen out on many cars. What remains is over a dusty light gray unlike what it started out as due to the elements and exposure.  So don't get mislead and use that ugly light gray stuff that you can buy from some vendors or in the 80's packaging NOS boxes

In these two first pictures a small 1/8" bead of the product was created ad they tightened the fender into place. Since the contrast is low I highlighted the edge of the fender and pointed out the caulking







A nice original car - Passenger side was done pretty neatly with no exposed while on the diver's side it appears that the caulking fell off the fender as it was moved into place and the original width and size is visible as it clearly missed it's mark






Hope this helps. If not I'm sure I have more

[Fastback2013]

Thanks very much Jef.
My car is indeed in the range you pointed out (R170xxx).
The caulk that I can buy here is from 3M and is black (not gray)... again, another problem?
Kind regards,
Jeroen

[J_Speegle]

Thanks very much Jef.
My car is indeed in the range you pointed out (R170xxx).
The caulk that I can buy here is from 3M and is black (not gray)... again, another problem?

No you want to use black not the gray!!

[Fastback2013]

Crystal clear.
Thanks again,
Jeroen

[midlife]

Now THAT is sloppy workmanship!  MCA judges should deduct a good 10 points for workmanship at the factory!