san jose kars

akh_old · December 28, 2009 at 6:58 PM

What are the differances in productions with san jose built cars verse the other factories.

CharlesTurner · December 28, 2009 at 9:46 PM

There are many small differences from year to year and even through a production year. To generalize:

-Primer/paint characteristics (mainly in front wheel well area)

-Handwritten and stamped markings throughout the car

-Fasteners

-Orientation of parts/method of assembly

If you can be more specific, we can be of more help.

akh_old · December 29, 2009 at 11:27 AM

mainly intrested in undercarriage color. My kar was built sept.17, 65. Its a 66 GT. Should it be red oxide or blk. I cannot find any traces of blk, but have red some were? thanks in advance for the help. I am sure I will have a ton of questions as I proceed

CharlesTurner · December 29, 2009 at 1:05 PM

For that time period, the predominant undercarriage color for SJ cars would be red-oxide. If your car has not been stripped, you should be able to find some traces of the original color, which I advise to have color matched if you want to do it right. Also, keep in mind that the red-oxide up under the engine bay might have been a different shade of red-oxide.

akh_old · December 29, 2009 at 1:38 PM

thanks

SaltLakeDj · February 13, 2010 at 2:17 AM

My 64.5 k code dated 27G from San Jose had black primer on the undercarriage and it was oversprayed with the white paint coat . I never found any red oxide on the undercarriage. the body had light black mist coat, red, then gray primer followed by the white finish coat.

SixfiveGT · February 13, 2010 at 8:50 AM

My July 65 K Coupe had black primer on the under carriage as well.(I am the second owner and have had the car for 33 years. I talked to the original owner who said the only thing done to the car before I purchased it was it had been repainted because the California sun had bleached the Silver blue paint....at that time no work was done on the undercarriage) When I did a ground up restoration on the car last year I could not find any evidence of red oxide primer (only black) any where. The black primer was similar in color shade to the firewall and engine compartment.... hope this helps

J_Speegle_old · February 13, 2010 at 9:37 PM

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My July 65 K Coupe had black primer on the under carriage as well.(I am the second owner and have had the car for 33 years. I talked to the original owner who said the only thing done to the car before I purchased it was it had been repainted because the California sun had bleached the Silver blue paint....at that time no work was done on the undercarriage) When I did a ground up restoration on the car last year I could not find any evidence of red oxide primer (only black) any where. ...........

Of course we can not be sure of when it was really built but if you found no red oxide anywhere then yours is the only one I've ever seen or hear of after tens of thousands of early San Jose cars. Since you have only had it 33 years I wonder what happened in the past.

Did you happen to purchase it from the original owner?

round2K_old · February 13, 2010 at 10:16 PM

Some time ago my 12/64 SJ car was media blasted and repainted by a PO. Unfortuantely he also turned it into a black undercarriage and applied undercoating. I was finaly able to find evidence of the red oxide in the area of the rear spring eye bolts and in the transmission tunnel. Have to agree with Jeff that 45+ years is a lot of time and all kinds of work gets done to the cars.

SixfiveGT · February 14, 2010 at 10:13 AM

Yes I had the opportunity to speak to the original owner as I mentioned in my original post....

When we put the car on the rotisserie to finish the media blasting all we found was black paint that extended from the rocker panel pinch welds to an area just under transmission tunnel... similar to what one would have expected for red primer. the area under the tunnel had surface corrosion and no paint or primer. I have to admit that I did not do the media blasting so I did not see if there might have been something else under the black.... The person who did do the blasting told me that he didn't see anything else.

Since most of you who regulaly contribute to this site have a lot more experience than I... I must have missed something when we did the car.... the only thing that makes me a little sad is that I duplicated what I found...ie black undercarriage...guess it's a good thing I'm not entering any competitions... just enjoying the car. Sorry if I may have misled anyone, just wanted to share my particular experience.

SaltLakeDj · February 14, 2010 at 9:53 PM

Looking more closely I did find some evidence of red oxide under the radiator area under the bushings in the radiator support but from there back I didn't see any red oxide on the undercarriage. Just white overspray. The only red oxide in the rear body of my car was under gray primer sealer( Factory ? ) and the white paint. I am the third "known" owner of the car and most of the original paint was still there. I bought the car in 1992. The car sat wrecked on the passenger side in a field for unknown years. I have not media blasted the undercarriage because mine is a driver due to "too much" sheet metal replacement. 1964-1992 is a long time but it doesn't apear that the floor and undercarriage has been repainted.

Scott

CharlesTurner · February 14, 2010 at 10:09 PM

Red-oxide under the engine bay area and black in the rear would be consistent with some other San Jose cars built around the Nov '64 through Feb '65 time period. I have personally found this type of primer application on 3 San Jose cars between unit number 178xx-184xxx

J_Speegle_old · February 14, 2010 at 10:41 PM

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....The only red oxide in the rear body of my car was under gray primer sealer( Factory ? ) and the white paint. ..................

Exterior panels with red oxide primer sealer, followed by a light gray surfacing primer and then exterior color would be typical for 64-67 San Jose built Mustangs.

Here shot (showing gray with red oxide under) of the front fender of a 66 original paint that the shop was stripping by hand last week. Hated seeing this vintage burgundy coupe being stripped - had very decent original paint. Oh well, not my car

[Blocked Image: http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/firetrainer/Original%20Uni-body%20%20Pictures/6R07C230xxxPrimerlayerssm.jpg]

round2K_old · February 15, 2010 at 10:02 AM

Jeff - would all of the body panels have likely been spec'd as red oxide from the vendors, then the gray coat applied at the assembly plant?

CharlesTurner · February 15, 2010 at 10:09 AM

Based on my observations, the gray sealer primer was only applied to the outer facing panels and usually all of the pot metal parts.

J_Speegle_old · February 15, 2010 at 11:00 PM

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Jeff - would all of the body panels have likely been spec'd as red oxide from the vendors, then the gray coat applied at the assembly plant?

Yes the panels were delivered in red oxide but there is evidence that red was shot also in at least many areas (red oxide over sound deadener and sealer in many areas. As Charles mentioned gray only on exterior panels - I believe as a surfacer

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