I got around to removing a pair of tie down brackets from a 66 GT and found some interesting things. First, why did that car still have the brackets? It is a dual exhaust car, and to get to the brackets for removal, at least the one on the left, with the leaf springs and exhaust resonator installed, is difficult - you need to be double jointed. It took me at least 30 minutes, mostly figuring out which bent angle box wrench would work, finding the nut and keeping the wrench on it. The heads were a bit "rounded" and the nut was a locking type so it was difficult. The dealerships did not have that much time to spend on a dual exhaust car, and probably didn't bother with others unless they had the opportunity.
The right side was a breeze. That got me to thinking, when were the plates installed? Based on the amount of effort to remove that left hand bracket, I assume that the brackets were put on before the exhaust and therefore before the springs. These were the type with the bent tab for a third bolt from a mid Oct, 65 San Jose build car which also match the brackets from another car from the same plant and same month. Now for the big surprise, the brackets were painted gloss black, at least the area that was not exposed to road wear and time.
I also found that the undercarriage was painted with dark red primer.
The attaching hardware was both common, unusual and mostly available from other applications. The four horizontal bolts are the same ones used to attach a V-8 manual tranmission bell housing to the engine, p/n 20546-S, 7/16-14X2 1/2 hex head, GR2, and the four nuts were the same as ones used to attach the bumpers to their brackets with the capped carriage bolts, 374358-S8, 7/16/14 Stover lock. The two vertical mounted bolts were the same as the ones used to mount a V-8 bell housing to a manual transmission, 20430-S, 7/16-14X1 1/4 hex head, GR2, One of those had a lock washer, 34783-S7, 7/16 trapazoid type, that was used on I-6 bell housing to a manual transmission. The four washers were strange. The closest to a Ford p/n was 351815-S7, 7/16FLW, 0.469 ID, 0.875 OD, 0.094 T. The ones I had (both cars) were thinner, 0.080 T and were well used, warped. I find no application for that washer in assembly manuals at least on a Mustang. All the bolts were natural (rust covered although light), the nuts were either cad or zinc plated (determined from the mounting surface) as well as the washers.
For reinstallation on my "K" car, the plates will be painted, the bolts as close to natural as possible (rust removed), and the nuts and washers will be zinc plated.
Jim
