Caspian 65 or anyone else out thier in mustang land, can you please tell me if thier should be a ridge on the hole for the fog lights, in the radiator support, on a real 65-66 GT mustang? I saw this on this forum on someones k code fastback. This would seem to be a stamped and not drilled hole. Please help Domenic R. Mamone
Ridge on real GT fog light hole
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The holes for the fog light wiring pairs thru the radiator support were punched so there is a ridge or a bevel or lip (I believe inward). I removed an original from one of my GT's (a March 66 San Jose Fastback) and the hole was 0.750in dia, the grommet was 0.740in od dia and the outer flange was 0.965in dia. Some repro grommets are for a 0.812in dia hole with a 0.890in dia flange. This may have been corrected but be careful.
Jim
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We've had some discussions about these holes in the past. While it is a common belief that they were stamped, there has been evidence found that they were drilled also. When one thinks about the effort required to stamp a hole (1 piece on front, one on the rear), it would not be as efficient as simply drilling the holes. The same edge on the back of the hole is attainable by drilling. Here's a couple pictures of a May '65 Dearborn GT car after it was stripped:
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A hole saw will make the same ridge around the hole. When I drilled the hole for my radio antenna on the front fender using a hole saw, it made a ridge just like that.
[Blocked Image: http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg122/CSXEng/Antena007.jpg]
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There is a definite difference between a sawed hole "ridge' and a punched hole "ridge". To replicate a punched hole from a sawed hole, use a large diameter drift pin using a portion of the shaft at least half the size of the hole and force the edge of the hole inward slightly by rotating the drift pin in it. Don't overdo it.
Jim
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Honestly, I don't believe the fog light wiring holes were ever punched. They were part of an RPO, that would require modification to the basic unit body. Other holes like for wiring wraps, bolts and things that are consistent across all models would have been made in the forming process for each sheet metal section.
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I agree with Caspian65 - options like this scream for hand labor - not pre-punched holes - the tooling to do the punch and tracking the parts would have driven people nuts. Drilling - while a hand labor process - would still have been the cheapest route - remember bean counters were involved! <img src=images/icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
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