Hi,
Have understood that both dots and stripes could have been used.
All 65's (Shelbys) from the San Jose plant I have seen have had
dots. In fact I cleaned two HiPo spring leafs yesterday and they
had a yellow dot. Couldn't see any green on any of these but they
have been untouched for almost 43 years.
/Bo
Some of them had dots and some had stripes. Jeff Speegle has an image in his files somewhere of a car that actually has one spring with stripes and one with dots. There is a reference in the Ford drawings of the paint on the stripes being applied to all of the leafs in the stack.
You can buy the Ford Factory Assembly Manuals from NPD or most of the Mustang supply houses. They are reproduced under license from Ford by Osborn Publications. There are a total of 5.
Were these spray dots on all the springs they used on the Mustangs or just in certain plants?I'm looking for info on what would be correct for early Dearborn car?
Dearborn was typically spray dots.
Did both spring have the same two spray marks?
Did both spring have the same two spray marks?
Yes, each spring would be marked to identify the application for factory line workers.
Maybe a strange question, but were these green and yellow dots
originally sprayed or slashed on with brushes? Mine looked like they were slashed on with brushes.
/Bo
Maybe a strange question, but were these green and yellow dots
originally sprayed or slashed on with brushes? Mine looked like they were slashed on with brushes.
/Bo
That was the question posed above. The answer is that San Jose and Dearborn typically used spray dots for identification. Metuchen was typically stripes.
Seen allot of stripes on San Jose cars - once you get to the end of 65 production. Especially into 66 , though there is some intermixing for a while.
Just my observations 
Quote from round2KSome of them had dots and some had stripes. Jeff Speegle has an image in his files somewhere of a car that actually has one spring with stripes and one with dots. There is a reference in the Ford drawings of the paint on the stripes being applied to all of the leafs in the stack.
Quote from J_SpeegleSeen allot of stripes on San Jose cars - once you get to the end of 65 production. Especially into 66 , though there is some intermixing for a while.
Just my observations
My late March 66 SJ car (GT 350, 6S1757) has one original spring with dots and one with stripes. This is probably the picture Jeff has as we've discussed this subject here and also on the VMF. The pic is also in this thread:
Sorry, but I am not convinced about the spray versus brushes.
To me the paint dots looks too thick for being applied with
spray and the edges looks like it's still kind of thick instead of
being thinner. Could be wrong, wouldn't be the first
time. What about other markings like on steering components
etc. Were they applied with spray as well? For example the HiPo
engine insulators are marked with yellow and all 4 NOS I have are as far as I can see marked with a brush.
/Bo
Sorry, but I am not convinced about the spray versus brushes.
To me the paint dots looks too thick for being applied with
spray and the edges looks like it's still kind of thick instead of
being thinner. Could be wrong, wouldn't be the first
time. What about other markings like on steering components
etc. Were they applied with spray as well? For example the HiPo
engine insulators are marked with yellow and all 4 NOS I have are as far as I can see marked with a brush.
/Bo
Thought this has been covered before. Here's some spray dots on a June '65 Dearborn car with 10k original miles.
http://www.early-mustang.com/charles/leaf_springs/
Most likely, what you are seeing as thick spots is simply the remnants leftover from many years of exposure. Not too many examples survive like as in the pics above.
Have found a combination of sprayed and brushed/daubed front suspension components. Just depends where/when it was made and even then, it's not clear cut. There's a few examples on the K convertible blog: http://65kresto.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Charles.
/Bo
Agree with Charles- from all the paint marks and daubs I've seen and have pictures of - it just depends on where the mark is and who placed it. There is a good mix of both
Some of the writting was also applied IMHO with the paint ball marker - which were real popular at the time.
You can still purchase these - basically a small plastic squeeze bottle with a tip and a ball at the end. Used commonly to mark parts at wrecking yards.
Mad4HiPos- Yes I recall your having one of each (rear spring marks) Yours is not the only one one of the original drive tests shows an early Shelby with one of each also. Just must have been that time period when San Jose had received a pallet of each and the mixed and matched
We even have one restorer that does one of each - allot 
Hate when each becomes a cookie cutter of another
Quote from J_SpeegleMad4HiPos- Yes I recall your having one of each (rear spring marks) Yours is not the only one one of the original drive tests shows an early Shelby with one of each also. Just must have been that time period when San Jose had received a pallet of each and the mixed and matched
We even have one restorer that does one of each - allot
Thanks Jeff, I know we've discussed this before but guess my point is the mixing & matching went well into 66 San Jose production given the late March 66 scheduled build date for 6S1757.
Glad I took pics of all this stuff. If I ever decide to do a t-bred resto I can see now trying to explain the green over yellow & yellow over green painted stripes on the one spring.
Dave
Dave,
Your car came with one of each and they were both date
stamped the same date, correct?
/Bo
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