Wheel lip moulding - was it available on Mach 1s?

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Spechti

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
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Location
Hamburg, Germany
My Car
1971 Mustang Mach 1 (under restoration), 1973 Lincoln Mark IV (show boat)
Hi and a happy new year to everyone!

I just got some new 71-73 bright repro fender lip mouldings on ebay for a nice bargain price.

I clamped one of them for test fit to the front wheel opening and noticed that the horizontal moulding on the Mach 1 fender

interferes with it. Now I wonder whether this combination was available from the factory on a Mach 1. Could the fender mouldings come on a car with the Mach 1 chrome strip (separating the upper from the lower color)?

Or was the protection group - including the mouldings - only available on non-Mach 1 vehicles?

 
Far as I know, the fender lips were never used on Mach 1's.

It was also the manner in which I was able to identify that both the Diamonds are Forever M-code and my own M-code had their passenger fenders swapped at one point - both RH fenders were drilled for fender lips; the lefts were not.

-Kurt

 
The 71-73 Mach 1 was not available with bright wheel-lip moldings or bright rocker moldings.

The mach 1 was basically a de-chromed model, with some exceptions. The front bumper and hood/fender extensions were also body-colored on all 71-73 Mach 1s . No RPO 71-73 Mach 1 ever came with a chrome front bumper,except for a couple of documented "factory freaks"...cars built incorrectly at the factory.

The bright body-side moldings at the paint-break on 71/72 Mach 1s came only on Mach 1s without the side-stripe (hockey-stick) option. If equipped with hockey-sticks, the bright molding was deleted and supplanted with a matching pinstripe.

Side stripes and bright moldings on the same car is incorrect.

On a side note, 71-only Grandes had bright moldings at the trailing edge of the hood and fenders. Of course, these were never on any Mach 1s.

 
Oh, really?

IMG_15101.jpg


Maybe you should say, 71/72 did not come with wheel well lip moldings.

 
I stand by my statements. However many dealers did install wheel-lips and/or rockers but thst does not make it original.

71-73 ordering guids corroberate this.


The white car above has incorrect moldings as well as incorrect hood paint.

The blue car has incorrect moldings and incorrect wheels.

The red car has incorrect moldings and incorrect front spoiler.

Don't get me wrong...all of those cars are gorgeous, and if I owned any one of them I would not change a thing. However, none of them came from the factory equipped as shown.

 
Last edited:
Kit makes a GREAT point.

I have learned to never say "Never" as it relates to what Ford and or their representatives (i.e. dealers) may have done to satisfy a customers request.

BT

 
Oh, really?

IMG_15101.jpg


Maybe you should say, 71/72 did not come with wheel well lip moldings.
PLUS 1 on wheel well moldings

Also

Back edge hood / fender trim was also availble on more than grande's

I found it on convertibles and fastbacks

 
Yes, my mistake: The trailing-edge hood moldings was also on 71 convertibles.

I think (but not 100% certain) that the hood rear-edge moldings were only available in 71. It is not in the 72-73 ordering guides and I have never seen any 72-73 thusly equipped.

Did not know it was available on fastbacks. Makes sense I suppose; all the bright moldings not available on Mach 1s (wheel lips, rockers, belt line moldings, front bumper guards, etc...) was available on "regular" sportsroofs (fastbacks)

 
Now that you mention it

I know at three [ 2 verts - 1 fastback ] that I had rear hood trim on were all 71's

So that may be a 71 only deal ?

 
Yes, I belive the rear-edge hood trim was only in 71.

I also believe the tiny black plastic inner-fender shrouds up by the winshield were larger in 71, then resized smaller in 72-73.

I have seen many factory cars with these, and just as many factory cars without them.

I have always wondered what the criteria for which cars got them was. I eventually arrived at the opinion that it is determined by which factory they came from, but I have never researched this.

Any clue on these things?

 
The rear hood trim was early '71 only.

Ford was already fooling about with whether the trim was necessary or not prior to production, as the hood trim also shows up on the red/black Mach 1 prototype (might have been a fiberglass proto) as well, but was quickly removed from the car along the line, as photographs reflect such.

As for fender lip chrome: It's been 40 years since these cars were released. The internet didn't exist when some of these cars were initially restored. Wheel lip mouldings got installed on Mach 1s because whoever restored it saw it on another car and thought theirs would look nice with that "option" - ignorant of the fact that the chrome wheel lips were not available on the Mach - or dealers installed them to spruce up their cars. Check the Marti on any Mach 1 with wheel lip mouldings in the registry.

The amount of Mach 1s incorrectly restored with wheel lip mouldings is only trumped by the amount of cars that have had said stripes added directly to a car with the stripe-delete mouldings. YECH!

-Kurt

 
I'm with ya' Kurt,

Stripes w/ side moldings look terribly out of place to me, as do the wheel lips and rocker moldings on any Mach.

My other "grinder' is 71-72 stripes on a 73. I think they look ridiculous, considering how the front bumper on 73s makes the lower-body tutone paint treatment somewhat odd looking at the front bumper/valence/ fender junction. And 71-72 stripes without the lower-body tutone also looks odd and unfinished.

Obviously, there is a reason Ford redesigned the side stripes on the Mach 1 as they did.

I like the 73 mach stripes. I have seen many, many 73s with 71-72 style stripes, but i have never seen any 71-72 with a 73-style mach 1 stripe package. It would fit perfectly without any problem and it would look good.

Hmm, maybe that would be my next project...

 
My other "grinder' is 71-72 stripes on a 73. I think they look ridiculous, considering how the front bumper on 73s makes the lower-body tutone paint treatment somewhat odd looking at the front bumper/valence/ fender junction. And 71-72 stripes without the lower-body tutone also looks odd and unfinished.
Agreed, though the Decor Group in '73 would give you the option of just that - '71/2 style stripes on the base '73 cars. It also made tutone standard with the moulding, but I have yet to ascertain whether the moulding was deleted if you ordered the stripes - as it pertained to the Decor Group.

What's more, the '73 Decor Group had the moulding moved down on the front valance to clear the larger front bumper. Not the most elegant solution.

I like the 73 mach stripes. I have seen many, many 73s with 71-72 style stripes, but i have never seen any 71-72 with a 73-style mach 1 stripe package. It would fit perfectly without any problem and it would look good.Hmm, maybe that would be my next project...
I'd venture to say that one of the reasons the reverse is not done is due to the bias against the '73 stripes for terminating at the rear wheels. You can't deny that this only makes the bulky rear-end design of the Sportsroof look even bulkier.

What I'd really find interesting is if someone were to custom-cut '73 style stripes that would continue the stripe at the rear quarter.

-Kurt

 
The rear hood trim was early '71 only.

Ford was already fooling about with whether the trim was necessary or not prior to production, as the hood trim also shows up on the red/black Mach 1 prototype (might have been a fiberglass proto) as well, but was quickly removed from the car along the line, as photographs reflect such.

As for fender lip chrome: It's been 40 years since these cars were released. The internet didn't exist when some of these cars were initially restored. Wheel lip mouldings got installed on Mach 1s because whoever restored it saw it on another car and thought theirs would look nice with that "option" - ignorant of the fact that the chrome wheel lips were not available on the Mach - or dealers installed them to spruce up their cars. Check the Marti on any Mach 1 with wheel lip mouldings in the registry.

The amount of Mach 1s incorrectly restored with wheel lip mouldings is only trumped by the amount of cars that have had said stripes added directly to a car with the stripe-delete mouldings. YECH!

-Kurt
My December 70 Convert has the rear hood trim (I thought it was aftermarket and almost pitched it.)

My early 71 Convert parts car did not have this rear hood trim.

- Paul

 
I have seen several 73 coupes with the 71-72 style tutone over the years, but only ONE where the bright trim on the front valance was moved down to try to make the stripes "fit better": The yellow one owned by the schoolteacher that has been featured in countless magazine profiles.

Even though it is claimed all- original, I doubt it. I suspect the dealership added the stripes and modified moldings before first delivery.

 
Since they do physically interfere with the horizontal bright trim, I think I will not install them. Does not look good.

I glued oh the stripes because they add a sleek touch to the car and makes it optically longer. I know this combo was not available from the factory. Only dealer installed.

 
I'm with ya' Kurt,

Stripes w/ side moldings look terribly out of place to me, as do the wheel lips and rocker moldings on any Mach.

My other "grinder' is 71-72 stripes on a 73. I think they look ridiculous, considering how the front bumper on 73s makes the lower-body tutone paint treatment somewhat odd looking at the front bumper/valence/ fender junction. And 71-72 stripes without the lower-body tutone also looks odd and unfinished.

Obviously, there is a reason Ford redesigned the side stripes on the Mach 1 as they did.

I like the 73 mach stripes. I have seen many, many 73s with 71-72 style stripes, but i have never seen any 71-72 with a 73-style mach 1 stripe package. It would fit perfectly without any problem and it would look good.

Hmm, maybe that would be my next project...
+1 on all above.

Now that we are on our 'grinders', :D I hate to see the front hood blackout without the surrounding pinstripe. It looks like someone forgot to finish it. Maybe I am so used to seeing the pinstripe... For a modded car, I have wondered how the entire front top of the car ahead of the windshiled would look blacked out. Basically, just the top of the fenders and hood. I think some Mercurys or Galaxies were done that way in the late 60's early 70's??? Maybe for racing only???

And the dolphin nosed blackout most forward area varies a lot in distance from edge of hood on many cars. Most of the edges are correctly rounded. But I've seen many squared off.

As for the lower body bright molding - I heard somewhere the 71 429 cars all came that way- with molding and without side stripes???? Any truth to that one?

Thanks for the great discussion! Good thread.

Ray

 
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