I thought all non cutout 71-73 rear valances were the same??

Hi guys,

Was getting ready to prep one of these valances and noticed they are different. The gold is from a 72 and the brown from a 73. The 73 has the license plate bracket welded to the valance whereas the 72 licence plate bolts straight to the valance. Am I correct that they came different from the factory for these years?

Pretty sure the 73 is original but not sure on 72...

Very interesting...

Jeff

If I remember correctly mine was welded in too. If you need me to verify I can but won't be able to check till the weekend. I put my non cutout valence in storage so it's not readily assessable right now. Let me know.

-john

My NOS non-cutout 71 rear valence does not have the lower license plate backing tab.

You may be onto something here.

Ray

Hi guys,

Was getting ready to prep one of these valances and noticed they are different. The gold is from a 72 and the brown from a 73. The 73 has the license plate bracket welded to the valance whereas the 72 licence plate bolts straight to the valance. Am I correct that they came different from the factory for these years?

Pretty sure the 73 is original but not sure on 72...

Click to expand...

I just went and looked at 72 Mach 1 with cut outs and no bracket my 73 Mach 1 without cut outs has the bracket.

David

My 73 has the reinforced LP support W/O cutouts.

That's normal

Maybe it has something to do with the relocated license plate light on a 73?? Maybe it puts the plate at a more visible angle?

Well,

Now I am really confused as to what is correct. From the discussion so far it seemed like 71/72 did not have bracket but 73s did.

Came across these four NOS valances with D1 part numbers and ALL HAVE bracket...I see NONE without bracket??

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-73-NOS-Mustang-Rear-Lower-Valance-w-Exhaust-Cut-Outs-/331489344344?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d2e4dfb58&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-1972-1973-FORD-MUSTANG-NOS-Rear-Valance-without-Exhaust-Hole-/361009686416?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item540ddaa790&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-73-NOS-Mustang-Standard-Rear-Lower-Valance-/230993653489?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35c84b6ef1&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1971-1972-1973-FORD-MUSTANG-MACH-1-REAR-VALANCE-/390288746194?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5adf05a6d2&vxp=mtr

I'll be in the garage tomorrow and will look at mine...

My 72 has the bracket but I don't know if the valance is original to the car. :-/

My 72 with cut outs has the plate bracket. I think it's original Ford.

I think the change was late 71 or early 72 - no proof of that just from what I have found on parts cars

I'll re-look at all mine to make sure. I'll try and get pics.

Ray

I wonder if the change had anything to do with the bumper change on 73s?

I wonder if the change had anything to do with the bumper change on 73s?

Click to expand...

I thought that too until I found the four NOS one's on ebay with 71 part numbers on them. Also, seems like they would have changed part numbers on them if this happened but haven't found anything to support that.

I wonder if the change had anything to do with the bumper change on 73s?

Click to expand...

I thought that too until I found the four NOS one's on ebay with 71 part numbers on them. Also, seems like they would have changed part numbers on them if this happened but haven't found anything to support that.

Click to expand...

I think the change may have went along with the elimination of the plastic shield around the light in the bumper.

71-72 REAR LICENSE LAMP SHIELD D1ZZ-13508

Came across these four NOS valances with D1 part numbers and ALL HAVE bracket...I see NONE without bracket??

Click to expand...

Those are also later 1980's service parts by Ford (black EDP, not oxide primer), if I recall right.

Could be that someone assigned the D1 part number to the revised valance, either by mistake or on purpose (if done properly by Ford, a D2 or D3 number of the revised part would supersede the D1), or because the original design may have put the license plate at an angle that the Feds revised in '72.

-Kurt

Here is my guess:

There may have been regs relating to how far in the plate could be recessed from the bumper, or how far away it could be from the light.

The '73 bumper mounts moved the bumper away from the valance, so maybe the bracket was added to move the plate the same distance...keeping the plate's relation to the bumper/ light the same as before the '73 bumper modification.

Just a wild-ass guess...