72 Mach 1 - What is the factory colour for the headlight buckets and mounting brackets?

[bdennis]

Hey team,
Am fixing up some rusty looking parts in front of the radiator support and the radiator support panel it self.
I have pulled the front bumper, grill and related headlight mounting parts.
I would like to retain the factory look.
My question is:
What colour should the headlight buckets / mounting brackets and associated metal plates be?
What colour should the metal mounting bar that sits within the front bumper be?

As far as I can tell, they look like they were argent. Or should they just be satin black?

I plan on painting the radiator support satin black also.

 

[Hemikiller]

All of those parts will be low gloss black, or a greyish-black, or a combination. The parts could come from different suppliers and may have a slightly different appearance.

 

[bdennis]

Thanks for that. the parts that are in relatively good condition with minimal surface rust are the grey-ish black.

 

[Sheriff41]

Yours look to be unmolested from new so if you can discern the original color just replicate it and you'll be correct. Some cars have been "detailed" many times through the years and it's difficult to tell what they were originally. http://429mustangcougarinfo.50megs.com/ is a good resource for detailing pictures and techniques.

 

[Stanglover]

When I researched mine for my 71, the buckets are low gloss black and the rad support uprights are "slop grey". Pic 2836 is original factory finish. 1263 is my recreation.
Hope that helps.

 

[c9zx]

Confirming Stanglover's post. Chuck

 

[tpj71mach]

When I researched mine for my 71, the buckets are low gloss black and the rad support uprights are "slop grey". Pic 2836 is original factory finish. 1263 is my recreation.
Hope that helps.

I found the same info. Although, some sources said the vertical hood latch supports were also slop gray and some said they were black. I just decided they looked better and would not show through the grille if they were black so I painted them black.

 

[Stanglover]

I found the same info. Although, some sources said the vertical hood latch supports were also slop gray and some said they were black. I just decided they looked better and would not show through the grille if they were black so I painted them black.

Latch supports were black on the info I found, so yes, they're black on mine too.

 

[MikeGriese]

I have found Anghel Restorations to be a good resource for concours type information. They have a number of PDF downloads that describe how original suspensions, drivetrains, etc. were put together. The photos of their projects are pretty impressive too.

 

[bdennis]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yes I agree the vertical latch support is / was black on mine.
The Headlight bracket is black.
The L bracket and the large square plate on mine is the "slop grey". This is unlike Stanglover (Geoff) pics where only the L bracket is the Slop grey.

As mine is unmolested I'm keen to just clean it up and keep as original as I can. Mine is a July 72 Mach1.

In terms of the "slop grey" it looks like what I would call "argent".
Here is a link to what is called "ford argent" - https://encycolorpedia.com/868992#:~:text=The hexadecimal color code #868992,% green and 57.25% blue.

As I'm in Australia, I cant really compare it to other car parts on cars from the US. I know, Ford Australia used argent on 12 slot and 5 slot wheels and other parts in the late 60's so I assume that's about right.

I have look up "Anghel Restorations" and see most of the info is for '69 and '70 mustangs and not much on 71-73.

 

[Stanglover]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Yes I agree the vertical latch support is / was black on mine.
The Headlight bracket is black.
The L bracket and the large square plate on mine is the "slop grey". This is unlike Stanglover (Geoff) pics where only the L bracket is the Slop grey.

As mine is unmolested I'm keen to just clean it up and keep as original as I can. Mine is a July 72 Mach1.

I went back to the only original pics I took of the buckets. It is very hard to decide from the pic, whether the bottom square plate is or is not "slop grey" as there isn't much paint left on it. However, knowing my anal nature, I'm pretty sure if it was grey, I would have painted it grey. I may be old, but my colour site is still 100%!!!
Again, it may come down to suppliers or whatever paint was available on the day.
I say use your eyes and repaint it the colour YOU see on YOUR car.

 

[bdennis]

Thanks Geoff. I will have another look and take some pics and post.

Any comments re the actual colour of "Slop Grey" Is it really Ford argent?

 

[Hemikiller]

Slop grey is literally left over paint poured together into a common container. There was no "paint code" for it and it changed day by day, and even part to part. Here's some shots of a survivor '73 to give you an idea of the color range.

 

[Sheriff41]

Ford Argent is a silver paint in the US. It is used on wheels like the argent center section of the Magnum 500 on the 1969 Boss 302:

Or these 1968 styled steel wheels:

 

[bdennis]

Thanks for the explanation of what "slop grey" is.

Also, thanks for the pics of the 12slot wheels. In my mind argent was darker, but now looking at other pics It is much lighter than I thought.

I will see if I can get something mixed up to closely match.

 

[tpj71mach]

NPD sells the slop gray in spray cans, that is where I bought mine. They offer a medium slop gray and a dark slop gray. I purchased the dark slop gray, that is the color you see in my pictures posted above. Just an FYI, I am not sure if they ship to Australia or how high the shipping would be.

 

[Stanglover]

You could try mixing your own, but it's not black and white! you will need to play with it, by adding other colors like blue, red, or maybe green to get the shade you like.
As for the NPD paint, I believe one of those shades is no longer available, or it was at one time. I'd definitely go towards the darker side regardless.
I noticed in the pic that Hemikiller posted, the upright latch support was painted "slop grey" by the look of it, with the grill attachment pieces in black.

 

[bdennis]

I took the L bracket to the local Auto place that can mix up spray can paint colours. They ran out of black so will have to go back.
For now I painted the lower square part black and left the L brackets factory colour (slop grey) as they in fairly good condition. Once I can get the paint colour mixed I will remove the 4 parts and then paint and reinstall.
Here is the completed work.
Before:
(Complete with factory paint runs) I did not sand back the radiator support. Just cleaned and painted and left the runs in the paint.


After:


I also cleaned and repainted the grill, headlight buckets etc.


Thanks for the help.