Bumper Guards...

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7173Vert

Well-known member
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Ontario
My Car
1971 Convertible, 1973 Hardtop
So, I still am trying to get to the bottom of this... Marti reports that indicate "bumper guards" as an option when near 100% of the car's I view don't have them and don't have any apparent markings/holes on the bumpers to indicate that they were ever installed to begin with. My J Code Vert has a Marti report that shows these as being installed at the factory, but there was no evidence of them ever being on the car to begin with. This low mileage Boss for sale is showing the same thing. My factory Invoice does not show these guards as being installed, so there appears to be a conflict somewhere... I have documented many car's in the same situation, regarding this one specific option that appear's on a lot of Marti reports but are not on the car's... I contacted Marti Autoworks on a few occasions, but never received a reply back. Frustrating...

Thoughts? BTW, Beautiful Boss...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Ford-Mustang-Boss-351/253930188312?hash=item3b1f6b2e18:g:zV0AAOSwZhtbwEvH:rk:2:pf:0&vxp=mtr

 
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Were there extra holes for the guards? I see most 73 with them myself. They were only $14.00 in 73. I thought most clamped on so no extra holes. I have 7 - 72 & 73 and all have guards.

Now the hard one to find it the Valance guards on the front, 71 only option. I have a NOS set but need one of the rubber strips.

Lots of bumpers get changed for sure and probably too cheap to buy the guards also. A new bumper for rear use to be $18.00 and front $21.00 for a 65 mustang from Ford. The guards were probably more than the bumper.

You had to grow up then to understand it was like fender skirts in the 50's you had to have them.

Find me a picture of a 71 with the valance guards. Come up from the front cross member to the bottom of the bumper over the valance panel.

 
71 had the bumper to valance guards with the side protection strip at the body line as part of the Protection group, or guards were available separately. They were replaced at some point in the model year by the high mount guard seen on the '72 photos. Rear guards were a high mount style. Neither bumper guard option was available as an RPO, but a dealer could install them after the fact.

19714.jpg


1682874325783.png

72 had the high mount front and rear guards. Available separately, or as part of the Protection Group with the side protection moulding.



73 had the urethane front bumper, so it didn't need front guards. The side strip was back but part of the Protection Group with door edge guards and a spare tire lock. Rear guards were available as a standalone option, or were included in the "Deluxe Bumper" group which also had a rubber strip on the bumper.

1973_00003_05.jpg
 
Ken, I remember our discussion about the bumper guards on your car a while back. I really appreciate the luxury of having the Marti reports available for our cars. They contain information other cars collectors only wished they had for their vehicles. I have found errors in both the reports for my Mach1’s. The Marti states that both my cars have bumper guards which was not an option for any 71-72 Mach1. There were two different guards for the front of the 71, one for front of the 72 and one that fit the rear of the 71-72. All are non Mach1 applications. Neither of my cars have ever had bumper guards.

The 73’s had the choice of a plain rear bumper, rear guards or rear guards with horizontal rub strips.

Already have a fortune tied up in Marti reports on several of my vehicles. Looks as though I may end up ordering the Eminger report which is an official Ford document that will at least show what Ford had installed and invoiced the dealer. As nice as the Marti is, It is not a Ford generated document.

I am out of town presently and I can’t get my catalog files to open on my $@£€# Lap top. If you need part numbers to research I’m sure Hemikiller wouldn’t mind checking his 65-72

MPC for you. [emoji594]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 
Ken, I remember our discussion about the bumper guards on your car a while back. I really appreciate the luxury of having the Marti reports available for our cars. They contain information other cars collectors only wished they had for their vehicles. I have found errors in both the reports for my Mach1’s. The Marti states that both my cars have bumper guards which was not an option for any 71-72 Mach1. There were two different guards for the front of the 71, one for front of the 72 and one that fit the rear of the 71-72. All are non Mach1 applications. Neither of my cars have ever had bumper guards.

The 73’s had the choice of a plain rear bumper, rear guards or rear guards with horizontal rub strips.

Already have a fortune tied up in Marti reports on several of my vehicles. Looks as though I may end up ordering the Eminger report which is an official Ford document that will at least show what Ford had installed and invoiced the dealer. As nice as the Marti is, It is not a Ford generated document.

I am out of town presently and I can’t get my catalog files to open on my $@£€# Lap top. If you need part numbers to research I’m sure  Hemikiller wouldn’t mind checking his 65-72

MPC  for you. [emoji594]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I recall the discussion also. I do have the Emminger for my car and it does not reference the guards although the Marti does. I reviewed the paperwork for the PB 429 coupe that sold at Mecum Indy a couple year's back  and it was the same. No Guards on the car, however the Marti referenced them, the Emminger for the car did not...

I am a aware of the two different guards for the '71 and looked for any indication of some form attachment to the original front bumper on my car, nothing. Your comment on the guards for your Mach 1's speaks volumes also...

I truly believe there is some kind of calculation error when Marti generates some of these reports, causing this option to continually show up for some reason. Getting them to address the issue has proved fruitless for me personally, maybe because I am out of country. But, I have also invested a lot of $$$ over the year's in these reports. I don't think I need to research any further, they did not come on my car and i would have liked to have the Marti report revised to reflect this fact... 

For the car's that have the bumper guards and the Marti show's them as an option, great... 

This Boss link that I posted just brought the issue back for me when i looked at the car and the Marti, no bumper guards...

 
It could be that people simply remove them. Even with chrome bumpers there are no extra mounting holes as far as I remember. They are installed with tabs that wrap around the edge of the bumper. Mine had them front and rear and I removed them for a cleaner look.

 
72 Rear need to have holes drilled I have a set of on my car and have a set of NOS in the Ford Box with a mounting diagram that shows where to drill the holes, Front are clipped.

 
It could be that people simply remove them. Even with chrome bumpers there are no extra mounting holes as far as I remember. They are installed with tabs that wrap around the edge of the bumper. Mine had them front and rear and I removed them for a cleaner look.
I certainly considered that possibility, however I’m not remotely convinced that is the case here...

 
I had several emails back and forth with Marti this past week. Trying to figure out what to do on my 73 Mach 1 going to the MOM Mustang Owner's Museum.

I did not ask him but I would have to think that the information he got from Ford was in the for of punch cards. That was the most used form of data collection in that day. I will ask next time we talk.

I have the punch cards that were in the floor of my car somewhere. I did not allow the dealer to prep the car so everything was still there.

My car never had the white square stickers in the engine compartment either that I see people add.

The Ford invoice with the check marks was said to be what the car was checked off to when it left the factory I do not know for sure.

I could see you being able to get front bumper guards on a Mach 1 in 71 or 72 but would probably have been a 6 digit DSO for special order. Chrome bumper with guards instead of rubber. Was there a rubber bumper delete code for the 71 - 72? I know some people hated them and wanted chrome.

I also thought the guards clamped on the 71 72 I have NOS in the box and also bumper in garage will have to go look. Might have been a change but parts books should reflect that. Or maybe over the counter clamped on??

Got to get the time machine finished so we can go see how it really was, lol.

I hate to see what Marti wants for a deluxe Marti on my 73 because it has two window stickers and two invoices the mat frame gets much larger. I ask if his report would come out two pages and he talked with his programmer and that info is put together by a program that changes the font size to keep it on one page.

I had asked in the past if he could come up with a list of the highest optioned mustangs and he said no that the data was not compiled to do any kind of search. More or less you give him a VIN# he pulls your card and prints.

BTW the first time punch cards were used to compile data was for the 1890 yes eighteen ninety census in the U.S.. Saw that in the Smithsonian on a visit with my son.

We always seem to come up with more questions than answers, lol.

 
If the chrome front bumper had the standard high mount bumper guards, you would have seen evidence of their mounting from the more preserved look under the mounting areas on the bumper surface. Since they also were mounted using clamps there would be marks from the clamps also. The low protection or valance level guards mounted using 3/8-16 "U" nuts that fastened to the upper  bumper reinforcement and to a bracket that was secured to the lower part of the radiator support. As a 71 only offering I would think they would be a little rarer and if were on the vehicle at one time may still have the original U nuts present.  

The so called Eminger report is one of the copies of the actual invoice that was sent  along with the car when delivered by Motor Convoy. It contains base price and production installed options and was how the dealer was invoiced. If it isn't on the invoice it didn't leave the assembly plant with it. Since that is an original Ford produced document, I would put more faith on it being correct than anything else being offered from anyone.

Accessories were the Cash Cow for Dealers and after marker installers then (and still is now). So a lot of Ford and after market items found their way on to our four wheel castles. If installed before sold, dealers would add a Addendum label listing items added to the vehicle since it was against federal law to alter the original or  Monroney Sticker.

The front or rear bumper guards were not an option for  71-72 (63R) Mach1's and I have never found a code for a urethane bumper delete on the 71-72 Mach1. That would have caused a package de-content which Ford usually frowned on.       

I know Ken's goal  was a 100% correct concours restoration and the bumper guard issue caused some concern. But as i posted earlier if not on the Ford invoice, it was not production installed regardless of what the Marti report states.

The Marti's on my Mach1's state they have bumper guards......never happened!   :D 



71-72 high mount which clamped to bumper



71 only low mount with tabs for "U" nut attachment

 
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