Early 1971 (Aug 70) differences?

[Boss1Ray]

This gentleman on FB posted some interesting characteristics evident on his very early ( Aug 70) 1971 Hardtop.

"The passenger side front bucket seat cushion is a different design than the driver's side! The seat-backs have the same design though! The car also has these weird angle brackets from the factory mind you bolted to the shock support braces."

What do you guys think?















Ray

 

[Boss1Ray]

I think the seat base material has been replaced. And bracket on right side shock tower brace for power steering hose? But left side one????

Ray

 

[Boss1Ray]

Here's the door tag:



Ray

 

[rvrtrash]

The hardware holding the brackets doesn't look like what Ford would use, and I can't believe they would put a bracket somewhere held by only one bolt, and no way to keep the bracket from moving. I would guess mounts for some sort of aftermarket Monte Carlo bar.

Steve

 

[jpaz]

And the brackets in question aren’t even the same. The one on the left has a notch in it and the one on the right doesn’t. They sure do not look factory.

 

[Hemikiller]

Clifford's still beating that drum, huh?

He's been told by multiple people the brackets were added at some point in the car's life. The tower braces have obviously been repainted and are the same color as the brackets. Since he doesn't have providence on it since Day 1, he has nothing to go on.

The driver's seat bottom has quite obviously been reupholstered, the grain is totally different and the color is close, but not quite.

I h ave a feeling you could explain both points to him ad nauseum, but it would fall on deaf ears. The only remarkable part about his car is that it's an extremely early build.

 

[Boss1Ray]

Thanks, guys!

I had no idea he had posted this before (many times).

Those shock tower braces look nice though! Everything under the hood looks extremely nice.

Ray

 

[Hemikiller]

There was a thread on one of the 71-73 FB pages about PS hoses and the 71-72 long pressure hose with the insulator. He came along and insisted that the brackets on his car were original and only on early cars. He also claimed that ford would use a zip tie to hold the hose to the bracket and pretty much let it flop around. Several called him out that his claim was baseless, but he kept insisting. Thankfully the discussion finally died.

IIRC, he only recently bought the car, so his claims of any sort of originality are without merit. I point blank told him as much, but, he continues....

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

The brackets are not some home made fabricated part. The part with the notch in it is part of the tooling process. The notch prevents a burr when you cut the parts apart. They would have been attached until the end of the die then cut apart. You can see the die breaks in the edges of the parts. 

The only thing that does not look right is the hardware does not have the Ford look. Could maybe have been in a Ford display at auto show and held a placard?? Never know without day one knowledge.

California car will probably never know the story unless someone else finds same parts on another car.

 

[OMS]

No those brackets don't belong there and the edges of the brackets look pretty rough to be anything factory made.

Like Steve said, the hardware... bolt with a washer is the glaring clue

 

[donkost]

I don't even see the point of it all. Would the car be worth $20K more with those "rare" brackets? Maybe they originally held the rare factory supercharger option in '71. lol As for the seat cushion, as stated anyone can plainly see it was reupholstered in the closest fabric the shop had, but not a match for the factory upholstery. It is a "1 of 1" car.

 

[Boss1Ray]

I like to see things that are different from our cars. Some are obvious by year and body type but some are a little more tough to substantiate or explain. If you prefer a modded car it wouldn't matter. If you are interested in how they were equipped when the rolled out of DAF (like me), it matters.

Thanks. Ray

 

[7173Vert]

If it’s on the Internet, it’s got to be true. I am going to look for a pair for my car to get it back to original...

 

[Don C]

It appears to me that the brackets were repurposed from something else. The ragged edge along the top is clearly caused by rust/corrosion, as can be seen by the flaking paint on the edge of one. As most of us have encountered other oddities, who knows what the previous owner was up to? With a little luck one of us will see similar brackets on some item, take a picture and post it here.

 

[Boss1Ray]

If it’s on the Internet, it’s got to be true. I am going to look for a pair for my car to get it back to original...

NOOOOOOOO! 

It appears to me that the brackets were repurposed from something else. The ragged edge along the top is clearly caused by rust/corrosion, as can be seen by the flaking paint on the edge of one. As most of us have encountered other oddities, who knows what the previous owner was up to? With a little luck one of us will see similar brackets on some item, take a picture and post it here.

That would be cool.  I have to agree. They just don't look to be original.  Ray

 

[Don C]

My best guess is that these brackets originally pivoted at the bolt location. I have seen similar flip brackets on metal cabinet doors that could be flipped over to mate with a solid bracket, also with a hole, for locking with a padlock.