Has anyone seen this before?

[kevken1959]

While documenting the dome light wiring of one of my 1971 Mach Is, I saw this black fibrous spacer between the roof and the roof support. Has anyone else seen this? I am working on another 1971 that was just painted and it was missing the roof braces so they had to be installed (I'm thinking maybe the roof was replaced?) I guess I should find a similar material and install it between the braces and the roof in the painted car before the headliner goes in. I know Trevyn Days posted a video of his headliner install and he shot expandable foam between the roof and the brace to reinforce the roof. Seems like a good idea to me. My painter mentioned concern that the roof "popped in" during sanding so he installed some type of sound deadener material under the roof to "firm it up." Has anyone else seen this "spacer" before, and is it essential for the roof to have enough rigidity? Can someone recommend a similar material to use? Thanks.

 

[Doug's 73 Mach1]

Mach 1s with the 3/4 vinyl roof used an extra roof brace directly below the rear edge of the vinyl to help support the roof panel when pushing the moldings down to snap them into the molding clips. This may be such a roof brace. It runs across the inner roof aligned with approximately the back edge of the side drip rails.

 

[machattack]

Yes,
I had my liner done 2 weeks ago. I put sound deadner Killmat over the underside of the roof. My rails had the same material sandwiched there as well. I remember thinking about this and came to the conclusion it was to stop any rattles from the roof to the beam.
ps; I wire wheeled the under roof surface. I also used por15 brushed on the roof surface. Also used internal frame rail spray on the front and side channels as there was considerable rusting.

 

[rvrtrash]

That looks like the same material that Ford used on the '68 Mustangs at the top of the shock towers. The stuff gets brittle and breaks away, plus seems to collect moisture and cause rust. I always thought it was an insulator or seal between the spot welded joints, but in the case of the roof, I'm not sure.

 

[kevken1959]

Yes,
I had my liner done 2 weeks ago. I put sound deadner Killmat over the underside of the roof. My rails had the same material sandwiched there as well. I remember thinking about this and came to the conclusion it was to stop any rattles from the roof to the beam.
ps; I wire wheeled the under roof surface. I also used por15 brushed on the roof surface. Also used internal frame rail spray on the front and side channels as there was considerable rusting.

Thanks Mach.