molding color or scheme in the wheel well part of the front bumber cover

[scenario]

Anybody know the color scheme for the front bumber cover molding that comes into the wheel well the way the cars were delivered new? Car color and trim color in that area

I have attached a pic of one off the internet just to show the area I am talking about... I have seen them a few different ways but was wondering how it "should" look. Is ir ALSO POSSIBLE that the 3 different (actually 4) model years may have varied???

[scenario]

Bump

Can anyone take a pic of theirs please if you can

[svono50]

I will snap a pic of mine, but I have had a repaint. I can't recall just how my body guy did the paint on that surface (i.e.- wrap or not wrap the charcoal accent). I will also dig through my archives to see if I can find some OEM examples to reference.

[svono50]

Ok, got a chance to snap a pic of mine, first pic for reference. I also dug through my archives of for sale pics and attached them as well. Seems to be a bit of a mixed bag between a wide band across the trim from the molding detail to just a thin vertical strip, like my body guy did. I didn't have any pics of mine pre-repaint that showed the detail. I would have to say that it likely comes down to your preference really.

Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_00.jpg Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_01.jpg Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_02.jpg Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_03.jpg Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_04.jpg Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_05.jpg Front Bumper_wheelwell_charcoal_06.jpg

[scenario]

Thanks very much for taking the time.

To be honest, I think it might have varied at the factory. Likely by year or maybe as time went they had different ideas as to what would be better in the wheel well. I came up with results all over the place including different paint schemes in this area on "claimed" original paint cars.

My new to me 85.5 9L looks to have been painted or at the least some areas have had some paint work. The car is sporting all original sheet metal and everything is right on it. The car shows very nice either way.

I have owned Fox body cars since 1984. Since then I have never been without one. Now that I am older I have more time to look close and appreciate the cars. With that said, I can not believe some of the sloppy welds and slag that is peppered all over these cars. Especially when you start to look closely.

I have found numerous missed spot welds that were hit with a mig (obviously picked up by QC on the line) and things of that nature that you prob would not see on a car today. I have looked at numerous other Mustangs and they all show similar sloppiness. I guess MIG was new on the floor back or there was a lack of training on its use.

I also think that the old saying "cars built on Fridays and Mondays are obvious"...I think this 85.5 I have is beautiful and very very nice but I think it was build on a Tuesday after a 3-day weekend of hard partying....
Some of the welds on this car are atrocious but they are original on original parts that have never been messed with. A white car makes it easy to spot anything that has been messed with, especially the paint on the inner areas.

I hope people realize that the Fox Mustangs were built during difficult times of our economy and the union workforce did not take **** back then.

I have run across plenty of so-called experts that think quality control back then was pushing "show cars" across the assembly line...guess again. I might start a thread on the subject for everyone to share pictures of some areas that I am talking about BUT then again I dont want anyone to see something they might not like on their car....SMH

[svono50]

No problem, I am sure there was variation over just the 4 years our SVO's were built. From what I could find it was either the charcoal band wrapped around the bend all the way to the liner or it was masked off for a thin edge of the rib only. Can't really go wrong either way, IMHO.

If anyone thinks production line cars come off with 'perfect consistency' they need a serious reality check. That is why I used to laugh at some of the old MCA shows when judges would ding cars for having normal production line variations, because it didn't match to what they felt was the 'correct' detail. Our cars were 'cheap/high volume' units and during the 80's Quality was "Job 1", but you still had humans touching things, so variation it is. Their one and simple goal was to get 'working' units out the door and to the dealerships, not worrying about little details.

I have worked in Manufacturing for 30 years (not automotive) and the only thing consistent is that variation will exist between operator/shift/pick your choice. As much as you try and design out operator influence to an assembly process, a more creative operator WILL come along and expose the 'hole' in your fixture/process design. As I have always been told, if you make a fixture idiot proof, someone will find a better idiot to put at that fixture. Some of the creativity I have seen over the years is quite mind boggling to say the least.