Fender splash guard?

[65Rob]

Anybody have a picture of what the rear splash guard on the fender of a 65 vert should look like mounted? I thought the front was flush with the firewall extension but that leaves a gap of about an inch from the torque box at the bottom. I'll put some pics up later, it's a repop piece so that mat be part of the problem, either that or it's mounted further back but that isn't my recollection. Mine was half rotted off when I got to it so that didn't help

 

[2+2GT]

Anybody have a picture of what the rear splash guard on the fender of a 65 vert should look like mounted? I thought the front was flush with the firewall extension but that leaves a gap of about an inch from the torque box at the bottom. I'll put some pics up later, it's a repop piece so that mat be part of the problem, either that or it's mounted further back but that isn't my recollection. Mine was half rotted off when I got to it so that didn't help

The repros are actually not bad, certainly better than you describe, something is going on.

 

[65Rob]

The fit isn't very good at the top either, big gap at the top where the corner is but that's not what I'm concerned about. Here's some pics, the distance from the torque box to the firewall extension is about 2", the offset in the splash sheild is about 1". Is the bottom supposed to be tacked to the torque box? If it is I'm a mile off, if it isn't, well it doesn't make sense if it isn't

If it's flush to the front in picture one, it leaves the gap to the torque box in picture two

This is what I mean by flush, you have to rotate your head as I'm too stupid to know how to save the picture in the rotated mode

 

[2+2GT]

I wish this photo were farther up. I have a feeling you are installing them incorrectly.

 

[65Rob]

Alrighty, I figured out the problem. After looking more closely at the other side I can see that the torque box on the left side that I replaced is set a little further back, hence the gap. I just starting working on the Stang again after a few years off where I built a couple cars for my kids. Now I'm back at it trying to remember what's what. The torque box was a repop piece and I guess that's just the way it fit in there so now I either make a filler piece for the gap or just not worry about it. It will be a fair weather car not a daily driver so it probably isn't a big deal. I'll have to think about that, maybe just use a rubber gasket like the rest of the shield has? Still have to figure out to do about the crappy fit at the corner, quite a huge gap there, I hate repop stuff

 

[chris66dad]

there is a rubber gasket material that goes around the outside edge to fill the space.
Here are pictures from my cowl repair of the original material Ford used:
Cowl Repair

 

[2+2GT]

OK, the solution is simpler than that. Just force the lower part of the shield rearward, and screw it to the torque box as it should be. There is no reason for the shield to be perfectly vertical, or perfectly straight. Ford used strip caulk to seal the original to the body, and you can too. Once the fender is installed, there'll be no way to tell it's not straight. The tougher part by far will be installing the rubber flaps around the edge. Personally, I always use the ones that come with the rubber installed, which saves a lot of work for little or on increase in cost.

 

[65Rob]

Thanks for the ideas guys, good picture Chris, seeing what you're tryng to do always helps. I may end up leaning it in like you said GT, that's a good idea. As far as the rubber gasket, they provide staples which is kind of stupid, I'll just rivet it on

Thanks for the help

 

[2+2GT]

Thanks for the ideas guys, good picture Chris, seeing what you're tryng to do always helps. I may end up leaning it in like you said GT, that's a good idea. As far as the rubber gasket, they provide staples which is kind of stupid, I'll just rivet it on

Thanks for the help

The staples are for those who want OEM appearance. Dead easy to install. Tape the rubber seals in place, lay the shield on a piece of wood, and punch the staple holes with an awl and mallet. Poke the staples through, and squish them with a pliers. I like to bend the tips inward a bit before I install them, makes the squishing part more reliable. The rubber flap on the top of the radiator support was also usually attached in this manner, although I have seen some that were clipped.

As I said, though, I use the shields with pre-installed rubber flaps. We're talking $68 for all four, which is $20 more than the bare ones, plus $13 for the seal kit, so it's only $7 more per car for the good ones. I know this because I asked Glazier Nolan why they don't sell the plain ones.

 

[65Rob]

I wondered how you would do that, sounds easy, somewhat time consuming, good to know. I may end up doing that, although nobody can see it.

I wish I knew you could buy them attached, the place I got them through doesn't have that option as far as I know, I bought the rubber kit seperate

What is the seal kit? I was just going to use seam sealer around the edges after I weld it?

 

[2+2GT]

I wondered how you would do that, sounds easy, somewhat time consuming, good to know. I may end up doing that, although nobody can see it.

I wish I knew you could buy them attached, the place I got them through doesn't have that option as far as I know, I bought the rubber kit seperate

What is the seal kit? I was just going to use seam sealer around the edges after I weld it?

Oh, you need a better supplier. The splash shields are supposed to be screwed on. They should have asked you if you wanted a screw set when you bought the shields. You put strip caulk on the hems of the shield, and screw them on. Did they offer to sell you strip caulk?

 

[65Rob]

Screwed on? How odd, I can't imagine why, the original ones sure were on there good, must have fused metal to metal? No mention of screws or strip caulk, I'll have to call him and ask about that.

One other question, how much of the rubber gasket should stick out from the shield?

 

[2+2GT]

Screwed on? How odd, I can't imagine why, the original ones sure were on there good, must have fused metal to metal? No mention of screws or strip caulk, I'll have to call him and ask about that.

One other question, how much of the rubber gasket should stick out from the shield?

They were screwed on, really. Two at the top, two on the vertical portion, and one at the bottom. They are oriented so that the shield could be removed with the fender installed. You can see some of the screw holes in the pics:

 

[65Rob]

Thanks for all your help with this, doesn't look like to much of the gasket sticks out past the shield itself, maybe 3/4"?

 

[2+2GT]

Thanks for all your help with this, doesn't look like to much of the gasket sticks out past the shield itself, maybe 3/4"?

About half the rubber flap sticks out.

 

[65Rob]

Great! Thanks a lot, sometimes it's hard to tell in pictures what you're seeing. Now that I understand, I can see it in the first pic you put up.