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1968 Red Oxide, blue paint and gas tank originality

Forsche

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Jan 12, 2013
Messages
219
Started doing some cleaning on the underside of of the CS yesterday. I am actually surprised how clean the car is! Almost seems TOO clean for a 45 year old car. Makes me think the 44k miles could be actual. Would be great if some of you experts could see and give me your opinion since I know so little about mustangs or the CS. Hopefully will learn more if we make it to the Evans Georgia mustang show in a few weeks.

I'm finding what looks like a blue overspray on the underside of the body panels (trunk area) just behind the gas tank. There is also some near one of the rear shock mounts and also a bit on the back of the gas tank. Any idea why this is there?

Also, when I see restored cars the entire underside is sprayed in the red oxide color. I'm not really seeing much of anything that looks to be red oxide on the underside. Does this wear off? I haven't gotten to the wheel wells yet although I did notice some red oxide in the inside of a couple of quarter panels. There does seem to be black paint on the underside of the floor panels on each side of the car but not in the drivetrain tunnel. Is this black paint likely original or painted later for undercoating or "detailing"?

Finally, is there a way to tell if the gas tank is original?

Thanks for the help.
 

somethingspecial

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Joined
Aug 13, 2005
Messages
1,795
When the car was originally assembled, it was dipped in Red Oxide so the entire car will have red oxide, exterior and interior. There should be drips present on the underside of the car. Sound deadener was then applied to the firewall wherever something came through the firewall and to the inside of the quarter panels inside the trunk and wheel wells. The car was then painted body color, exterior, interior, and trunk area. The engine compartment was painted black from the top side down, so the bottom side of the engine compartment would still be Red Oxide. Sound deadener was also applied above the rear axle assembly and a black sealant was applied around the seatbelt mounting plates. The blue you are seeing is unknown to me, but it could be an oily residue color from some of the sound deadener. The black on the underside may be dealer applied or previous owner applied. The underside should be Red Oxide with body color overspray, which would appear solid if you looked from the outside in, but if you have the car on a lift, you will see it is only on the planes facing outside. This is because the paint guns are aimed from the outside, so overspray would not hit the inboard planes. Do I make sense?

The amount of sound deadener depends on who was running the gun that shift. I have seen gobs of SD, to almost none. The pinch welds, located just below the rockers were painted black, even on black cars. This was done to hide the pinch welds from vision if you were standing back away from the car, it would appear to blend with the asphalt. These pinch welds ran from front wheel well to rear and from rear wheel well to rear valance.

As far as fuel tank, I will refer you to others with more experience.
 

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CougarCJ

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Joined
Jul 17, 2006
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2,186
Just another example of a dry climate car, that was stored in a garage for some or most of it's life. Carson City is in the high desert, that gets some snow.
 
OP
OP
F

Forsche

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
219
When the car was originally assembled, it was dipped in Red Oxide so the entire car will have red oxide, exterior and interior. There should be drips present on the underside of the car. Sound deadener was then applied to the firewall wherever something came through the firewall and to the inside of the quarter panels inside the trunk and wheel wells. The car was then painted body color, exterior, interior, and trunk area. The engine compartment was painted black from the top side down, so the bottom side of the engine compartment would still be Red Oxide. Sound deadener was also applied above the rear axle assembly and a black sealant was applied around the seatbelt mounting plates. The blue you are seeing is unknown to me, but it could be an oily residue color from some of the sound deadener. The black on the underside may be dealer applied or previous owner applied. The underside should be Red Oxide with body color overspray, which would appear solid if you looked from the outside in, but if you have the car on a lift, you will see it is only on the planes facing outside. This is because the paint guns are aimed from the outside, so overspray would not hit the inboard planes. Do I make sense?

The amount of sound deadener depends on who was running the gun that shift. I have seen gobs of SD, to almost none. The pinch welds, located just below the rockers were painted black, even on black cars. This was done to hide the pinch welds from vision if you were standing back away from the car, it would appear to blend with the asphalt. These pinch welds ran from front wheel well to rear and from rear wheel well to rear valance.

As far as fuel tank, I will refer you to others with more experience.

Thanks, Mike. I'll have to take a closer look and take pics when I get it cleaned up a bit more. I'll attach links to two pics. One shows some of the blue paint. Clearly it is paint in my view and appears to be an overspray. The other pic shows the seatbelt mounting plate area. You can see a bit more blue paint, as well as the sealant around the plates but as you can see , there really appears to be no red oxide.

Sorry to use links. I haven't figured out how to do the thumbnails/pics imbedded in the post

Steve
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y2qfw7iq3xfjwsg/IMG_0313.jpeg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w6xb0we8knevvvw/IMG_0315.jpeg
 

dalorzo_f

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Jan 7, 2006
Messages
1,886
Location
Brisbane Australia
When the car was originally assembled, it was dipped in Red Oxide so the entire car will have red oxide,
?

I have seen reference to unpainted areas for dolly marks on the underside. My understanding was they were "saturation sprayed" from below, thus common drip marks on the underside, and bare spots where it sat on the dollys. Interior was hand sprayed, not dipped... never heard of entire body dipping being used for red oxide...

Body color overspray onto the underside is common. Pinch welds should be blacked out as an indication of factory paint. Many older resprays cover it with new body color and don't go back and redo the balck.

I think the gas tank was installed post-paint, so should have no factory overspray on it unless there may have been a post inspection touch up required.
 

somethingspecial

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Aug 13, 2005
Messages
1,795
?

I have seen reference to unpainted areas for dolly marks on the underside. My understanding was they were "saturation sprayed" from below, thus common drip marks on the underside, and bare spots where it sat on the dollys. Interior was hand sprayed, not dipped... never heard of entire body dipping being used for red oxide....

Richard, You are exactly right. I don't know what I was thinking when I said dipped. Dah. Sorry for the mis-information. (I wrote that before I had my second cup of coffee this morning) LOL
 
OP
OP
F

Forsche

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Jan 12, 2013
Messages
219
Thanks guys. anyone have any knowledge of knowing of a gas tank is original?
 

dalorzo_f

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Jan 7, 2006
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Brisbane Australia
"Some" have a stamping from the manufacturer on them, from the rolled sheet steel so no consistent location on any one tank AFAIK. I forget the markings.

And I believe "some" have date codes stamped on the mounting flange on the bottom of
the rear edge, usually about 3 to 4 four inches to the right of center. Not sure if that is consistent with 68's but have seen it on earlier cars.
 

x-codegtcs

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Sep 5, 2002
Messages
549
Location
Kaysville, UT
The tank is almost certainly original...very rarely have I heard of them being changed unless somehow damaged in a wreck.

The blue paint from your photo looks like the PO may have seen some rust and sprayed it to touch it up...just guessing as it is on the tank too. Strange histories in these cars.
 
OP
OP
F

Forsche

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Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
219
The tank is almost certainly original...very rarely have I heard of them being changed unless somehow damaged in a wreck.

The blue paint from your photo looks like the PO may have seen some rust and sprayed it to touch it up...just guessing as it is on the tank too. Strange histories in these cars.

Thanks. The blue paint continues to raise questions. I found a bit more up front as I was cleaning again today. When I get the cleaning done, I'll have a better view of where the blue paint is. I don't think this was sprayed to cover up rust. It really does look like overspray. Can't make sense of it.

Steve
 
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dalorzo_f

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Jan 7, 2006
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Location
Brisbane Australia
Well, on "most" being original... all I can say is every car I've had has had a replaced tank... 40+ years is a long time and a combination of worn springs and speed bumps damages a lot, and if they sit rust inside is a not uncommon result.

As for the blue on the underside in front of the tank, can't see any way that is factory. I have never heard of body color being sprayed from below and in middle, as the overspray indicates.

The hose calmps are not factory, and while rubber is commonly replaced, a sign work has been done. What are the marking on face of the the sender, factory number? Does the tank have the correct drain? Both not shown and would give an indication of work in that area.

And does it still have the factory padding on the top, or markings one leaves on the top of the tank?

None conclusive on their own, but the collection of items can begin to tell a story...

IMO has to be some PO issue as the tanks were not in the car when painted... and even a factory color touch up would not be in that area...
 

x-codegtcs

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Location
Kaysville, UT
Richard - i guess your luck with gas tanks is like my luck with basket cases...I would take the gas tank issue over the basket cases =-/
 
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