84 Body fit and finish

[rodster]

The more I look at this car, the more mystery it reveals.

Things I've noticed on the front of the car.

Seems I'm missing plastic fasteners, and in some areas I wonder if they were ever installed, no signs of them ever being there. The fitment of the front grille panel to the fenders is not great, then today I noticed the way the DS is connected. One screw partially caught in the center whereas the PS has 2 screws fully fastened.

No signs of an accident from what I can see, wondering if it was an early car just rushed through to get them out the door. Hard to believe the original owner would have noticed some of the issues?

Anyone with an early 84 (Oct 83) see similar issues?

[rodster]

Fasteners missing on both sides, the holes don't line up and no signs of a fastener ever installed. :confused:

[dagenham]

Friday night or Monday morning car???

[MikeFleming]

You're going to have a very difficult time determining what it came with from the factory , or was was missing, and what was removed, lost, added or relocated along it's 25+ years of service history. Unless you're the original owner, and then it's often a memory challenge.

[Ford Builder]

Its not on common to see push plugs missing and screws at random areas where there were never in tended to be , line workers got lazy in installing hardware in proper locations , your car is factory original , when I pulled my car down for a complete restoration a saw a lot of missing hardware or improper placement hardware.

[Chalky]

built after lunch on friday perhaps???

[TheSVOTrust]

I can see one or two "screws loose" (sorry had to do that) out of place, missing BUT when COLLECTIVLY you look at a car forensics tell a story! If you remove pieces (like the inner plastic) and you have two sets of holes then it is likely that a part or parts were replaced and the "body shop" took the easy route and just drilled. The factory used high power tools and self tapping screws - if they missed they just didn't go back and reposition. One thing I have found is that you can always tell if a car has been painted, touched up or had a part replaced. Somewhere will be a clue or trace of "someone being there before you" ! Mark

[rodster]

Friday night or Monday morning car???

Nope, technically Thursday Oct 20th even though I have a 10/19 and a 10/20 paint stamp. 53 SVO's were built on 10/12 and 91 were built on 10/19 so maybe they had the line cranked up to full speed and the workers were pi$$ed at the extra work the SVO's caused! :confused:

Could have been a early morning car or a time to go home car! :)

No signs of prior damage, the date stamps on the sheet metal seem correct but things just don't line up. Not finding extra holes or clues of someone being there before me. I'm the 2nd owner so it hasn't gone through many hands.

I'm thinking it could just be an example of the quality at the time but don't want to rule out something happening after it was built.

By the way, my car had the 'paint traveler' in the spare well showing paint defects.... another bad sign!

[k98dave]

I would bet on combination of assy line workmanship and just hardware loss over the years. I have owned 6 fox bodies (still have 3) and all exhibited missing hardware here or there, mislocated hardware, and non factory replacement hardware. Also there were many changes to fastener types used from year to year most likely due to Ford changing its vendors sometime in the middle of a production year.

SVO's were in the line right along with other mustangs on any given day.

[rodster]

Yes, I agree. I know there is some broken/lost hardware due to wear and tear but there are also places (like in the first pictures) that make no sense other than assembly line issues.

I just think the workers wanted to get my car out the door. ;)

[MikeFleming]

I just think the workers wanted to get my car out the door. ;) Your car and every other one they work on.

That is their job - assembling cars and getting them put the door. You will not find perfection in this arena.

[rodster]

Your car and every other one they work on.

That is their job - assembling cars and getting them put the door. You will not find perfection in this arena.

Ah, not so fast grasshopper.... :D Ford had a push on for quality and perfection in Lorain built cars in '83.

Here's a snippet from a Lorain factory tour in a 1984 magazine. Not that I believe everything I read, ;) but I also have an 83 Lorain built car and it's far superior to my 84 SVO.

5982

[rodster]

And I can vouch for the quality paint job on my 83. :like2:

5983

[etc1006]

By the way, my car had the 'paint traveler' in the spare well showing paint defects.... another bad sign!


Mine had one of those in the drivers front floor under the carpet. Have it in my folder for the car. Build sheet was toast under pass rear floor carpet.... Maybe we'll find another when she gets torn down for paint/body work.

[k98dave]

Having had several Fox bodies (still have 3) ranging from 84 to 93 and worked on dozens I would have to say that the overall quality on the earlier cars was higher in both material used and fit/finish than what I call the mid year cars (86-90) I'm sure there are exceptions both positive and negative as like Mike said, getting them out the door IS the primary goal.
I think the line total flow (ie one car rolls off one end and another starts on the other end ) was something like 5 minutes.
Both my 84 SVO and 93 Cobra exhibit what I would say was high quality, nothing missing, mis located, or sloppy. SVO's & Cobras were built right in the line with other Mustangs, but they may have had more through quality checks performed because both were considered specialty cars.

[rodster]

When was your 84 built?

I have a feeling the quality might have suffered on early cars or those large batch of cars that were built in a few days. Not sure the SVO got any special attention since from what I gather, 'mainstream' Ford was not thrilled with supporting a 'skunkworks' program while layoffs were going on and moral was not great.

Seems Ford put a big push on to get the new TBird/Cougar right since it was such a huge investment and change from the previous body styles. Different plants, different attitudes, Lorain seems to have been on the quality bandwagon.

Of course it's just speculation based on what I've seen, read, and heard over the years.

[k98dave]

"When was your 84 built?" Oct 14th 1983 it was the 110th SVO built.

Actually I think you have it backwards, in any mass production operation the early cars don't suffer from cost cutting measures in material quality and build time reductions that are constantly inserted into the build process as the product matures. The Mustang had been in production long enough so that the assy learning curve had been reached so what you have are changes introduced buy "the bean counters" that work to squeeze every penny of costs out of the production operation.
I spent 35 years in the production line business so take it from me that's the real story.

Our cars may have had the special badges, but in the line they are just another build order number. But like I said they may have had a little more quality checks performed, but even these were on a sample basis. Paint work, which it what is obvious to everyone would be the most likely focus of corrections.

[rodster]

By 'early' cars, I meant the first SVO's down the line.

I understand what you are saying with bean counters and cutting and have seen it happen with other models (Taurus for example).

My point was, the SVO, with many unique parts and procedures, came down the line with all of the other Mustangs and probably wasn't a welcomed change to 'normal' production. How the assembly line workers handled this while pushing to get cars out the door is just a guess. My guess is, as previously stated, the goal was just to get them out the door.

I find it interesting that my car, with some of the unusual things I'm seeing, was built on the day with the highest production in October. Perhaps the workers were getting sick of the PITA SVO's. ;)

Something we'll never know for sure, but for me, it's interesting to look back and imagine what things were like when the SVO's were finally hitting production.

[k98dave]

Getting back to your original post & pictures, those fasteners are the same on the 93's as they were on the 84's. Even the major changes on the SVO like the suspension, front facia and hood, seats, etc all bolt up to the body structure in the same place as other Mustangs with the same hardware. Even the Turbo, with the exception of the intercooler wasn't new to the production line as it comes in with the engine assy. I think what you are seeing isn't anything unusual from any other car on any build day.

[rodster]

Getting back to your original post & pictures, those fasteners are the same on the 93's as they were on the 84's. Even the major changes on the SVO like the suspension, front facia and hood, seats, etc all bolt up to the body structure in the same place as other Mustangs with the same hardware. Even the Turbo, with the exception of the intercooler wasn't new to the production line as it comes in with the engine assy. I think what you are seeing isn't anything unusual from any other car on any build day.

Yikes.... LOL