Is there a "standard" alternative name to the lower back panel grille? The official name is turning up nuttin in all searches I'm making and I can't find it anywhere in any restoration catalogs.
Cool option. NPD calls it a 'finned tail light trim panel', gets $300.
I don't know if you're concerned about originality, but IIUC it was only available with the exterior decor group (turn signal hood, chrome wheel lip moldings, chrome rear deck moldings except for fb, pop-off gas cap). I do worry about that stuff, and I'd be tempted to add it anyway.
I would care about originality more if my car was more complete to begin with and hadn't been in the grave for the past 19 years or if it was something more than just a C-code. ...But the car has been passed through hands several times as a project and there's not much left of the actual finished vehicle, so I'm going to keep it close in appearance, but not quite stock. I'm building something that I can drive the crap out of for the next 60 years, so I'm not too concerned about what the "next owner" (probably hand it down) will think.
[Edit: In actuality, I'm probably going to be putting on the entire group except for the chrome wheel lip moldings...I hate "shiny"/"bright"/"nickel" colored chrome. I only really like black chrome...so all the chrome trim I install is going to be replated black...hopefully the EPA doesn't come sniffing around my septic tank hehehe]
...but I'm still going to keep it *close.* Probably going to be about 70% resto | 30% mod
..I've already got an idea for what I want the rear end to look like: The body color is going to be Nightmist Blue and I want the Lower Back panel Grille to be black chrome. I think that'll look sweet.
I'm not a '67 guy, but I seem to recall seeing these back in the day without the bright trim around the taillight openings. Don't know if the explanation is overzealous respray or overzealous polishing. I did think the body-colored openings looked cool...
Here's a pic of my 67 fastback with the panel fitted. I purchased it off California Mustang and the fit wasnt too bad. Just a little trimming on one side and it fitted quite nicely. Drilling the holes in the rear panel was a bit worrying though!
Look up Justin (GTSCODE)'s saga about his rear trim panel...lots of good info there about the various repops and all the $$ and BS it took him to finally get an OEM set and get it reconditioned.
Here's two pics showing the difference between the fastback version and the coupe/conv version. Note that the fastback grille is straight across the top, while the coupe/conv dips in the middle to account for the shape of the deck/trunk lid.
The fastback body is Nightmist blue with the optional two tone paint on the grille.
These grilles were procured with 3 busted posts out of 8 total. A local old time welder actually repaired them for $20, but that was ~1985. He did say that the repair was a labor of love, and not too many people had the skill set required to make that particular repair.
The Ford buyer's digest from 1967 lists the "lower back panel grille" at $19.48, and the "two tone paint (lower back grille)" at $12.95. If the grille was purchased without the two tone paint option, it would be body color. There was no factory silver/shiny/chrome appointments.
Ford part numbers for the coupe/conv version:
C7ZB-65403A76-C RH
C7ZB-65403A77-C LH
Regarding mounting, the 12 connections at the lamp housing are drilled & tapped, accepting the same studs as the standard chrome trim. The nuts with built in water resistant filler is the same as standard chrome trim. The protective plastic caps are also the same.
Turning to the 8 studs unique to the grilles, these should have square black rubber washers with one side cut at an angle to match up with the concave sheet metal panel. The nut is a cap nut so that there are no sharp studs to catch something on. I've included a picture of one of these as well.
Here is a link to a video of my car with the ribbed tail light panels. I chose to do a natural and satin black treatment on mine. The raised ribs and outer trim are natural and the inner areas are satin black. The panels were then satin clear coated for protection. I get a lot of compliments on the look. I really like how they turned out.
Sounds like you are my brother from another mother there.
I don't think it qualifies as a zombie thread when it was YOUR thread to start with. I was dead after a set of these inserts years ago until I found a set at a swap meet. I picked one up and thought "holy crap, what are these cast from? Lead?" Heavy suckers. That, the prices, and complaints about shoddy fit killed my desire for a set.
This might actually be the first zombie thread revived by the OP. Congrats, lol!
Sorry I do not have a set. Maybe the quality of today's repro's have improved. Call NPD and find out.
And don't feel bad about the 10yr gap. I bought my 67 convertible in '91 so... Also nightmist blue BTW.
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