Notice the original paint vs. the mis-colored respray

Here’s an image of what the original “playmate pink” on a ford mustang looked like.  This photo was taken during the current dismantling and restoration of my 1965 convertible.

When I compare this original paint to 1957 Ford Thunderbird color charts from Ditzler, the color matches up perfectly to Ford’s Dusk Rose.

It’s my belief that the color on the early 1965/1966 “playmate pink” mustangs was in fact Ford Dusk Rose, but because it was not on any paint charts in the mid ’60′s, combined with the hype that came with the playboy giveaway, the “playmate pink” term has gained popularity in popular terminology and led to confusion as to what the original “pink” actually was on the early Mustangs.

Strip it Baby!

The first task was to strip off all of the original paint, and see if here was any rust hiding underneath the original paint.  To strip the paint, I went to Home Depot and asked for the most caustic paint stripper they had.  It was a rather hot day when I stripped it, and even though I was working in the shade, the paint stripper was boiling as it hit the metal!

I was dismayed to see that there was rust hiding underneath the original paint, particularly in the divot for the distributor cap.  The rust had just started to pit the metal at that point, but otherwise the box was in decent shape, so I decided to take the entire box, lid, and snorkel and brush them down with a heavy wire wheel to eliminate any trace of rust.

Painting The Cleaner

I repainted the cleaner back to it’s factory original colors:  Gold Lid, Gold Box, and Black Snorkel.  I ordered the paint from CJ Pony Parts (Don’t get me started on them again, let’s just say I recommend using another vendor).  I ended up with 4 coats of paint on each part, with wet sanding between each coat.  The finished product looks great, and I can’t wait to get them back on the car!  My next project is getting the valve covers repainted, which I suspect is going to be an identical process to restoring the air cleaner (Albeit much faster!)

I’ll have photos of the Air Cleaner up this weekend.

New and Old Data Plate, Notice the different font and spacing (VIN has been partially blurred out)

Last week my new data plate came in the mail and for some reason the stamping style was completely different from the original.  I know that different stamp styles were used based on point of origin, date produced, etc., but all that info is on the door plate, so there shouldn’t have been an error like this.

I called CJ and they told me that Marti Auto Works did their stamping, and I would need to get in touch with them.  When I called Marti, they said they had no record of doing the work and needed the order number.  What followed was a flurry of calls back and forth that went something like this:

Call to CJ:  They gave me the order number, told me to call back Marti. (Spoke to Earl)

Call to Marti: They said the order number was incorrect, please have CJ give them a call to straighten this out. (Spoke to Christie)

Call to CJ:  They gave me a different order number, told me I could just call Marti back myself. (Spoke to Earl)

Call to Marti:  They still couldn’t find the order, they again told me CJ should be the one calling them since they placed the order, and could I please email them photos of the original and re-pop plates. (Spoke to Christie)

Call to CJ:  Asked to speak with Jeremy (The guy who did my order 3 weeks ago), asked if he was sure that Marti did their plates.  He checked and said it was someone else.  I explained the situation again, and the run-around I’ve been getting, and he said I need to talk to customer service.  I talked to customer service, they asked for photos of the plates to see how bad the error was, and I sent them.

Call from Marti:  Christie calls me, says that she looked at the plates, and it was obvious that it was not something they did.  I explained to her what CJ told me, apologized profusely for harassing them, and asked them to go ahead and re-pop the plate, since they weren’t at fault but actually took the time to help figure this out.

CJ Pony Parts doesn't seem to care about how shoddy their re-pops look!

This took up a good chunk of my day, and I felt terrible about pestering Marti when it wasn’t their fault.  CJ Pony Parts managed to make me look like a real asshole for complaining about a mistake they didn’t make; Thanks CJ!  They also couldn’t be bothered to apologize for the mis-stamp, or for pawning me off onto the wrong manufacturer.  I really feel like CJ did a piss poor job here, and I’m fairly certain I learned my lesson.  I’m not going to be buying my parts from CJ in the near future!

Marti said it was going to take a few weeks to get the plate stamped, which is fine with me.  I highly recommend you consider Marti if you’re getting a plate restamped, because who knows what you’re going to get with CJ!

BTW:  Marti charged me $10 less than CJ did!