Have you ever walked through a Mustang show, looked at a nicely restored ride, and noticed that something didn't seem right with its appearance-more specifically the emblems? It's an annoying observation. The emblems are either too high, too low, too right, too left, backwards, or just plain crooked. Whenever we see this, we have to wonder why the owner/restorer didn't go the extra mile to ascertain correct emblem positioning. And whenever we study stock, original, unmolested examples, we have to wonder what Ford was thinking when the cars were assembled. Some examples are worse than others.
Whenever we look at a stone-stock '68-'70 Shelby Mustang, for example, we have to wonder just how intoxicated the assembly worker was when he or she installed the SHELBY letters on the decklid. Have you ever seen this? We have yet to see a Shelby Mustang with its emblems and letters correctly positioned; it was a factory shortcoming that leaves a lot of enthusiasts baffled.
Did you know that the assembly workers at the San Jose plant performed a terrible job of emblem and letter positioning from 1965 to 1968? Think we're kidding? The next time you're at a show, look at the cars and observe the emblem positioning on Metuchen- and Dearborn-built Mustangs, then look at the San Jose crop. All of the San Jose front fender and rear deck emblems and letters are crooked. Decklid lettering on '67-'68 San Jose-built Mustangs are as crooked as Washington D.C. politics. Yet most of the time we don't notice them unless we look closely.
Naturally, if you're restoring a classic Mustang, you want to go San Jose's sloppy work one better. Given close attention to detail, it's possible to perfectly position your emblems and letters. We'll show you how to position your emblems and letters using samples and plain advice born of our experiences.
This is an undisturbed original...
This is an undisturbed original '65-'66 Mustang front fender. The first thing we look for is the relationship with the upper and lower beltlines and the distance from the fender lip and the trailing edge. This is how we measured our samples.
The A dimension on the right-hand...
The A dimension on the right-hand side for the '6411/42 from the upper beltline radius to the top of the MUSTANG emblem is 871/48 inches.
The B dimension on the right-hand...
The B dimension on the right-hand side for the '6411/42 is exactly 7 inches from the fender's trailing edge to the left-hand side of the M.
The Pony and Tri-bar emblem...
The Pony and Tri-bar emblem C dimension on the right side for the '6411/42 is exactly 7 inches from the upper beltline radius.
From the right-hand fender's...
From the right-hand fender's trailing edge, the Pony and Tri-bar emblem D dimension is exactly 1251/48 inches.
The A dimension on the right-hand...
The A dimension on the right-hand side for the '65-'66 is 811/42 inches from the upper beltline radius to the MUSTANG emblem.
The C dimension from the upper...
The C dimension from the upper beltline to the Tri-bar emblem on the right side is 7 inches, as on the '6411/42.
When we move to the left side,...
When we move to the left side, the measurements are practically the same, with the Pony and Tri-bar emblem C dimension exactly 7 inches from the upper beltline radius. The MUSTANG A dimension is 871/48 inches from the upper beltline-identical to the right side.
As with the right side, the...
As with the right side, the left side is dimensionally the same from the fender's trailing edge forward. MUSTANG B dimension is exactly 7 inches from the trailing edge. The Tri-bar emblem D dimension is exactly 1251/48 inches.