I wonder if any member has an image of this seal and the clips ( together ) that were used to secure it to the upper radiator support. The kind of image I seek is one from a source like the Ford or L-M MPC or one of the Jim Osborn reprinted assembly manuals. There are a number of ‘real’ / actual images for Mustangs with the seal and clips ( like this from the Dead Nuts On website ):
You can see this image ( from the L-M MPC ) shows the seal and the staples that were used in its attachment to the upper radiator support. But it doesn’t show the clips, which had a hardware # of 371141-S32 ( and the clips were probably utilized as a backup for when the staple gun wasn’t used ).
I have the Osborn Electrical, Body, and Chassis Assembly manuals as well as the Engine Equipment Assembly Manual. But I cannot see any image or reference to the seal and the clips together.
Perhaps there is an image in the Weld and Sealant Assembly Manual ( which I do not have ) ?
Any help that another member can provide to help me with an image of the seal, clips and the p/n’s and hardware numbers together would be greatly appreciated !
Thanks for these two additional bits of information / images on this ‘clip - conundrum’. The clips shown for 1971 - 73 Mustangs are a ‘T-shaped’ clip with hardware # 358457-S and they weren’t used in the earlier ‘F’ bodies.
But that image is useful so people are aware ( especially because sellers on eBay claim that those later style clips fit all Mustangs and Cougars from 1967 - 73 ) but they aren’t correct for the gen. 1.
The image from the 1970 assembly manual confirms what I knew - the staple was the default method of attachment for the upper radiator seal / air-deflector. The clips were a ‘back-up’ for whatever reason ( a couple of theories for this are ‘out there’ ).
I searched all over the Ford and the L-M MPC’s and found that the clip ( 371141-S ) was used for the 1966 / 67 Fairlane and Torino on the front fender ( rear ) splash shield and the 1968 / 69 Comet for the same purpose. No wonder when the staple gun wasn’t used for attaching the seal to the rad. support, that the clips were used - they were readily available and on hand ! They were also used on 1969 / 70 Mercury and Meteor for the radiator seal - and this is the ONLY image and time I found the 371141-S clip shown for this purpose:
I even found a hardware # for the staple ( 370168-S ) as it was used on the 1970 - 72 Maverick, for the same purpose. And this is the only place I found a number associated with that fastening staple !
Have dozens of pictures of unrestored cars and this has been the discussion on a number of sites for decades. From the evidence it appears that the method of attachment depended on the year, production period and plant. Examples 69 San Jose started out with staples then went to the tooth and dimple push-on clip. Dearborn went with staples and when the machine was not working or jammed they used the rubber coated electric clips used elsewhere on the cars
Remember the MPC is what Ford carried at the time of printing that they could sell you or a shop to fix your car not always the original part. And the Assembly manuals are a collection of pages taken from multiple versions printed at different points during the production year of what Ford wanted the assembly pants to follow, Didn’t work that way on all things. Also each page we have access to was produced to document a change or correct a mistake. We don’t know which of the pages we see were redone the next day or week due to an error. And there are errors in the pages we have access to. Sometimes things Ford/Mercury planed to do but different. Just something to take into consideration.
Just a few examples from 69 since you didn’t specify what year you were asking about. Different year. plant or production period the answer would possibly change
