grande facts lies and myths.

[Slumlord 10]

Hello all, I am new here so I apologize if I ask something already answered. So glad I found this site. Finding information on this car has not been easy, surprisingly considering how much can be found on Boss, GT and Mach cars.

 

I am the proud owner of a completely disassembled 69 Mustang Grande (that I have owned since I was 16) and I was hoping some of you would be able to help me with some direction. Fortunately or unfortunately the car has been repainted prior to my ownership, the interior is rather beat and the original block has also disappeared. This gives me alot more freedom of movement since I will not feel too bad about updates and minor modifications. Still I would very much like to stick to the grande spirit.

 

After researching, I have found that my car originally came with medium blue houndstooth interior and a vinyl roof. Two things I feel will set the car apart from its deluxe coupe brethren. However, All I have been able to find reproduction is a dark blue or Sky blue comfortweave interior from TMI and I doubt it is the same thing. They state that is the proper interior for the grande but the only houndstooth designs I can find are of Gm vintage and those obviously do not match. Any idea where I can find what I am looking for, or does someone at least have a photo of what this pattern looks like? I took my back seat to decent upholsterer and he told me the way in which the material was put on is inconsistent with factory methods, so perhaps the material I have been searching for these past 10 years is wrong.. Awesome.

 

As for the vinyl roof, does anyone carry the proper patterned style? I am actually pretty excited about putting on a black roof, I just want to make sure it looks right. Obviously, I would like to put on the matching pinstriping as well. Any idea where I can find the pattern for these stripes?

 

Lastly, approximately 50% of grande photos*I see*of the front of the vehicle, such as the one owned by fellow forum member, 69grandecj have these lower fender extensions very similar to the 68's. I have been unable to locate any information about these pieces including where to locate any. Were they factory original and if so, did they come on all grandes, were they special order or perhaps plant specific?

 

I have been sitting on this project for way too long and looking at the photos of your cars just makes me want to triple my efforts. I just need to know where to go first. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Wade 10]

I hope someone on this forum can help you. I want to applaud your effort for trying to do some of the restoration to OEM specs. It is difficult to do because during the past 40 years these cars have been altered and modified so much and there does not seem to be much interest in making something original. I always thought it was fun trying to spend the extra time and effort to get all the details just right. It is getting more difficult to figure out what is factory correct with some of the details.

 

I would love to find some old survivor cars and spend a lot of time just photographing every detail to preserve digitally what was done from the factory.

 

Good luck with you efforts.

[Pakrat 1,043]

First of all welcome. Secondly, many of these items like the houndstooth are not available as a repro item seat cover. As I recall folks I know of going down the same path as you had to obtain an overstock roll of the correct material and have a professional make a pattern and insert it into the center of a vinyl set or make the whole thing from scratch. Same for the unique grande pinstripe, these items are so limited to this model that no one really bothered to repro them. I am almost certain that 69grandecj had to document the exact dimensions and had them custom made for his car. I would PM him directly for a Q&A session, I am sure he can be very helpful. The Grande' doesn't garner a lot of respect like some of the other models, really it was just Fords way of offering something deluxe like the Cougar to the Mustang public. Unless you have a rare sleeper like him then restoring one perfectly doesn't always get you your investment back so most folks don't sweat a lot of the details in restoring one like they should. Ordering a Marti report would tell you what options you car originally came with like the bumperettes and such and help you map out a parts list.

[Trinitys 134]

Hound’s-tooth actually refers to a pattern and not a material type. You can find nearly exact material from a good upholstery shop and have them redone to match. You will not find reproductions anywhere. One of the members on here had a set of stripes done for his beautiful concourse grande by a vinyl shop and matched exactly. I have a set of NOS ready for my repaint I bought on e-bay a couple years ago. I see them off and on. I also have a set of Grande badges waiting for the day in the box as well….sourced from e-bay.

 

As for the roof….are you sure you’re supposed to have a vinyl top? You know not all grandes had a top. A Marti report should tell you. As far as I know the repo’s are the correct pattern but I’m not 100% sure on this one.

 

The front items your referring to are bumper guards not standard equipment but dealer add ons. Might have been a factory option but not a standard Grande feature. The ones in this pic are options added on.

 

and I think this is the members car.....damn I feel bad I can't rembmer his name.....

[Trinitys 134]

The Grande' doesn't garner a lot of respect like some of the other models,

 

bitotch! bes' b' watchin' that language....sucka!:shifty:

[Pakrat 1,043]

bitotch! bes' b' watchin' that language....sucka!:shifty:

 

LOL, I didn't say I didn't, just that it doesn't, notice I also said later "most folks don't sweat a lot of the details in restoring one like they should".

 

BTW genious, the member you can't think of is the one the original poster and I both mention by name, 69grandecj, in the very sentence before the one you quote no less, uh-duuuuh!:tongue_smilie:

[Trinitys 134]

lol....I guess I'm like CNN.....just see and report what I want to make the truth come out how I want....who care about the truth......:tongue_smilie:

[Trinitys 134]

LOL, I didn't say I didn't, just that it doesn't, notice I also said later "most folks don't sweat a lot of the details in restoring one like they should".

 

BTW genious, the member you can't think of is the one the original poster and I both mention by name, 69grandecj, in the very sentence before the one you quote no less, uh-duuuuh!:tongue_smilie:

Delayed reaction......Oh and careful who your callin' "genious"...........when I find out what this means I might be offended. Here's a definition that I think might be it..... LOL

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Genious&defid=192336

 

Here is an example from the above link.....just for you PAK....

 

"What one person calls another while trying to subvert the other's intelligence, often in a public forum.

 

The attacker may account for the superfluous "o" by claiming to be of French heritage, but no one will believe him and will enjoy the irony of misspelling "genius" while trying to undermine another's intelligence.

 

A petty member of the forum will point out the mistake and may create a new definition for "genious" at Urban Dictionary.

"You sound like a genious."

 

 

For the innocent by stander out there....I'm just playin'

[Trinitys 134]

http://www.smsautofabrics.com/

 

Try these guys for the fabric source. I think this is where 69grandecj got his fabric from. It's called hopsack??

[Pakrat 1,043]

ROTFLMAO :lol: I actually could claim French Heritage, lol, I can't believe that was in the urban dictionary, nice find. I was using it from the Bugs Bunny cartoons you know like how he says maroon instead of moron. It's kind of hard to get that with text I guess. I wish I we could do code when we type like [WileECoyotevoiceon] [/WileECoyotevoiceoff] but that would take all a day I guess.

[ForceFed70 14]

Lastly, approximately 50% of grande photos*I see*of the front of the vehicle, such as the one owned by fellow forum member, 69grandecj have these lower fender extensions very similar to the 68's. I have been unable to locate any information about these pieces including where to locate any. Were they factory original and if so, did they come on all grandes, were they special order or perhaps plant specific?

 

 

I'm pretty sure that the grande did not come with a unique fender extension. Not even as a dealer option...

 

Wouldn't be the 1st time I was wrong tho :whistling:

[Slumlord 10]

Hey guys. First off thanks Wade, it has been over 10 years trying to find stuff already.

 

Pak, Thats an idea, I was considering just running a pinstripe down that body line until I saw a photo of what that grande stripe looks like and realized that it needs to be specific. I know a guy who is damn good with striping by hand, I just need a pattern for him to follow. I think I will contact 69grandecj directly, I just didn't want to make a nuisance of myself my first week on the forum. This place seems really lax in comparison to some of the others I have found that rip your head off for asking anything they may have hinted at in a previous post.

 

Trinitys, I know it came with a vinyl roof from three separate sources. First the previous owner told me he took it off when he bought the car for his daughter and repainted it. Second the car itself while painted decently in grabber blue (which by the way, how would that look with a vinyl roof? I am still partial to it even though I like the original colour too (winter blue)) shows some signs on the C pillars near the windows that there was something else there. Third, now I cannot remember the actual name, but about 6 years back Mustang Monthly had a small two paragraph piece dropping a mailing address that you could send a copy of your VIN and interior placard to and they would return a printout of what the vehicle rolled off the line with and that printout had vinyl roof written on it. I need to relocate this to verify (I put it someplace safe) but I suspect it was a 999 report or something similar. Frankly, I think the vinyl roof looks hot so even if the car did not come with one, I would very likely put one on anyway. I have never been a huge fan of one tone and multiple colours on a coupe just looks funny.

 

By the way, thanks for the link. I have known for awhile that I will not find the exact fabric, but if I can find a photo of it, I can custom make something close enough to make myself happy. Who knows, maybe even suede. I just know that I love the look of the med blue vinyl seats and find basic black rather dull in comparison.

 

Like I said the car is not original and was a 302 car so originality, not quite necessary.. I want to personalize it a bit, and I want everything I do to it be period correct. Anything modern, hidden, anything visible to look like late 60s to mid 70s. Most importantly, I want it to look like what it is, not a regular coupe.

[Slumlord 10]

I'm pretty sure that the grande did not come with a unique fender extension. Not even as a dealer option...

 

 

I thought that too, but now that these cars are seeming to be coming out of hiding, I keep finding photos of them with these pieces. Mine does not have them, and by the looks of the front bumper never did. *shrug*

[Pakrat 1,043]

I think you and Forcefed just have a terminology miscommunication. We knew you meant bumperettes or bumper extensions but you said fender originally and fender extensions are a totally different item. They were not stock but many Grande customers probably requested them since they had more of that mature driver classy car look to them which is what the Grande was meant to be, that might be why you see it more commonly on this model. I have seen it appear here and there on a variety of models that were not Grandes but it is less common. The Mustang Source has a pretty decent timeline collection of pictures by model, you may be able to spot some other cars here with it in the 69/70 section or some good shots of just grande's them selves. http://bradbarnett.net/mustangs/timeline/69-70/

 

Also, page 10 in the 69' sales brochure has a pretty decent close up pic of what the grande seat material looked like.

http://www.1969stang.com/1969_brochure.pdf

 

I wouldn't hesitate to contact 69grandecj, we are all super friendly and helpful here, especially compared to other forums.

[ForceFed70 14]

Ah, he was talking about the bumper pieces/bumbers. Those I have seen...

[BAdass70 14]

im doing a sorta resto mod on grande.. body im doing some upgrades but going to keep the interior pretty much factory with the exception of changing the carpet to black instead of ginger... the seats i think are going to change to the black grande style bc the ginger i cant find for shit..... i think its a pretty cool car overall just want to spice it up a little!! Let the grande LIVE!!!

[Slumlord 10]

I did write fender didn't I.. Sorry about that. I did mean the bumper though.

[69grandecj 0]

PM sent.

[Max Power 74]

I have never seen hounds tooth on a 69 Grande, it was standard I believe as cloth inserts on the high back buckets in 1970. I will be tasked with finding this fabric in Vermillion, no less. All the kits are just vinyl inserts.

[69grandecj 0]

The cloth used on the '69 Grande is called hopsack.