Is this dealer AC, factory floor mat / pad?

[patrickdotryan]

Hi All, My truck seems very original and it has two things I would like the group's collective wisdom on:

The AC unit in the interior shot is a "Mark IV" "Ranger II". There are two very old looking stickers, one on the rear window that says "Mark IV" and one on the radiator support that says "Leddy and Hall Mark IV Air Conditioning". The compressor looks factory, but the "canister" that is usually outboard of the radiator in the front grill area is inside the engine bay on mine (see PINK arrow). I would ike to know if this is dealer, aftermarket etc. My truck was built in San Jose, CA. I'm kind of thinking of removing it just because I don't love the way it looks.

The other is a thin (1/4"?) foam (ish) looking pad that was underneath the main rubber floor mat when I removed it. The main rubber mat looks original (FoMoCo) and the foam pad is stuck down in certain spots. The floor when I pull up the corner of the foam pad is VERY shiny and factory fresh. I'd like to know if this was original because it is a weird shape and there wasn't one on the driver's side.

http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... ?pos=-6231

http://www.fordification.com/galleries/ ... ?pos=-6230

(sorry, can't get the [img] code to work today for some reason)

Thanks,
Patrick in San Diego

[fireguywtc]

I am going to guess that your AC is aftermarket add on but I am not totally sure. From what I have seen, many of the dealer add on AC units had the round vents but I am not sure. The compressor may likely be a Ford AC compressor since it can be purchased in the aftermarket and added on and it fits best. The dryer you call a "canister" is derinetly not factory by anymeans.

I don't think the foam pad is orginal either, it looks very odd and doesn't make any sense. Someone probably added it to reduce sound or soemthing like that. You have nice looking floorboards though, that most of us would love to have!

[fordman]

yes that is a aftemarket dealer ad on a/c. if it works keep it. the foam pad is original.

[patrickdotryan]

Thanks fireguy and fordman. Fordman, any idea what that floor pad is for and why the weird shape? I would have thought there would be equivalent under the heels of the driver where most of the wear would be, or is it to combat heat from the exhaust?

The only reason I'd consider pulling out the AC is that the molded housing is kind of cracked up, as are the vents and I'm in San Diego where A/C is really only needed a few days a year. Thanks, Patrick

[fordman]

i don't know why the pad is only on the passenger side. several trucks i have pulled the mats from have had soem remenats of a mat or a jute padding on one of them i think. why is it a funny shape? i dont know the ones i have have seen that wre mostly complete. where full floor pads. maybe when the factory was slapping the truck together the foam got bunched up or folded over.

[amishbuggy]

My truck has the same pad on the floor. I'd hit those hub caps with some oven cleaner, polish them up and paint the detail back in.

[patrickdotryan]

Strange mystery - the piece is definitely die cut like that, not folded over. Usually things die cut like this are designed to fit contours and folds of sheet metal, but these don't seem to be in the right places. However, the dobs of glue look very 1971 factory as they're similar to that same sticky stuff that's around the trans tunnel cover. And the paint underneath the foam pad definitely looks factory fresh, not like a re-spray, especially since I doubt this basic truck had what would be an incredible frame off restoration to get such a good job on the floorboards - and the outside of the body and frame certainly don't appear to have benefitted from such a resto!

[patrickdotryan]

Sorry amishbuggy, didn't see your post until I'd responded to fordman. Well, at least we know that those pads are original, just not sure why they're like that.

As for the hubcaps, i stripped, straightened, primed and then used Argent on them. They looked beautiful until I masked them up for the black and all the Argent peeled off like tin foil. never seen anything like it. I've stripped them back and am using a different primer this time!

Patrick in San Diego

[flyboy71]

My 72 had those thin pads under the floor mat on both sides. I still have them and they are clean and pristine. The floor mat was also like new too so I plan to reuse them if I ever do a factory resto on another bump.

[patrickdotryan]

As I look at it, my F250 had just one exhaust pipe, which passes directly under that pad on the passenger floor. So I am assuming it was just for heat insulation. Not sure why yours had them on both floorboards, perhaps you had twin pipes from the factory?

[flyboy71]

Nope just a single pipe but it had two pads under there. Im thinking they are just to keep the mat from moving around since they are sponge rubber....or at least mine are. I havent really touched the other truck too much. I almost hate to its in such good shape. The floor mat is the lightning bolt style, no rips tears or stains. The firewall pad is like new too. The dash pad has no cracks or anything. Not bad I guess for a 50k mile northeastern truck.

[Mancar1]

The A/C looks just like the one in my 68 CS, (Dealer add on.) manufactured in the same place as your truck. I have the pad on both side and dual exhaust.

[FORDification]

Those pads are a heat insulator. Ford actually put out a TSB article about them which is included in the TSB database here. (The link's at the top of this page.) IIRC the article even shows diagrams of the pieces used. You can do a search for it, but if you can't find it I'll dig it up after work andpost a link.

[patrickdotryan]

Wow, this thread turned 1 year old today! Funny that it should be brought up again. Keith, thanks for the tip, I love a solved mystery. I think that the TSB is #131, Jan. 16th, 1970, Article 2077. It is titled Heat on Floor Pan and recommends a variety of models (including all California models and all with AC) to have this pad retrofitted. They call it a heat deflector and the part number is C6TZ-8111398. This article supercedes a previous article from 1969, but we don't have it in the database.

Here is the later Article link:
http://www.fordification.com/tsb/viewtopic.php?t=257

Cheers,
Patrick

[fordman]

i saved a piece of this from the last parts truck i had. it is in very good condition too. its the only one i have ever been able to save. it ia number 1 in the link above.