You guys made me buy this...

[lalessi1]

I would call Steele Rubber and let them know of the situation. They may have or can produce the rubber pads. I would also try Restoration Specialties They offer a ton of small parts.

[akusler763]

The rubber I replaced was no good, but some of the HW could be saved/cleaned up. The bolts are likely bad but many of the nuts could work. I'd be happy to send them in case you can do anything with them. This assumes you could find someone to make the rubber pieces for you.

[mustang6984]

So one of our Forum members, Ray Summit (who is in Fairland Indiana) let me know that he had a Fairlane kit that he had never used and has decided to not use. He graciously offered it to me, so I am buying that one from him.
I am going to follow up on other suggestions though to see if I can find other sources for other members to use in the future. Plus I have one, but will need another kit for a Courier as I have two of them.
So, back on track. I hope to be putting the new kit in within 10 days to two weeks, then the floors.

Thanks again Ray..YOU...are a life saver sir! 

[mustang6984]

When I did my body mount kit install, I found an article here on the website that details the 'replacement' method. I guess ford reversed the way they install the double sided nuts and bolts from top down to bottom up. To me it made sense, so that is what I did.

I am guessing that is to keep the damage to the threads at a minimum. Is that what you deduced too?
Did the bolts coming up into the interior present any issues for you?

[mustang6984]

Hugh, you need to find yourself a local business that specializes in industrial rubber components. contact HD equipment suppliers like truck shops, Caterpillar, John Deere, and see where they get their obsolete parts made. I  am sure some smaller company can run a badge of 20 or so rubber doughnuts exactly the size you want them. I can take dimensions of the new replacement set I have. You will have to use plenty of kroil or such to save the special washers and nuts, but it should be possible to retract most all of them, maybe just replace the actual bolts with new stainless hardware. these are not rocket science. you may even want to leave the old ones in place and just do away with a cheap body shim set. keep it simple, you want to drive this thing !

I will check that out. a lot of tractor shops and such around here...BIG ranching community so I might be able to have some success along those lines! (I'll be looking for another Courier set at this point...I have one now, but have two of those, so better start looking now...rather than wait.)
And yes...I do want to drive it!

[RICH MUISE]

Good to hear, and kuddos to Ray for taking care of another member!! Don't forget to buy a lottery ticket.

[1930artdeco]

I assumed they rotated the bolts and nuts so the it is easier to replace parts. Put the nuts underneath just for ease of replacement. But that is just a guess.

[mustang6984]

Rich:
I met Ray the trip out to pick up the Fairlane! Great guy with a nice shop and nicer car! He also gave me the front seat he had laying in the shop waiting for a home. Nice seat, so I only have to get the back seat covered to match. White and black. I'll shot a pic of it in a day or two and post it. I am going to go with a black carpet and white headliner to match the seats! It'll look great!

So I called Steel Rubber...and they are well aware of the issue re: DC and their lack of interest in  keeping up with demand. The person I talked with was very sympathetic, but told me that with out the tooling at this time, (which is very expensive to create) they were kind of out of the lop for making what is needed. I was told that this may change someday...but at this time...unknown when or if.

I suspect I am going to run into the same thing when I follow up on Gunther's idea. What it going to take is for them (Steele Rubber) to be given a set of body mounts for each type of car, then they can reverse engineer them for molds,
We did this when I was coaching women's fastpitch. We had found a catchers/first baseman glove that was phenomenal, but only available from Japan. We sent one to Nokona in Texas, and they made them for us. We were able to get them cheaper here by about $20, which in the 80's was a chunk of change for girls and women who used them Guys eventually started using them as well. I still have one they gave me on a factory tour a year after they started making them. The plant manager told me they could hardly keep up with demand after one year of making them.
Don't know how we can go about the making of what we need without at least a set of each one needed and then taking them to Steele Rubber and having a sit down with a manager. They are located in Denver North Carolina. I'd be happy to make that drive if I had the needed units to take them. Used sets probably would not work, since the rubber mounts would be all compressed out of factory original dimensions. Cleaned up metal saddles, washers/seats and bolts would probably be okay.
Ideas?

[mustang6984]

I assumed they rotated the bolts and nuts so the it is easier to replace parts. Put the nuts underneath just for ease of replacement. But that is just a guess.

Probably...much faster on an assembly line too. But I think I am going to follow your lead. Never thought of it before...but I like the idea. Thanks for the info!

[RICH MUISE]

I would think the metal components could be made my many shops on a short-run basis, or a shop like EMS might be interested in making tooling for permanent longer runs. It's the rubber that will have minimal possibilities.....but on the other hand, a "donut" shape has got to be pretty simple tooling.

[mustang6984]

Well...if all of them were the same yea. But when I looked at the one I bought for the Courier, (which is still in it's box) it appeared to me that the donuts were a little different depending on where they were in the car.
I'll have to look again...to be sure I am correct.
Off to bed... going to a show tomorrow in Pea Ridge AR with the Saleen.

[RICH MUISE]

By "simple", I was refering to the shape as compared to a window or door seal that would require an extruding machine with complicated extruding dies.

[Ford Blue blood]

If Carpenters once manufactured them it seams the molds would already be in existence?

[RICH MUISE]

Agreed, but there are lots of "buts" attached, including possible licensing from Ford.
For grins, I You Tubed "moulding rubber components" and got tons of hits, everything from small and large companies making custom rubber parts, to How to make automotive rubber components at home. Big thing would be how durable a home made rubber component would be.  There's tons of work involved to install a kit, so I'm not one who would even want to try out a home made set without tons of research. A quick look at the You Tube video headlines shows an apparent availability of the "chemicals" needed in small quantity volumn. (1 gal. jugs)

[hiball3985]

I think DC is just eliminating things that aren't in high demand. How many people need them now or in the near future? probably not many. I wouldn't really expect to see them again unfortunately..