Alright, this may be a stupid question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. I have a 67 coupe I'm building and I have replaced both quarter panels. The quarter panels I cut out had holes for what I assume where marker lights. There were no lights there when I got the car. I was thinking I had seen on the net that Ford slapped on some marker lights on late 67 models and then had recessed marker lights on the 68s. I can find everywhere on the net that federal law required the lights on the 68, but now I can't find any information anywhere about them being added onto the late 67 models. I talked to my son who says he thinks he remembers reading the same thing, but he can't find it either. Looking at the holes that are in the old panels, they look pretty uniform and don't really look like somebody added them. Am I completely wrong about this or did Ford really do this on the late 67's? If they didn't put them on any 67 then I won't put them on, but if they did, I want to be true to my model. Thanks
There were no markers installed on the 67 at any point in the model year. There were two different rear qtr. markers installed on the 68s, though.
1968 was a bad year for Ford. There was a labor strike that had placed Ford's production abilities on its knees in the 68 model year. This also affected suppliers and this required some changes to be made to some of the Mustang's assemblies.
One of the obvious changes was to the marker on the rear qtr. On February 15 of 68, (the model year started in October) the rear qtr. markers were changed from a flush mounted marker that was bordered within a cast metal, body colored frame, to a marker that was surface mounted and bordered with chrome trim. The later marker was sourced from another car line. I can't remember exactly which. All of the rear markers, early and late, were only reflectors with no electrical connections.
This change also affected the stamping of the rear quarters. The original design qtrs. had a recess for the marker stamped into it. The later panels had the recess omitted.
The 67 rear qtrs had two cutouts in them for the 67 only non-functional, cast metal air inlets. Are these on your current panels? It appears that at some point, 68 metal was attached to your 67 Mustang if there are provisions for the side markers.
Thanks for the reply. It does have the cut outs for the non functional vents. The quarters are original and I guess some jack leg added a marker light of some kind at some point. As I said when I got the car nothing was there but 2 screw holes and one large center hole. It doesn't appear that any wiring was going to these locations and the wiring in the trunk still looks original and not added to. There are no markers on the front. Well, none the less, its less work I have to do. No markers on the 67. Thanks
Greek, the later surface mounted reflectors on the 68s were taken as is from the Cougar, they are interchangable. As you said it was to cut costs, instead of having two different parts for the same function on the "sister cars" they decided it's cheaper just to have one part and they went with the Cougar's surface mount reflector.
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1968 Mustang coupe, Acapulco Blue, 289 2v, C-4, Power Steering.
Hopefully a 1969 convertible or Sportsroof (non Mach or Boss) for next Mustang project
Trying to find my father's 1973 Mustang Grande he bought brand new. 3F04F126773 last known registration and title was in New Jersey, 1982.
Thanks a lot. Personally I think it looks better too, but was wanting to stay true to the model if they had had them. Mine is a late 67 and the holes look so "factory". I'm gonna leave it clean back there. This is my first build. I have always wanted a Mustang, but guess I was too cheap or to broke to buy one. I always wanted one to build myself just so I could say I did it and have more interest in it. My family gave me this one for Christmas iin 2006. Thought it would be a good project to work on with my boys. We worked on their rides and really enjoyed it. I have tore it down to nothing. I have put new floors in, new torque boxes, new wheel houses, new trunk, new frame rails and new quarter panels. Getting ready to put new lower cowl in and put the dash back in. Next will be 2 new complete aprons and radiator support. I have a 68 now that I'm gonna use the engine, tranny, power steering, and power brakes from. Taking me a while to do this, but oh well, got nothing but time. The first summer I had it I had a heart attack and had to take that summer off. They wouldn't let me in the shop. I want to have like a new car when I'm done, so if it takes me a little longer, so be it. I think I'll be prouder of it. I'm hung up on whether I want in dash air or under dash air. I like the looks of under dash, old school feel to me. In dash I guess may be more true to the car and model, but quiet a bit more money. What do ya'll suggest on that?
Long post I know, sorry, but thanks for hanging in there.
jmassey, This concerns small block V8s. Since you have a 68 parts car, you will want to replace the motor mount brackets from the 68 into the 67. These are the parts of the mount assembly that bolt to the frame. The 67 mounts themselves and the brackets are a 67 only design with their own dimensions. About 1/4" difference in spacing to where the cross bolts pass through the mount and bracket.
The aftermarket doesn't recognize this difference, but a side by side comparison of a true 67 mount with a 66 and 68 will show you. I made this change because at first I didn't know and fought for hours prying on the aftermarket mount to get the cross bolt to pass through the mount and bracket. This stretched the rubber insulator portion and caused the mount to separate in short order. The whole engine did a flip in the engine bay which ruined a fan, upper rad. hose and fan shroud. The whole engine bay and engine was covered with antifreeze from the fan shearing the upper hose.
If you can find a true 67 mount (A rare find nowadays), they cost around 10 times the price of the late 66 and 68 mounts which have the same design and dimensions. For some reason Ford changed the design in 67 and then went back to the late 66 design for 68. Once I changed to the 68 mount assy. the aftermarket mounts fit like a glove. Only you and God will know that you have the 68 mount assy. installed as I know that you want the car to be true to its model year, but to save close to $200 for mounts may be worth it.
On the A/C evaporator, I personally like an in dash mounted set up, but there were many 67s that had the dealer installed under dash evap. It's all a personal preference and if money is a concern and comfort a priority, by all means go with the under dash set up. It really doesn't look all that bad and they're easier to work on.
There is also a difference in the fuel line routing between an early 67 and late 67. The early routing had the line routed along the drive shaft tunnel and the late was routed just inside the driver's side rocker panel. I changed my early routing to the later route. It seems safer to me to get the fuel line away from the drive shaft. I guess Ford did, too. Prebent lines are available either way. If you have the early routing and want to change, you will need to get the bracket that mounts just where the line transitions from the inner portion of the car to the edge of the rocker panel. It keeps the line from getting crushed if the car bottoms out at places like speed bumps. You'll want to get this bracket from the 68 as they're not available in repro form. The bracket is about 2" wide and 8" long and mounts with bolts. I've seen this same bracket on Cougars, Falcons, Mavericks and Fairlanes. FYI
One more thing, the 68's collapsable steering column and short shaft steering box can be retrofitted into you 67. This is another safety related change. I did this swap as I cringe at the thought of that long solid steering shaft, used in 67, being aimed straight at my chest.
I have installed two under the dash units. I need to warn you that is is a lot of work getting everything in there and servicing anything that might go wrong under the dash. I do agree it looks better.
1967 stang marker lights 
