[Joe Bean]

The door tag on my 1965 Mustang coupe car is missing. Is there anyway to get that info, or get another door tag replacement using the VIN? Thanks!

[Veronica]

Hello. Ford destroyed the records for the 65/66 cars, so, no, there isn't any way to know for sure, but, with some old fashioned detective work, you can figure out what color the car was originally, the interior, etc.. The dso is lost forever, unless you catch a break and find an original build sheet in the car. If you could give us the vin, One of us would be able to ballpark the scheduled production date within a day or two.

[Joe Bean]

Sure, the VIN is 5T07A172504. Thanks!

As long as I'm at it, here's some more info off the motor which has been rebuilt:

Block deck pad stamp: 5C21, which I think March 21, 65.
Block Casting No: 5C16 (small letters with raised dots on either side). C5AE-6015E Large letters. Rods have 5/16" lo-po rod bolts.

The pistons are .030 over TRW's. Cam is unknown yet, but is hydraulic.

Passenger head: C60E 5K27

Driver's head: C4AE 4C19

I think the different year heads point to a problem with one of the heads that required a head change. I'm just not sure which is the right one though. The 66 head has the pad at the exhaust ports for the smog plumbing but hasn't been drilled or threaded.
The heads both have the 1.78 intake valves, no spring pockets with press-in studs.

I just got the car and have just begun to dismantle it to figure out what is left of the original set-up.

Any info would be appreciated and it looks like I joined the right club!

[Veronica]

Hi again. Your car would have had a scheduled production date of 02T, which is june 2nd of 65. Actually, both heads have been replaced at some point. One of them is october 27th of 65, which would be hard to square with a car that was built nearly five months before the head was cast, and the other is march 19th of 64. No way did that head sit on the shelf at Ford for a year waiting for just the right car to put it on.

The block could be the original, but, that's just a tad early. They were running behind on getting the cars out the door at that time, and the motors pretty much went straight into a car as soon as they received them from the engine plant. But, it would not be that difficult to argue successfully that this is the original block. I don't think so, but, that's just my opinion, and, it will always be a matter of opinion, because, really, that's close enough.

[EagleAutosports]

Veronica is awesome.

[Veronica]

i again. You are too kind. Or, is this just more of that 'silver-tongued devil' stuff?

[EagleAutosports]

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Veronica]

Hi again. I just look like this. I've actually got pretty good sense.

[Joe Bean]

Thanks Veronica, that was a lot of help. I guess I'll just have to settle for non-matching numbers.

Have to tear into the rear end next to see what's in there.

[Veronica]

Hi again. There could still be a tag on the rear end which will tell you everything you want to know about it. The tag will also have a date code on it, as will the center section casing. You can tell if the car originally came with an automatic or manual transmission by the presence of one hole ansd absence of another. The automatic transmission cars have a hole in the firewall that's about 3/4 of inch in diameter for the neutral safety switch wiring towards the passenger side from the master cylinder, while the manual transmission cars have a hole about that size back a few inches from the where the shifter attaches to the floor for the reverse light switch wiring. The origimal body color paint is still all over the place on the car, unless the entire body of the car has been stripped by being dunked. One good place to look is to remove one of the front coil spring covers. When the car got painted, it didn't have the front suspension on it yet, but probably did have it for any susequent paint jubs. Just clean it up back behind the upper part of the coil springs and you should see the color. If not, knock some of that undercoating off of the area in the wheel wells around where the hood hinge bolts come through. It also got painted before the undercoating went on, so, anything underneath that is something that Ford put there. It was also all over the outboard sides of the frame rails near the rocker panels, lots of places. Ford really hosed them down. You can take a little time and really take a close look at the car in places that don't get messed with much and you can figure all of this stuff out.

[Joe Bean]

Thanks Veronica, excellent advice! I noticed that my new (old) Mustang is a different color red (more orange) than my 64 Fairlane, which is Rangoon Red. I see that there was another red offered in 65 which is called "Poppy Red" which might be the color my Mustang was originally. I'll use your advice and look for that color in the places you suggested. I know it has been repainted at least once. Thanks again!