[ClassicConv65]

Veronica,
May I trouble you for help determining a valid build date and DSO for my '65 Mustang convertible?

The VIN is 5F08T778213.

My door tag is missing and I'd like to recreate one. Any other data plate info (color, axle) that would help this plate be as accurate as possible would help too. The car has a 200 6cyl with an AT, AC, console, rally pac, 13" wire spinners, day-nite mirror and black std interior. The serial number on the VIN and title seems too high to be right.

I'll keep looking for build tags on the engine, trans and rear end and hope the dates are close together.

Thank you,
:shigrin

 

[Jay H 237]

You have a very late build car, within the last month of 65 production before the 66s came out. The build date according to my book would be between "01U" and "06U" (July 1-6, 1965), there was a weekend plus the holiday in between there with no production. I have VINs on either side of yours but the dates are out of order due to the weekend and holiday.

 

[Veronica]

Hello. :welcome
My best guess would be 05U, which is that monday. You number is just a tad high to have been on the 1st. It could have been, but, I kind of doubt it. If you use the fifth on the door tag, that wouldn't be something that anyone could really argue with.

 

[ClassicConv65]

Thanks Jay and Veronica!

You are truly the gurus of build date and much more judging from The Care and Feeding of Ponies! :bigthumbsup

Any thoughts on DSO or axle? The car is from FL but seems to have rust coating. Maybe this is one of the long-lost DSO 84's (Home Office Reserve) that Henry Ford gave to Thomas Edison to drive around Ft. Meyers with Raquel Welch... Ha. Just kidding.

Were any AT 200 6cyl's shipped with anything but a 3.00 rear?

Thanks again for helping a rookie.
:shiny:

 

[Veronica]

Hello. You are too kind. Between the two of us, Jason and I can usually dial it in pretty close. In the 65 model year, you could get either a 3.20 or a 3.20 limited slip with a manual transmission, or a 2.83 or 2.83 limited slip with an automatic transmission, and in the 66 model year you could get the same stuff, along with the 3.20 in the automatic transmission cars. This all for the 200 cid motor. The 170s all came with a 3.50. So, really, to answer your actual question, none of the 200s were shipped with a 3.00 rear axle ratio. :nogrinner

Sadly, the D.S.O. is lost forever, barring having an original build sheet turn up inside the car somewhere. There is a chance, if the radiator core support has never been replaced or stripped down to the bare metal, that you would still be able to see where Ford wrote all of that stuff down on the front of the radiator core support before they painted it black. If you scrape the black off with a putty knife or something, this is what you should find. But, if it's been replaced, or someone has stripped it down before, all of that is gone.

 

[ClassicConv65]

So if I'm looking at this right, the DSO for the car in your picture is the "81" at the bottom of the radiator support?
Do I need to use any chemicals to strip the black but still leave the writing?
Thanks again. You've got a friend in Alabama.

 

[Veronica]

Hi again. I have a friend in Alabama with pretty good eyes. :gringreen That particular car was indeed sold new in Canada. You can't use any chemicals to strip it down or you'll erase all of that. What you are seeing isn't actually writing, it's the absence of blue overspray. That 'Y82' thing is saying that the car was originally Skylight Blue with medium blue interior. All of that stuff was written on the car before it got painted, and yes, they painted the cars before they sprayed the black under the hood. :headscratch: You have to gently scrape the black off, which is loads of fun.