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65/66 mustang the only stang worth a damn
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Comments
170 cubic inch straight 6 (U-code in the VIN)
260 cubic inch V-8 2V (F-code in the VIN)
289 cubic inch V-8 4V (D-code in the VIN)
About the second week of June, 1964, the first Hi-Po 289 engine (K-code in the VIN) was offered to the public.
DSO 89 fastback: If you can dig up your build sheet (under the carpet or wrapped around the wiring harness behind the dash) that would answer a lot of questions. What are the other codes on your warranty plate and your VIN number?
thanks for the info...Ford launched the Mustang early to help generate that incredible publicity, but they list all Mustangs as 1965 cars, in spite of when they were made....uncommon practice then, but now we see this kind of thing all the time...pretty soon we'll be able to buy 2003 cars in 2001 at this rate!
Hey, that would be lucky to find the build sheet!
The VIN is 6F09A###### (1966, made at Dearborn, fastback, 'A' code 289-4v engine)
Trim codes are: 63B body (fastback, luxery interior, bucket seats), Z color (sauterne gold), 68 trim (ivy gold and white interior), 07J date (made 7 September, 1965), 89 DSO (transportation services), 1 axle code (3.00:1 open diff), 6 trans (C-4 Cruise-o-matic).
Had it all figured but the 'transportation services' bit. BTW, the car is an original GT (fogs, dual exhaust trumpets, disk brakes, etc.) near as I can tell.
Is the hole in the dash face for the fog light switch "D"-shaped? That's a pretty good indication of a factory fog light set, which was a separate option but almost exclusively used with the GT package. Sauterne Gold is a pretty rare color on a GT, haven't seen one myself. It looks good when done well, but most Sauterne Gold cars I've seen are pretty faded. With the ivy gold/white pony interior, that would be a sharp combination!
I don't think I've ever seen Sauterne Gold fresh and new. When I got the car, the paint was in TERRIBLE shape and I hated the color. I've always liked the R code Ivy Green which was also available with the ivy gold/white interior. Needless to say, the car is now a lovely Ivy Green metallic.
Car also sports 4-wheel disk, T-5 trans, 4:11 9" trac-loc rear, rear panhard rod, over-rider traction bars, 5 leaf reverse-eye leaf springs, Koni's all around, tubular front a-arms dropped 1-1/2" with a negative wedge kit, subframe connectors, Shelby Pittman and idler arm, poly bushings, stiffer front sway bar, Boss 302 front springs cut 1", beefed-up shock towers, export brace, straight Monte Carlo bar, 15x7 Torque Thrust D's, 4-pt roll bar, racing harnesses, and a much massaged '68 mexican block 302. With the exception of being lowered and having the new rims, the car LOOKS pretty stock. I know you're probably crying about now, but a purist, I ain't.
(Sports Car Graphic maybe?) that the car
had a 390.
next time). The motorcycle at the end of the
chase is driven by the Charger driver (...I think)
Ah, the magic of film editing.
exotic enough model to go for that much. I kind
of think that most #2 cars are actually #3 condition. 'J' is 302-4v (is the engine original?)
For 24k you could get a really really nice
Boss 302 or SS 350 Z11 pace car or 65-66 'K'
convertible. The only '68s I'd pay a lot for
would be 428 cars. Especially with a non-original
color repaint. No dice.
In general, it seems to me that the lesser muscle
cars are going for too much lately (stock market
being absurdly high? Who knows?). I think when
prices settle back down again (they will, they will) you'd probably be better off buying one of
the more interesting models rather than a nice
'transportation' version of a Mustang or whatever.
I'm not sure people are really paying these high "asking" prices. Lots of these inflated cars go unsold. People are not as naive as they were in the 1980s and early 90s about collectible cars. Just because a guy buried himself in a restoration doesn't mean the market is obligated to buy him out of it. If someone spends too much restoring a car, they have to take the lumps. Better judgement next time prevents such unfortunate losses.
Statistically, the accident rate for "collectible cars" is quite low, because most people drive them carefully. If you want an everyday driver to go fast in, buy something more modern and practical, I'd say. If you rack up a "classic car" really hard, you're probably going to get hurt, no doubt about it.
The story about burning to death is unfounded and silly. Forget that worry. They are thinking of very early Ford Pintos.
But I could probably be persuaded to take that nasty old convertible off your hands for $500........purely for your own safety, you understand.....8^)
Shifty's entirely correct. ANY old car from the 60's or earlier (or 70's even) don't hold a candle compared to modern automobiles. The ONLY problem I see would be the difficulty of installing 3-pt belts in a convertible. Of course, you could add a really cool roll bar (don't have a heart attack Shiftright) and some good 4 or 5-pt belts and be in great shape.
As far as the fire concern goes - I think this stems from the fact that the panel between the trunk and passenger compartment is just a piece of fiberboard on the original cars (I think). But you can get replacement metal panels aftermarket easily. Good luck with the car.
I often drive my buddy's Model A Ford. Brakes are non-existant, steers like a couch on wheels, accelerates like a push-scooter.going uphill. But I've driven many safe miles with it. It's just a matter of remembering what you're driving.
I currently own a 68 fastback, and try my best to find any and all movies, toys, etc. that pertain to this, in my opinion, most beautiful year of production. My grandad gave me this car when I was 12. I had a choice between it, a 67 coupe, or a 69 Mach 1. The car is currently in the COMPLETE restoration (read- restmod) process.
I'm in the process of a rather extensive restomod on my car now. Just out of curiousity, what kind of stuff are you doing to your fastback?
Thanks
Bri66
I thought the '68 Mustang had the 302? Wasn't '67 the last year for the 289?
Personally, I like everything you're talking about doing except the 17" rims. My .02 is that extremely low-profile rubber just doesn't look 'right' on the older cars and with 17" rims, you probably can't run anything higher than 45 or 50 series tires. I've got 15"x7" Torq Thrust 'D' on my car. Have you considered maybe the 16" Torque Thrust II's rather than the 17"?
If you leave the body/paint COMPLETELY unchanged, you'll have more of a 'sleeper' on your hands (if a '68 fastback could ever be considered a 'sleeper') but paint it with blue le mans stripes and it just screams 'cop bait'.
If you go aftermarket stereo, please, please, PLEASE don't butcher up the dash. If is fairly expensive to fix correctly.
Of course, the entire front end of my car WAS dissassembled at the time (bumper, grill, fenders, etc.) so I don't remember having any particular difficulty with the bolts you mentioned.
All big plans, with some parts gotten, some ordered. Right now, with a new car for my wife and a new house both on the agenda for this year, work will probably cease for this year. All of the money earmarked for a finished car by the end of the year has been redirected into a downpayment for the house. Oh well, I have owned it for almost 15 years, with 13 of those being in storage and 10 of the storage years having all of my parts "bagged-and-tagged". What's a couple more years to wait for completion?!?!?
I know how it goes regarding the 'couple of more years to wait' theme. I tore mine down in '91 and have attacked it in fits and starts ever since. The body work is done, base coat of paint is on. After final assembly and working the bugs out, the clearcoat will go on. The engine has been done for years now. All thats left to me now is reassembly and I've got somebody helping me with that right now. Hopefully, I'll be back on the road at the end of February or early March.
Was able to replace with minimum time. The heads of the two bottom bolts are behind the mounting bracket for the front bumper support brace............. of course that's attached to the front splash pan that's connected to the...........................
Question, can anyone tell me how good vinyl dye is for a replacement dash pad?
Thanks
Bri66
Roadroach, Custom Autosound carries a hidden unit that the display/ir receiver is also remotely located, and attatched to the rest of the stereo via a small wire bundle, allowing you to mount the "meat" of the stereo in, say, your glovebox. Then mount the ir receiver/display panel with some double sided tape most anywhere, say, on your sun visor, then your remote will have line of sight but no one else will. Just wire it all up seperately from your am radio, and there you go. Or, if you just mounted a headunit in your glovebox, you could drive around with your glovebox door open so the remote could "see" your headunit. Also, have you seen the "humphugger" aftermarket consoles available for your car? One of those would allow you to mount a complete headunit/cd changer in it and if you wired it in with a quick disconnect plug, you could remove the whole thing in about 30 seconds. You should really get a subscription to Mustang Monthly magazine and also join the Mustang Club of America, if you haven't already. Which reminds me, both of mine just ran out!! I need to renew.
I'd seen the humphugger consoles but didn't know they would take a headunit. That may be the best route. I especially like being able to take the whole thing out easily for shows.
Already subscribe to Mustang Monthly (and Mustangs/Fast Fords, etc.) but haven't joined MCA.
The problem Bri66 is probably facing is the fact that replacement dashpads for the 65/66 cars are not available in all of the factory colors. My car has the ivy gold/white Pony interior which takes a dark ivy green dash pad. This is not available in a replacement. Fortunately, my dash pad is in great shape (no cracks). I think it was replaced in the mid 80's before I got the car.
Wish I could find a manufacturer who offers an Aqua / Turquois, but all I can find is Black, Blue, or Burgundy. Do you know of a manufacturer who can get me what I am looking for?
Thanks
Bri66
Personally, I haven't had any experience with the vinyle dyes but it sounds like jwoods4 might have. You might talk to someone at an upholstery shop about dying dash pads and explain the problem. They're sure to have better advice than I can give.
Does you car have the Aqua and White interior? I've always liked that combo.
My pony has the standard aqua interior, but I am in the process of changing to the white and aqua pony interior. I have talked to the people of a paint store and they have shown me samples of vinyl that has been dyed. They claim if the vinyl is cleaned with lacquer thinner prior to dye application it will last many years.
Thanks
Bri66
Let us know how it goes.
egret it if you don't.
Roadroach, in one of my recent MM issues, Jeff Ford, the editor, had a 6 disc changer inside of a humphugger console in his "Project Lazarus" Mach I. Surely it would accomodate a decent headunit. It would also place it close enough to negate the need for a remote at all. Wish I was at that stage of retoration. At least it's not getting any worse sitting in my garage.