1. My 1966 K code block has the following assembly date code stamp 6A5-X, what does the X mean?
1. Does this build/date sequence seem correct?
Exhuast Manifold C115
Intake Manifold 5D27
Distributor 5F8
Heads, (both), 5L4
Block 5M10
Steering box 5M27
Engine Assembly date 6A5-X
Carb date 6BA
Car build bate 6B25
Car sale date as per original invoice March 15, 1966.
1. My 1966 K code block has the following assembly date code stamp 6A5-X, what does the X mean?
1. Does this build/date sequence seem correct?
Exhuast Manifold C115
Check this again. The format does not make sense.
Intake Manifold 5D27
1965 - April 27
Distributor 5F8
1965 June 8
Heads, (both), 5L4
1965 November 4
Block 5M10
1965 December 10
Steering box 5M27
1965 December 27
Engine Assembly date 6A5-X
1966 January 5, X = Assembly code, possibly Quality
Carb date 6BA
1966 Feburary first week
Car build bate 6B25
1966 Ferbruary 25
Car sale date as per original invoice March 15, 1966.
Lucky you. Do you have the window sticker?
Jim
No, I do not have the window sticker, just the original bill of sale. Very lucky that the original owner kept it and lives about 40 miles from me. He also has many pictures of the car from 1966 to 1968 when he sold it. He is still a highly regarded engine builder and racer here in British Columbia, and a heck of a nice fellow.
The X on the assembly date is the inspector letter.Each inspector who stamped date codes on deck were givin a letter as to identify them.Sounds like a put together car and or motor as the dates are all over the place where as an original car will only vary 2 weeks to 2 months in dating.
Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my questions, I appreciate it very much. Iscman; thanks for solving the X question, your answer makes complete sense.
Interesting comment also about motors having all of the parts within a two month time frame, I have always heard quite the opposite. Even cars that I have studied online that are said to be "all original and date correct" have parts like say exhaust manifolds with casting dates several months before say a head casting date. A gentleman from Pony Carbs was insistant that carbs were added to the engines 1 to 3 weeks prior to that engine being installed in a car. If that is true, then the dates struck on those parts could be within 1 week of the assembly date of a particular car.
From what I have read on the topic of assembly dates at a SAAC forum, they are pretty specific in their opinion, which is;
Engine Assembly Date: 1 week to 2 Months prior to
Steering Box Build date: THEN 1 to 3 weeks to
Vehicle Assembly Date
Right there, in that little time frame, you have up to 2 months plus 3 weeks, (81 days), from an assembly date of an engine to that engine being placed into a car, if that SAAC forum is to be believed. On my engine alone, I have a casting date of Dec 10, 1965 and an assembly date of Jan 5, 1966 which in this case, effectively adds another 26 days to the theorectical 81 days, putting the total to 107 days. My heads were cast November 4, 1965 stretching the time period another 36 days to 143 days from the time the heads were cast until the car was produced.
Obviously blocks, heads, manifolds and the like have to be cast ahead of time to be readily availble for assembly and car production. They probably were cast at various foundries and needed to be trucked in and stored for a period of time and used as needed. Also, gears needed to be machined, distributors built and all of the other supporting parts required for car production.
I wonder if all of that could have happened in a 60 days period back in the mid 60's?
Obviously blocks, heads, manifolds and the like have to be cast ahead of time to be readily available for assembly and car production. They probably were cast at various foundries and needed to be trucked in and stored for a period of time and used as needed.
The 289 HiPo blocks, heads, intake and exhaust manifolds, cranks, rods, caps, flywheels, etc. were all cast at Ford's Cleveland Foundry and Engine Plant. The engines were also assembled there, and then shipped out by rail to Dearborn, San Jose, or Metuchen Assembly Plant for installation into Mustangs.
The where was not in question, the quantity is. HP cast components comprised about 1 1/2 percent of total engine production and 2 percent of small block engine production (rough figures). With that small quantity required, larger lots were cast as a hedge for "spikes" in demand. That is a fact of production management (I spent too many years in that area). As a result, excess parts sat on a shelf until needed. Completed HP engines required resources for assembly that were needed for other engines because of their demand, so dates on parts and assemblies would be spread out. Example: my "K" engine has an assembly date of 5H23 (Aug 23, 1965) and a scheduled build date of 18K (Oct 18, 1965), almost two months. I'll look up the part's dates later.
Jim
Thanks to both of you, SixT5HiPo and jwc66k; your insights and information are both very helpful and interesting! I thought that it would make more sense, as an auto maker, to have 'too many' parts available as opposed to too few, during production runs. After all, theorectically, they would need to stock those parts anyway for use as replacement parts down the road some day.
The current manufacturing philisophy is called "J.I.T." aka "Just In Time", or as we in Silicon Valley say, "Jam It Thru". Parts arrive exactly when you need them (they don't). Delivery dates are the critical goal. Oh, and it better or should work.
Jim
Jim;
I would tell you what J.I.T. means in my business but this is a family site, lol.
HINT: I work in a Federal Prison so you can imagine what gets jammed where.
Seriously though, thanks for your help
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