New owner I think

Quote from Hopeto

The rivets on the door plate look suspect and the VIN does not look "right" in my opinion. Missing the stars at each end of the numbers and the strange spacing is not a deal breaker but does raise serious red flags. A more thorough inspection would be warranted.

The rivets on the door plate are not an issue for me as the door plate is, at least, an original. The fender apron stamping was definitely NOT done by Ford and is a real mess. I would possibly have some concern for a rebody however a proper inspection would bring that out. The muffler hanger reinforcement plates are only one of a number of items to check for K code authenticity. I have done inspections where I have seen them added. Auction houses do NOT typically vet the cars that they sell and are depending on the seller to give proper representation of what they are selling.

You can check on the lower side of the transmission for the VIN stamp near the drain plug. At least you seem to have the proper transmission. What engine is in the Kar?

-Fred-

Quote from rtate

Hi all, just purchased a 65 convertible GT Clone
Vin and door tag match and have a K in the 5th spot.
Looking to see if I can verify its a true K car

VIN 5F08K368524
Door Tag 76A K 26 10M 81 5 E

non original motor but the trans is a HEH-T

By the way, welcome to the Hipo forum.

There seems to be a couple of errors in the data plate stamping. The data plate states a trans code of E but that code was not used until 1971. There would be a E code for a locking rear axle with 3.50 gears but a locking axle was NOT available on 65 Hipo only Mustangs. It was available on all other Mustangs and was available on a 66 Hipo Mustang. The other code that makes no sense is the 81 DSO code as that one does not exist in the Ford books. I am going to take a closer look at the data plate after I post this.

-Fred-

Quote from rtate

The 81 DSO is "Ford Canada"
car currently has a 393 stroker with a T5 trans
Came with a 66 289 block and the HEH-T toploader
Just added a picture of the vin stamped into the trans and it's a match

I had thought about possibly a Canadian DSO myself but the closest that I found was a B1 and that is why I went back to look closer at the data plate. My understanding is that a B1 DSO and not 81 is for a Canadian built unit for destined for central Canada and your Kar was built in Dearborn. Usually a US built Ford product destined for any foreign country has a 90 to 99 for a DSO. Interesting discrepancies and a mystery.

-Fred-

Quote from C6ZZKGT

I had thought about possibly a Canadian DSO myself but the closest that I found was a B1 and that is why I went back to look closer at the data plate. My understanding is that a B1 DSO and not 81 is for a Canadian built unit for destined for central Canada and your Kar was built in Dearborn. Usually a US built Ford product destined for any foreign country has a 90 to 99 for a DSO. Interesting discrepancies and a mystery.

-Fred-

I just tried to copy and paste the DSO information from the Ford MPC to this forum but it was too many characters. By the time I cut it down, the whole thing was totally unreadable.

-Fred-

Quote from rtate

Does the fender need to be completely removed or can I just pull it back from the top ?
As per Tony Gregory's book third edition an 81 DSO is Ford Canada

There are a few errors in Tonys book and I thought that this may be one of them. I have quite a few different versions of the Ford MPC (Master Parts Catalog) so I looked in all of them for this 81 DSO. I have 1965 only, 1966 only, 1960 to 1968, 1965 to 1970 and 1965 to 1972. The only book that contained this 81 DSO for Ford Canada was the 1966 only book. At least, now I am a believer.

-Fred-

Quote from Bartman2

Hi guys. FYI my early 65 k code was built in Dearborn and delivered to Vancouver BC Canada in the summer of 64 and also had DSO 81 on the data plate AND ‘E’ for trans code. It’s also an HEH-T toploader and has matching VIN stamp. Maybe this trans code was used for Kars destined for Canada?
[hr]

Here’s a photo of my original data plate, painted over but intact and with original rivets when I rescued it. Note the ‘E’ trans code and totally blank diff code. FFI the diff is date code matched original 3.89 open. Maybe ford didn’t know what to put on these early Kars data plated destined for export to Canada?
I feel that the other data plate at the beginning of this thread is another example of a k code sent to Canada.

Thank you Barry for your participation in this unusual discovery first seen here. The OP data plate was just so odd, although I recognized it as authentic, that it is good to have another example come forward. In later years the trans code was different for wide and close ratio 4 speeds. Possibly the E was a Canadian way of showing this? It would be interesting to see data plate codes on a Canadian DSO car with a 4 speed that is not a Hipo.

-Fred-

Quote from rtate

So I'm trying to figure out what the correct export bracing would look like on my car
Some have a one piece and some are two piece with the extra straight piece going out to the front
Were these "plant" dependent ?

If it had an export brace, which is possible that it did not, it would be a single piece with equally spaced holes at the firewall. The two piece with extra bracing is for later years. If you can post pictures of your engine compartment on here, I can look at them and see what you really need. Alternatively you could send pictures to my email for the same purpose and I will have more control in my observation of the pictures.

fredsclassics@hotmail.com

-Fred-

Quote from HipoDunc

B1 and 81 are very easily misread. a door from a K could lead the parade to a clone or righteous K...??

I agree that the B1 and 81 could easily be misread but on this Kar the data plate DSO is very clearly an 81. I originally thought that B1 was possible but it is not on this one. Now there is also another example of the 81 DSO posted on here and I did find the 81 DSO in the 1966 only Ford MPC so I am now a believer.

-Fred-

Quote from C6ZZKGT

I agree that the B1 and 81 could easily be misread but on this Kar the data plate DSO is very clearly an 81. I originally thought that B1 was possible but it is not on this one. Now there is also another example of the 81 DSO posted on here and I did find the 81 DSO in the 1966 only Ford MPC so I am now a believer.

-Fred-

This is one of the reasons that I like these forum discussions as intelligent opinions and facts come out on obscure things that I had not even thought about previously.

-Fred-