Posts by Murf_old

My car is in fact a Dearborn MI car, with a scheduled build date of April 22 (1965)

Murf

This car was purchased by Fast Lane last weekend at the Branson Auto auction.

You will have to bend the tabs after installation, so probably having them coated with anything is worthless and will break the coating when the tabs are bent. BBQ grille paint is probably as good a coating as you can get on the locking straps. I usually do mine with the engine on the stand and put a thin wall Snap On socket over the bolt heads and bend the tabs against the outer wall of the socket rather than against the head of the bolt in case you ever want to remove the manifolds. This way you will be able to paint the tabs after they are bent and install them without any bending and still tighten the bolts. I also have had good luck with the silicone gasket maker for exhaust manifolds (think it is a copper color normally) and have never had a leak. Just a thin bead about 1/16 inch around each flange near the center of each hole seems to work and helps if you plan to drive and enjoy your car.

I have had good luck with a product called "WICKED" metal polish. It will not destroy the tin coating on your tank, is not too difficult to use and will leave a bit of protection on the tank. The product is normally only found at Peterbuilt truck dealers but you may be able to locate it at some major truck stops. Truckers love it for cleaning the alloy on their trucks. The steel wool sounds too harsh for cleaning mild oxidation from the gas tank. It is always best to start off with the least agressive product possible and only after you are certain the corrosion will not come off should you step up the battle with a more agressive cleaner. Just one guys experience.

What modern tire are you all using on the 65 & 66 Mustangs? Looking for a 5/8 whitewall in 185/75 R14. Anybody know of a source or a brand?

The numbers you quote (ending in -C or -H) are really the engineering numbers stamped on the pulley, not ink stamped on the alternators in orange. I think that the alternators themselves remained the sameduring 1965 and only the fan and the pulley had a engineering number change hence the before or after April 01, 1965. Someone will probably chime in and elaborate on this.

5F09K701583 has a scheduled build date of April 22, 65. It has the

-C alternator pulley. Brant is correct, there was carryover material used well after the published date. I am 99% certain this is the original fan and pulley on this car.

"late low profile black camera case"? What exactly is "late"? Many Spring 65 Pony Interior cars, regardless of the interior color, had the black rally pac installed when the car was built and can be documented, but not sure what you are looking for when "late" is thrown in the question.

Edited by - Murf on 01/07/2010 16:21:30

Many 65 cars built in Dearborn during the first days or weeks of the availability of the "pony interior" had a black wrinkle painted rally pac. Even the more common color interiors such as red were built with a black tach and clock, and this practice continued in at least some instances until at least late April and maybe longer at the Dearborn plant. The black looks strange in cars with colored interiors but that was how Ford did it for a while. Have no idea when this changed, but it was common to have the black rally pac in some or possibly all cars when delivered in the Spring of 65.We are talking about the "low profile rally pac" that came with the Deluxe Interior in this matter.

Edited by - Murf on 01/06/2010 00:03:57

I will begin this by saying that there seems to be no carpet available, no matter the price, that has the fit and look and durability of the original Ford Motor Company carpet that was installed in our Mustangs many years ago. So if you base your judgement on original quality then you will be unhappy. The normal ACC carpet is awful in my opinion and unacceptable for use in a car that you care about. It suffers from some or all of the following: poorly molded, cut too short in places, turns to fuzz as soon as it is installed, and is not very "colorfast" (changes color due to sunlight). The Raylon used now may overcome some of these problems and I hope that they have addressed other issues as well. That said, I have had good results with the massbacked carpet, as least when compared to the normal product. The mass backed is three times as heavy, the backing will not let moisture pass through to the floor, and it is heavy enough that when molded it holds its shape and fits the car very well. It comes in a much larger box because it cannot be smashed into such a tiny container, and is normally made to order rather than being smashed in a tiny box for, in some cases months, waiting to be sold. This wadding up and storage can really put in some bends and wrinkels that can hardly be removed even if the darn carpet was great to begin with. As far as the cost and availability, Virginia Mustang may be the only place where you can order the mass backed for a reasonable price, and most parts houses simply will not talk to you about the mass backed because they are unaware of it. I think that you can purchase the mass backed from

VA Mustang for about $50.00 over the cost of the regular carpet, which is far less than it costs going directly through ACC. Other places may also be able to get the product for you, just not sure who they may be. So compared to the noral ACC product the mass backed is great. Of the available choices I find it to be the best. If you search the old posts on here you may find a rather interesting post by Rich Schmidt from NPD outlining the good and bad points of the major carpet suppliers and why NPD carries the ACC line. Other brands do have some rather obvious problems. Remember, I do not sell parts or have any investment in any of the vendors, just wanted to give you the benefit of one persons experience with carpet. Good luck with whatever you choose. Again, no present day carpet seems to me to be as good as they once were, and certainly fall short of the quality that Ford used in the first place.

Great guy, great car, great article! Congratulations, Richard!

According to page 11 of the 1965 Mustang Interior factory assembly manual (Jim Osborn Publications), the foot note in the lower left corner the change from 3 to 2 screws is dated 5-20-65. It notes "2 required, was 3, revised drawing. I am unable to scan and post this page.

Just speculation, but I think that the drawing mentioned as superceeded and was dated 3 - 17 - 65 indicated the change to the deluxe interior kick panels. That may give a clue to when the factory began the "pony" interior, or may confirm what is already known about that date.

I misread the document! Sorry. This is from the Ford Factory Assembly manual, Interior (Mustang) dated 5 - 25 - 65, and can be viewed on page 11 of the FAM Interior Manual. Body engineering trim manual, T5-8410. "Effective with CZT1-A
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. Screw - 2 required, was 3, revised drawing. (says it supeceeds 3-17 65) Sorry to start a mix up on this matter, it is plain that the two screw kick panels were noted in the assembly manuals on 5-20-65, not the date I noted in the previous post. Got in a hurry and Bos is correct

The official changeover date from three screws to two screws was March 17, 1965.

This will be of little help to your search for information since you have a Jan 65 Dearborn car with the long cable, but my April 65 Dearborn car also has the long choke cable for what it is worth.

Ralph, the images did not make the trip. Please send them directly to me at:

<j.w.murphy@comcast.net>

And Ron Morris did return my call yesterday, saying that there was probably no way that his crossmember would allow the use of the Ford "H" pipe, and just as you suspected, he also said that he was pretty certain that the stock "H{ pipe would not clear the AOD so regardless of the Xmember issue a new "H" pipe would need to be constructed with this swap. I appreciate the fact that he returned my call and took the time to explain about the fitting of the pipes.

I look forward to seeing your pictures, and thanks for the help.

Thanks, Ralph. Got the shifter arrangement satisfied by bending the angle on the stock shifter. Bent the angeled part out, then straightened the bottom angle back to where it is parrallel with the top part and effectively changed the working length of the shifter and all of the detents line up exactly. Probably changed the effective length by only 3/16 or maybe 1/4 inch on the 68 shifter. Will replace my modified arm when the tranny is out and can access the shifter from under the tunnel. Have all other parts except for the Xmember, and have a Ron Morris part located IF it will work with the stock "H" pipe. In fact, I am not even sure that the stock pipe will straddle the AOD, let alone miss the Xmember. Put in a call to RM this morning, only get an answering machine and thus far no response. Trying to make this an easy operation but looks more and more like the "H" pipe will need to be changed and that can only be done once the AOD is in place. I would appreciate any images you have showing any details. Did you have to change your speedo gear. I am running a 3:00 gear now, hope the motor can handle something that tall. Thanks for the help! Fraternally,John Murphy

Thanks, Ralph. I noticed that Ron M. has built at least two different designs of the Xmembers. Do you have an image of the one that you used? I think that the "H" pipes used on a 68 are the same as a 66 and therefore will also be too narrow? Trying to get enough "stuff" lined up to do this swap. Did you modify your "H" pipe to clear the AOD or how did you solve this problem? Could you have used your original Xmember with some modification and made the job easier or would you buy the RM Xmember again?

Edited by - Murf on 11/18/2009 15:18:59

This is certainly off topic on this forum, BUT many of you are versed in all aspects of the Mustang world. Will a Ron Morris crossmember for a 68 Mustang alllow the use of the stock "H" pipe for Dual exhaust? I have called Ron Morris but only get an answeing machine message that says "leave your tech questions and we will get back to you". Waiting by the phone, maybe someone will call. Maybe someone here can provide insight? Anyone done this conversion? Thanks for any help in this matter.