in another post i mentioned that i found out my car is a 65 not a 66 after all.

i bought the car 12 years ago as a "restored" 66 fastback. I knew nothing about Mustangs. took one look and had to have it. i've been redoing the restoration ever since.

As it turns out, she'd been smacked in the nose at one time. the visible VIN on the drivers side fender was meaningless (66 T code coupe). Door tag had been faked to match the wrong Vin.

I've had the engine out to rebuild and decided to pull the fenders to see what the other 2 hidden VINs said about the car. One had been obliterated deliberately. the other (passenger side) said 65 C code coupe. wtf???

There were little clues that the car was a 65 but i couldnt be sure. the engine mounts were the old style but the motor was not original anyway. the door trims were 65 but the dash and grille are 66. Someone once pointed out that the chrome trim above the gauges was a 65 feature.

it was only when I started redoing the wiring that i knew for sure she's a 65. the wiring plugs on the firewall didnt match my 66 diagrams. I got hold of some 65 wiring schematics and sure enough, the plugs did match. when i pulled the gauges out, the dash surround was not shaped for the 66 round speedo - it was flat along the bottom side like a 65. The resistance wire you need in a 65 for the charge light was still in the loom as was the oil pressure light but both just tucked up behind the dash. There were other changes in the loom to make sure the alternator charged with the ammeter instead of the charge light but these didnt make sense till we found the redundant pieces.

well thats how I found out for sure...it seems straight forward in hindsight but i guess because i wasnt expecting it i just didnt join the dots. :/

 

That's a pretty cool find!
Can you re-title it correctly, do you have an original vin number anywhere?
Not that it really matters, but it would be kind of cool.
Is it a 5R09 or a 5F09? If it's a 5F, maybe there will be a buck tag still somewhere.

 

I always fantasised i'd find a hidden vin and some additional exhaust hangers to indicate a k-code GT or better yet a long lost Shelby! But alas not one vin, tag or build sheet that i can find anywhere. so i cant think of any other way to tell what the car was originally.

i'm guessing a basic c-code fastback, 4spd, drum brakes, no air, basic radio.

 

Are you going to change the dash to 65 style or keep the 66?

 

nah, i'll leave it as a 66. it would be pretty easy to go back - dash, grille and door trims and i'm there.

but i'm used to how it is now and she's been off the road for nearly a year. i just wanna go for a drive!

 

Does it have a salvage title or was a lost title ever filed? I don't see how the title can be wrong.

 

good question.

when the car was imported here from California about 14 years ago the 6R07T Vin was recorded on the paperwork and the car was registered here with that vin. Local authorities wouldnt know it was wrong. they just check to make sure the number on the car matches the paperwork.

i have an old california registration paper somewhere. i should check if that has a vin on it???

i suspect the car was crashed relatively early in life when it made sense for the insurance company to pay for repairing it. it was probably re-titled then. after all its the same car, just with 2/3 of a new front!