NOS parts and date coding...1966 GT350

-Late production car?? - not really

-You would have to provide all but the last two VIN numbers of the Ford VIN to get an estimate. I would guess your around 6R09K177-178xxx (approx mid to end of March 66). From there we could guess about an approx assembly date at Ford. Plus or minus three weeks.

-In general NOS parts will not have dates that will match up with any date you really need. NOS parts are generally (in todays market) made after your car was produced (they are replacement parts). As far as date you will want parts dated with enough lead time before your car was built at Ford with appropriate time for their making, transportation and delivery to San Jose.

Hope this helps

 

Ed, Jeff's estimate is very close. I was able to determine the scheduled San Jose biuld date of 1757 as March 29, 1966 from the VIN's of two other SJ K-codes that surround mine. Since our cars are so close together Shelby VIN-wise it's also quite possible (but not a given) our Ford VINs are also quite close. If you email me privately I will send you the two VINs around mine so you can see if your Ford VIN also falls between them.

PS, thanks for the reply on the shock tower washer thread.

Dave
dmgt350@aol.com

 

Of course you can use the Mustang Production Guide (the source I used for the info above) for the estimated/scheduled build date. Lots more examples and you don't need K codes or Shelbys only for info. Did use Ford VINs assigned to cars around your Shelby VIN also that owners have shared with me

At San Jose the sheet metal dates used on the engine compartment seem (best guess) about two-three weeks from the real date. As close as any of us can get IMHO.

When purchasing parts just give your self a little more range rather than too short of one for safety if you can. That is the recommendation I give to the owners I consult for

Good luck date hunting is so much fun

 

Has nothing to do with it. Your car could have been sitting on the lot at Shelby for 1 month - to maybe 6 months before it was finished as a Shelby.

Go back and start looking at the Ford VIN and sheet metal dates.


Just to give you an idea of how this might help you in your hunt for correctly date parts for your restoration, here is how 1203 laid out when I inventoried it's dates (guess I could do another half dozen of the 65-66's but this is pretty much a nice neat pattern

Sheet metal dates (engine compartment panels that were easy to see)

Ford VIN on this car would suggest that the SCHEDULED build date had been estimated to be Feb 21

Drivers Side Front------------------Feb 1
Drivers Side Rear-------------------Feb 7
Drivers Side Sway Mount-----------Jan 28
Drivers Side Cowl Filler-------------Feb 2
Passenger Side Rear---------------Feb 1
Passnger Side Sway Mount---------Jan 28
Passenger Side Cowl Filler----------Feb 8

Even the hood (though its date would have nothing to do with the others) showed a Jan 31 date

This particular car sat until Sept 66 when it and a group of cars (red, blue, green cars as well as a couple of white carry overs) were shipped to Dana Chevrolet

Hope this helps

 

Hey ed..our car is 1902 and it was delivered to Hayward on May 15th..day before yours...we are trying to figure out our birthday also..still new at this all ..

Jimmy

 

Unless there are documents that I've not seen your quest for an exact date will come up short.

At best you can take your Ford VIN and compare it to other cars from San Jose (if you have a Mustang by the Numbers or know someone that does). That will give you a general idea of what projected build date Ford would have assigned the car. That date is good for about 3 weeks before or after.

You can then take that date and also compare it to the know original sheet metal on the car and compare those dates to fine tune it a little, but it will never IMHO be exact. (do this allot for cars I help with

Hope this helps a little explain the process

 

Thanks Jeff...will have to look for that book...can you point me to some locations as to were I would find date codes on our sheetmetal? I dont even know where to start to look..

Jimmy

 

Easiest ones are

Front fender - stamped on the lip where it bolts to the car

Filler panel - the small panel that covers the inner fender panel to the cowl

Front sway bar mounting brackets - welded between the strut rod mounts and the frame

Inner fender panel - drivers side in front of the shock tower. Approx mid panel

Others you will have to search and clean for. Basically each sheet metal panel will have a stamping date indicating month, day of month, stamping plant and shift if I remember correctly

The book I mentioned may be difficult to find (think its out of print currently) If you wish email me directly and send me your cars Ford VIN (change the last one or two digits if it make you feel safer) and I'll give you the projected build date
Hope this helps

 

Why don`t you e-mail or call the 66 Shelby registrar at SAAC Howard Pardee and see if he can help, that`s what the club is for, to help you. Go to the SAAC site it is helpful just like this one.

 

Ok...found some numbers...driver side sway bar mount 1 17 20 passenger side 3 14 20 both fenders 3 16 3 and driver side inner fender in front of shock tower is 3 17 ?1

Ok so does that put my car being built in March of 66 ...do rear end tags and tranny tags and steering box tags all have the same info as far as build date..or a specific week..or just month if so then am I safe to say all my tags will just have a 3 in them somewhere?

Jimmy

 

From that it appears that really late March, early June would make sense IMHO. Looks like a pretty consisitent grouping as usual

No some of these will have day, month and year. Remember this will be when they were assemblied at their plants. Add to this shipping time to the San Jose plant by rail typically. All adds time to the date you see.

 

Hi Jeff..you mean early april right, not June.. car was delivered on May 15th

Darn...is there anything else on the car I can look at for week and day...we just emailed howard pardee ..since he knows our vin..maybey he can narrow it down for us...??

 

Sorry - yes April.

Would be interested if Howard has any way of pinning it down and if so how it was done

 

Hey Jeff..thank you for your response..yea I was like June?? I will let you know what howard says..we are a little new at this and I hope no one is laughing at us by trying to invent the wheel when its been already invented..as far as our efforts and ideas to try to find out the build date...but thank you and everyone else for your help and time in my posts. I realy appreciate it so much..

Jimmy