Author Topic: engine casting dates.  (Read 1244 times)

Offline Bglover67

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 22
  • 1965 Factory GT Convertible
engine casting dates.
« on: September 26, 2016, 01:54:10 PM »
Hi all.  First time posting on this wonderful resource (Thanks Jeff, et al) even though I know many of you from another forum.  Quick question about my engine.  I purchased a very original '65 A code convertible from the second owner of over 47 years.  It spent all but 5 of it's years in the wonderfully dry climate of Nevada.  As such it still has all it's original sheet metal, a first for me after having a dozen or so first generation cars over the years back up in New York.   I am 95% confident that it still has it's original engine.  Can I get an opinion as to whether or not the engine's casting date to total car completion date is appropriate for this San Jose Mustang?

The block's casting date is April 27, 1965 while the completion date off the tag is May 14, 1965.  Is this too close together to be original, or were Mustangs being pumped out so fast as to meet demand that this is within accepted time frames?


Thanks,

Brian
Sincerely,

Brian

SAAC Carolina's Northern Representative

Offline Bob Gaines

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 9360
Re: engine casting dates.
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2016, 02:27:29 PM »
Hi all.  First time posting on this wonderful resource (Thanks Jeff, et al) even though I know many of you from another forum.  Quick question about my engine.  I purchased a very original '65 A code convertible from the second owner of over 47 years.  It spent all but 5 of it's years in the wonderfully dry climate of Nevada.  As such it still has all it's original sheet metal, a first for me after having a dozen or so first generation cars over the years back up in New York.   I am 95% confident that it still has it's original engine.  Can I get an opinion as to whether or not the engine's casting date to total car completion date is appropriate for this San Jose Mustang?

The block's casting date is April 27, 1965 while the completion date off the tag is May 14, 1965.  Is this too close together to be original, or were Mustangs being pumped out so fast as to meet demand that this is within accepted time frames?


Thanks,

Brian
Brian, we have seen dates tighter then that. Keep in mind that the tag date (projected ) and the actual build date(completion) may be weeks apart in the real world.
Bob Gaines,Shelby enthusiast, Shelby collector , Shelby concours judge SAAC,MCA,Mid America Shelby

Offline Bglover67

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 22
  • 1965 Factory GT Convertible
Re: engine casting dates.
« Reply #2 on: September 26, 2016, 02:44:05 PM »
All right!  As usual, you have put my mind at ease. Thanks Bob.
Sincerely,

Brian

SAAC Carolina's Northern Representative

Offline J_Speegle

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24623
Re: engine casting dates.
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2016, 12:09:44 AM »
...........Can I get an opinion as to whether or not the engine's casting date to total car completion date is appropriate for this San Jose Mustang?

The block's casting date is April 27, 1965 while the completion date off the tag is May 14, 1965.  Is this too close together to be original, or were Mustangs being pumped out so fast as to meet demand that this is within accepted time frames?

Always difficult to prove - but maybe some additional information may help us get a better idea of what you have.

Do you have the assembly date from the driver side engine front tab?  The machining date would be interesting but would require disassembly and really will not likely provide an important data point since it will fall between the cast and the assembly dates

From that I can compare it to other documented 65 San Jose examples
Jeff Speegle

Anything worth doing is worth doing concours ;)

Offline Texas Swede

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 239
Re: engine casting dates.
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2016, 12:34:15 AM »
The original engine in my 65 Shelby has a block casting date of April 23 and assembly date
on the block is May 3.
Texas Swede