Topic: 67 SJ Running Change Survey - 9" Oil Fill Location

[J_Speegle]

Working down the list of running changes that took place during 1967 production at San Jose. As the title states in this tread we're looking at the change of location for the fill plug. Currently there are three patterns

1- Fill plug located on the rear surface of the rearend housing and no fill plug in third member.



2- Fill plug located on rear surface of the rear end housing and on the drivers side of the third member.



3- Fill plug only in the third member. None on the rear of the housing.


Pictures and data from the third member appears to be the most difficult since the sunken area is more difficult to see in pictures and often is hidden or dark.

If you have a date on third member that would be good to include.

Remember we need your VIN (or shortened VIN) and real production (finish) date so we can collect and compare data points. 


Thanks - lets see where this takes us

[Bossbill]

Signature Shelby with 9", per normal. Has the housing fill and diff fill.
6M20 date on center section and pinion support (might be 6M28 on support).

[Paperback Writer]

My signature car has option 1: fill plug on the rear housing, nothing on the third member.

The date code on the third member is 6H29, and the rear axle tag reads as follows:

          WES - F
          3   00  6HE  933

[Bossbill]

Maybe this post will help clear the cobwebs . . .

For extra credit, what does your housing fill plug look like?
Flat and smooth on the top portion (the part you see) and rough cast on the sides?

[Bossbill]

This one still bugs me.
Was the rear fill on 9" housings with two fill plugs painted with the housing or did it have some other finish (bare or zinc)?
The aluminum seal shows and is currently bare. That would be wrong if painted with the housing.

[T-Bone68]

My car had an actual build date by Marti of 05/01/1967.  1967 GT350.  No plug in the 9in housing.

I of course can't guarantee the 9in wasn't swapped at some point, but it was rusty and likely never restored.  Attached pic of the inside shows the cut out hole outline at that location.  Could this have been tooling getting ready for the changeover, or did all early 9in have that detail?

[67gtasanjose]

My car had an actual build date by Marti of 05/01/1967.  1967 GT350.  No plug in the 9in housing.

I of course can't guarantee the 9in wasn't swapped at some point, but it was rusty and likely never restored.  Attached pic of the inside shows the cut out hole outline at that location.  Could this have been tooling getting ready for the changeover, or did all early 9in have that detail?

It would appear that the pattern is:
EARLY= Fill plug in Housing and
LATE= Fill plug in 3rd Member

Interesting though that evidence remains of the EARLY tooling in the LATE housings.

[J_Speegle]

Have been looking and doing a survey about this subject I should find time to publish. The fill on the housing shows up for a long time well into the spring and possibly beyond.  Maybe there were two suppliers for the housings to the Sterling plant where the rearends were assembled.

On the other (Bills question) about the housing fill and washer we also should consider if the housing and fill were painted as a unit then when it was filled the plug was removed so there would be damage from the wrench would be seen. Also during the process the washer might change it orientation so that you might see it clocked differently exposing areas where there was no paint.

NOTE: Discussion on 3rd member plug sealant separated and established as a new thread here 
https://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=27055.0