Topic: ram air hole in non-ram air hood

[mlanier1]

My 1969 M code mach 1 built 4/9/69 at Metuchen plant has a perfectly round hole in the hood under the non-ram air hood scoop.  I assumed that this was done by a previous owner but I understand that some early 69 Mach 1 came from the factory with these cutouts. Is there a way to determine if this is original to my car? I believe that my hood is original but I don't know how to determine this?  I can't find any markings. I saw 2 different non-ram air 69 Mach 1's on Ebay yesterday with cutouts similiar to mine so I'm curious to find out more information. 

[Andrew@MagMustangs]

From what I am aware of, the 1969 Mach 1's that did come with the Cut-Outs had 4 Holes with a + of metal in between them. Hopefully someone will come along with a photo or two. I do not believe it should be a single Round hole.

[drummingrocks]

Here's the two Mustangs with the hood holes on eBay:

Car #1:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-FORD-MUSTANG-MACH-1-Q-CODE-/160616748515?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item25658115e3

Car #2:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-ORIG-BLACK-PLATE-CALIF-CAR-AC-PB-PS-MARTI-REPORT-/180693287231?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2a1228c13f

Strangely enough, the holes in both hoods look similar.

[drummingrocks]

Here's pictures of both eBay cars (pictures 1 and 2), as well as the car mentioned in the original post.

eBay Car 1:


eBay Car 2:


Original Poster's (mlanier1) Car:

[J_Speegle]

There is no way for sure to tell if your car originally came with the cut outs - though IMHO it did not since your car was built later in the year after the factory stopped doing this

You can check for the date code on your hood - its possible that it was swapped from an earlier built car and a previous owner eliminated the metal between the pie cuts to produce a simple circle

[drummingrocks]

Where would the date code be stamped on the hood?  We looked the other day, and never could find it.

[Brian Conway]

Near the rear edge and above the left valve cover.  Brian