Topic: 1965 DEALER INSTALLED GT PACKAGE

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Does anyone know or heard of a southern California Ford dealer installing a partial GT kit on a Mustang?

 A 65 fastback we have is a 289 auto C code, power steering, AC, dual exhaust with trumpets, stripes, and emblems. The engine has a 4 BB and possibly a K code engine with a cal custom chrome air cleaner and very early Edlebrock valve covers.  The original standard seats have a heavy vinyl or leather horse patch sewn in the upper seat back.

The reason that we think the car may have been worked on by the dealer is that the work is suburb, the exhaust system is aligned perfectly, the trumpets centered at the correct distance and the clamps are correct for that time period Ford.

[CharlesTurner]

Seat/exhaust work would most typically have been sub-'d out by a Ford dealer, so the quality could be hit and miss.

To be accepted as concours correct, there would have to be original documentation showing the car was sold new as-configured.

[J_Speegle]

Does anyone know or heard of a southern California Ford dealer installing a partial GT kit on a Mustang?

No but have seen cars in California that were likely modified after delivery (or still on lot) with some GT items like the grill lights.

If its got the GT emblems I'm fairly confident that its an early owner conversion. The more GT items added the easier and cheaper it would have been to just order a new GT for a buyer. All the paint and body work especially. We did this ALLOT in the late 70's- through early 80's in California. Know one guy that must have converted 30 plus C codes to GT's  claiming them to be dealer made/converted - if the buy even knew and asked about how a C code got to be a GT And our share of A codes too

The reason that we think the car may have been worked on by the dealer is that the work is suburb, the exhaust system is aligned perfectly, the trumpets centered at the correct distance and the clamps are correct for that time period Ford.

When done by dealers (dual exhaust added) the few car's I've seen were simply shipped off to Sears or Midas  and the dealer pocketed the difference between what they charged the owner and what they charged.  Never seen one converted using Ford parts for the whole system - would have been really expensive.

When was this C code built, date?

[196667Bob]

You might find the attached appropriate.

Bob

[J_Speegle]

Wonder how long it would take someone to show that ad

Yep - easy, quick ....... typical advertising

Apparently not a big seller as Ford never put together kits - rather parts had to be purchased individually.

Notice that the ad was months after 66 production started

[69cobrajetrugae2]

I haven't had a chance to run numbers on the car or find out the birth day.  It is a San Jose car and original down to every nut and bolt with the upgrade components being the exception.  It has the original windshield which is the reason I pulled the trigger on it. 5D FM-30 N in great condition. The car must have been built after April 65. Both choke tubes are in place.

 There is a smaller engine attached the top of the bigger engine, somebody said that it's the air conditioning compressor. It would take a picker to snatch it out of there!

[J_Speegle]

The more you describe of the car the more it sounds like an early owners creation.

Nothing wrong with that - allot of owners modified their cars right away to make them stand out from the millions of others as time pasted. That's why Ford and the aftermarket offered so many accessories from the beginning 
 

[dave6768]

Don't forget about all the JC Whitney stuff too.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Thanks Guys!

Your help is invaluable to us and very much appreciated.

 It is a neat car and dry as a bone.  The high desert of southern calif is a great place to garage a car, other than the rats and blackwidows.  The owner used poison bait so the rats were a non issue, but I have to fumigate the car for black widows before I will get under it!

Since we are going to drive the car, what is the most practical and least visible way to protect the original carlite 5D FM-30 glass?

Which brings up another question. Is there any availability of original glass that was used by the factory other than a new reproduction? If the windshield was replaced in the summer of 65 by the dealer, what would they have used?

[J_Speegle]

Which brings up another question. Is there any availability of original glass that was used by the factory other than a new reproduction? If the windshield was replaced in the summer of 65 by the dealer, what would they have used?

Depends on the dealer - some may have charged the owner for a new Ford part while others may have just used what ever the local glass shop had available and in turn saved the owner (who likely would not care) some money or pocketed the difference

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Would the dealer install a date correct windshield using my scenario?

 Or would it be hit and miss with regard to the date code?

Would you judges add or subtract points if the car had an original windshield that was not perfect, as opposed to a reproduction windshield in another car that was?

[J_Speegle]

Would the dealer install a date correct windshield using my scenario?

First how do you know its the correct date for the windshield? What are the dates of the other windows on the car?

If it was broken early enough in life (at the dealership or soon after delivery) then you would have a chance to have one in the neighborhood or even earlier than the car.

Would you judges add or subtract points if the car had an original windshield that was not perfect, as opposed to a reproduction windshield in another car that was?

Depends on the class entered. In general it would be better (point wise) to have a nice reproduction than a scratched or imperfect original in a restored class.

[69cobrajetrugae2]

Thanks Jeff. I will check the other glass, I did not think of that. I will assume from your statement that generally the originalk glass parts on a musstang would be close, date code wise. 

One last question. What date coded parts on a vintage mustang are likely to coincide with the date coded engine parts?

Thanks again for the information. Fascinating stuff. It's almost like going back 50 years!

[J_Speegle]

Thanks Jeff. I will check the other glass, I did not think of that. I will assume from your statement that generally the original glass parts on a mustang would be close, date code wise. 

In the general area but all of them together are rarely tightly dated - more common over a period of three months in my documentation

One last question. What date coded parts on a vintage mustang are likely to coincide with the date coded engine parts?

One has almost nothing to do with another. Any stamping dates that might match casting, assembly or machining dates on drivetrain would only be a coincidence IMHO and I've never seen any one piece on the body that would, with out doubt, always match with another exactly

[kik]

Does anyone know or heard of a southern California Ford dealer installing a partial GT kit on a Mustang?

 A 65 fastback we have is a 289 auto C code, power steering, AC, dual exhaust with trumpets, stripes, and emblems. The engine has a 4 BB and possibly a K code engine with a cal custom chrome air cleaner and very early Edlebrock valve covers.  The original standard seats have a heavy vinyl or leather horse patch sewn in the upper seat back.

The reason that we think the car may have been worked on by the dealer is that the work is suburb, the exhaust system is aligned perfectly, the trumpets centered at the correct distance and the clamps are correct for that time period Ford.

I can tell you that I have a 65 coupe that was built on 1-8-65 and delivered to the first owner on 1-12-65 from Hughson Ford Sales in San Francisco that was equipped with a GT package by Hughson Ford Sales, prior to the factory built GT's which weren't available until March or April of 65 I believe. It was owned by the original family for 46 years. I'm the third owner but I have the paperwork and the "make your Mustang into a GT" sales brochure that was stamped by Hughson Ford Sales. The parts were available prior to factory production. The only part I'm missing is the gauge package. Apparently, Hughson Ford Sales prepared a number of Mustangs with a GT package in C and A codes. All of the other options are period correct. It's original restored and currently has 52,000 miles which is low mileage original. It is a San Jose built Mustang.