Topic: Earliest '65 San Jose Build Date

[Shasmu]

The earliest San Jose build date I can remember seeing is on my customers convertible. July 13,1964.
Prarie Bronze ''D code'' 4V289.
Would this car be considered a 641/2 or a '65?
Thanks,
Dave

 

[CharlesTurner]

The build date on the warranty plate is somewhat ambiguous since it was generally a "guess" as to when the car would actually be built.  Although, to identify a 64.5 (generator car), is rather easy...  if the last 6 digits of the VIN are before 125001 at San Jose, it's a generator car.  Including and after 125001, it's an alternator car.

13G appears to be the earliest scheduled build date for a San Jose-built Mustang.

[J_Speegle]

Local shop has 5R07F100119  currently in their shop being rebuilt. Will have to see the door tag


Looks like the 13th was the earliest projected build date used on San Jose built cars according to the Mustang Production Guide reported info as Charles shared. Allot of the initially VINed cars appear to have been convertibles 

[Shasmu]

Thanks for the quick replies!
This is pretty low number vin#5ro8d1000085.
 The owner is presently trying to research correct color markings and such on the suspension, etc. and is now planning to join in on the ConcoursMustang Forums!
Dave

[FXguy]

I own 5R08D100223, Prairie Bronze convertible.  Projected build date of July 14, 1964.  One thing I see frequently is people restoring the underbody with red oxide primer which is not what this car had.  The actual color was dark gray - just an FYI for the guy who is researching colors.

[CharlesTurner]

Thanks for posting what you found.  It only further exemplifies the inconsistencies we keep finding the more we look!

[J_Speegle]

I own 5R08D100223, Prairie Bronze convertible.  Projected build date of July 14, 1964. ............ The actual color was dark gray - just an FYI for the guy who is researching colors.

Thanks  - there really are not allot of first month cars (not a period I have a good sampling of)  to compare  so your findings are helpful.  Will have to check #100119 and compare.

.. One thing I see frequently is people restoring the underbody with red oxide primer which is not what this car had.

Well in comparison most were red oxide but its not unusual owners just choose that as a option or they report "it just looks better"


BTW what color are the front frame rails on the bottom?

[FXguy]

It looked like the frame rails were first shot with red oxide along with the rest of the unibody.   Then the core support, engine side firewall, aprons inside and out, were shot with black - basically looked like the painter moved around the front end of the car and shot everything black from the firewall forward.  There was also some sound deadener sprayed on fender side of rails and aprons in a few places.  There were still a few places that the red oxide showed through on the front rails, including on the fender well side in a couple of places, but not much.  The yellow grease pencil marks were on top of the black.  The dark gray covered everything completely from the floor boards on back, including the rear frame and underside of the tunk floor - there wasn't any red oxide visible in those areas.  I also owned 5R08U108459 which didn't have any red oxide showing up front, and had less sound deadener, but was otherwise similar.

[J_Speegle]

It looked like the frame rails were first shot with red oxide along with the rest of the unibody.   Then the core support, engine side firewall, aprons inside and out, were shot with black - basically looked like the painter moved around the front end of the car and shot everything black from the firewall forward.  ..........

Thanks - sounds pretty typical (for most of the years production) except for the use of the batch color on the floor section.

Yellow crayon was the fender numbers and the sound deadener in the front wheelwells were done at the end of production and varied (with some specific minimums) as far as how much was applied. This has not appeared (the amount or placement of sound deadener) to be dependent on where the car was being shipped

Thanks for sharing

[FXguy]

It looked like the frame rails were first shot with red oxide along with the rest of the unibody.

I should clarify that the only areas that I found evidence of red oxide primer on the unibody was on the outer front frame rails, the interior, fenders, and doors.  Not saying it wasn't in other places, just saw no evidence of it.  I found some old pictures of the engine compartment partially bead blasted, and it seems there wasn't any red oxide primer in there - for example, see at the top the transition from bare metal to black has a grayish band in between, but no red oxide.

Just providing evidence here, I hope it helps.

[CharlesTurner]

It would be typical to see different color primers used in different areas of the car as they were not all sprayed at the same time or using the same process.

[Shasmu]

It would be typical to see different color primers used in different areas of the car as they were not all sprayed at the same time or using the same process.

Thanks for the replies, guys!
Interesting the sequence of assembly makes layers of different colors on different areas of the bottom side.
That original look can be a real challenge if the car is media blasted or otherwise stripped without first cleaning and taking lots of pics.

Dave

[CharlesTurner]

Thanks for the replies, guys!
Interesting the sequence of assembly makes layers of different colors on different areas of the bottom side.
That original look can be a real challenge if the car is media blasted or otherwise stripped without first cleaning and taking lots of pics.

Dave

That's one of the things we're hoping to help folks realize with forums like this one.  It's not exactly right to just pick one primer color and do the whole car with that.  Much more to it than that!