Topic: 65 Tag Light

[Brian Conway]

     Discovered a date stamp on my tag light and wanted to share some Mustang trivia.  Little tough to read but stamped 5E.  Are the mounting screws correct or should they be hex heads ?Brian

[Richard P.]

The mounting screws I' are correct

[Richard P.]

The mounting screws I've seen are as you show. They were not painted.

[jwc66k]

The mounting screws I've seen are as you show. They were not painted.

The two mounting screws are: 52727-S39 (cad) for 64, -S40 (clear zinc) for 65, and -S36 (gold zinc) for 66, 10-12X1/2Pan head. The light housing is gold zinc plated as individual parts and riveted together with 2 aluminum rivets. The glass retainer screw is also gold zinc.
I've seen date codes missing, with one letter, written "number first" and written "number second". I don't know which plant they came from.
Jim

[CharlesTurner]

The 2 semi-tubular rivets holding the pieces together are normally steel with zinc plating.

[jwc66k]

The 2 semi-tubular rivets holding the pieces together are normally steel with zinc plating.

After I drilled out the rivets I checked the material with the old magnet test, they were not attracted, eg - aluminum. That was a couple of years back. Still, I checked a couple more housings in the TBD stack, five to be exact, and on four the magnet stuck, one would not hold the magnet, aluminum. Sources are unknown. The date code on the odd one is F6, June 1966, last of the 66 year. I believe that the steel rivet is more appropriate as aluminum and steel do not get along in a wet environment.
Jim