All 1965 and 1966 Mustangs came standard with the heater and defroster assembly. So, did you
have to get your Mustang with one? Well, you could opt out and get the heater delete "option". When you deleted the heater, you received a credit for not getting this piece of "standard equipment."
I've found that having the "heater delete" is quite rare and was usually reserved for Mustangs ordered in Hawaii, south Florida or another very warm climate. Of course, when it was deleted so was the defroster, so some folks may have regretted the decision! Mustangs specifically ordered to be converted to race cars sometimes had the heater deleted for weight savings.
I've always been a bit fascinated by the heater delete, so I dug my original pieces out of storage and shot these pictures to share.
The top picture shows the complete kit. I also think that the heater delete Mustangs may have received "covers" for the holes for defroster ducts located beside the dash speaker hole. I believe these covers were originally made out of the same material as the cardboard glove box. They are not pictured above.
The kit consisted of the following:
- Caps for the water pump and intake elbow where the heater hoses would have been connected.
- Plastic dash plate to cover the hole in the dash where the heater chrome bezel and controls would have been located.
- Plastic plugs for the heater hose holes in the firewall.
- Metal stamped block off plate for the hole in the firewall where the heater motor would be located.
- The RH (passenger side) fresh air duct and door assembly.
- J-Bolts for attachment of above.
Also the "knock out" areas in the firewall insulation mat where the heater box assembly and heater hoses would have been located remained in place.
The above image shows both the front and rear view of the plastic block off plate for the dash on a 65-66 heater delete equipped Mustang.
The images below show different views of the RH (passenger side) fresh air duct assembly.
The above image show the view from the firewall side of the stamped steel heater motor block off plate attached to the firewall from the under dash area. The below image just shows the other side of the plate. This was attached to the firewall with four small hex sheet metal screws as pictured in the very top image.
