Just the Details...Factory Markings in the Mustang Trunk

June '64 produced Mustang High Performance Coupe.
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If you read our Blog at all, you know my personal favorites are the '65 and '66 289 High Performance / K Code Mustangs (and, of course, GT-350s).  

I may have posted these images before, but for you geeky detail freaks, they are worth looking at again.

The first one is an image of our June '64 Dearborn produced HiPo Mustang Coupe.  In case you can't picture where this is on the car, it is the area right in front of the gas tank.  As you can see, this area was lettered "HI-PERF" before the Poppy Red paint was applied.

We have another image of a October '64 Dearborn produced HiPo Mustang Fastback.  On this Mustang, you can see that "HP" was written in the same area.

We also are aware of a October '64 San Jose Mustang Fastback lettered in the same area with "HI-PERF".

If you have a K Code with any similar markings, we would certainly be interested in seeing a picture and/or hearing about it.

HI-PERF Marking in the trunk of a 1964 1/2 Mustang K Code Coupe
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HP Marking in the trunk of a 1965 Mustang Fastback.
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Just the Details...Mustang Pinch Weld Rocker Area Black Out

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
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1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
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The pinch weld rocker panel area was blacked out on Mustangs for appearance reasons.  It was done on all cars except the dark colored cars.  In fact, it is still done on many cars today.

Anyway, for you detail guys, you may have noted that on many 1965 and 1966 Mustangs this process was accomplished by sprayed the black on this pinch welded area.  

I have noted on many of the earlier production 1964 Mustangs that it was often brushed on.  I've posted several pictures here of our original paint '64 1/2 HiPo Mustang coupe here as just one example of this.  This is a June production, Dearborn assembly plant Mustang.

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

1964 1/2 Mustang "Black Out" on pinch weld area.  This particular example is from an original paint car and was brushed, as opposed, to being sprayed on.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

Just the Details...Early Mustang Trunk Boards

Early style trunk board in a June 1964 Dearborn built Mustang coupe.
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 OK, just when you thought my Mustang "Just the Details..." posts could not get any geekier, Jeremy at Maple Hill Restoration comes up with this little observation.  There was actually a difference between the 64 1/2-early 65 Mustang trunk boards and the later ones.  As you can see in the images posted here, the earlier version is cut differently at the wheel house area.

It appears that the change was probably made to the larger notch to allow the trunk board to be installed a bit more easily.

The Mustang Trunk Board at the top of the image is the later style.  Note the larger "notch."
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By the way, when we started looking at more original 65-66 Mustang trunk boards, we looked to see if they were cut so the rough side or the smooth side was up.  It seems that this is very random...some are cut so the rough side faces up, some are cut so the smooth side faces up.

The 64 1/2-early 65 Mustang Trunk Board has the smaller cut out/notch.
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Just the Details...64 1/2-Early 65 HiPo Mustang Transverse Dual Exhaust System

The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.
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We have been posting about our original paint 1964 1/2 289 High Performance Mustang Coupe.  There are a lot of original pieces still on this car, which provides a great resource for studying original details on Mustangs.

The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  This image shows the original H-Pipe that was modified with exhaust "dumps" for drag racing.  This modification was supposedly made when the car was nearly new.
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The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  This image shows a close up of the exhaust "dumps" supposedly added by the original owner.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com 

The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  In this shot, you can see the two resonators.
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The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  This image shows an original tailpipe to hanger clamp still in place after all of these years.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com 

The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  This image shows the FoMoCo stamping with part number and 6-64 (June 1964) date on the transverse muffler.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com 

 Today, we will take a look at the transverse muffler style dual exhaust system.  This style of exhaust was originally installed on the 64 1/2 and early 65 HiPo Mustang up through sometime in maybe October of 1964.

The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  This image shows the FoMoCo stamping, part number and 6-64 (June 1964) date that appears on both resonators.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com 

We are lucky to have the complete original exhaust system on this particular Mustang.  You will note the original date stampings of June 1964 on the muffler and resonators.

The 1964 1/2 and early 1965 (before Oct. 64) K code Mustangs had a dual exhaust system that utilized two resonators that looked like mufflers and a single transverse muffler.  The RH tailpipe is attached to the transverse muffler with short carriage bolts.
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Just the Details...Mustang Paint OK Stamps

Here is a shot of the Paint OK stamping on the LH Headlight Bucket assembly on our 1964 1/2 HiPo Mustang Coupe.  This stamp was originally applied very lightly.  This area is under the headlight door and is not visible when the headlight door is installed on the car.
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We have been posting about our original paint 1964 1/2 K Code Mustang coupe, and today we will look at some of the "PAINT OK" stamps we uncovered.

Our personal preference when restoring a Mustang is to only duplicate the Paint OK stampings that are originally found.  Of course, this is not always easy, because some stampings on a 48 year old car are sometimes long gone.  These ink stamps were also sometimes applied very lightly, and sometimes maybe not there at all in the first place.  Even on this all original paint Mustang, we only found a few Paint OK stamps in the headlight bucket area, and you will note from our pictures that these are not even visible with the headlight doors installed.

Here is an image of the Paint OK stamp found on the back side of the LH Headlight Door.  This stamp is obviously not visible once the Headlight Door is installed.
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At any rate, you want to do your research.  If you do choose to add a paint stamp to your restoration, at least make sure it is of the same type that was applied to the specific production plant where your Mustang was produced.

Our '64 1/2 HiPo Mustang Coupe is a Dearborn built Mustang, and the stamps here match the stamps that we commonly see on the Dearborn production cars.

Here is an image of the Paint OK stamp found on the back side of the RH Headlight Door.  This stamp is obviously not visible once the Headlight Door is installed.
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Just the Details...65-66 Mustang Rear Bumper Date Stamping

The date stamping on a 65-66 Mustang Rear Bumper is located on the inside where the rear license plate light is mounted.  It is more difficult to see than the front bumper date stamping.  This particular example shows a date stamping of "6 1 M4."
This is June 1, 1964.
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Last month, I made a post about the date stampings on 65-66 Mustang front bumpers.  I received several questions about whether or not the rear bumpers had date stampings also.  Well, they do, but the stampings are just a bit more difficult to read due to their location.

The rear bumper is stamped with a date on the inside where the rear license plate light is located.  It is stamped from the inside.  Take a look at the example from our 64 1/2 HiPo Mustang Coupe.

1964 1/2 Mustang HiPo Coupe

1964 1/2 289 High Performance Mustang Coupe.  The light really plays games with that Poppy Red paint, so you really need to see the car in person to get a real feel for the color.  Even in this picture though, you can spot the slight difference in the color of the paint between the door and the fender.  Both have original paint, but the fenders were painted separately from the body, and this caused a slight difference.
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 We mentioned this Mustang in a few other Blog posts, and we wanted to post a few pictures of the car today.  We will have many more posts in the future about specific areas and details on this particular Mustang.

1964 1/2 289 High Performance Mustang Coupe. You can see that the original paint is a bit thin on the top edge of the LH front fender, but it shines really well for being almost 48 years old.
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It is a '64 1/2 Mustang Coupe with the K Code 289 High Performance package.  It was scheduled to be built around the first day of regular production for the HiPo Mustangs, which was June 8, 1964.  As in other cases that I have observed, this Mustang obviously was not built on or around this day.  Many of the date codes on the sheet metal are later in the month.  One of the doors is even dated June 25th.

1964 1/2 289 High Performance Mustang Coupe.  Many of the early '65 Mustangs did not originally have outside mirrors installed on the production line.  This particular car did not, and a Talbot racing mirror was installed at the dealer when the car was new back in 1964.
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This Mustang features its original 5 Bolt, VIN stamped engine along with its VIN stamped close ratio Toploader 4 speed transmission.  Amazingly enough, it still sports all of the original Poppy Red paint.  It also still has the original exhaust system, including 6 64 (June 1964) dated resonators and muffler.  All this, along with the fact that it is a rust free California car, makes it extremely valuable to a geek like me in researching these Mustangs.

Just the Details...64 1/2 Mustang Door Hinge Pillar Area

64 1/2 Mustang early door hinge pillar with "flat" area at door jamb switch.
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"Pad" mounted to door on a '64 1/2 Mustang in order for the plunger of the door jamb switch to contact the door.
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We have gotten a lot of nice response from our "Just the Details..." series of Blog posts about geeky little details on the '65-66 Mustangs and GT350's.  We appreciate the feedback and everyone reading, and welcome your comments, so we can all continue to learn about these cool cars.

With the purchase of our June '64 production HiPo Coupe, soon you will see a few posts some of these little details on '64 1/2 Mustangs.

Today, I have some pictures of the door hinge pillar area.  Specifically, this is the area where the door jamb switch mounts.  As you can see, the area around the hole on the early Mustangs is just flat.  Apparently, this was a mistake, because the plunger in the switch would not contact the door itself.  To remedy this problem, Ford installed a "pad" on the door.

A design change was made on the Mustangs to incorporate a raised area around the door jamb switch to allow the plunger to contact the door.
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As you can see, this door hinge pillar area was redesigned to be raised in this area, which eliminated the need for the pad to be attached to the door.  This change apparently occurred somewhere in late June or July of 1964.  Our August '64 Dearborn convertible features the later design change.

The pictures of the early design are from our June '64 HiPo Mustang Coupe.

Just the Details...Factory Markings on 64 1/2 Mustang HiPo Coupe

"HI PERF" marking shown in the trunk of an original paint 1964 1/2 Mustang Coupe with the K Code 289 HiPo Option.  It is a bit difficult to make out the "F" in this particular image, but it is there.
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As I mentioned, we will be featuring a "new" car on our Blog here soon.  It is an early 289 High Performance equipped Mustang Coupe with a scheduled build date of June 8, 1964 in the Dearborn plant.  It will not be a complete restoration like our HiPo Mustang Convertible, because it is an original paint car in pretty nice condition.

We will be sharing lots of little details on this original car as they are uncovered.  Today, we will take a quick look at some really cool factory markings in the trunk.  I wish the picture captured it better, but I believe you can make it out pretty well.  You will see  "HI PERF" marked on the panel in front of the gas tank.  This was obviously applied before the body color paint was applied.

If any of our readers have markings on their HiPo Mustang like this, please send us a picture and indicate the scheduled build date and production plant of the Mustang.

Just the Details...Mustang Bumper Date Stamping

Front Bumper Date Stamping on early production 1964 1/2 HiPo Mustang.  5 13 M4.  May 13, 1964.
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Here is another one of those little details that we enjoy exploring here on the Virginia Mustang Blog.  Today, we will take a look at the date stamping on original front bumpers on '65 and '66 Mustangs.

Usually, I'm not fortunate enough to find a Mustang with its original front bumper.  The stamping is located just under the front bumper on the driver's side above the parking light as shown.

The top picture shows a very original 1964 1/2 289 High Performance Mustang Coupe that we will be sharing more details about soon.

Front Bumper Date Stamping on late production 1966 GT350 Shelby.  3 29 M6.  March 29, 1966.
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