Just the Details...65-66 Mustang Rear License Plate Light Date Stamping

Note the "4F" date stamping on this Mustang rear tag light assembly.  This is from our 64 1/2 HiPo Mustang Coupe with a scheduled build date of June 8, 1964.  The original license plate light on this car is dated June of 1964.
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Here is another one of my "geeky" details for 1965 and 1966 Mustangs.  Even the rear license plate light assemblies on these Mustangs are date stamped.  I will note that I have observed many NOS Ford service part rear license plate light assemblies that did not have a date stamping.

Our example here is dated "4F" for June of 1964.

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.

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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Just the Details...More Mustang Date Codes

This early timing cover from a 289 Ford Engine is for an aluminum water pump.  Note the date coding.  The "65" is, of course, the year, and the 5 "dots" represent the months.  In this case, it is May.
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Last week, we took a look at some date code stampings and castings on a 289 Engine.  Today, we will take a quick look at some date coding that you may find on some 65-66 Mustang (and other Ford) cast aluminum parts.  This method is usually a year code along with a series of dots to represent the number of months.

This cast aluminum bellhousing from a 1965 Mustang has the same style date coding as the timing cover in the image above.
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Here is another example.  This time it is a cast aluminum thermostat housing from a 289.
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Here is a different "twist" on the date format showing "tick marks" rather than dots.
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