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'66 Mustang engine code...

Today I went to look at an Olds Calais 4 banger 5 speed my boss offered to sell me for real cheap, and as it happens he's got a '66 Mustang sitting in his garage. It's buried under piles and piles on junk and totally surrounded by junk. Hard to get a good look at the car, and it's so duty and dirty. Anyway, I went in and had a look at it and it looked a bit rough. Missing pieces here and there and he said he thinks it's got a few pieces from a '65. Very rough. Fenders and hood are different colors from the body. I didn't see any rust or rot, but that isn't saying a whole lot as I couldn't see much of the car. When he parked it 10 years ago it ran, and he even drove it every now and again. He said he once took it to the shop class at a high school he used to work at and the shop teacher said it looked to be in good mechanical condition and all only he put some bolt or nut on something involving the rear end or something. I presume that means it's got no rust in any structural areas.

Anyway, to get to the point when I looked under the hood, which was open and had a bunch of junk wedged between the windshield and the hood I noticed it wasn't just any old 289... It had a 4 barrel carb, which looked like a Holley... It definitely wasn't an Autolite 4100, and the intake manifold looked like a factory Ford 4 barrel intake. That's when I got excited! I thought 'Hmm... I wonder if this guy has been sitting on a little K-code treasure for all these years'... The thought that immediately followed that was 'I've always wanted a K-code Fairlane, but this will do'. So I asked if there was any way we could get around to the drivers door and have a look at the VIN to see if it was a real K code and not just someone who put a Holley on an A code. After rummaging a few things out of the way we got to the door and it turned out to be a T-code. Now that puzzled me as I had never heard of such a thing. I don't know much about Mustangs as my main interest in cars is Galaxies, which don't have any T code engines.

So apparently this thing originally had an I6 in it. Was the T-code I6 the

200 or the 250? What exactly is involved in changing an I6 to a 289? The rear axles are 5 lug versions, so that was definitely changed.

I told him I would make him an offer on it as I hate to see such a nice car just sit, particularly as it seems to be pretty solid overall, but I don't have the money for it... Which is why I'm looking at the Olds he's selling for $250. I thought that engine would go nicely in my '68 Galaxie, and I could store the car in the garage and work on it as I had the time and money for it. The engine ran well when he parked it. I'd imagine all it needs is a carb rebuild (I even have a working Holley carb on my '68) and a little TLC in the form of some oil in the cylinders and a gentle hand to get it moving again. He said maybe some time in the future he would sell it to me if he never got around to working on it.

Cory

Reply to
Cory Dunkle
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Well the doors may have been changed too and they may have been originally an I6 cars. The best way to see what the actual chassis had is to look at the VIN on the inside driver side fender apron ( above the washer bag area) There is a notch in the fender edge that will have the VIN beside it on the inner fender apron.

If the motor is a HiPo 289 the easiest way to tell externally is to measure the harmonic damper it should be at least 2 inches thick compared to all other SBF that have dampers that are only about 1 inch. The stock distributor will be dual point with no vacuum advance and also they have no casting bosses or holes where one can be added. It was a unique casting. The blocks and heads are unique too but that is harder too ascertian visually from the outside. The A code and K code both use the same intake but the K had low restriction iron "Header" style exhaust manifolds ( which usually got ripped off and headers installed). Over the years it is hard to trace all the things that may have happened and many parts could be cobbled together also. Good Luck and I hope you get a score someday. StuK

Reply to
Stuart&Janet

The doors appeared to be original. The front fenders are from another car as they are a different color. The doors are both the same color and match the rest of the car... No obvious evidence that they were changed, but like you said you can never know with a car like this.

The engine is probably not a hi-po since it had a vacuum advance. I doubt anyone would have downgraded to a single points vacuum advance distributor. Probably just an A code engine upgraded to a Holley carb. It looked like a cool car with potential though. I didn't see any rust damage from what I saw, and no rot in the wheel wells. It could be a real nice car if it just got some attention.

Maybe in a year or two if he hasn't done anything with it I'll be in a position to make an offer. Probably could get it for cheap considering the shape it's in. Anyone care to venture a guess at what it's worth? Value in VMR guides was $750 for a #5 car and $2425 for a #4 car. It's definitely not a #4. Some of the car is in pieces, though it seems like everything is there. May or may not run (needs a very gentle breaking in as he did nothing to prep it for storage), slow transmission fluid leak when he parked it, needs a lot of miscellaneous things. I could barely see the car under all the junk... When he opened the garage though I felt sympathy for it. I wanted to throw all that stuff off it, hose it off and gently bring her back to life.

It's such a small car, it seems tiny, and very thin... I guess that's because I'm used to my Galaxies. I've always heard the storys about cars left to sit in barns and garages but I never thought I'd find one. It looks to have escaped any major rust damage. I feel bad letting a beautiful classic sit there like that being used as a bench to put garage junk on. At least it's indoors and won't deteriorate much more than it already has. It seems like a possibility for me down the road, as even though he says he wants to work on it this summer I'm not sure he will if he's said it every year for 10 years and hasn't even gotten around to cleaning out the garage so he can at least _see_ it. Perhaps it would make a good daily driver, a nice small car with a small engine and good mileage. Or perhaps a toy to play with on the weekends. I don't know... I won't worry about it. I offered to help him out with the car whenever he wants. I thought it may be encouragement to at least get it running again and cleaned up. I told him he ought to register it as a classic and drive it on every now and again when the weather is nice. I just ahte to see cars in such good shape sit and deteriorate (relative to, oh say my '67 Galaxie which had a rusted out frame and rear quarters and had lived a very hard 202,000 miles). It's a beautiful car and should be out on the road being driven, stretching its legs on relaxing cruises or laying down rubber and hauling ass... Out there for the world to enjoy.

Cory

"Stuart&Janet" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@golden.net...

an I6 cars. The

measure the harmonic

Reply to
Cory Dunkle

which should have been a 200" 6

Reply to
Me

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