ConcoursMustang Forums
1st Generation 1964 1/2 - 1973 - Questions & general discussions that apply to a specific year => 1964 1/2 - 1965 => Topic started by: DKutz on February 25, 2017, 04:55:35 PM
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Helping a friend get a 64.5 vert back on the road. It's been in the family since new. It's been sitting for quit a while and is currently buried under a tarp in the yard. Looked at it briefly today and noticed it had 64.5 headlight buckets but a 65 hood. I was not able to open hood or check vin or door tag today (hopefully soon). But.
Is it un heard of to have 64.5 buckets with a 65 hood, or did it happen later in the "64.5" run while going to 65.
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Looked at it briefly today and noticed it had 64.5 headlight buckets but a 65 hood. I was not able to open hood or check vin or door tag today (hopefully soon). But.
Is it un heard of to have 64.5 buckets with a 65 hood, or did it happen later in the "64.5" run while going to 65.
Verify the VIN first. After the 64 run was complete, any usable leftovers were installed on 65 models.
Jim
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The first 6 weeks or so of production in 1964 had what appears to be a '65 hood with the front corners turned under. These hoods are unique in the underside structure, so they are not actually 'just a '65 hood'. Find out the scheduled build date, it may be the original hood.
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+1
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The first 6 weeks or so of production in 1964 had what appears to be a '65 hood with the front corners turned under. These hoods are unique in the underside structure, so they are not actually 'just a '65 hood'. Find out the scheduled build date, it may be the original hood.
Charles, I might have a situation like this too. I have a 64.5 with a build date on the tag of "09D". This car was my Dad's and he bought it new. I am currently restoring it. My body guy knows Mustangs fairly well and is in search of a "64.5 hood" for me but from what you are saying, this could be original? We had a frontal collision in the 60's and I have just assumed the hood was replaced. Could you give me a direction where I can check my hood out? Thanks! Tom PS. It appears to have a 65 headlight bucket on the passenger side and a 64.5 headlight bucket on the driver's side. We are assuming this was changed in the accident as well, but that is up for debate too I guess.
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Some background: 1st generation hood - day one production in March until late April 1964. Folded corners (like a '65 hood), no dimples stamped into leading edge (later examples had four dimples for strength stamped into the leading edge of the hood).
2nd generation hood - late April 1964 until late August 1964 - unfolded corners, four dimples stamped into leading edge. This is what most enthusiasts identify as "the '64 1/2 hood."
3rd generation hood - late August 1964 until July 1965 - folded corners, four dimples stamped into leading edge.
An 09D car would definitely have the 1st generation hood, with no strength dimples stamped into the leading edge, and folded corners like a '65 hood.
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Wow! I cant find any dimples so it must be a legit 1st generation hood....Sure glad I signed up here! Thanks Steve & Charles...very helpful!!!! Tom
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Would be best to post a pic to be sure... One of the area, side to side, where the hood pin attaches.
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Some pictures of these dimples would be appreciated. I've got what would be classified as a 2nd Gen hood because the edges aren't folded, but my best guess on a build date is Mar 23 (based on VIN and compared to other VINs with "known" build dates, and yes, I know build dates are a guesstimate), so that should have a 1st Gen hood. I'm the 3rd owner, bought in Oct '86, and I've never replaced the hood, don't know if previous owners did (and if they did, what are the chances they would know to get that hood). Next time I see the car (it's currently getting some mechanicals worked on) I need to try to find the coding on the hood and see if that gives me an idea of when it was made.
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Here's a pic of the hood off mine (March 64), squares in the pic what I believe is being discussed here.
Pic of the heavily stamped date (which makes it hard to read) attached and one flipped for ease of decoding, to me looks like 3 20 ?3
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I know, wrong color. Painted a Datsun color in 1978. :( Soon to be Wimbledon White again!
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Looks like the real deal 1st version hood.
Note the capture of your pic... on the first version, there are no small 'divots' or triangle indentations along those edges the red arrows point to. This is how to tell the difference between the first hood and the normal 65 hood, which would be the 3rd version.
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Here's a pic of the hood off mine (March 64), squares in the pic what I believe is being discussed here.
Pic of the heavily stamped date (which makes it hard to read) attached and one flipped for ease of decoding, to me looks like 3 20 ?3
Dom, that's the typical 64.5 hood with front corners turned out. The date code looks like a May (5) date.
The areas that were identified with the squares show the dimples, which wouldn't be on the first version hood.
The first version hood was phased out sometime in later April '64
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Charles, thank you sir...pretty exciting for the rookie!!!
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Charles, thank you sir...pretty exciting for the rookie!!!
Now the fun begins, having to explain to everyone that the hood is indeed correct for the first 5-6 weeks of production.
It's a detail very few are aware of. I know Steve Grant used to get beat up quite a bit when showing his 64.5 pace car coupe with the first version hood.
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I can understand that challenge....I just explained it to my guy doing the body work...and he is really good at this whole Mustang thing! Will be a great conversation (argument) point! ;)
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For those looking to verify a hood, please note that I have seen two examples of 1st generation hoods with the folded corners pried open to appear like a 2nd generation hood on two very early cars. This was done before this research was published, and existence of the 1st generation hood discovered. The corners on these modified hoods are much sharper, and the corners are not as neatly integrated into the hood's tooling like a true 2nd generation example.
It was sad to see a very special and rare 1st generation hood destroyed to fake a 2nd generation hood.
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So if the original hoods had those edges folded under, why did they have the beveled headlight buckets? I always thought they were beveled to accommodate the edges of the hood coming down. Was a reason ever discovered about why the changes, from folded, to unfolded and then back to folded?
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No documented information on the hood changes. Also no evidence regarding the relationship between beveled headlight buckets and the hood corners. Plenty of speculation, but no documented information I've ever seen.
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Dom, that's the typical 64.5 hood with front corners turned out. The date code looks like a May (5) date.
The areas that were identified with the squares show the dimples, which wouldn't be on the first version hood.
The first version hood was phased out sometime in later April '64
Thanks Charles, at least it's the typical 64.5 hood. Trying to find a first version hood I'd probably need to cast Tom Cruise for another installment of Mission Impossible ;D
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Some background: 1st generation hood - day one production in March until late April 1964. Folded corners (like a '65 hood), no dimples stamped into leading edge (later examples had four dimples for strength stamped into the leading edge of the hood).
2nd generation hood - late April 1964 until late August 1964 - unfolded corners, four dimples stamped into leading edge. This is what most enthusiasts identify as "the '64 1/2 hood."
3rd generation hood - late August 1964 until July 1965 - folded corners, four dimples stamped into leading edge.
An 09D car would definitely have the 1st generation hood, with no strength dimples stamped into the leading edge, and folded corners like a '65 hood.
Thank you for clarifying this. I have a 2nd generation hood, unfolded corners, four dimples stamped into leading edge date code July 30. Unfortunately, it is not the original hood for my Oct 2 schedule build SJ fastback.
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Ok I took some pictures of the hood today. This is a March 30 1964 build. Seems right according to this post. I did not take pictures of the dimples, or lack there of.
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Another
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Need pics of the area where the hood pin attaches, from end to end. That's where the dimples would be.
The pace car I restored seemed to have a hybrid hood, had the dimples, but the ends weren't completely turned down. That was a late April build date though, so it seemed possible.