i think my car is a 64.5

[DukeGnarley]

what are the differences between the 64.5 and 65 cars? I just got what was supposed to be a 65 and am now thinking that it's a 64.5 because the window cranks are clip ons and there are a few extra slits in the radiator support. I heard those are 64.5 items only, but i'm not sure if the source was accurate. Also, was there any problems witht he 64.5 cars that were fixed by 65?

 

[golf4283]

Technically they're all 65's

 

[Ronstang]

All 65s to my knowledge had clip on window crank handles. Does it have a generator...or at least a GEN light in the instument cluster?

 

[TT670]

Early 65's did have clip ons the laters 65 and 66's had the set screw. After all these yrs your doors may have been changed. The BEST way to tell an early 65 from a late 65 is the 5th digit of the vin, if its a T,C or A than its a late 65 or 66, the 64.5's( technically just early 65's) then it will have a U, F or D. The K codes were the same both early and late.

 

[SadbutTrue]

If it has a generator, and a 260 cid/170 cid motor, then you could call it a "64.5", but they were all 65s and the whole "64.5" thing is way overblown.

 

[MrBobMarley]

I think they have interior color matched door locks too, and the 65's had chrome ones. And the generator should give it away, but I'm a little rusty on the specs right now.

 

[65Mustang2+2]

The Best way to tell if it's 64 1/2 is the Rad support, If It has gills on the passenger side. I think theres three or four of them, right in front of the battery. 65 dont have them and theres about a billion other things to look for.

 

[WORTH]

I have an early and a late, the late has 4 vertical oval slots in front of the battery, the early has those and 3 vertical louvers cut out.

 

[BobV]

Actually, there's one sure-fire, 100%, no exceptions way to tell - that's via the plant code & unit # from the VIN.

The 2nd digit is the plant code - F=Dearborn, R=San Jose, T= Metuchen. The last 6 digits are the consecutive unit number.

For Dearborn cars, anything less than 250000 is a "64-1/2", anything 250000 or greater is a 65.
For San Jose cars, anything less than 125000 is a "64-1/2", anything 125000 or greater is a 65.
ALL Metuchen cars are 65's - No 64-1/2's!

This method is sure-fire. Vin's can't (legally) change. I've seen radiator supports change (commonly wrecked or rusted). People upgraded from generator to alternator. The engine code mentioned above is accurate - except K-codes were used for both groups... Then, you have all the running changes - center-off heater, lock knobs, carpet, door cranks, spare tire holddown, etc. My 65 is a November San Jose car, and has many of the items commonly considered "64-1/2", but it's NOT!

The vin method listed above is 100% accurate, since Ford "skipped" about 20,000 numbers at each plant when they changed over.