Mustang off the line number

bodvarson · Oct 13, 2020

My Foxbody obsession started with my first car which is a rusted 86 GT convertible. It has a spot on the top of the radiator support that reads #86 30 May 1986. I always assumed my car was the 86th off the line from that and I thought that it's pretty cool to be the same number off the line as it's year is. I even celebrate her birthday with some burnouts. I also have been wondering how accurate that is. Maybe the previous owner just wrote it on there years ago. Did Ford actually do that with their cars? I've never noticed it done before. Watch with my luck and stupidity every foxbody has this on it and I've just never noticed. Picture posted

I want to preserve this little spot because I'm officially starting the restoration process and want to know if it's worth anything to keep that spot like it is now.

90sickfox · Oct 14, 2020

None of my mustangs have had that. I'm on my 13th one. Smh

Rdub6 · Oct 14, 2020

What are the last numbers of your VIN#. I always thought that was the production number. Maybe the last 5 or 6 digits.
Edit:
Found this

BlakeusMaximus · Oct 14, 2020

None of the mustangs I’ve had haven’t had that either. I’m on my 5th one. Who knows what that could mean.

FoxChasis · Oct 14, 2020

Rdub6 said:
What are the last numbers of your VIN#. I always thought that was the production number. Maybe the last 5 or 6 digits.
Edit:
Found this

Cars are neither produced in order by, nor do they 'come off the line' in order of, the last six of the VIN

Rdub6 · Oct 14, 2020

FoxChasis said:
Cars are neither produced in order by, nor do they 'come off the line' in order of, the last six of the VIN

Interesting! Never knew that.

Ryuk · Oct 14, 2020

I seem to recall the month and day was stamped on the radiator support in a very faint yellow ink.

Mustang5L5 · Oct 14, 2020

Mine says MO in three different spots. Was about to sand this off...unless someone can tell me the significance

Btw, if you get a marti report, the deluxe report will tell you when the car was built. Mine was Feb 10th, 1988...but I don’t see any correlation to what’s written below

bodvarson · Oct 16, 2020

JD08 said:
I seem to recall the month and day was stamped on the radiator support in a very faint yellow ink.

That's interesting. Maybe that day they didn't have that stamp machine running and took a sharpie to it. Or maybe since it was early off the line they did it. But early off the line wouldn't make sense because obviously, 85-86 isn't a very different car.

Wayne Waldrep · Oct 16, 2020

I think that marker is the marker they use in a junkyard. The part of your car that was crushed by an 18 wheeler has a used part cut from another crushed car from spot #86 of the junkyard. Yours too Mike!

Mustang5L5 · Oct 16, 2020

Some guy named MO junked my car....3 times

General karthief · Oct 16, 2020

Wayne Waldrep said:
I think that marker is the marker they use in a junkyard. The part of your car that was crushed by an 18 wheeler has a used part cut from another crushed car from spot #86 of the junkyard. Yours too Mike!

Most junk err, salvage yard parts I've dealt with has a number, sometimes 5 or more characters long that traces back to the vehicle it was removed from.

Wayne Waldrep · Oct 16, 2020

General karthief said:
Most junk err, salvage yard parts I've dealt with has a number, sometimes 5 or more characters long that traces back to the vehicle it was removed from.

Shhhh..... You're killing my joke.

General karthief · Oct 16, 2020

Wayne Waldrep said:
Shhhh..... You're killing my joke.

Sorry, carry on.

Shakerhood · Oct 17, 2020

I ordered a report for my car, it said they produced 88 Mustangs that day and mine was #87.

FoxChasis · Oct 18, 2020

Shakerhood said:
I ordered a report for my car, it said they produced 88 Mustangs that day and mine was #87.

Nobody knows that info (what order made on any particular day), not even Ford. So #87 of 88 that day is made up. I know how they make the number up and their logic is flawed. Ford didn't make cars in the order claimed on those reports, or on certificates.

Monkeybutt2000 · Oct 18, 2020

Shakerhood said:
I ordered a report for my car, it said they produced 88 Mustangs that day and mine was #87.

If they only made 88 Mustangs that day they had serious production issues.

Shakerhood · Oct 18, 2020

Monkeybutt2000 said:
If they only made 88 Mustangs that day they had serious production issues.

Dont know, It was made on the day of Rodney King Riots so maybe there was an impact because of that.

FoxChasis · Oct 19, 2020

But was it 88 total or 88 with that particular body paint color and that particular interior trim code?

Mustang5L5 · Oct 19, 2020

They made ~211,000 Mustangs for the 1988 model year. I don't know the production cutoff dates for that model year, but lets assume that was for a full 365 days of production...that's almost 600 mustangs a day.

Mustang off the line number

bodvarson

Member

Attachments

90sickfox

Wasn't a pretty sight...and I've got big hands

Rdub6

So while I wait to figure out my rear end issues

BlakeusMaximus

Still got to try a little lube on my speedo head

FoxChasis

Rdub6

So while I wait to figure out my rear end issues

Ryuk

I love your drawers

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

bodvarson

Member

Wayne Waldrep

Before I post a pic, do you have one of yours?

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Wayne Waldrep

Before I post a pic, do you have one of yours?

General karthief

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Shakerhood

FoxChasis

Monkeybutt2000

Mustang Master

Shakerhood

FoxChasis

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Similar threads

Mustang off the line number

Member

Attachments

Wasn't a pretty sight...and I've got big hands

So while I wait to figure out my rear end issues

Still got to try a little lube on my speedo head

So while I wait to figure out my rear end issues

I love your drawers

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

Member

Before I post a pic, do you have one of yours?

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Before I post a pic, do you have one of yours?

wonder how much it would cost to ship you a pair

Mustang Master

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

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