Mustangs List FAQ - Part 2

MUSTANGS MAILING LIST FAQ - PART 2, Version 1.1
Last updated 8/11/94.

NOTE:  The information in this document is correct to the best of the
author's knowledge.  However,  due to a change in employers the author will
not be able to update/correct this document in the future.  The author
accepts no responsibility for any damage, injury, or other "loss" you
encounter while working on your car.

[This door-tag information in this document was written by Andre
Molyneux, with additional input from James Delahanty, and Troy Wecker.]

This installment of the FAQ covers the following subjects:

	1) Door tag info ("How do I know what XXXX my car came with?")
	2) What effect will a different axle ratio have on my car?


=====================================================================
1) Door tag info ("How do I know what XXXX my car came with?")
=====================================================================

The vehicle door tag can tell you quite a bit about the color and options
that your car left the factory with.  One of these bits of information
answers "What axle ratio does my car have?" which is very near the top of
the list of frequently asked questions.

This information was distilled from various years of shop manuals and
specification books.  The original version of this document was based
on a 1992 manual, so some bits may apply to '92 Mustangs only.  Some
information (such as trim codes and paint) change very often, while others
probably haven't changed since '79.  As a result, the info listed below is
not guaranteed to apply to your vehicle, although most of it is probably
accurate for the years listed.  Buying the factory manuals for your year
is the only way to be certain of having the correct information for your
car (and even then there may be a few typos).

A handy source for all sorts of info on V8 powered 1979-1993 Mustangs is
the "1979-93 V8 Mustang Specification Guide", available from:

	DriveLines
	P.O. Box 915
	Pearblossom, CA  93533-0915


The Vehicle Certification Label is located on the driver's door lock panel
(the rear edge of the door) on Mustangs.  The label will look something
like this (on late '80's-early '90's cars, anyway):

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
|              MFD. BY FORD MOTOR CO.  IN U.S.A.               |
| DATE: 06/91                    GVWR:    4660LB/2113KG        |
| FRONT GAWR:   2599LB             1178KG                      |
| REAR GAWR:   2092LB              948KG                       |
| THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL MOTOR        |
| VEHICLE SAFETY, BUMPER, AND THEFT PREVENTION STANDARDS IN    |
| EFFECT ON THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE SHOWN ABOVE.         +-----+
| VIN:1FABP50U1KG250710                                  |F0236|
| TYPE:PASSENGER                                         |R0163|
|    +------------------------------------------------------+  |
|    |                                                      |  |
|    |            B   A   R       C   O   D   E             |  |
|    |                                                      |  |
|    +------------------------------------------------------+  |
| 11   XXXXXX  XXXXXX                            B1      XXXX  |
| EXTERIOR PAINT COLORS                           |  DSO       |
| -----------------------------------------------------------  |
| BODY  | VR  |  MLDG   | INT TRIM | TAPE | R | S | AX | TR    |
| 54D    XX      XXX         YF      XX     H   X   M   TJJJJ  |
|                                            FOEB-58204A10-BB  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+

Most of the information of interest is at the bottom of the tag.
I'll break down some of them in detail.  First, a bit of info about
the VIN:

1981-1993 Vehicles have a 17 character VIN.  Not sure about 1994
vehicles.

             1 F A B P 4 2 E 2 K Z 1 0 0 0 0 1
             |   | | | | | | | | | |         |
             +-+-+ | | +++ | | | | +----+----+
World Mfg -----+   | |  |  | | | |      +--Production Sequence Number
Identifier         | |  |  | | | +---Assembly Plant
  Restraint System-+ |  |  | | +-------Model Year
  Type               |  |  | +---Check Digit
     Constant "P"----+  |  +------Engine Type
Line, Series, Body Type-+


1979-1980 Vehicles have a 11 character VIN

             X X X X X X X X X X X
             | | | | | |         |
Model year---+ | +++ | +----+----+
               |  |  |      |
  Assembly Plant  |  |      +- Order Number
                  |  |
     Body Type----+  +---Engine Type



The items of most interest here are probably the "Body Type" and
"Engine Type" fields.  For Mustangs, the body type codes are:

     #    Year(s)     Body Type                     Body Code
     --   ---------   ---------------------------   ---------
     02   1979-1980   Base 2-Dr sedan                  60F
     03   1979        Base 2-Dr sedan hatchback        69F
     03   1980        Ghia/Cobra 2-Dr hatchback        61R
     04   1979-1980   Ghia 2-Dr sedan                  60H
     05   1979        Ghia/Cobra 2-Dr hatchback        69R
     05   1980        Base 2-Dr sedan hatchback        61H
     10   1981        Base 2-Dr sedan                  66B
     10   1982        L/GL 2-Dr sedan                  66B
     12   1981        Ghia 2-Dr sedan                  66H
     12   1982        GLX 2-Dr sedan                   66H
     13   1981        Base 2-Dr sedan hatchback        61H
     13   1982        GL 2-Dr sedan hatchback          61H
     15   1981        Ghia/Cobra 2-Dr hatchback        61R
     16   1982        GLX/GT 2-Dr hatchback            61B
     26   1983        L/GL/GLX 2-Dr sedan              66B
     26   1984        L/LX 2-Dr sedan                  66B
     26   1985-1987   LX 2-Dr sedan                    66B
     27   1983        GLX/GT 2-Dr sedan convertible    66B
     27   1984-1987   LX/GT 2-Dr sedan convertible     66B
     28   1983        GL/GT/GLX 2-Dr sedan hatchback   61B
     28   1984        L/LX/GT 2-Dr sedan hatchback     61B
     28   1985-1987   LX/GT 2-Dr sedan hatchback       61B
     40   1988-1991   LX 2-Dr sedan                    66B
     40   1992-1994   LX 2-Dr sedan                    LX2
     41   1988-1991   LX 2-Dr sedan hatchback          61B
     41   1992-1993   LX 2-Dr sedan hatchback          LX3
     42   1988-1991   GT 2-Dr sedan hatchback          61B
     42   1992-1993   GT 2-Dr sedan hatchback          GT3
     42   1994        GT 2-Dr sedan                    GT3
     44   1988-1991   LX 2-Dr sedan convertible        66B
     44   1992-1994   LX 2-Dr sedan convertible        LXC
     45   1988-1991   GT 2-dr sedan convertible        66B
     45   1992-1994   GT 2-dr sedan convertible        GTC

Engine types are as follows:

     3     3.8L CFI/2-Bbl V6 [1986]
     4     3.8L SEFI V6 [1984]
     A     2.3L
     D     4.2L 2-Bbl V8 [1980-1981]
     D     5.0L SEFI SHP V8 (Cobra, Super High Performance) [1993-1994]
     E     5.0L SEFI HO V8 [1988-1993]
     F     5.0L 2-Bbl V8 [1979]
     F     5.0L HO 2-Bbl V8 [1982]
     F     5.0L HO CFI V8 [1984]
     M     5.0L HO 4-Bbl V8 [1983-1985]
     M     5.0L HO SEFI V8 [1986-1987]
     M     2.3L OHC SEFI I-4 [1988-1993]
     T     2.3L OHC EFI Turbo/Intercooled I-4 [1984-1986]
     T     5.0L SEFI HO V8 [1994]

Now for the codes near the bottom of the tag.  The number above the
words "EXTERIOR PAINT COLORS" is the exterior paint code.  My manual
lists 61 paint codes so I won't list them here - I assume that only
a small fraction of them were available on the Mustang.

Now, looking left-to-right across the line that starts with "BODY"
and ends with "TR".

     BODY     Body code.  This code will be one of those showed when
              discussing the VIN body type code.

     VR       Convertible roof type and color identification:

              Info from 1992 manual
              ---------------------
              A     Black
              R     Dark Blue
              W     White

              Info from 1994 manual
              ---------------------
              MM    Saddle
              RR    Black
              WW    White

     MLDG     Moulding type color codes.  There are 12 codes for the LX
              and 5 for the GT, so I won't list them here.

     INT      Interior Trim:

              Code    Trim Fabric Scheme      Seat Type
              ------  ------------------      ---------
              B or 1       Vinyl             B-Individual
              C or 2       Leather           A-Sport
              D or 4       Cloth             A-Sport
              F or 6       Cloth             B-Individual

              There are also color codes under here, but there's too
              many to list.

     TAPE     There's no list of codes given for this field.  The
              field is described as "Tape Stripe" with no other explanation.
              1986-87 information had this field labeled as "A/C".

     R        Radio Type Codes (these codes change often - what's listed
              below are the 1992 options):

              5     Radio Premium AM/FM Stereo Disc
              6     Radio AM/FM/MPX, Electronic Premium Cassette
              7     Radio AM/FM/MPX, Cassette
              8     Radio Premium AM/FM Clock Cassette
              9     Radio AM/FM, Clock Cassette Electronic Tune
              F     Radio AM/FM Stereo-Electronic
              H     Radio AM/FM Stereo/Cassette, Electronic
              Y     Radio Delete

              On my car, these codes don't match up.  I've got the bargain
              basement AM/FM digital radio, but my door tag shows "7".

     S        Sun Roof/Moon roof Codes (option not available in 1994)

              B     Sliding
              C/D   Removable

              I suspect that you won't find code "B" on any '79-'93
              Mustangs.

     AX       Axle Code (the most popular code of all!)

              Conventional	Lock	Rear Axle Ratio
              ------------	----	---------------
                   G             H           2.26
                   B             C           2.47
                   8             M           2.73
                   7             -           3.07
                   Y             Z           3.08
                   4             D           3.42
                   F             R           3.45
                   5             E           3.27
                   6             W           3.73
                   2             K           3.55
                   A             -           3.63
                   J             -           3.85

              This is probably a generic rear-ratio chart for Ford's
              rear-wheel drive cars.  Just because a code appears on
              this chart doesn't mean it was necessarily available in
              the Mustang.

     TR       Transmission code:

              2   5-Speed Manual Overdrive (T5) [1984-97,1989-93]
              5   5-Speed Manual Overdrive (T5) [1983,1994]
              6   4-Speed Manual Overdrive (SROD) [1979-1983]
              C   3-Speed Automatic (C5) [1982]
              L   4-Speed Automatic Overdrive [1993]
              P   4-Speed Automatic Overdrive [1994]
              W   3-Speed Automatic (C5) [1979-91]
              W   5-Speed Manual Overdrive (T5) [1988]

Next to the transmission code are four digits that are the suspension
spring codes.  The code is of the format:

            XXXX
Front       ^^
            LR
              ^^
Rear          LR

The springs are described by part numbers and "Catch-Words".  I don't
have any way in which to match these up to spring rates, so I won't list
the codes.  You'll need to cross-reference the part number tagged to the
springs themselves.

That should cover most of the interesting information.  From some
of the other fields you can learn things such as:

     Which district ordered the car

     and
	
     If the car was a special order

Buy the manual if you really, really want to know these bits of arcane
trivia.

Again, remember that this info came out of a 1992 Mustang shop manual.
Some of the info given is probably also correct for other years and
other models, but you can't count on it.


=====================================================================
2) What effect will a different axle ratio have on my car?
=====================================================================

[This information removed at the request of the original contributor.]

[Ed. Note: The information in the Mustang Rear Axle Reference Library
article may have what you're looking for...]

END OF MUSTANGS MAILING LIST FAQ - PART 2