1965 Date Code Help

[Terry M.]

Hello

I am trying to get the date coding on my 1965 convertable correct. It has Dec 04 Body Build Date, and the engine build date of August 28. The car number is 103766. My alternator must have been replaced as it has 1100693 with a date of 5F3. was wondering what the right date would be for this and other parts if possible. Does anyone have a car that is correct and close to the serial of mine. If so I would be very appreciative if they could help me with dates on starter, alt, carb, fuel pump, exp tank, radiator etc. It is a St.Louis built car.

Thank You

[Donald T.]

Re: 1965 Date Code Help

Hello

I am trying to get the date coding on my 1965 convertable correct. It has Dec 04 Body Build Date, and the engine build date of August 28. The car number is 103766. My alternator must have been replaced as it has 1100693 with a date of 5F3. was wondering what the right date would be for this and other parts if possible. Does anyone have a car that is correct and close to the serial of mine. If so I would be very appreciative if they could help me with dates on starter, alt, carb, fuel pump, exp tank, radiator etc. It is a St.Louis built car.

Thank You

Terry,

The typical date ranges are outlined in the judging guide. I would recommend purchasing one if you don't have one already. Also, Noland Adams book has some pretty extensive surveys with all of the date codes which might be helpful as well. This should give you a pretty good idea of what would be typical for your car.

[Tom H.]

Re: 1965 Date Code Help

Welcome Terry !

As Donald mentioned, the judging manual is a great item to have. As a general rule, 6 months prior to build is acceptable for most dated items on the car. Of course there are exceptions. Feel free to post the dates of your accessories and most of the guys and gals here will be glad to provide feedback.

You might put up a seperate post for each item as some of us specialize in certain items and can offer good advise or opinions on certain items.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1965 Date Code Help

Thanks for the information. I already have the information manual and judging guide for 1965, Nolan Adams book and the 1963-1967 fact book, but am trying to nail it down to as close as possible. If I had information from a car close to mine, that has not been altered, that would get me closer than the information I have right now. The alternator is 5F3 and the carb is a 2818 612 date. Expansion tank is 3155416 89k, radiator 3155316 68C. The previous owner replaced alot of parts and didn't keep the old stuff unfortunetly. Any help appreciated.

Thanks

[Jack H.]

Re: 1965 Date Code Help

Getting the date of various parts on a car built 'close' to yours is no guarantee of 'correctness'. Parts put on at St. Louis were subject to randomness based on their draw from inventory bins/shelves.

The same is true of dated engine components from Flint/Tonawanda. They too were pulled at random and may or may not share similar dating.

Since you have Noland Adams' book, try a 'test'. He has survey data at the end of each section. Group that info by VIN and run a statistical analysis. I think you'll prove to yourself that while the mean (average) of the date lead time falls in the 4-8 week range, the variance or standard deviation is pretty large!

That's because there's usually one (or more) dated component that falls outside the average lead time--the result of random draw from inventory stores that were rather dynamic. Older parts would tend to stay at the bottom of the bin or be moved to the back of the shelf as fresh replenishment inventory arrived and went to stock.

There was no intentional FIFO/LIFO inventory control, so it wasn't unusual for date codes to 'spread' when workers reached the bottom of their bin(s) or a particular inventory shelf approached exhuastion...