SAAC Forum

   +1 rear for plug and temp on "original design" pans. The sender location IS close to the lower brace , especially if it is modified to tie into the lower control arms. I have seen the front temp pans and  don't know how it would clear the sway bar unless the manometer tube is severely bent to clear.

   Most don't know it but Tim was a VERY good local ( So Cal) go kart driver. The "studios" didn't approve , but he did it anyway. Really down to earth guy. RIP

 +2  on Jason . The others are further to the north (WI) or east (MA)

   I'm old enough and was fortunate enough to see the following in person,
   Doors , Who , Stones, Cream, Dylan , Joplin , Airplane, Dead , Ronstat , Buffalo Springfield, Animals , Kinks, Yardbird , Birds, Strawberry Alarm Clock , Herman's Hermits and others that slip my fossilized memory. Funny thing is they are still played today! I only had AM because I wasn't "hip" enough.

   I'll give you a real stop light grand prix story. I had a '66 notch back that I had just outfitted for drag racing .Slicks ,  5.14 gears , C4 with 3,000 stall converter and a 360HP 289. The only spare headers I had were a set of 180* firing order set I got from Ray Wolfe that came from SAI. They sounded like a Honda four cylinder motorcycle out the back. So I am coming back from the local Burger King and a guy in a Tiger pulls up next to me and laughs at the sound probably thinking I had a 6 with a glass pack. So he revs me and points forward. I say OK! I had 6 cars on him as I pulled high gear. Slowing to the next signal he pulls up along side ad says he missed a gear. No problem! We did it again and I wound the engine a bit tighter to give him more noise and I ran it to 100 mph with him trailing by at least ten cars and I slowed as he passed me with the finger in the air. Guess my "6" was a little too powerful! That was 1977.

    Cream was still very popular in '69.

   Rich,
     Going back to '69 , like you asked, ( when lots of the poster were in diapers , or not born) things were allot different as far as police. No Helicopters, cameras etc. There were usually only two or three actual races in a night. Very quick . No huge crowds. Nitrous wasn't around then . A 6-71 blower was as bad as it could be. Not allot of big strokers either . 427 Chevelles were a dime a dozen. There were some fast BB Camaros out of Bill Thomas's shop about a mile away from Harbor blvd in Anaheim. Ford's were poorly represented in '69 as the Boss cars weren't fast and the CJ was a 12 second car at best . There was one "straight axle" '65 Mustang with a high riser that ran tens at "the beach" but I never saw it race on the street. Remember "big money" in '69 was $100 . A week's pay for most of us back then.
   Randy

     In the OC ( 65-72) it was Harbor blvd on the Anaheim-Fullerton border. Taco Bravo was THE place to hang out. Willys gassers , altered wheel base, really fast stuff. Whittier blvd in Whittier and of course Van Nuys blvd in the valley. Later it was Alameda in Compton or Studebaker road in what is now Cypress. Might be others too.

     My assa hurtsa.

 A twig of a girl

+1

    I would question the "first" notation too. All the cars had to go to HP Motors for radio installation which could have had an effect on ship date too. Yes all 18 were "no roof stripe" cars. We still haven't determined if all 18 had '65 axle housings like 475,6,7, had. 480 a "non Hertz car " had a "normal" '66 rear axle housing. Cars were ( as we have known) not built with any regard to Ford vins.

  '65 grill center cap , 4 speed , OTC steering wheel , repop wheels ( safety beads) Detroit locker are red flags "to me".

  Jeff ,
     You are correct in that EVERY ratio and open or locked had it's own specific three digit ''build code". The build code sheet was a laundry list of parts and instructions on how to assemble the specific differential for consistency purposes. This was used to ID complete drum to drum axle assemblies when finished. The number was most often yellow grease pencil marked on the housing to identify the assembly instead of looking at the tag. This process continued on for many years, SP is certainly Sterling Plant. When the volume was low ( early on) and limited ratio / option wise SP was used and as production increased ( and the Detroit locker no longer being ''standard") the switch was made to the conventional numbering system. We also know "DSO" was marked on the back of early assemblies to further identify their special nature.
    Randy

     There is a very noticeable difference if you plot (or cam doctor)the two cams and overlay them. The .445 cam has less duration than a C3OZ-C cam , besides the lower lift. The .445 lift cam was almost certainly for a 260 engine that did not have valve reliefs in the piston. New information has possibly linked it to a Potvin camshaft but the jury is still out.