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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, Scott Griffith, and Troy Wecker. The axle ratio/RPM chart was lifted entirely from Scott Griffith.]

Converted to HTML by William Keller (wdklists@jps.net).

Help!! I don't have tables!!

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:

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:

Engine types are as follows:

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
• 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 courtesy of Scott Griffith]

Since this question comes up all the time, I decided to hack up a quick spreadsheet that shows the relationships here. Across the top are the available 8.8" axle ratios, down the side are the ratios in the stock T-5 tranny for each gear. The "factor", as I call it, is a simple constant for each axle ratio and each gear that, when multiplied by the engine speed in RPM, yields the speed in MPH. As an example, 4th gear with 3.27s at 5000 rpm is 5000*(.02238)=111.90 MPH. This is a useful set of numbers for those of us with 85mph speedos who sometimes play at high speeds.

I also included the RPM number for highway cruising at 65 in 5th, just so that you could have an idea of how high the motor would be buzzing. One other thing- this table is based upon a tire diameter of 24.6 inches, which just happened to be the diameter of the Yokohama A008Rs that I used to run. These numbers will obviously vary based upon the diameter of your chosen tires.

END OF MUSTANGS MAILING LIST FAQ - PART 2

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