62 M-Code Air Cleaner, Ornament and Fastener Configurations

[jrbudwig]

I have a 62 MSR with a manufacturing date of 09 March.

Unfortunately one of the previous owners had buffed the Manifold removing all of the Firing Order, Cylinder and Casting Numbers.

In addition two of the carburetors have the correct part numbers but the manufacturing dates are older than the manufacturing date of 09 March and the other carburetor is for a Galaxy.

I was very, very lucky, after over two years of searching I found a Manifold, Carburetors, and Air Cleaner all with February 62 manufacturing dates in addition to associated linkages, rods, fuel log, etc..., from a used auto parts store located in WV.

The father had passed away and his daughter was left with the business.

Was explained that the assembly was stored in a Barn for over 40 years and came with free Mud Dauber nests built into the intake and exhaust ports along with many orifices.

All of the aluminum patina and dirt on the Manifold, Carburetors and Air Cleaner matched indicating the all of the parts were removed at the same time.


The following questions are focused on the Air Cleaner Top, Ornament and Fasteners.

Fig-1:
1.0 Are both Air Cleaner Tops OEM supplied?
1.1 Were either one issued for a specific model year 1962 or a 1963?

Fig-2:
2.0 Do the numbers below 122262 to the right of the P/N indicate casting dates, e.g. "1" (1961)?

Fig-3:
3.0 Reference William Wonder, Thunderbird Restoration guide, Page 128, topic “Air Cleaner” second paragraph states, “…with only highlighted fin ridges and the chrome ornament.” Is this ornament the “chrome ornament” that is cited with no Turquoise Paint?

3.1 Are the Captive Jamb Bushing a Ford supplied configuration or after market?

3.2 As with the ornament in Fig-2, do the numbers below 122262 to the right of the P/N indicate casting dates, e.g. "2" (1962)?

[Alan H. Tast]

Fig. 1 - Air cleaner top casting. The top one is OEM but has been heavily polished - so much so that the detail at its edges have been obliterated. It should look like the bottom one.

Fig. 2 - Can't enlarge the picture enough to see the number in context and compare to Fig. 3. Might be a date code, could be something else. Not enough known to render an educated response.

Fig. 3 - The ornament used on the M-series air cleaner top was the same as that used on the rear seat header for '61-'62. It's not uncommon for the turquoise paint to come off over time, especially if it was in an environment like the engine bay for an extended period of time. It should have the recessed area painted turquoise. The use of barrel nuts (that's how I've known them over the years) on the air cleaner I've never seen before for this application. I don't have a copy of the exploded parts diagram from the '60-'64 "Blue Bible" for the Galaxie's 3-2v setup to see what it shows, nor do I have the parts book handy to see what fastener is called for. I can tell you that I would have expected to see the speed nuts like in Fig. 2 - that's what was used to hold the ornament to the back seat header on '61-'62s. I wouldn't doubt that the barrel nut on the one you found in WV were original to the assembly. This is something we need to research and document for VTCI's 1961-1963 Original Factory Specifications manual.

A few notes re. William's book. William's special area of interest had been on the '62-'63 "M" cars as he built a '63 hardtop 'clone' in the late '80s (it's what inspired me to modify my "Z" hardtop and do the same in 2006 after collecting parts for over 22 years - and still looking for correct carbs, heads and transmission) and spent a lot of time researching what made them special, including maintaining a registry on true "M" cars to this day (we regularly exchange VINs and other info when we find a previously-undocumented one). William authored his book in the mid-1990s while he was VTCI 1961-63 Tech Editor, and I was fortunate enough to assist him in reviewing, proofing and providing photos for it. With that being said, since that time we've learned a LOT more about the cars that's not covered in the book, especially during the past 15 years when several of us have focused heavily on researching updates for VTCI's Original Factory Specifications (OFS) Manual. While we're currently stalled in getting revisions of the current OFS into circulation, when circumstances permit we attempt to share what we can from what we've been learning here in this Forum.

[jrbudwig]

Hello Alan,

Thank you for your response it much appreciated.

There may not be any or limited supporting Ford documentation if any to answer the following.

With respect to your response see the following,

Fig-1
1) Notwithstanding the over buffed condition of the Air Cleaner Top (ACT) in -1A, are you stating that both of the ACT’s are Ford products?

2) Are you stating that there is no FORD documentation that identifies either for a specific model year?

Fig-2
3) Hopefully the resolution on the following image is better. As requested please see the following Fig-2.1. The Existing Turquoise Ornament is marketed with an inverted 2 and a 1 below the 12262 number.

4) Fig-2.1 Referencing Ford P/N: C1SB 63606A08-A. Existing Air Cleaner Ornament with turquoise paint.

Fig-3
4) You are correct the Ornament P/N: C1SB 63606A08-A was used on the Rear Seat Back as referenced in the preceding paragraph of William Wonders publication under the topic “Air Cleaner.” It also appears on page (s) 1158 and 927, of the Ford 1960-1964 Parts and Accessories Catalog Text and Illustrations Catalogs. It’s comforting when you can correlate a finding to a Ford published document.

Further to your point concerning “an environment like the engine bay.” Given that the manifold, carburetor and air cleaner were off the car and stored in a barn for over 40 years one might conclude that the exposure was limited. Upon cleaning the manifold and carburetors there was no evidence of a high heat condition. All of the varnish, oil and dirt were easily removed.

You know I also thought that it was unusual that the Ornament did not have any paint present under the naked eye without magnification. Therefore prior to posting I inspected the recessed area for any paint remnants hoping to find something in corners using a Bausch & Lomb 10X hand lens. Did not find anything even in those areas have had a little corrosion.

William Wonder writes in the second paragraph, “According to a Ford Service Bulletin dated January 8, 1962, these air cleaners were polished. It is interesting to note that over the years, some pristine original cars have been found with a natural cast-finish air cleaner, with only highlighted fin ridges and the chrome ornament.”

This Ornament and “barrel nuts” might fall into that undefined and undocumented area as with the above observation from W. Wonder concerning the finished condition of the ACT.

Maybe someone over 40 years ago decided they did not care for the turquoise paint and elected to remove the paint – maybe we will never know.

Or this might be a hidden gem of history.

Thank you,

Jonathan