Ford Service Publications. Ford Motor Company (USA).
Unpublished Assembly Line manual.
Lose leaf folder containing 550+ lose leaf pages for Ford Assembly lines for building the 1964 – 1966 Mustang and other vehicles into an slightly oversized A5 snap ring binder.
There has been much discussion over the years about if there is a 1964 1/2 model Mustang or just a 1965 Mustang. This Assembly lines PROVES once and for all that there is a indeed a 1964 1/2, 1965 & 1966 model Mustangs. Timings are different for each year.
Background
What is this folder?
The folder is put together by Ford for their assembly lines, dealerships or authorised repairers to be able to work out how long a build or repair would take per component for various cars, thus enabling them to be able to cost out accurately back to the customer and manage build or repair times.
As Ford released new models or updates to their vehicle range, Ford would issue updated sections for this folder to replace the existing or add to the existing sections. These folders were more than likely disposed of when the models discontinued from the lines, thus become a very rare item as a result. They were not produced in huge numbers to begin with and various production line foremen or dealerships could have a copy.
There are blank page sections within the folder to update and amend timings which could be passed back to Ford to improve times and subsequently the costs for assembly.
As a result of the additions to this particular folder it is absolutely crammed full to the max and difficult to close. This folder has the additional “Bronco” section included.
Layout:
Each page is a light orange colour (not sun faded) with the dividers in white with a named tab. The folder has a faux leather hard cover, the inside holds all the leaves together via six snap rings.
These folders were never released to the general public and were designed for assembly line controllers and dealer cost timing schedules. I believe this folder has the additional “Bronco” tab as it could have been at the particular plant’s production line.
There is various writings and notes on the pages which might help identify plant or line etc. I can see “Revision 2 4/26/66” and “(something) book 64 – 66”.
Please let me know if you can help shed a little light on the folder’s origins.
The folder covers various models (not just the Mustang which is why I bought this).
- Ford
- Mercury
- Fairlane
- Falcon
- Comet
- Thunderbird
- Mustang
- Bronco
- Lincoln Continental
The folder contains the following sections.
- Summary of Changes
- Re-appraisal Procedure
- Labour Conversion Table
- Car Index
- Car List
- 1 – Wheel Hub & Drums
- 2 – Brakes
- 3 – Front Suspension & Steering
- 4 – Rear Suspension & Axle
- 5 – Exhaust & Springs
- 6 – Engine
- 7 – Transmission & Clutch
- 8 – Cooling
- 9 – Fuel
- 10 – Electrical
- 11 – Wipers, Speedo & Bumpers
- 12 – Accessories
- 13 – Body & Paint
- 14 – Maintenance
- 15 – Bronco
Information
There are no hints, tips or how-tos. To explain this folder’s intended use I have attached a few of the pages for reference before you may want to open or download the huge PDF file.
Summary of changes, Re-appraisal, Car, Labour Conversion Table, Index. Sample pages.
Wheels & Hubs – Sample pages.
Brakes – Sample pages.
Front Suspension & Steering – Sample pages.
Rear Suspension & Axle – Sample pages.
Exhaust & Springs – Sample pages.
Engine – Sample pages.
Transmission & Clutch – Sample pages.
Cooling – Sample pages.
Fuel – Sample pages.
Electrical – Sample pages.
Wipers, Speedo & Bumpers – Sample pages.
Accessories – Sample pages.
Body & Paint – Sample pages.
Maintenance – Sample pages.
Bronco – Sample pages.
You can see from the sample pages for each section in the folder that there was indeed a 1964 (1/2) Mustang separated by the years in columns at the top of the pages:
1964 – 1965 – 1966
The fitting times and parts were different depending on year. From the image above I have highlighted a just one of the differences where 1964 Mustang took considerably less time to fit the “Dash to Headlight junction” compared to the 1965 or 1966 models. Perhaps there was less wiring on the 1964 or it was easier to get to?
It’s clear there was different schedules based on the year of model, not just for the Mustang but other vehicle models too. If there was no 1964 model then why would Ford list them and apply different schedules to that year model?
To View or Download the complete Folder.
I made the decision to make this a download link rather than showing on the page itself. This will considerably load the page faster without the embedded PDF being rendered.
File Size Warning:
This is a huge file around 450mb or almost half a terabit in size. Depending on your internet connection it could take a while, or maybe not if you have a super fast broadband. Either way this is a very large file.
It’s such a large file as I scanned each and every page in a fairly high resolution and took many, many hours. This upload is for informational purposes and not intended to breach any copyright.
Summary:
Not an everyday download for sure. This will not give you additional information on the cars such as how they were made, where they were made or how many were made. Build records for the 64 – 66 cars were all lost. This seems to be one of those rare paper items that has survived some sixty years already.
Nothing will give more of an insight on how the cars were manufactured than this. An invaluable item in that respect.
That all being said means that this is not open to any subjectivity, so the score is irrelevant in this case.