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1974 Ford Mustang II 
Class: Cars, Coupé — Model origin: 
00:12:12 ![[*]](/res/star.png){kind=small}
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Comments about this vehicle| Author | Message |
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◊ 2006-01-24 22:42 |
C'est une Ford Mustang II de 1974-78. |
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◊ 2012-08-07 22:08 |
![[Image: pdvd_106.4.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/5931/pdvd_106.4.jpg) ![[Image: pdvd_122.4.jpg]](http://pics.imcdb.org/5931/pdvd_122.4.jpg) |
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◊ 2012-08-07 22:26 |
Very hard to tell but the main pix car appears to have a flush rather than recessed grille, eliminating 1974 as a possible year. |
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◊ 2014-10-21 02:46 |
For my reference. |
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◊ 2018-12-11 10:40 |
How to ID the year of a Mustang II. 1974 is easiest. Wide top on header panel. Front of hood straight across. Deeply recessed grille. Crossbars in park lamp bezels. Shiny metal bumper strips. Gas cap positioned below the body crease. Get gas cap and/or nose shots before tagging a II as a 1974. Not visible from the outside is the wiper switch is mounted in the instrument panel and the steering wheel is either carried over from 1973 or heavily inspired by it. Also, the tach and speedometer needles are thick with parallel sides and an 'ogive' shaped point. 1974 also has unique front seat belts with dual retractors. One is high behind the door, just below where the belt goes into the interior panel. The other is in the rocker panel. The upper loop mount is formed from heavy round rod and mounts up in the roof above B pillar. 1974 was Mustang's 4th highest sales year. Since then only 1979 has come close to equaling 1974's sales. For 1975, Ford brought back the V8 (and totally failed to impress upon the public its availability). That required several obvious and some not so obvious modifications. The radiator needed moved forward so the top of the radiator support was pushed forward. That required moving the hood latch, so the middle of the hood was pulled forward. To accommodate all of that, the grille was moved forward to nearly flush. The park lights were redesigned, eliminating the crossbar in the bezel. The 74 bezels only fit 74, darnit! One less obvious change for the V8 was the gas cap. It got moved above the crease. The reason for that was major alterations to the wheel well to enable installing a 2.5 gallon plastic fuel tank, part of the V8 package, optional on the 4 and 6. A bennie of that tank is it made it impossible siphon gas from the main tank, and you could drive a loooooong way before the gauge came off the Full mark. Last year for the easily dented bumper strips. Wiper control moved to turn signal stalk. Tach and speedo needles changed to a tapered design with a narrow, square tip, unchanged through 1978. Steering wheel redesigned with a less bulky center, having spokes bent down at the ends. This steering wheel style would be common across much of Ford's lineup through the rest of the 70's and into the 80's. Front seat belts changed to single retractor, mounted low behind the door. The front floor attachment is a bolt and the upper loop changed to stamped metal and moved down onto the B pillar. 1976. Only year for ORANGE park lamps. All other years had clear lamps with orange bulbs. Bumper strips changed to molded black plastic with white outline that went around at the ends. Also officially the only year for BOLD ORANGE paint color, often paired with various styles of white vinyl roof and/or white interior. 1977. Same as 1976 for bumper strips but back to clear park lamps. 1978. Grille changed to one piece, all black. Separate die cast park lamp bezels eliminated. Lamp housings same as 75-77 but install from behind. Now a PITA to replace bulbs without removing the grille. molded plastic bumper strips replaced with cheap, thin strips held to the bumpers with foam tape. The lines 'vanish' into the divots at the ends and small staples driven into the ends to hold the strips. The material shrinks with age so it pulls away from the dips in the front bumper. There are many other detail changes for 78, like the full coverage front fender liners instead of the small splash guards at the back. Radiator cap for V8 *on the radiator* instead of in the upper hose, where it's too low so the back of the car has to be jacked up to get the cooling system to fill easily. Or modify the bracket to lengthen it, or install the taller 351 Windsor V8. The die cast headlight switch knob was replaced with metal plated plastic. 78 hatchbacks have holes in the C pillars for mounting rear shoulder belts. They're unthreaded tubes, made for power driving in the big Torx bolts. Never have seen a II with rear shoulder belts. Never had the headliner out of any but a 78 hatchback so I don't know if those mount points are present in 78 coupes or any other year. I assume Ford was considering continuing II production for 1979, why else put money into so many detail changes? |
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◊ 2018-12-11 12:49 |
@Galane - excellent detailed info. Should give our Mustangistas something to chew over. What year would you give this one?? |
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◊ 2018-12-11 15:41 |
Incredible detail, Galane. Where did you get this data from? I'm saving this reference in my files! |
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