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Ford DSO code breakdown

Discussion in '1965-1970 Shelby Mustang GT350 & GT500' started by rsimkins, Feb 22, 2007.

  1. rsimkins

    rsimkins Well-Known Member

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    OK, here is a tough one (I think).

    I’m trying to figure out the various DSO codes in the so called “Vehicle Order Image” (VOI) that is a part of the report I received from Marti Auto Works. They told me that they are not able to supply me with any additional information.
    [​IMG]
    My goal is to completely decode all of the characters in this VOI. Here is what I have discovered so far.

    1. The D.S.O. number 892608 that is shown on the warranty plate decodes as follows:
    89 – Transportation Service
    2608 – Special Order Unit 2608

    [​IMG]

    2. 2608 is part of the VOI, starting in the 32nd position.

    3. 2663 is part of the VOI, starting in the 27th position (right after the date code) and is listed on the Shelby 1967 GT 350 / GT 500 Production Order right below the Shelby unit number (03040 in my case).

    [​IMG]


    I suspect that one of these numbers correlates to a Ford production order for a group of cars, while the other is vehicle specific. One way to start would be to compare Marti reports and Shelby production orders.

    There are of course some other characters that are as yet undefined, but the two I listed are what I consider the two most important ones.

    So, can anyone shed any light on breaking down the characters? Does anyone have information from Marti reports or production orders that they’d be willing to share with me? Any help would be appreciated.

    FYI, I have a friend at Ford who is a field service engineer and he is also looking into this for me through his contacts.
     
  2. patty.dilabio

    patty.dilabio Well-Known Member

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    Hello Roy!
    Just a small fact but possibly one that few people know.Ford treated Shelby production like any other fleet order.And unless this policy has changed,a fleet is an order for 6 units all equipped the same.We know that Shelby typically ordered in groups of over 100 units,often 20 cars of each available color.As per the last club snakebite the 67 registrar is also gathering this data...I would check with him next.Please keep us posted!
     
  3. rsimkins

    rsimkins Well-Known Member

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    Patty,

    Thanks for that information. I did know this as I've seen a couple of the specification sheets (add, delete items) that Shelby used on the production line. I was unaware that Dave Mathews was collecting this information as it has been years since I received a Snakebite. He was next on my list to check with. He'll get an email from me later on today.

    As I dig things out, I'll let you folks know just what I discover.
     
  4. Snakepit

    Snakepit Well-Known Member

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    Really not much on figuring out the "Image"

    But I did find your information interesting. Noticed you posted a door tag. Is this a reconstruction or did your car come (originally) with a door tag as very very few did?


    Dave should be some of some assistance. May have a copy of your group's add/delete sheet but I have heard of that one floating around

    BTW all the orders I have or have heard of for 67 Shelbys from San Jose are less than 100 cars (45, 37, 29, 13 & one with just 3 cars) Don't know where the 100 comes from Patti
     
  5. rsimkins

    rsimkins Well-Known Member

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    Snakepit,

    Yes, much of it is pretty easy to figure out and matches the door tag. Some of it is not so obvious. That's the stuff I'm after. If you have information on breaking down the Vehicle Order Image, could you please share it? Thanks.

    The warranty plate is for the Ford VIN and is the result of a scan from an original page of the 1965-1973 Master Parts Catalog and adding in the information form the Marti Report. As I have posted on my web site, this is what the tag would have looked like if it had been left on the car. I just thought that it was a nice thing to do while reconstructing the production history of the car. So no it did not originally have door tag.

    I contacted Dave Mathews yesterday. He could not add much information other than to say "the 2608 is the build DSO". My understanding is that the build DSO is the actual order number assigned by Ford to a group of Shelbys to be built in a specific configuration. He confirmed this.

    I have a copy of a Vehicle Specification sheet from 1/7/1967 for 229 GT 500s in various colors. It was found in 01542 (or maybe 01572 or 1592; the writing is not clear). The sheet from a car four numbers from mine (03037) was for a similar quantity. It would be interesting to gather all the data together and see what we can come up with.
     
  6. Snakepit

    Snakepit Well-Known Member

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    Sorry I don't have the decoder ring ;) Only Kevin does at this point.


    "I contacted Dave Mathews yesterday. He could not add much information other than to say "the 2608 is the build DSO"......"

    Just terms, but the whole number ( six digits) would be the Build DSO and the four digits the order number. Again just terms

    "I have a copy of a Vehicle Specification sheet from 1/7/1967 for 229 GT 500s in various colors. It was found in 01542 (or maybe 01572 or 1592; the writing is not clear)."

    Have a copy of the same.

    " The sheet from a car four numbers from mine (03037) was for a similar quantity...."

    So (if I understand what you are stating) 3037 was from another order just prior to your build group. So maybe 982603-982607? Since 982602 was a group of thirteen cars. Group of GT500 auto w/AC cars I think.

    Haven't heard or seen of one in that period. Please remember that other cars were being ordered across the country using the Transportation DSO so most of these orders were for trucks and the like.

    Always fun stuff to discuss ;)
     
  7. rsimkins

    rsimkins Well-Known Member

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    Snakepit,

    "So (if I understand what you are stating) 3037 was from another order just prior to your build group. So maybe 982603-982607? Since 982602 was a group of thirteen cars. Group of GT500 auto w/AC cars I think."

    No, I think 03037 is from the same group as mine (03040). That car's Ford VIN ended in 90 and mine in 93. Probably a twin to mine except for that the intake manifold was a non-C7ZX, whereas mine was a C7ZX. Color (Lime Gold) and wheels (Shelby Ten-Spokes) were the same. (03037 is now red and 3040 is Nightmist.)

    What can you tell me about 892603-892607? Are these vehicle specific? And what does the 2963, which appears on both the Vehicle Order Image and the Shelby production order, stand for? Thanks.
     
  8. patty.dilabio

    patty.dilabio Well-Known Member

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    Hello again folks!
    this is interesting to say the least,and I really hope we can get some help from Ford directly to be able to understand the process in its various steps or stages.As you realize the mass production volume of 1967 mustangs alone,it needs a person who is involved to explain how it works.We all have a ton of questions...My next one is should we contact Ford's historical build department? or is the same/similar process still in use currently? In Kevin Marti's Book it mentions all vehicles begin on paper with an IBM punch card ... maybe we can ask him for more details?
    Keep it real!
     
  9. rsimkins

    rsimkins Well-Known Member

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    Patti,

    I haven't seen Kevin's book, but from what you just said, I'm going to guess that since Hollerith (IBM) punch cards have eighty columns and the Vehicle Order Image has eighty characters, the Vehicle Order Image is what was entered on those cards. I sent a message to Marti Autoworks asking for a breakdown of the Vehicle Order Image. We'll see what they have to say. My contact at Ford may be able to help as well. He is a long time Mustang owner. I'll keep you posted.

    I'm glad that I have some people interested in this thread. I'd like to see if we can figure this out and maybe make the information available online. It would also be nice if we could get enough information together to figure out what the original broadcast sheet might have looked like.
     
  10. Snakepit

    Snakepit Well-Known Member

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    Please remember that the cars sequential number (from Ford) did not determine what order Shelby converted the cars. They arrived from San Jose parked in a parking lot then randomly chosen, in any order to be moved into the Shelby process. Even the cars at Ford were not built in sequential order so 37 and 40 were more likely built days or weeks apart rather than one after another. Especially from what we understand from the guys that worked at and ran the plants, big block cars were normally separated (at least in the second half of the build) due to the difficulty and extra time they and AC took

    Nothing specific they are just number that would have represented special orders place through the transportation services DSO.

    And nope, no idea of the #2963 that follows the date and is just prior to the DSO.

    And yes the basis for the Image would have been the IBM card that Jim Smart has often referred to and was part of the process described to me in conversations with some of the people that ran Ford plant during the 60's. Received a handful of calls from some of them after a set of articles I did were published back in the 80's

    Sorry still not allot of help to your original request
     
  11. patty.dilabio

    patty.dilabio Well-Known Member

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    To add further to what has been said..when you look at the dates and random order cars were put through the process @ Shelby's plant,do we know who was responsible to co-ordinate the deal from S.A.I. to the selling dealer?They would be great to have as a convention guest...
    I keep seeing the image of all the cars waiting for conversion,from the Wally Wise book from the past...I would really like to see more pictures,or find the source he did for the book..very few pictures show 67 production,and from what we have read,it must have been about all Shelby could handle.Any ideas on the time frame when they were taken? I mention this because you can see white documents of some sort hanging from the windshield of some cars.Hope this is not too far off topic.. sorry if it is but this is neat stuff!
     
  12. rsimkins

    rsimkins Well-Known Member

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    Snakepit,

    If there is one thing I've learn in the all most thirty years of ownership of this car is that there are very few absolutes when talking about Shelbys. I know that cars were completed in whatever order they were pulled off the lot. That being said, I believe that the two cars in question were part of the same build order. Just my opinion. I'll know for sure when my friend gets his Marti report.

    Did each vehicle get its own DSO number? Or did one number cover an entire group?

    Where were your articles published and are they available as reprints or downloads. They sound interesting to me.

    Thanks for the information.
     
  13. Snakepit

    Snakepit Well-Known Member

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    Depends... in the case of Shelbys I don't know of any single vehicle orders but would guess there were one or two such orders. Generally they were built in groups (as shown in the add/delete sheets you have seen) and all given the same DSO's

    Other orders like buyers that wanted a special exterior color (for example) on a Mustang would have been the only car in that order and for that DSO

    Nothing too exciting now a days... just a regular layout of the process of the order, from receipt of order to the final roll out at a typical plant. I did a number of articles during that period for the MCA Times where I was the Head Judge for Shelbys for many years.

    Patti believe all the cars were funneled through High Performance Motors to the dealerships and returns (such as the Hertz cars) were handled through them also in the early years.

    As for a particular person, would guess there were a number of them that handled that sort of thing.
     
  14. Dave Kelly

    Dave Kelly Active Member

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    I read with interest as I am still trying to decifer all my codes also. I have an early 67'-500 by Ford & Shelby Vin and my car 's DSO starts with "84" i.e "Home Office Reserve" vice "89" "Ford Transportation". I assume thats because it was Calif emisions equipt car that was retailed out to Dealer 71262Q, Ford Motor Company, Los Angeles assembly Plant, Pico-Rivera Ca. Anybody else out there with this DSO and dealer?
     
  15. patty.dilabio

    patty.dilabio Well-Known Member

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    Hello Dave!
    just a quick note on your questions..Pico Rivera was used quite a bit by shelby as a holding lot,The place where finished cars sat waiting to be sent to the dealer that eventually sold them.From what you are describing,your car was sold to someone at the L.A. zone office,or was sent to be used by them as a demo_Often this was a Shelby employee...Is it still wearing a black/yellow license plate? Do you know any other history?If you have a 1997 registry,as you read footnotes you will see what I mean about Pico Rivera..they were still useing it in the late 70's for Mustang II's.
    hope this helps you solve some of the mystery!
     

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