Autolite - Barn Find - 1969 Mustang 390 Mach 1

Every great journey begins with a first step. The tear down begins as we start the journey of its restoration to factory original condition.

In the case of this Mustang, the tear down I had already determined one of the previous owners had installed a Hays Stinger ignition (see “Sins of our Youth”). This meant I would not only need to remove the ignition box, but inside the distributor was a “mopar-like” magnetic pickup unit and a trick reluctor that was a press-fit onto the autolite shaft cam. Despite its performance gains, these items simply could not remain.

I carefully removed the coil wire and then the coil. To my shock, it turned out the coil was still the original factory unit. That’s right, despite installing several go-fast items, including what was at that time a state of the art ignition system, they had left the factory coil. You could still barely see the remnants of the original factory ink stamp.

Original factory coil. You can barely see the remnants of the factory ink stamp.

Factory coils had a unique yellow cap. Reproductions won’t match this color exactly.

The coil was carefully cleaned and restored by All Classic Motors to like new condition. This included restamping it with the factory markings. It was then set aside to be reinstalled later.

The original coil and coil retainer bracket were cleaned and restored to like new.

Here you can see that unique yellow top, now fully cleaned.

With the coil out of the way, I removed the distributor cap and spark plug wires then proceeded to remove the distributor. Here you can see the magnetic pickup unit and reluctor that were press-fit onto the autolite shaft cam.

Here you can see the various internal components of the Hays Stinger ignition.

With the distributor out of the car, it was easy to see the part number, and date stamp, 9E2, indicating this too was the original factory unit produced on May 2, 1969.

The date code, 9E2, means May 2, 1969 which confirms this is the original Autolite distributor that came with the car when new.

Overall it was in fairly good shape and would restore nicely. Knowing the Hays Stinger ignition is highly sought after by people building a period correct hot rod I carefully removed and stored all of the internal components for future use.

Here is a picture showing all the Hays components now pulled from the car.

The distributor was then completely stripped and rebuilt. It was not only returned to a new factory original appearance, but also made to perform like new.

Here you can see the distributor now fully restored including the correct Autolite coil tension wire.

Notice the factory correct white cap on the coil tension wire.

Gone are the Hays components and in their place are the correct factory plates, points and condensor.

Close up of the coil tension wire showing the embossed ‘Autolite’.

While I was at it, I decided now would be a good time to order a reproduction Autolite distributor cap from National Parts Depot and a set of plug wires with the proper factory markings and date code from Marti Auto Works.

Notice one plug wire has an orange colored boot. This was done intentionally because during production two plug wires were crossed as installed on the engine. To avoid confusion during assembly, the workers were instructed to make sure the orange boot was put on the number 6 spark plug.

Reproduction Autolite spark plug wires with the correct factory markings and date code.

Next Step: Removing Lights

As I continued searching for the parts that had been removed by one of the previous owners, I turned my attention to chasing induction parts.

I started by attempting to locate the original factory cast iron manifold. Ironically, for years these were often discarded as more and more owners opted for a lighter aluminum intake manifold.

This made finding one with the proper date code challenging. After months of searching I was able to locate one that was in excellent condition…but it was in Florida. Nothing like shipping a 75 pound intake manifold across the country!

Factory original cast iron intake manifold. Date code, 9D14, means April 14, 1969.

With the proper intake now in my possession I turned my attention to trying to find an original, date coded, C8AE-A ported vacuum switch. Since my Mach 1 had come from California, the ported vacuum switch had long been removed due to the states NOX program. Luckily, I was able to find one at Dead Nuts On with the proper date code that had already been restored.

Original ported vacuum switch, now fully restored.

Date code 7-H-69 means July 1969. In this case the H is simply the manufacturer code.

Now I had to find the proper color coded vacuum hoses that would have been attached to this vacuum switch. Each color designates its intended location and purpose. In this case Marti Auto Works offers a reproduction kit with the authentic hose markings. The factory coloring was not bright, but actually more muted in color.

It was now time to turn my attention toward locating the appropriate carburetor. In 1968 all 390 Mustangs came with a Holley 4150 carburetor. However, for 1969 Ford switched to an Autolite 4300 carburetor on its 390 Mustangs.

So for months I tried to locate one with the appropriate date code for this car. After months of looking, I spoke with a gentlemen who specializes in Ford carburetors who explained to me that by the middle of June 1969 Ford had discontinued the Autolite and returned to using the Holley 4150 in anticipation of the 1970 model year. With this information in hand it didn’t take me long to find the correct date coded carburetor.

If you look closely at the line below the word ‘list’ you can barely see the date code, 964, which means this carburetor was produced on June 4, 1969

One of the unique features on the 390 Mach 1s was the carburetor spacer which featured a pass-through connection for the heater hose. This was designed to allow the warm coolant to flow thru the spacer warming the fuel to allow for easier starts in cold weather.

This picture shows the unique carb spacer with the heater hose attachments.

Next Step: Air Conditioning Parts