Hello! I have a 1979 Ranchero 500 with the 351W that my wife loves, though it is prime smog era lazy, so I am going to wake the old girl up. 65k original miles. Super stock. Looking at the door tag code, it doesn't quite match what I can find online or in the 1979 Ford Shop Manual, so hoping you all can help. VIN: 9H47H168116 (Lorain built, 351) Type: Truck F0129 (don't know what this is-- Accessory Reserve Load?) T0088 (don't know what this is) Ext Paint: 46 (Dark Jade Metallic) DSO: 54 (Omaha) Body: 97D Int Trim: MR A/C: A R: 2 (don't know what this is) AX: B (2.47) TR: X77AA (should be FMX transmission, but what is the 77AA?) Does anyone know what the extra info is in the transmission section? I can upload a picture if helpful.
I input your door tag info to Google Ai, and it came up with quite a bit of information, although parts of it are conflicting. Here's what I found:
Haha, thanks. Yeah AI led me astray as well. It told me I have a C6 transmission with a 2.75 rear gear ratio. It's also green on the outside and green on the inside (cloth). The special order is interesting. I'm effectively the 3rd owner, the 2nd owner bought it from his friend in Iowa and drove it to Colorado where it pretty much sat in a garage until I traded an old Jeep for it.
Now you have to go and look at the engine - is it a Windsor, or an "M"? The Windsor has the thermostat attached to the intake front, where the Modified has the thermostat mounted on the top of the block. There are lots of other differences between the 2.
This should be common info ... but there were two '351' engines that might be in your car. Please refer to prmphil's post just previous to this one to determine if your engine is really a 351M, or maybe a Windsor. Sorry if you already knew this.
I'm wondering if it's difficult to find a proper '79 Ranchero door tag decoder because of the "is it a truck or a car" issue? Seems like when I search for a '79 Ranchero decoder, I get directed to several F-series truck sites.
Ford has the word TRUCK written on the tag so that answers the "is it a car or truck" issue. It does not have the big chrome plated railroad tie rear bumper that the Torino/LTDII station wagon used or headrests like the sedans have because it is a truck. Interesting note the El Camino in those years of the big bumpers had brackets holding the front bumpers on not the steel beam like the car models have because trucks having different safety standards. But looking up parts in the Ford parts catalog you have to use the passenger car disc not the truck one.
This info is right from Ford's Master Parts Catalog, no goggle ai. DSO 54 it is not a special order unit for Omaha. That would have a order number following the 54. MR is for Jade All vinyl seat interior. AC- A standard air cond. not automatic temp control. R is for which radio option 2 -A/M W/O CB option, which was not a Ranchero option according to the parts book. My 79 radio spot is blank, The radio was deleted, the axle is correct, locking diff uses numbers not alphabet. Spring shops might have info if they have books that old but now we are stuck with standard or heavy duty choice. A special order color would not show a color code even for a regular Ford color. My 68 pickup was custom ordered Gulfstream Aqua to match his T-Bird. DSO+ special order number but no color code because it was not a regular truck color.
R for radio, nice. It does indeed have an AM radio with an 8 track player (and correctly, no CB). There is an FM button that lights up, but no signal, so the original owner must not have sprung for the extra option. Yeah, the axle is original and correct. I will be swapping the third member for 3.50:1 from the 2.47. The interior is not vinyl, but it is green. It does have A/C, which is eventually on the list to get running again. Still some random info on tag, perhaps lost to history.
Code 2 is the basic a/m radio . code 5 is am/fm multiplex stereo with 8 track, code 7 is the am/fm multiplex stereo with cassette. Could have been switched later. Original radios are not to important to a lot of people so putting one in that works that you like is all that really matters. A bolt in radio really doesnt affect the car's value. I'll keep working on the spring rates but it gets complicated with the Ford parts even if you are a dealer parts guy. The original springs either had a paint daub or a taped on tag withich id ed the spring but 50 years underneath they probably gone . Most Ford dealer parts dept dont even have the disc to look this stuff up.
