Color bands on rear springs and tail shaft? What should the color be?

[bdennis]

Hey gang,
I have pulled the rear springs, diff, tail shaft out of my 72 H code mach 1 with the intention to clean it up and add a LSD to my non LSD 9" diff.
I can see that there are colored bands on the springs and tailshaft.
Does anyone know what colour the bands should be?


Also, on the diff housing there is a O and 27 painted on the back of the housing. Is this from the factory or is it something that a wrecker would write on the back to quickly identify the ratio and the non LSD?
The car is a Auto and should have an open 2.75 diff in it per the door tag and the tag on the side of the diff housing matches that Open 2.75 marking.
As Im going to clean up the housing and repaint it, I would like to know if this mark is factory and if so I will re apply once rebuilt.


Lastly, has anyone used the reproduction rear springs in a 71-73? My springs are ok all be it a little saggy. So am thinking about replacing the springs with reproduction units. The rubbers around the straps in my springs are OK and I had intended on replacing the front bushes. I had already replaced the rear shackle bushes 2 years ago.



Any advice or assistance would be appreciated.

The car is not a show car, but I like things to be right..

 

[Omie01]

I am using the springs you have pictured, and they are working for me. They are stiffer than stock.

 

[Hemikiller]

The colored bands were for quick identification by assembly line workers in selecting the correct components. The colors will be called out on your build sheet if you have it.



If not, we can reverse-lookup the color codes for some components. The F and H code Mach 1s for '72 would have two green and two gold stripes



You'll have to clean up the driveshaft to see what the colors are. Otherwise, you'll need to find someone with your same drivetrain combination.

 

[bdennis]

Thanks for the info.
I do have the build sheet. Here are the 2 relevant sections.

The springs are listed as GGN.
Therefore I assume Green Green and ?
What does the N code stand for?



Then for the trail shaft it has the below.
I assume the
LA is for the front input shaft to the trans
R is for the front universal
DG is for the tail shaft
OR is for the rear universal
Is this correct?

 

[Doug's 73 Mach1]

I believe, based on the built sheet shown, the drive shaft color stripes/bands are Lavender (LA), Red (R), Dark Green (DG), and Orange (OR).

What front and rear universals and transmission yoke are used with the shaft assembly would likely be defined on an internal Ford document used to build the drive shaft assembly based on the color coded shaft. Drive shaft assemblies had many variations based on engine , trans, car line and differential. Yokes, universals, shaft diameter, shaft length being variables. Color coding the assembly made it easier for the installer to choose the right drive shaft assembly for the application (using the built sheet).

 

[bdennis]

Thanks for the info re the drive shaft. I will run with that.

Now to figure out what the "N" colour is on the springs along with 2 x Green.

 

[Sheriff41]

I recall a conversation on this a while back that mentioned N = Gold. I wouldn't swear to it, though. You can pose your question to the www.concoursmustang.com forums. They deal with this level of detail more than most of us. Are you a member of the Mustang Club of Australia?

 

[bdennis]

Chuck,
Thanks for the link. I will have a look there.
Yes, I am a member of the Mustang Club here in Australia. I am in Victoria.