rackerm, I'll see if what info I have will help you with this "Mystery" part. What your looking at is the 72 Mercury Montego "N" code 429 ram air cleaner. Those cars had an open top with a rubber seal and used a plenum chamber similar to the 71-3 Mustang system. The "N" 72 Gran Torino used a top lid with a flapper door and a unique seal that sealed directly against the hood scoop when the hood was closed. The 429 models also had the emissions filter on left (drivers side) of the housing. The "Q" equipped models were similar but had a slight difference in diameter and height, and had the emissions filter on the right side of the housing. Any housing for the Gran Torino/Montego series could be considered rare. The Q equipped models suffered the same fate as the 72 Mustang and Cougars of being dropped from the option list early in the 72 model year. Performance minded people didn't consider the "N" 429 Thunderjet engine as much of a choice since it was basically an LTD engine with less horsepower than the 351 4bl. So someone ordering a N 429 with ram air was rare.
The D2RF on the snorkel/duct is defiantly a new one. As others who have tried to decipher the numbers, nothing I have seems to indicate that being a good engineering number. The engineers assign these numbers for assembly line use during the design phase and for occasional parts use when two parts are similar but have different functions/applications. Parts and Service assign the actual part numbers once engineering releases the parts for service. That's why you'll never see the actual part number on the part. Instead it will be on the box or a tag or sticker attached to the part. Most of the time the snorkels are identified with the prefix, basic, and suffix number or just the prefix and suffix. But either way they will always at least include the prefix and suffix. The suffix part of the number missing off of yours is strange, because that is how these things are identified during the assembly process. The part number for the 429 ram air snorkel is DOGY-9A626-A (engineering # DOGF-9A626-A). The normal break down for the prefix would not apply as there is no viable application of "R" (Rotunda, Ford of Europe, remanufactured parts), or "F"(General parts, electrical and electronics division) on this particular part. Either way you have a rare part that looks to be in excellent condition. I'm sure if Perogie Enterprises had that air cleaner for sale you would be shocked at their asking price! I have two illustrations that show the Montego (351C) with the plenum system and the Gran Torino (429) with the "Flapper Door". I hope this has helped some.
