Bosgarage - K-codes in Sweden

Mustang 1965 K-Code in Sweden

The Swedish official registry Transportstyrelsen has 1.308 Ford Mustang 1965 on record as of Feb 3 2023,

of wich

· 11 are K-Codes (0,84%), of wich

· 7 are Fastback (0,54%) , of wich

· 1 is registered as GT

Note: there are another 49 Mustangs 1965 owned by persons with protected identity therefore information about those cars is not public.

In the garage

During the summer of 2023 I called the owners whose phone numbers I could find and sent postcards to the others. By October I had made four garage visits in southern Sweden.

“It’s a great feeling when you can flip the ratchet and start putting the car back together.”

…says Thomas Bäckström of Laholm.

In 1989 Thomas saw a classified ad in Wheels magazine for a 1965 Hardtop K-Code in Västerås. When he arrived in Västerås he discovered that the parts were located there, while the body was in Avesta. Nevertheless, a deal was made and Thomas towed his find home on a car trailer behind his King Cab pickup.

The car was assembled into running condition and driven for a few years until the oil pump failed and the engine seized in one cylinder. The matching-numbers engine was replaced with a 351 Windsor, and the car continued to run for a few more years.

Then family life took over until the children reached their late teens. At that point Thomas finally had time to completely disassemble the car and repair the filler-covered fender edges that had bothered him for so long.

Today all the sheet metal repairs are completed, the car has been blasted and painted, and the HiPo engine is next on the list, although it needs a new cylinder head. I suggested that he contact David Heino, whose garage I had visited only hours earlier—before enjoying good food and drinks at Thomas’s kitchen table while the lights flickered and Storm Babet raged outside.

Thomas Bäckström’s 1965 Hardtop K-Code is well documented.

The car is registered as GDF709 with VIN 5R07K214734. If anyone has information about this car—which Västerås Motorteknik sold to Thomas in 1989—it would be a welcome contribution to the car’s provenance.

“Original is what matters.”

…says David Heino.

David keeps his 1965 Fastback K-Code Mustang in a beautiful new garage and workshop in Halmstad. In the background stands his equally nice 1966 Convertible. He also has another 1966 Fastback currently under restoration.

In the early 1980s the company Motorman in Karlskoga purchased this K-Code Mustang, which at the time had flared wheel arches. These were later replaced with fenders from a scrapped car.

When David bought the car in autumn 2015, it was rolling but the engine had been removed.

With the help of good friends, this patched-together car has since received extensive new sheet metal, some of it NOS parts, including wheel housings, rear quarter panels, rocker panels, and sections of the floor.

Hidden areas have been painted with epoxy primer, and seams have been lead-loaded using traditional techniques. The body is now nearly finished.

During this time David has also been collecting parts to build a proper HiPo engine.

The car will be painted Silver Smoke Grey with red interior.

The car was registered on May 25, 1965 and was most likely privately imported to Sweden. Through Sven Ullman in Stockholm, David has obtained several photos taken in the 1960s.

If you know anything more about FWP826 with VIN 5T09K153308, please contact me and I will forward the information to David.

Suddenly Two Mustangs

Martin Insulander in Lund has owned a 1965 Mustang Hardtop A-Code for 25 years.

Then this spring a K-Code appeared on Bilweb Auctions. Suddenly Martin owned two Mustangs.

This 1965 Fastback GT K-Code, which was owned by David Heino a few years ago, arrived in Sweden in 2008.

After an exciting round of bidding Martin suddenly saw the message “Congratulations on the winning bid” appear on the screen.

The car is in excellent driver condition and features:

• Rally Pack tachometer calibrated to 8000 RPM
• Toploader transmission
• black Pony interior
• Edelbrock intake manifold

The engine is lively and has recently received a new aluminum radiator.

“There are a few cosmetic imperfections,” Martin says, “but I can live with that. I’m more used to carpentry than wrenching!”

Easily Restored to Original

“All the original parts are still there, so the car can be returned to original specification,” says Johan Hall in Allerum, who has owned his Mustang since 2019.

Johan was searching for a Mustang when he found this one at a company in Eslöv, which was selling the car on behalf of a customer.

The engine, clutch, and transmission were rebuilt just over 20 years ago. At that time the car also received several new parts including:

• radiator
• alternator
• starter motor
• electrical system
• brakes
• shock absorbers
• chrome trim
• convertible top
• paint

Johan has since replaced the exhaust system and had Lillis Bilverkstad in Helsingborg install a Tremec T-5 transmission.

Combined with the rear axle ratio of 3.25:1, this allows comfortable cruising at highway speeds with moderate engine RPM.

Under the air cleaner sits a FiTech EFI system, and after a long process of flushing particles from the cooling system—using a temporarily homemade filter setup—the engine and car now run beautifully.

Text and pictures first published in Mustang CLUB MAGAZINE 4-2023