I thought I'd point out the good and the bad of a parts car, especially today in dealing with 3rd gen Fords. I bought a 1968 LTD 4 door hardtop a few years back strictly on the basis for its frame for my original 1968 XL as 3rd gens love to rot out the frames from the inside out. By the time you notice it, it's usually too late. This '68 LTD was a Southwest car, about 9 miles from the house found more or less abandoned in back of a yard. 500 dollars later and it was mine.

No doubt it's an ugly thing, but it turned out to be a gold mine of worthy parts.

I've noticed that over the past few years especially, parts for 3rd gens have sky rocketed. With that even though I bought this for its frame for my '68 XL (first one I bought) this thing has donated quite a bit directly and has parts that fit the other two 1966's.

Just to give you an idea of how valuable a parts car can be, this had donated its:

1.) front disc brakes to the 1966 gal 500 XL. 1968 disc brake spindle assemblies will bolt right onto any 1965 -1967 full size. 2.) complete booster assembly (booster and lever assembly) for the 66 gal 500 XL 3.) shuttle and proportioning valve to make one good set for golden 68 XL with the same factory disc brakes. 4.) frame to my now spare 68 XL car. Anyone who had to replace a frame knows what a hassle and often expense it is to obtain a good solid frame. 5.) clock to the golden 1968 XL 6.) bumpers as a spare set 7.) hide-a-way headlamps as a spare set 8.) complete front clip as a spare (same as the XL) 9.) driver side remote mirror for the golden '68 XL 10.) front door main glass is the same as the 1966 LTD 4 door hardtop as a spare set. 11.) vent windows are the same on any hardtop doesn't matter if it's 2 or 4 door as a spare set. 12.) C6 as a spare unit. 13.) Z code 390, if in good enough shape to the golden 68 XL for now. 14.) big bearing Ford 9 inch differential to the golden 68 XL 15.) main floor pans to the spare '68 XL 16.) trunk floor pan to the spare '68 XL 17.) deck lid torsion bars for the golden '68 XL 18.) hood hinges for the golden '68 XL

You can imagine if you had to purchase all this from a junkyard, it would far exceed the price of the car. Probably 4 to 5 times worth.

But now for the downside. You eventually have to get rid of the parts you do not want and that usually means a good portion of the vehicle. Most junkyards will not take a car without a title or if it's really stripped down. So you're left with taking it apart and hauling the bits to the dump. It's a strenuous and thankless job for sure.

Trip one.

Lots of decent sheet metal to be had.

Interesting to note that by 1968, Ford uses the front floor braces for the bucket seats even in bench seat cars. Unlike the 1966 model.

I should have this out in a day or two and then on the stand for disassembly to see if it's usable with a light refresh.

Getting there.

Another interesting note on 1968 Windshields. So most places selling windscreens will say fits all hardtops 1965 to 1967 and excludes 1968 hardtops. Even the Ford interchange lists 1968 hardtops as a different windscreen whilst the Ford master parts catalogue lists the tinted window for hardtops with the same part number from 1965-1968. So who's right?

Turns out looking at the windscreen out of this 1968 hardtop, it's the same glass as the 1965-1967. So hardtops from 1965-1968 use the same glass.

It's really hard to tell, but this is the windscreen out of the 1968 LTD hardtop. It's a replacement glass with a part number of W655 which is the part number for 1965-1967 hardtops as well.

As they say the proof is in the pudding.

Just wanted to share some thoughts on buying and disposing of a parts car.

The Ford full size seems to be least loved model and often reflects that in whole and part price. So when full size parts go through the roof I'd expect Fairlane, Torino, Mustang, etc to be to the moon.

Fortunately this is the last full size Ford as a parts car and honestly I do not want to ever do this again. Cutting up a car into bite size pieces and hauling it small trailer load at a time to the local dump is an enormous time and energy vampire. I've done this 5 times now and that's enough

As much as I may ***** about it, it did save a lot of money on parts from simple brackets to drive-trains.

Cheers.

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