Yep, some of the very early US NES carts were made in such a hurry that instead of creating new boards with the 72 pin configuration, they just stuck a 60-pin Famicom board in the cart with a 60-to-72 pin converter. They are (as far as I know) only found in the old five-screw variants, but NOT ALL five-screw carts have a converter. Check the weight of the cart, one with a converter will be noticably heavier, but the only sure-fire way to tell is to open one up and have a look.
Having said that, Famicom-to-NES adapters can be found on eBay etc. easily enough so there's really no need to go around cannibalising carts for them. Especially since you can't be sure you have a cart with a converter until you open it up. You might end up going through a couple-dozen SMB carts before you find the thing you're looking for...
Personally though, I'd love to have my own original *** Famicom. If only so I could play Takeshi no Chousenjou by singing into the controller...
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