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Mar 11, 2011

1966 GT350 Mustang Restoration Project: Uncovering Drive Shaft Paint Markings

As we wind down the final couple of months to the completion of our 1965 HiPo Mustang Convertible Project, we are going to take another quick look at our next project.  As mentioned, the next one coming up is a 1966 Carryover GT350 Shelby.  It is number 6S033.

We were doing a bit of research on drive shafts in all of the various HiPo Mustangs, including the GT350's, and discovered what appears to be the original drive shaft in 033.  I won't go into the various "styles" of drive shafts in this post, but rather focus on the various paint markings to be uncovered.

There were very faint markings that we noticed on this particular drive shaft upon removal.  They were actually so faint, they were barely noticed.  Jeremy at Maple Hill Restoration uses both Metal Rescue™ and Evapo-Rust to "clean" items, particularly when we are trying to uncover some factory paint markings.

Our Shelby Drive Shaft started as a typical dirty drive shaft.  The paint markings were so faint, we don't even have any  pictures of them, since they would not show up in an image like this.  All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc

The first order of business was to build a suitable "container" in which to soak the drive shaft.  This was accomplished by cutting a PVC pipe and adding ends to it.

A trough was built for soaking the Mustang Drive Shaft.  All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc


Picture showing the "end caps" applied to the trough made from PVC tubing to soak the Mustang Drive Shaft.  All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc



It was amazing how clearly this number appeared after soaking.  We could barely make out this marking at all when the Drive Shaft was initially pulled out of the Shelby.  All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc

Jeremy soaked the drive shaft in Evapo-Rust.  After soaking overnight, it was amazing to see the results.  All of the paint markings, along with the stenciled on yellow number, were quite visible after soaking.  The stenciled number appears to have been applied with some type of roller.  This stencil was probably applied by the manufacturer/supplier of the metal tubing itself, not Ford.  Sorry, but we really don't have any other "firm" information as to what each of these other paint markings represent.
We uncovered three wide stripes at the rear of the drive shaft:  light blue, very dark blue/possibly black, and "Ford" blue. All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc
We thought that it was very interesting that this weight to balance the Mustang drive shaft appears to have been installed after the paint markings were applied.  All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc

We will have more restoration updates on our 1965 HiPo Mustang Convertible Project soon.  We will then have more '66 Shelby stuff to share!

Thanks for reading!

One more shot showing a blue paint marking on the end yoke.  All images ©Virginia Classic Mustang Inc

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